Materials Engineer
Role Description
Materials Engineers are responsible for working with various materials to improve their performance or create new materials to help advance technologies or products. They work with many different substances, from raw materials to finished products, and many different materials, from ceramics and plastics to polymers and industrial minerals.
Student Case Studies
Salary
Starting salary: £20,000-£26,000.
With experience: £27,000-£50,000.
Senior chartered engineer: up to £60,000.
Hours
Typically 35 to 40 hour weeks. Shift work may be involved depending on the industry.
Prospects
Employers invest a great deal in research and development, so they seek to develop high-caliber specialists.
Skills Valued by Employers
- Good communication skills for presenting technical data written or orally.
- Teamworking and taking individual responsibility and making decisions.
- Commercial awareness.
- An interest in scientific and technical issues.
- Apply scientific reasoning to industrial situations.
- Strong analytical skills and problem-solving ability.
- Excellent knowledge of math, science and IT skills.
- Organization and planning skills.
