How to become a Materials Engineer 2024

Materials Engineer Evaluate materials and develop machinery and processes to manufacture materials for use in products that must meet specialized design and performance specifications. Develop new uses for known materials. Includes those engineers working with composite materials or specializing in one type of material, such as graphite, metal and metal alloys, ceramics and glass, plastics and polymers, and naturally occurring materials. Includes metallurgists and metallurgical engineers, ceramic engineers, and welding engineers.

Materials Engineer is Also Know as

In different settings, Materials Engineer is titled as

Extrusion Engineer
Materials Development Engineer
Materials Engineer
Materials Research Engineer
Metallurgical Engineer
Metallurgist
Research Engineer
Test Engineer

Education and Training of Materials Engineer

Materials Engineer is categorized in Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed

Experience Required for Materials Engineer

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Education Required for Materials Engineer

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

Degrees Related to Materials Engineer

Training Required for Materials Engineer

Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Related Ocuupations

Some Ocuupations related to Materials Engineer in different industries are

What Do Materials Engineer do?

Analyze product failure data and laboratory test results to determine causes of problems and develop solutions.
Monitor material performance, and evaluate its deterioration.
Supervise the work of technologists, technicians, and other engineers and scientists.
Design and direct the testing or control of processing procedures.
Evaluate technical specifications and economic factors relating to process or product design objectives.
Conduct or supervise tests on raw materials or finished products to ensure their quality.
Perform managerial functions, such as preparing proposals and budgets, analyzing labor costs, and writing reports.
Solve problems in a number of engineering fields, such as mechanical, chemical, electrical, civil, nuclear, and aerospace.
Plan and evaluate new projects, consulting with other engineers and corporate executives, as necessary.
Review new product plans, and make recommendations for material selection, based on design objectives such as strength, weight, heat resistance, electrical conductivity, and cost.
Design processing plants and equipment.
Modify properties of metal alloys, using thermal and mechanical treatments.
Guide technical staff in developing materials for specific uses in projected products or devices.
Plan and implement laboratory operations to develop material and fabrication procedures that meet cost, product specification, and performance standards.
Determine appropriate methods for fabricating and joining materials.
Conduct training sessions on new material products, applications, or manufacturing methods for customers and their employees.
Supervise production and testing processes in industrial settings, such as metal refining facilities, smelting or foundry operations, or nonmetallic materials production operations.
Write for technical magazines, journals, and trade association publications.
Replicate the characteristics of materials and their components, using computers.
Teach in colleges and universities.
Present technical information at conferences.

Qualities of Good Materials Engineer

Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.

Tools Used by Materials Engineer

Abrasion testers
Accelerated weathering machines
Accelerometers
Acoustic impediography equipment
Adhesion testers
Adiabatic bomb calorimeters
Ammeters
Analytical balances
Atomic absorption AA spectrophotometers
Atomic force microscopes
Attritors
Ball mills
Balling drums
Band saws
Benchtop centrifuges
Binocular compound microscopes
Calorimeters
Cement mixers
Charpy impact testers
Colorimeters
Compression testing machines
Computer numerical controlled CNC milling machines
Computerized numerical control CNC lathes
Concrete test hammers
Coordinate measuring machines CMM
Counter-current mixers
Current versus voltage IV curve tracers
Dataloggers
Deionizers
Differential scanning calorimeters
Differential thermal analyzers
Diffractometers
Digital cameras
Digitizing oscilloscopes
Drop weight impact towers
Drying ovens
Durometers
Electrometers
Electron microprobe analyzers EMPA
Electronic toploading balances
Electrostatic separators
Energy dispersive x-ray spectrometers EDS
Etching equipment
Extensometers
Fiberscopes
Film thickness measurement systems
Filter presses
Flame photometers
Flotation columns
Fourier transform infrared FTIR spectroscopes
Freeze-thaw test units
Friction and wear testers
Fume hoods
Gas chromatographs GC
Gas detectors
Gauss meters
Gel permeation chromatographs GPC
Graphite element furnaces
Gyratory crushers
Hardness testers
Heated walk-in environmental chambers
High pressure liquid chromatograph HPLC equipment
High temperature material testing systems
High tension separators
High-vacuum tensile testing chambers
Holding jigs
Hot blenders
Hydraulic presses
Impact testers
Inert atmosphere box furnaces
Infrared cameras
Infrared monitors
Injection molding machines
Isodynamic separators
Jar mills
Jaw crushers
Kneading compactors
Laboratory blenders
Laboratory glove boxes
Laboratory microwave ovens
Laboratory pulverizers
Laboratory sample splitters
Laboratory test sieves
Laboratory vacuum pumps
Laminators
Lapping wheels
Laser Doppler velocimeters LDV
Lathes
Linear variable differential transformers LVDT
Liquid conditioners
Load frames
Magnetic separators
Magnetic susceptibility balances
Masonry cutters
Mass spectrometers
Mechanical sieve shakers
Melt spinners
Micromanipulators
Microscope photo attachments
Microwave autoclaves
Microwave sintering furnaces
Microwave tube furnaces
Molecular pumps
Muffle furnaces
Optical compound microscopes
Optical emission spectrometers
Oscillating water tunnels
Particle size analyzers
Permeability measuring devices
Personal computers
pH testers
Pit depth gauges
Plasma-arc furnaces
Polarizing microscopes
Polishing machines
Porosity indicators
Pycnometers
Reflectometers
Rod mills
Roll crushers
Rotating furnaces
Safety glasses
Safety gloves
Sample presses
Sanding machines
Scanning electron microscopes SEM
Screw-driven test machines
Servohydraulic test machines
Slurry blenders
Solar simulators
Solid state laser systems
Solvent dryers
Sonometers
Specific gravity balances
Spectrocolorimeters
Spectrometers
Spectrophotometers
Stabilometers
Steam autoclaves
Stereo microscopes
Strain gauges
Temperature regulated shaking water baths
Tensile testers
Tension gauges
Thermal analysis systems
Thermogravimetric analyzers
Tube furnaces
Turbidimeters
Twin screw extruders
Twin-screw extruders
Ultrasonic baths
Ultrasonic dismembrators
Ultrasonicators
Ultrasound inspection equipment
Ultraviolet UV exposure units
Vacuum coating systems
Vacuum evaporators
Vacuum furnaces
Vibration analysis equipment
Viscosity meters
Water burets
Water-cooled saws
Wind tunnels
X ray fluorescence XRF analyzers
X ray fluorescence XRF spectrometers

Technology Skills required for Materials Engineer

ANSYS Multiphysics
Autodesk AutoCAD
C++
Computer aided design CAD software
Dassault Systemes CATIA
Dassault Systemes SolidWorks
Digital image correlation DIC software
Enterprise resource planning ERP software
Fault detection isolation and recovery FDIR software
Finite element analysis software
Formula translation/translator FORTRAN
Fused deposition modeling FDM rapid prototyping systems
Graphics software
IBM Notes
Image analysis systems
Microsoft Access
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Office software
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft SharePoint
Microsoft Visio
Microsoft Visual Basic
Microsoft Visual Basic.NET
Microsoft Word
Minitab
MTS Testworks
National Instruments LabVIEW
Oracle Database
Presentation software
PTC Creo Parametric
Python
QMC CM4D
SAP software
Stereolithography SLA rapid prototyping systems
The MathWorks MATLAB
Web browser software
Word processing software

US Universities

How to become Materials Engineer in 2024