Material Engineering: Career Options if You Love to Solve Design Problems

What Materials Engineers Do

Materials engineers solve design problems in hundreds of industries by applying their knowledge of the structure, properties, processes, and performance of naturally occurring and engineered materials. Material engineering was previously known as metallurgy, but the types of materials that engineers in this field work with have gone well beyond metals.

The Materials of Material Engineering

The materials of interest to materials engineers are metals, ceramics, semiconductors, polymers, composites, biomaterials, and some you've probably never heard of, such as buckyballs, nanotubes, and aerogels. The last three are human-made products measured in nanometers.

Niches Within Material Engineering

Materials engineers may specialize by material, structure, or process; or by the industry in which they work. Here are some well-defined subfields of materials engineering:

• Nanotechnology. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter; nanotechnology deals with units smaller than one nanometer, up to 100 nanometers. How big is one nanometer? It is like comparing the earth to a marble! Nanotechnology creates devices at the molecular level.
• Microtechnology. A micrometer is one-millionth of a meter. Microtechnology goes by the acronym MEMS, which stands for Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems. Think consumer and industrial electronics including cell phones, iPods, inkjet printers, scanners, digital cameras, and automotive electronics.
• Crystallography. This is the study of crystals.
• Materials characterization. This subfield explores methodologies for analyzing materials.
• Metallurgy. This is the study of metals.
• Biomaterials. This is the study of organic matter in the pursuit of imitating its properties in engineered materials and the use of materials in biologic systems. Examples are hip and knee replacements.
• Electronic and magnetic materials. These materials are used in circuit boards, flash drives, and sensors.
• Tribology. This is the study of the effect of wear due to friction on materials.
• Surface science. This is the study of the interfaces between materials.
• Ceramography. This is the study of ceramics.
• Glass science. This is the study of non-crystalline materials.
• Forensic engineering. This is the study of failed systems or materials.
• Textile-reinforced materials. This is the study of materials reinforced with textiles.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), of the more that 1.5 million engineers working in the U.S., only 22,000 of them are materials engineers--so it may be hard to imagine that there are so many niches within material engineering. And of these niches, none is hotter at the moment than nanotechnology. Early computer models used to take up entire rooms, and they had computation powers you may laugh at now. Today, thanks to nanotechnology, the equivalent of all the earth's sand can fit in a vial. Breakthroughs in material engineering, and nanotechnology in particular, are the driving force in the development of many green products and processes. However, materials engineers are found working in hundreds of industries, in labs, and in universities in the U.S. and around the world.

How to Join the Ranks of Materials Engineers

If you are interested in making the world a better place through engineering, look into material engineering programs that are available on campus and online. Be sure to choose a school that is accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET).

A Famous Materials Engineer

Although strictly speaking a physicist, Richard Feynman is considered one of the fathers of nanotechnology because of his work in defining the concept and developing the field. A Nobel Prize recipient, he worked on the Manhattan Project.