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Materials Engineers
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.
What a materials engineer does
Become a materials engineer
If you enjoy doing these activities, you might make a good materials engineer
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Reading work related information.
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Discover what you could earn in Washington
- Average hourly rate is $75 per hour with an average salary of $131,500 per year.
- Half of workers earn between $54 and $87 per hour.
- Half of workers earn an annual salary between $66,800 and $167,300 per year.
- 67% of individuals in this occupation have been employed in every quarter of the past year.
Part-time
- The average hourly rate for part-time workers is $277 per hour with an average salary of $90,300 per year.
Materials Engineer job outlook
- There are 894 workers in this occupation in Washington.
- There are 66 openings per year in this occupation in Washington.
Multiple Jobs
- 1% of individuals in this occupation worked for more than one employer.
- 7% of individuals in this occupation held a position in another.