CFD Modelling Internship
We're building the protein breweries of the future. Our process is up to 5,000× more land-efficient than animal or plant protein. In the coming years, we'll run our first commercial facilities producing thousands of tonnes of protein.
To get there, we need to deeply understand what happens inside our fermentation tanks. That's where you come in.
The role
We're looking for someone who can model fluid dynamics. You'll use CFD to solve two problems that directly shape our next-generation design:
Mass transfer: Model the oxygen transfer rate and maximum dilution rate in our new demo-scale system. These parameters determine how hard we can push our fermentations, and how fast we can grow.
Heat transfer: Our fermentations are exothermic. As we scale, removing metabolic heat becomes a critical engineering constraint. You'll model heat transfer in and around the reactor, evaluate heat exchanger configurations, and propose better designs.
This isn't an academic project for the sake of a thesis. Your models will be validated against real experimental data from our pilot and demo plant. If your simulation says we can push dilution rate 20% higher, we'll test it. If your heat exchanger redesign improves cooling, we'll build it.
What your work looks like
You might:
build a CFD model of gas-liquid mass transfer in our tank geometry
simulate temperature fields and identify thermal bottlenecks
run parametric studies on heat exchanger configurations
compare simulation predictions against real fermentation data
present design recommendations that change how we build hardware
You'll work closely with our fermentation and hardware teams. The problems are real and the designs you propose will influence what gets built.
How we work
We're a small, high-talent-density team. Every person here matters.
We work on site because hardware is built together. You walk to the fermentor, see the system, talk to the people running it, and go back to your model with better intuition. We build from first principles. If "industry standard" slows us down, we rewrite it.
There is real autonomy. You own your project. Speed matters: we build, test, learn, and iterate quickly. Mistakes are fine. Repeating them isn't.
Who you are
You're a current Master's or PhD student in mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, applied physics, or a related field
You have hands-on CFD experience: you've built models, not just followed tutorials
You understand fluid dynamics and heat transfer at a fundamental level
You're comfortable with meshing, turbulence modelling, and multiphase flows
You can translate simulation results into engineering decisions
You move fast and learn quickly because you enjoy it
Bonus if you have experience with bioreactor modelling, heat pumps, software, hardware, experimental validation of CFD models or sterile experience.
What you'll walk away with
Models that were validated against real-world data
Design recommendations that directly influenced hardware decisions
Deep understanding of the engineering challenges in scaling fermentation
A reference from a team that actually knows what you built
What we're building
We're going beyond the limiting constraints of photosynthesis. We use natural fermentation to turn simple ingredients into complex proteins. It's what we've been doing for millennia with wine, beer, bread and yoghurt.
Yet most fermentations rely on sugars — which are derived from crops grown on agricultural land. Our fermentation platform relies on an easily storable and shippable renewable energy based feedstock. This allows us to break free from the limiting constraints of photosynthesis.
We're building the spiritual successor to the Haber-Bosch process. While Haber-Bosch led to cheap synthetic fertilizer which currently feeds half of humanity, we have found a way to produce amino acid complete proteins up to ±5000X more land efficient than animals. By rough approximation this could multiply the carrying capacity of the earth by an order of magnitude. The result of our ambition should be visible from space.
About us
We're a small, highly technical and deeply curious team with deep food and fermentation expertise with backgrounds from the Vegetarian Butcher, Perfect Day to Nature's Fynd and many more.
We're flat and interdisciplinary by design. We value autonomy, speed, and ambition. You'll have the freedom to build, and the responsibility to do it well.
We're based within the city ring of Amsterdam for a reason. We want to attract the best people from around the world and believe that Amsterdam is a great place to settle… and bike to work. On top of that, the Netherlands is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world. The Dutch have a mindset to push the boundaries of food production and have the practical expertise to scale up our fermentation platform.
We believe hardware startups can thrive in Europe. If we can get approval here, we can do it anywhere (and we want Europe to accelerate).
We've raised +€12M from world-class investors including World Fund, Vorwerk Ventures, Revent, and Nucleus Capital, and European and national grants.