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Job Description

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.

Job Details

The SOC (Standard Occupational Classification) code is 17-2131.00
The Mean Annual Wage in the U.S. is $ 97,050.00
The Mean Hourly Wage is $ 46.00
Currently, there are 26,800 people on this job

☝️ Information based on the reference occupation “Materials Engineers”.

Also Known As…

Tasks for “Research Engineer”

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

Related Technology & Tools

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