Training tomorrow’s innovators: CMI intern tackles REE challenges

person standing by a research poster: CMI Intern Aubrey Lemer at 2025 CMI Annual Meeting.
CMI Intern Aubrey Lemer, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, at 2025 CMI Annual Meeting.

CMI researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory conducted the activity for this highlight

Innovation

Summer 2025 CMI Intern Aubrey Lemer joined researchers at Oak Ridge National Lab to explore new lixiviants that can size-selectively leach rare earth elements (REEs) from secondary feedstock, a cutting-edge approach to making critical material recovery more efficient.

Achievements

  • Gained understanding of dissolution in complex inorganic systems.
  • Developed hands-on skills in wet lab techniques, reaction setup, and data collection.
  • Mastered autobalance & inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) sample prep, operation, and troubleshooting.
  • Independently designed a python script to perform key data validation checks.
  • Engaged in week-long industry visit to OLI Systems to learn thermodynamics software.

Hub Targets Addressed 

  • Training the critical materials workforce of the future.
  • Developing processes to recover and separate REEs from unconventional sources.
person standing by research equipment: Aubrey Lemer using CMI high-throughput auto-balance to prepare leaching samples. 
CMI Intern Aubrey Lemer, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, using CMI high-throughput auto-balance to prepare leaching samples.