Materials Testing Engineer
Alchemy, Canada

About Alchemy

At Alchemy, our mission is to build a nanotechnology company for the 21st century. As a team, we’re pretty obsessive about this mission and relentless about accomplishing it.

Today, Alchemy’s nanocoatings technologies are disrupting the automotive windshield replacement industry and enabling multi-climate reliability of advanced sensor systems.

Our aftermarket product, ExoShield, is a transparent film that is applied on a vehicle’s windshield (just like window tint) to prevent stone chips. ExoShield is a must have for today’s ADAS-equipped vehicle owners who want to protect themselves against expensive windshield replacements. In addition, Alchemy’s nanocoatings technologies can also be leveraged to improve the multi-climate reliability of various sensor systems, such as those in self-driving vehicles.

Alchemy is a Y-Combinator funded startup, and is backed by Canada’s leading angel investors and venture capitalists. We are also supported by top institutions such as the Stanford-StartX, University of Waterloo, Waterloo Institute of Nanotechnology, Velocity, and the Creative Destruction Lab.

Responsibilities

We are building the next generation of our nanocoatings to solve problems beyond windshield protection. As a Materials Testing Engineer at Alchemy, you will be helping to develop the foundation for this technology.

You will be working with our engineers and partners to develop test methodologies and next generation coatings for their high-value needs. This will include integrating additional functionalities into our existing coatings and building/optimizing the coating process and evaluating the performance of our products against the specific use-case. Your high level responsibilities may include:

• Understanding the use-case and translating it into controlled testing environments through the design, prototyping, construction and evaluation of new test apparatus.
• Running validation testing for our coatings that are still in development and benchmarking against competitive technologies.
• Planning and coordinating third party testing activities and managing our certification process with relevant standards
• Modification and optimization of the coating process to increase compatibility with different coating techniques (e.g. spray coating, spin coating, dip coating, roll-to-roll coating, etc.)

In addition to your technical responsibilities, you will also be responsible for supervising co-op students, interns, and technicians contributing to your project.

Requirements

Ideal Candidate Profile

Here at Alchemy, we value passion, resourcefulness, and humility. Alchemy is an early-stage startup this means you will have the opportunity to decide how much impact you have. We are looking for someone who cares deeply about Alchemy’s mission and is just as excited about working at a fast-paced deep technology startup as we are. This role will insert you immediately into our core team and provide you with the opportunity to make key contributions to our most critical product lines and projects. You will be expected to move fast, which will often require using your technical expertise amp; judgment to find effective ways to accelerate project timelines without sacrificing quality.

Alchemy is a rapidly growing startup with rapid iteration cycles and ambitious delivery deadlines. In order to succeed in this role, you should have an advanced level of expertise in the following areas:

• A solid foundation in DoE and statistics, with preferred experience in formulation optimization/ coating process optimization
• Be comfortable building new test apparatus from scratch, including working with CAD, machine shops, and control systems
• Working with ASTM standards, ISO standards and their certification process
• Synthesis, purification, functionalization and characterization of nanoparticles
• Experience in polymer, surface and analytical chemistry is strongly preferred

We strongly prefer that you have prior experience in relevant fields, but are willing to overlook any lack of experience for a relentless, hungry, and talented candidate:

• Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, Mechanical or Materials Engineering with 2-5 years of experience, or a Master’s degree with 1-3 years of experience
• Experience in the nanocoatings field specifically in formulation optimization, nanoparticle chemistry, polymer chemistry, surface chemistry, and analytical chemistry
• Experience working in a materials testing lab and familiarity with abrasion testing, tensile testing, surface characterization, optical characterization, and coordinating field tests
• Proactive and self-starter attitude with a focus on continuously finding new ways to increase your productivity
• Proven ability to work independently and manage priorities/ time

Job Rewards and Benefits