Textile Research Intern
Textile Research Intern
Description of Position:
Nelumbo is a science and technology company focused on generating advanced materials through surface modification. Through a proprietary process, Mineral®, Nelumbo is eliminating PFAS from the textile supply chain and replacing it with more sustainable materials. Kuraray, a Japanese manufacturer of chemicals, resins, and fibers, recently acquired Nelumbo to accelerate the deployment of the technology.
Nelumbo is seeking a highly motivated and capable Textile Research Intern to support the development of textile coatings and processes for polymer-based substrates. The ideal candidate will have excellent wet chemistry laboratory experience, be highly organized, and demonstrate attention to details.
Key Responsibilities:
- Perform optimization DOEs for new ceramic deposit chemistry on a variety of textile substrates
- Run analytical and performance test panels on textile standards and samples with a focus
Desirable Traits:
- Quick Execution
- Attention to detail
- Organized
- Adaptable in a fast-paced work environment
- Team player
- Self-Starter
Pre-Requisites:
- On track to complete a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Materials Science, or similar in or prior to 2026
- Wet process chemistry experience
- Good interpersonal and communication skills in a multi-cultural environment
- Bonus: familiarity with material characterization methods relating to textured ceramic deposits (SEM, ICP, XRF)
- Bonus: familiarity with textile testing and performance standards
Position Location and Duration:
Hayward, CA
May - July 2026
Nelumbo Background:
Nelumbo is a UC Berkeley spin-out company commercializing advanced materials to increase sustainability in the built environment and consumer goods. Our materials leverage nanoscale features to enhance the surface performance of materials in different environments. This role will support the development of materials for primarily polymer-based consumer goods.
We are a team of highly motivated engineers and scientists with insatiable curiosities and a strong desire to enable completely new classes of products through novel technologies. The processes to create our materials are multistep immersions in either batch or continuous process lines involving proprietary metal-organic chemistry and are currently being evaluated at commercial manufacturing scale.
For more information, please visit our webpage: www.nelumbo.io