What are the responsibilities and job description for the Data Engineer Spring Co-op_Spring 26 position at foundenergy?
Company Overview:
Found Energy is building clean energy delivery platforms capable of replacing fossil fuels for heavy industries ranging from aluminum production (4% of global CO2 emissions) to fertilizer production (2% of global CO2 emissions) to maritime shipping (3% of global CO2 emissions). Building off technology developed at MIT that enables metallic aluminum to split water, our energy delivery systems safely generate hydrogen and industrial heat on-site at >5x the volumetric energy density of liquid hydrogen and >3x that of methanol and ammonia. By integrating storage, transport, and generation into a single package, our technology solves some of the biggest pain points in renewable energy transportation and storage.
At Found Energy, we believe in securing a livable and equitable future for our planet, and we are looking for partners who are motivated by this goal to join us. For more information, visit https://found.energy.
Job Overview:
Found Energy is at the cutting edge of hydrogen generation technology, pioneering systems that have the potential to revolutionize energy solutions worldwide. As we scale our reactor systems to support our minimum viable product (MVP) and commercial pilot demonstrations, we are building data infrastructure and analytics capabilities to support operational insights, optimization, and decision-making.
As a Data Engineer Co-op, you will be instrumental in building and maintaining the data infrastructure necessary to analyze and improve our pilot systems. You will work closely with our R&D, automation, and engineering teams to collect, organize, and analyze data generated by our systems. You will also collaborate closely with our chemistry and materials science teams to support experiment tracking, characterization workflows, and data management for lab-based R&D. Your work will help drive efficiency, reliability, and scalability in our operations, playing a key role in advancing our mission to create impactful climate technologies.
Co-op Duration: 6 months, with potential extension. January 2026- June 2026
Responsibilities and Duties:
- Design, build, and maintain scalable data pipelines to collect and process real-time and historical data from pilot systems and lab systems.
- Support chemistry and materials science workflows by building tools for experiment tracking, sample management, and characterization data ingestion.
- Develop and optimize database schemas and storage solutions for structured and unstructured data.
- Integrate data from diverse sources, including sensors, control systems, and third-party APIs, ensuring data quality and consistency.
- Collaborate with automation and R&D teams to define data requirements for system monitoring and performance analysis.
- Create dashboards and visualizations to monitor system performance, enabling data-driven decision-making.
- Develop and implement algorithms for data analysis, including trend detection, anomaly identification, and predictive modeling.
- Ensure data security, integrity, and compliance with company and industry standards.
- Participate in design reviews and contribute to the development of best practices for data engineering processes.
- Document data workflows, pipelines, and technical procedures.
Qualifications:
- Passionate about climate tech and its potential to impact the world.
- Pursuing a degree in Computer Science, Data Engineering, Software Engineering, Applied Math, or a related field.
- Familiarity with programming languages such as Python and SQL
- Experience with data processing frameworks such as Pandas, Apache Spark, or similar.
- Knowledge of relational databases (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL)
- Familiarity with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud) and their data engineering tools.
- Understanding of data visualization tools (e.g., Tableau, Power BI, or Matplotlib).
- Experience with version control systems like Git and collaborative workflows.
- Ability to understand scientific data structures, such as experiment logs, sample metadata, or characterization results.
- Familiarity with basic chemistry or lab workflows (e.g., wet lab experiments, sample preparation, or analytical instrumentation) is a plus.
- Ability to work in a multidisciplinary environment, collaborating with hardware, software, and chemical engineers.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills.
Preferred Skills (Not Required):
- Experience with time-series databases (e.g., InfluxDB, TimescaleDB).
- Experience working in a scientific or research lab environment
- Exposure to data generated from chemistry, materials science, or analytical instruments (e.g., ICP-MS, XRD, SEM, NMR, titrations).
- Exposure to IoT devices and edge computing.
Research suggests that qualified people from historically marginalized groups may self-select out of opportunities if they don't meet 100% of the job requirements. We encourage individuals who might not meet the exact requirements, but who believe they have the skills necessary to thrive to apply for this role.
Found Energy does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender expression, age, national origin, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations. These activities include, but are not limited to, hiring and firing of staff, selection of vendors, and provision of services. We are committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all members of our staff, subcontractors, vendors, and clients.