Intern: Sorbent Synthesis and Evaluation
In 2023, the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) joined SRI, bringing together two iconic Silicon Valley research organizations to build, expand, and scale capabilities, and offer an even more diverse technology set for our government and commercial customers. It formed the foundation for SRI’s sixth division – the Future Concepts division. With expertise across numerous areas, including developing solutions for a more sustainable world and creating a digital future for the workplace, the division puts a premium on developing integrated concepts for complex problems and driving and catalyzing collaboration across SRI. The labs in the Future Concepts division focus on basic research and real-world applications by creating and maturing breakthrough technologies.
The Hardware Research and Technology Lab (HRTL) is looking for a 3- or 6-month intern in chemical engineering or chemistry to further our Oxygen Integrated Unit for Modular Biomass Conversion to Hydrogen (OXYIUM) project. This project seeks to build metal-amine polymers for selective oxygen capture from air, and to integrate these polymers into a small benchtop fixed-bed unit to evaluate performance. SRI will is looking for a talented intern to help scale up sorbent synthesis and develop benchtop fixed-bed units.
Responsibilities:
- Synthesize and scale up organometallic polymers
- Perform oxygen-sensitive synthesis
- Build a small fixed-bed unit and evaluate sorbent capacity and kinetics
- Evaluate sorbent lifetime in adsorption/release cycles
Qualifications:
- Current PhD student in Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, or Materials Science
- Due to government contract requirements candidates must be a US Citizen
- Available for on-site work for 3 - 6 months
- Hands-on experimental experience
- Desire to work with novel, challenging systems
- Comfortable working independently on oxygen-sensitive synthesis
- Familiarity with reaction scale-up
- Familiarity with fixed-bed reactor design and implementation
The salary range is: $40-$45/hr. Salary ranges will vary and are based on several factors, including geographic location, market competitiveness and equity amongst internal employees in similar roles. Positions may also qualify for SRI's Pay for Outstanding Performance program or the annual Performance Based Compensation program. SRI also has a competitive benefits package, to view details please go to https://www.sri.com/resources/benefits/.
SRI International, an over 75-year strong pioneering research institute, has a rich history supporting government and industry. Our innovations have created new industries, billions of dollars in market value and lasting benefits to society. SRI is organized around broad disciplines and capabilities, with research and development divisions and labs to groups who excel at identifying new opportunities, developing products and creating custom solutions. Our organization is driven by impact - delivering unique solutions for the world's important challenges and transforming ideas into reality for clients and partners.