Materials Engineer Career
Materials Engineer Career
The Real Poop
Madonna, the original material girl, had it right. We're living in a material world. That's why materials engineers make an average of $85,000 per year (source).
Look around—you likely have one hand on a mouse (made of plastic coating and metal) and a mouse pad (low density rubber composites, fabric). You're probably sitting in a chair (fabric, metal, plastic) and looking at a screen (liquid crystal, glass, plastic).
Each of those products—the computer, mouse, mouse pad, and so on—is made of a particular type of material because some materials scientist figured it was the optimal one for the job. They're good like that. They can even give you all the scientific reasons you shouldn't make microwavable cake in your mom's fine ceramic mug.
Materials engineers are scientists that work with metals, ceramics, semi-conductors, plastics, and composites (like fiberglass, concrete, and plywood), among other things. Want to make clothing that repels mosquitoes? Or that looks like mosquitoes? A materials scientist versed in biomimetics can do that.
Wish you could have a touch-sensitive temporary tattoo that also reads your glucose levels? Check back soon with the materials scientists working on that. Want to make a digital driver's license that uses a patch of the ID holder's skin as the passcode? A materials scientist can do that. Well, a materials scientist is definitely working on that, at least.
A materials engineer has the ability to look at just about anything around her—the radiator, the refrigerator, the television, the couch cushions—and understand not only what they're made of, but all the interesting properties of those materials.
If you want to know what kind of cushion fibers best resist your dog Scruffy's scratching, a materials engineer can help with that. Want to know what properties of the artificial flavoring in Cheez-Whiz make that queasy feeling happen in your stomach? Trick question—nobody knows that.
Did you drive your parents crazy taking apart all the phones and televisions and radios in the house, for no other reason than just, you know, because you wanted to see how they work? If so, you may have unknowingly been on the path to the world of materials engineering.
If you know anything at all about engineers, then you know they're relatively well-paid and well-educated. Materials engineers are no exception. The standard route to a materials lab usually includes a love affair with math and physics in high school, an endless string of all-nighters in college, and maybe a foray into graduate school to learn even more about nanotechnology or superconductors.
So where does that leave you in relation to your "material girl" dreams? As a materials engineer you most likely won't be showing up to the biomaterials office wearing a Marilyn Monroe-esque pink dress, complete with diamond necklace, trailed by a long line of attractive, suited men. But you'll have healthcare, reasonable hours, and a stable paycheck. In a material world, that's what you should be looking for—those are the things that dreams are really made of.