Materials Characterization Intern (Microwave Systems)

At Aircapture we’re creating and scaling a circular carbon economy to solve what we believe to be our lifetime's most pressing challenge: the climate crisis. We supply commercial and industrial customers with clean CO2 captured from our atmosphere to radically improve the environment, our economy, and our lives. We value building a team of people who represent diverse backgrounds--be it thought, education, gender, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation--to reach our goals. Thank you for considering us.

As a Materials Characterization Intern (Microwave Systems) you will play a key role in preparing, measuring, documenting and modeling (is a plus) microwave-related material properties, supporting instrument setup and operation, collecting and analyzing data, and helping characterize material behavior across substrate and sorbet properties as well as operation conditions, working closely with the R&D, Test Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering teams. If you are looking for a project-based summer internship in which you'll get hands-on experience, this is the role for you!

This is a full time, Summer opportunity at our research and development facility in Berkeley, California.

Pay rate: $25 per hour, plus up to $400 in travel reimbursement for those relocating from outside of the Bay Area.

What You’ll Do Here

• Prepare, measure, document, and model (is plus) contactor materials to characterize their microwave-related properties.
• Collect, clean, and analyze experiment data (temperature, pressure, power, flow, CO₂ concentration) and produce clear summary plots and tables
• Communicate results in concise written summaries and short presentations to the R&D and Engineering teams
• Follow lab/shop safety protocols and contribute to a clean, well-organized test environment
• Eager to contribute to a collaborative, motivated R&D team, communicate openly, work well with others, and open to learning from experience

Your Skills and Abilities Include

• Completed Junior year or equivalent studying Chemical Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, Chemistry, or a related field by Summer 2026
• Comfort working with mechanical or electrical lab setups (e.g., assembling test rigs, troubleshooting components) is a plus
• Experience working on team-based technical projects and collaborating across disciplines
• Skilled at documenting work in a structured and organized way (e.g., lab notebooks, reports, or project summaries)
• Comfort learning and operating within existing systems, protocols, or technical frameworks
• Ability to manage tasks independently when given clear direction and context
• Adept at balancing multiple assignments with defined priorities and deadlines
• Clear written and verbal communication skills

Aircapture strives to create a safe, inclusive, equitable and diverse workplace. Every teammate adds to who we are, diversifying our ideas, experiences and viewpoints and makes us stronger. We hope you feel welcome here.