Western Digital · 1 day ago
Summer 2026 Intern - Materials Modeling
San Jose, CA
Internship
Onsite
Intern
Start in 2026 SummerWestern Digital is a leading technology company focused on powering global innovation and advancing data storage solutions. They are seeking a Summer 2026 Intern in Materials Modeling to conduct research on spin-to-charge conversion in novel materials, collaborating with scientists on computational projects related to emerging technologies.
Big DataComputerHardwareManufacturingSoftware
Responsibilities
This is a summer internship in Western Digital Research, a world-class research laboratory in San Jose, California with ~80 employees
Research activities in the lab focus on information storage, sensors, spintronics, superconducting devices, and AI memory/compute architectures
The materials team conducts experimental and computational research activity with the mission to develop novel materials for emerging technologies
The summer intern will take on a materials modeling project involving collaboration and sharing of insights with scientists across theory and experimental teams
This internship project will focus on spin-to-charge conversion in novel materials
The ability to efficiently convert between spin and charge currents is critical for future spintronic devices like SOT-MRAM or inverse spin Hall sensors
By combining strong spin-orbit coupling in crystals with specific symmetries, spin currents can be generated using the spin Hall effect or the Edelstein effect
For this project, the intern will use first principles approaches to (1) evaluate the role of spin-orbit interactions in the band structure of crystalline materials, (2) calculate intrinsic spin Hall conductivity and Rashba-Edelstein contributions to spin transport and accumulation, and (3) examine the impact of strain and dopants on band structures and spin current
Qualification
Required
Current student pursuing a PhD in Physics, Electrical Engineering, Material Science, or Chemistry
Knowledge of atomistic, ab-initio computational modeling techniques such as density functional theory. Experience with first principles codes including Quantum Espresso, VASP, Questaal, and KKR-CPA approaches
Experience predicting charge and spin transport using Kubo formula, non-equilibrium Green function (NEGF) approaches, or Boltzmann transport equation
Minimum of 3.0 GPA
Demonstrated ability to conduct a research project
Excellent computer and communication skills. High attention to detail. Strong work ethic
Preferred
Background in magnetism and magnetic materials
Familiarity with converting plane wave DFT calculations to light weight localized basis sets for post-processing (e.g. PAOFlow and Wannier90)
Benefits
Paid vacation time
Paid sick leave
Medical/dental/vision insurance
Life, accident and disability insurance
Tax-advantaged flexible spending and health savings accounts
Employee assistance program
Other voluntary benefit programs such as supplemental life and AD&D, legal plan, pet insurance, critical illness, accident and hospital indemnity
Tuition reimbursement
Transit
The Applause Program
Employee stock purchase plan
Western Digital Savings 401(k) Plan
Company
Western Digital
Western Digital helps customers capture, preserve, access, and transform an ever-increasing diversity of data.
Founded in 1970
10001+ employees
H1B Sponsorship
Western Digital has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (234)
2024 (537)
2023 (448)
2022 (580)
2021 (525)
2020 (332)
Funding
Current Stage
Public CompanyTotal Funding
$901.37M2023-10-31Post Ipo Debt· $1.37M
2023-01-31Post Ipo Equity· $900M
2015-09-30Post Ipo Equity
Leadership Team
Sesh Tirumala
SVP, CIO
A
Alvin B. Phillips
Founder
Recent News
2026-01-07
Morningstar.com
2026-01-07
2026-01-07
Company data provided by crunchbase