Summer Intern 2026 - Modeling and Simulation

WD; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 27,552 - 48,216; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid vacation time

Comprehensive medical/dental/vision insurance

Tuition reimbursement

Employee stock purchase plan

Job summary

A leading tech company in San Jose is looking for a HAMR Modelling Intern. The intern will assist in understanding and designing magnetic recording media, contributing to simulation tools, and collaborating with experienced engineers. Candidates should be pursuing a PhD in relevant fields and possess strong analytical and programming skills, particularly in Python and MATLAB. This role offers the chance to work at the intersection of data engineering and materials science, providing an exciting career opportunity.

Qualifications

• Currently pursuing a PhD in fields related to magnetic recording physics.
• Strong development skills in relevant programming languages.
• Experience with simulation of magnetism or magnetic recording.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with engineers on magnetic sputter and recording groups.
• Contribute functionality to existing simulation tools.
• Share key results and provide suggestions for further analysis.

Skills

Strong analytical skills

Programming in Python

Programming in MATLAB

Excellent communication skills

Education

Currently pursuing a PhD in Physics/Engineering/Computer Science

Tools

Simulation tools

Job description

Job Description

As a HAMR modelling intern you will learn and contribute to how we understand, design and fabricate the next generation of magnetic recording media. We have projects working on recording models and optical/thermal simulations which will help a team of seasoned material scientists, test engineers and subject matter experts to extract value & insights from our experiments.

You will also assist in developing mathematical/statistical models to uncover correlations and causal relationships among metrics characterizing the performance of magnetic storage media. This is an exciting opportunity at the intersection of data engineering, statistical modeling, materials science and physics.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Collaborate with engineers from magnetic sputter, equipment engineering and recording groups on a day-to-day basis to develop further our understanding of HAMR recording.
• Contribute additional functionality to our existing simulation tools.
• Share the key results with other members of the team, provide suggestions for further analysis and receive feedback.

Qualifications

Required:

• Currently pursuing a PhD in Physics/Engineering/Computer Science or fields related to magnetic recording physics
• Strong analytical skills with a background in simulation of magnetism or magnetic recording
• Strong development skills in relevant programming languages, eg: python, MATLAB
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Additional Information

WD is committed to providing equal opportunities to all applicants and employees and will not discriminate against any applicant or employee based on 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 person’s gender identity, gender expression, and gender-related appearance and behavior, whether or not stereotypically associated with the person’s 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.

WD 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.

WD 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 [e-mail] to advise us of your accommodation request. In 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 7/6/26, 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.

Compensation & Benefits Details

• An employee’s 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 WD’s 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. 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 WD'S 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 WD 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 Company's sole discretion unless and until paid and may be modified at the Company’s sole discretion, consistent with the law.

  Notice To Candidates: Please be aware that WD 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 WD Ethics Helpline or email [e-mail].