Summer 2026 Intern Materials Modeling

Essential Duties & 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.

Qualifications :

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).

Additional Information :

Western Digital is committed to providing equal opportunities to all applicants and employees and will not discriminate against any applicant or employee based on their race color ancestry religion (including religious dress and grooming standards) sex (including pregnancy childbirth or related medical conditions breastfeeding or related medical conditions) gender (including a persons gender identity gender expression and gender-related appearance and behavior whether or not stereotypically associated with the persons assigned sex at birth) age national origin sexual orientation medical condition marital status (including domestic partnership status) physical disability mental disability medical condition genetic information protected medical and family care leave Civil Air Patrol status military and veteran status or other legally protected characteristics. We also prohibit harassment of any individual on any of the characteristics listed above. Our non-discrimination policy applies to all aspects of employment. We comply with the laws and regulations set forth in the Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal poster. Our pay transparency policy is available here.

Western Digital thrives on the power and potential of diversity. As a global company we believe the most effective way to embrace the diversity of our customers and communities is to mirror it from within. We believe the fusion of various perspectives results in the best outcomes for our employees our company our customers and the world around us. We are committed to an inclusive environment where every individual can thrive through a sense of belonging respect and contribution.

Western Digital is committed to offering opportunities to applicants with disabilities and ensuring all candidates can successfully navigate our careers website and our hiring process. Please contact us at to advise us of your accommodation your email please include a description of the specific accommodation you are requesting as well as the job title and requisition number of the position for which you are applying.

Based on our experience we anticipate that the application deadline will be 4/7/26 although we reserve the right to close the application process sooner if we hire an applicant for this position before the application deadline. If we are not able to hire someone from this role before the application deadline we will update this posting with a new anticipated application deadline.

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Compensation & Benefits Details

• An employees pay position within the salary range may be based on several factors including but not limited to (1) relevant education; qualifications; certifications; and experience; (2) skills ability knowledge of the job; (3) performance contribution and results; (4) geographic location; (5) shift; (6) internal and external equity; and (7) business and organizational needs.
• The salary range is what we believe to be the range of possible compensation for this role at the time of this posting.  We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range and this range is only applicable for jobs to be performed in California Colorado New York or remote jobs that can be performed in California Colorado and New York.  This range may be modified in the future.
• If your position is non-exempt you are eligible for overtime pay pursuant to company policy and applicable laws.  You may also be eligible for shift differential pay depending on the shift to which you are assigned.

• You will be eligible to be considered for bonuses under either Western Digitals Short Term Incentive Plan (STI Plan) or the Sales Incentive Plan (SIP) which provides incentive awards based on Company and individual performance depending on your role and your performance. You may be eligible to participate in our annual Long-Term Incentive (LTI) program which consists of restricted stock units (RSUs) or cash equivalents pursuant to the terms of the LTI plan. Please note that not all roles are eligible to participate in the LTI program and not all roles are eligible for equity under the LTI plan. RSU awards are also available to eligible new hires subject to Western Digitals Standard Terms and Conditions for Restricted Stock Unit Awards.

• We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including 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; and the Western Digital Savings 401(k) Plan.
• Note: No amount of pay is considered to be wages or compensation until such amount is earned vested and determinable. The amount and availability of any bonus commission benefits or any other form of compensation and benefits that are allocable to a particular employee remains in the Companys sole discretion unless and until paid and may be modified at the Companys sole discretion consistent with the law.

Notice To Candidates: Please be aware that Western Digital and its subsidiaries will never request payment as a condition for applying for a position or receiving an offer of employment. Should you encounter any such requests please report it immediately to Western Digital Ethics Helpline or email .

Remote Work :

No

Employment Type :

Intern