Mechatronics / Mechanical Engineering Internship
- Internship
- Full-time
- Amsterdam , NL
- 1K EUR a month
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.
This internship is about building the machines and systems that make it possible.
The role
We’re looking for someone who builds things. Not just pen and paper, but in reality, where things are messy and complex.
From your first week, you’ll take ownership. Previous interns have designed and build entirely custom process equipment that includes steam, from sourcing components and machining parts to testing and deploying working systems into production environments.
You’ll work across mechanics, electronics, controls, and fabrication. The goal is simple: build robust systems quickly, test them in reality, and improve them fast.
What your day looks like
No two weeks are the same. You might:
design a custom complex reactor component in Fusion
build a frame in the workshop (grinding, drilling, welding)
wire a control cabinet, integrate sensors and set up pneumatic actuators
debug a mechatronic system that’s not behaving the way it should
iterate and modify mechanical designs because the first physical version didn’t work
This is hands-on engineering. Things break, leak, overheat, or behave unexpectedly. You fix them. The systems you build will run real fermentations.
How we work
We’re a small and highly ambitious technical team. Every person here matters.
We work on site because hardware is built together. You walk to the system, test it, change it, test again. We build from first principles. If “industry standard” slows us down, we rewrite it.
There is real autonomy. The person closest to the problem decides. If something is broken, you fix it.
Speed matters. We build, test, learn, and iterate quickly. Mistakes are fine. Repeating them isn’t.
You’ll get your hands dirty. Workshop, wiring, wet systems, messy setups, that’s part of the job. If you’re looking for a standard 9 to 5 internship, this is not it. Your learning curve is as steep as you can handle it.
What you’ll work on
Design and build custom mechatronic systems
Fabricate in the workshop: drilling, tapping, grinding, basic machining, welding
Assemble and wire electrical systems and control cabinets
Integrate sensors, actuators and basic control logic
Debug and improve mechatronic systems under time pressure
Help improve our overall engineering architecture
Who you are
You don’t need to know everything. But you need to be serious about building.
You study Mechatronics or Mechanical Engineering or a related field
You’ve built things outside of uni: side-projects, machines, electronics, anything real
You love being in a workshop and working with tools
You’re comfortable figuring things out without waiting for instructions
You move fast and learn quickly because you enjoy it
If you have experience with welding, CFD or hygienic design for biotech that is a plus!
About us
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.
If successful, the impact should be visible from space.
We’re a deeply technical, highly ambitious team with backgrounds spanning fermentation, food, bioprocess, engineering, and scale-up. Team members previously worked at companies including The Vegetarian Butcher, Perfect Day, Nature’s Fynd, Lanzatech and many more.
We’re intentionally flat, interdisciplinary and execution focused. People here have 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.