How to Become a Materials Engineer in India?

Being an engineer can be a rewarding and enjoyable career. Engineers innovate processes, develop new technologies, and contribute to the creation of creative answers to contemporary problems. There are numerous engineering specialisations, each with its requirements and objectives. This article examines the field of materials engineering and describes what a materials engineer is, how to become one, different kinds of materials engineers, suggested skills, salary ranges, and employment prospects.

Who is a Materials Engineer?

To better understand a material’s composition and properties, materials engineers help develop, test, and process the material. Metals, ceramics, plastics, and composites are a few of the materials that materials engineers might work with. They typically concentrate on developing new product materials, ensuring that existing product materials are used to their full potential, and fulfilling specific chemical or mechanical specifications. They occasionally model and research material compositions on computers to accomplish this.

Multiple engineering disciplines may employ materials engineers. A materials engineer might collaborate with chemical, mechanical, aerospace, civil engineers, or electrical engineers, depending on their field of expertise. Through their research and development, material engineers can contribute to the design of numerous products and materials. Materials engineers can work in a variety of settings and sectors, from developing new biomedical technologies to assisting in the production of bicycle frames.

What Does a Materials Engineer Do?

The following are some typical tasks a materials engineer might be anticipated to complete:

• Plan and evaluate new projects with a team.
• Examine materials to see how well they might work in different applications, how well they might perform under pressure, and how quickly they might deteriorate.
• Analyze the effects of material production and processing on the environment.
• Investigate product flaws or failure points
• Execute managerial tasks like managing staff, creating budgets, estimating labour costs, and producing reports.
• When designing and processing materials, take technical constraints and financial constraints into account.

Why Become a Materials Engineer?

Material engineers frequently receive bonuses and incentives in addition to a salary, and after a certain amount of time, their salaries are increased.

• Lucrative Career: The field of material engineering offers lucrative career opportunities: In the last ten years, it has experienced growth.
• Massive compensation: Compared to other engineering careers, material engineering offers a very high salary.
• Job Security: Material engineering is a promising field of engineering that is seeing an increase in demand.
• Demand is extremely high: Over the past ten years, the field of material engineering has seen a tremendous increase in popularity among engineering students.
• Career demands: Material engineering is a demanding field that is ideal for committed professionals who choose to devote their lives to it.
• Career indoors: Material engineering requires primarily technical and statistical knowledge, as well as the ability to work indoors.

Also Read: List of Engineering Courses after 12th

How to Become a Materials Engineer?

Here are some actions you can take to pursue a career as a materials engineer if you’re interested in doing so:

Get a Bachelor’s Degree

Getting an engineering degree from an accredited college or university is the first step in starting a career as a materials engineer. You might look into degree programmes that offer courses or specialisations in materials engineering. Since some employers demand a degree from an accredited university, it can also be beneficial to search for an ABET-certified programme. Numerous materials engineering courses at the college level emphasise science, and many degree programmes mix laboratory and classroom work.

Obtain Certification as a Trainee Engineer

Consider getting certified to train as an engineer after earning your bachelor’s degree in engineering from an accredited university. Depending on your state, an employer might ask you to get your engineering licence before hiring you. Obtaining a passing score on the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam given by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying is the first requirement for obtaining a licence (NCEES). By doing this, you will be authorised to work as an engineer intern or engineer in training (EIT) (EI).

Gaining Initial Experience

Participants in EIT and EI programmes may be required to work under the direction of a professional engineer to continue the licencing procedure and qualify for the second engineering exam (PE). This could be a fascinating chance to gain useful work experience, identify the area of materials engineering that most interests you, and advance your engineering abilities under the direction of an expert. Before passing the licencing exam, engineers typically spend four years working as field interns.

Obtain a License

The Principles and Practice of Engineering exam must be taken and passed to complete the licencing process. The NCEES PE exam must be passed to be eligible for engineering licensure in every state. The PE Materials and Metallurgical exam, which covers topics like metal and chemical structure, properties, processing, and performance, is available to candidates who want to become certified materials engineers.

Get a Master’s or Doctoral Degree

You should consider earning a master’s or doctoral degree if you want to continue your education and advance your career. Although graduate degrees are not necessary to work as a materials engineer, having them may open up more opportunities and let you focus on a particular area of interest. Additionally, it might increase your chances of being hired for a high-paying position.

Types of Materials Engineers

Engineers in the field of materials work with a wide range of materials in numerous environments and sectors. Here are a few illustrations of various materials engineers:

• Composites Engineer – Engineers who specialise in composites conduct research and develop manufacturing methods for composite materials, which are synthesised from two or more materials known as composites engineers.

• Ceramics Engineer – To create heat-resistant products like fibre optics, phone displays, and cooking materials, ceramic engineers research and develop inorganic, non-metal materials.

• Plastics Engineer– Engineers who specialise in plastics work with plastic tools and materials are called plastics engineers. They can help with the research, development, design, and manufacture of plastics.

• Metallurgical Engineer– Metals are the area of expertise for metallurgical engineers. To find alloys that work for their projects, they might study metal mixtures.

Skills Required

A career as a materials engineer may benefit from having the following qualities:

• Mathematics 
• Attention to detail
• Problem-solving skills
• Communication skills
• Teamwork
• Computer skills

Also Read: Best Engineering Courses

Career Scope

Typically, inexperienced engineers supervise junior materials engineers as they work. New engineers may attend formal classroom or seminar training in large corporations. Engineers advance to more challenging projects as they gain knowledge and experience, giving them more freedom to create designs, find solutions to issues, and make decisions.

Materials engineers may eventually progress to become technical experts or manage a group of engineers and technicians. Many go on to manage engineering departments, advance in management, or work in sales. A sales engineer‘s ability to discuss a product’s technical features and help with product planning, installation, and use is made possible by their engineering background.

Salary

The degree of experience and expertise a professional has will determine their pay scale. The table below shows the average salary range for a materials engineer based on level of experience.

Job Roles	Starting Salary Package (INR)	Mid-Level Salary Package (INR)	Senior Level Salary Package (INR)
Materials Engineer	25,500	60,700	2.00 Lakh
Ceramic Engineer	71,000	1.07 Lakh	1.59 Lakh
Forensic Materials Engineer	85,000	1.58 Lakh	2.04 Lakh
Metallurgical Engineer	30,300	58,500	1.42 Lakh
Metallographer	51,000	1.14 Lakh	2.26 Lakh

Top Recruiters

• Ford
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• Boeing
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• General Electric
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• Unilever
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• Siemens
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• Honeywell

Job Outlook

According to projections, the employment of materials engineers will increase by 6% between 2021 and 2031, which is about average for all occupations. Over the next ten years, there are expected to be, on average, 1,700 openings for materials engineers. Many of those openings are anticipated to be brought on by the need to replace workers who change careers or leave the workforce due to retirement.

More materials engineers are anticipated to be required to contribute to the development of these products and systems as the demand for novel materials and manufacturing techniques rises. For instance, it is anticipated that new metal alloys will be created to make aeroplanes lighter and more fuel-efficient. The need for materials engineers may also increase as environmental sustainability becomes a bigger priority.

FAQs

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