INTERNSHIP DETAILS

Energy & Materials Intern- XRD Advanced Analysis

CompanyToyota Research Institute
LocationLos Altos
Work ModeOn Site
PostedJune 18, 2026
Internship Information
Core Responsibilities
The intern will develop advanced analysis tools and pipelines for X-Ray diffraction patterns of mixed-metal oxide thin-films. They will use automated Rietveld refinement to understand structure-property-processing relationships and contribute to high-throughput materials discovery workflows.
Internship Type
intern
Salary Range
$45 - $65
Company Size
474
Visa Sponsorship
No
Language
English
Working Hours
40 hours
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About The Company
At Toyota Research Institute (TRI), we’re conducting research to amplify human ability, focusing on making our lives safer and more sustainable. Led by Dr. Gill Pratt, TRI’s team of researchers develops technologies to advance AI, robotics, driving, and material sciences. We’re dedicated to building a world of “mobility for all” where everyone, regardless of age or ability, can live in harmony with technology to enjoy a better life. Through innovations in AI, we will: - Develop technology for vehicles and robots to help people enjoy new levels of independence, access, and mobility. - Bring advanced mobility technology to market faster. - Discover new materials that will make batteries and hydrogen fuel cells smaller, lighter, less expensive, and more powerful. Our work is guided by a dedication to safety– seen in how we research, develop, and validate the performance of vehicle technology to benefit society. As a subsidiary of Toyota, TRI is fueled by a diverse and inclusive community of people who carry invaluable leadership, experience, and ideas from industry-leading companies. Over half of our technical team holds PhD degrees. We’re continually searching for the world’s best talent ‒ people who are ready to define the new world of mobility with us! We strive to build a company that helps our people thrive, achieve work-life balance, and bring their best selves to work. At TRI, you will have the opportunity to enjoy the best of both worlds ‒ a fun start-up environment with brilliant people who enjoy solving tough problems and the financial backing to successfully achieve our goals. Come work with TRI if you’re interested in transforming mobility through designing safer cars, enabling the elderly to age in place, or designing alternative fuel sources. Start your impossible with us.
About the Role

At Toyota Research Institute (TRI), we’re on a mission to improve the quality of human life. We’re developing new tools and capabilities to amplify the human experience. To lead this transformative shift in mobility, we’ve built a world-class team advancing the state of the art in AI, robotics, driving, and material sciences.

This is a paid 12-week internship opportunity and is a hybrid, in-office role.

Here’s a glimpse into the Internship experience from some of our TRI interns!


The Team:

The Accelerated Materials Design and Discovery (AMDD) Team at Toyota Research Institute is focused on accelerating the design and discovery of new materials to enable emissions-free mobility. Materials are at the heart of clean energy technologies, such as batteries, fuel cells, solar cells, hydrogen electrolysis, and carbon capture, and discovering new materials can deliver the breakthroughs needed to displace traditional fossil fuels. Our team develops tools to overcome roadblocks in the materials discovery process using software, machine learning, robotics, and automation. Our customers are scientists and engineers advancing new batteries, fuel cell catalysts, and other materials development projects. By increasing the speed of discovery, we can iterate faster and bring new materials from the lab to the world at a much-needed, faster pace. 

 

The Opportunity:
The intern will work within the AMDD team on a project focused on developing advanced analysis tools and pipelines for X-Ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of mixed-metal oxide thin-films. They will use and develop automated Rietveld refinement tools to label XRD patterns and understand structure-property-processing relationships across a compositionally diverse dataset. They will perform phase identification on XRD patterns ranging from unary to ternary metal-oxides, and develop pipelines to perform automatic or human-assisted labeling of experimental data. They will investigate crystallite size, texturing, and strain across the dataset. This work will contribute to the development of automated workflows for phase identification from XRD, an essential bottleneck in accelerating high-throughput materials discovery. 

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Responsibilities
  • Scope the project to align with the core research efforts.

  • Be the primary driver of the technical plan (e.g., model development, analysis plan) with regular feedback from mentors.

  • Execute the project using TRI resources.

  • Present the project’s approach and findings in research meetings.


Qualifications
  • Pursuing a PhD in Materials Science, Chemistry, Physics, or related fields.

  • Familiar with running tabletop or synchrotron XRD experiments.

  • 2+ years experience in performing Rietveld refinement, bonus if familiar with analyzing different materials classes.

  • Experience with basic data analysis in Python.

  • A track record of executing research projects evidenced by journal publications.

  • Strong communication skills and ability to work and foster collaboration across interdisciplinary teams.

  • Desire to work on challenging and open-ended research projects.


Bonus Qualifications
  • Experience using XRD phase identification software, e.g. DARA, GSAS-II, MAUD, Spotlight. 

  • Experience working with thin-film metal oxides.

  • Comfortable working with large datasets.

  • Experience with code best practices and collaborative software development using git.


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The pay range for this position at commencement of employment is expected to be between $45 and $65/hour for California-based roles. Base pay offered will depend on multiple individualized factors, including, but not limited to, a candidate's experience, skills, job-related knowledge, and market location. TRI offers a generous benefits package including medical, dental, and vision insurance, and paid time off benefits (including holiday pay and sick time). Additional details regarding these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment.

 

Please reference this Candidate Privacy Notice to inform you of the categories of personal information that we collect from individuals who inquire about and/or apply to work for Toyota Research Institute, Inc. or its subsidiaries, including Toyota A.I. Ventures GP, L.P., and the purposes for which we use such personal information.

 

TRI is fueled by a diverse and inclusive community of people with unique backgrounds, education and life experiences. We are dedicated to fostering an innovative and collaborative environment by living the values that are an essential part of our culture. We believe diversity makes us stronger and are proud to provide Equal Employment Opportunity for all, without regard to an applicant’s race, color, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, religion, marital status, genetic information, veteran status, or any other status protected under federal, state or local laws.

 

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records for employment.

Key Skills
X-Ray DiffractionRietveld RefinementPythonPhase IdentificationData AnalysisThin-Film AnalysisMetal OxidesGitCollaborative Software DevelopmentResearch Project ExecutionTechnical CommunicationCrystallite Size Analysis
Categories
Science & ResearchEngineeringEnergyData & AnalyticsTechnology
Benefits
Medical InsuranceDental InsuranceVision InsurancePaid Time OffHoliday PaySick Time