Metallurgical, ceramic, and materials engineers develop new types of metal alloys, ceramics, composites, and other materials which meet special requirements. Examples are graphite golf club shafts that are light but stiff, ceramic tiles on the space shuttle that protect it from overheating during reentry, and the alloy turbine blades in a jet.
Most metallurgical engineers work in one of the three main branches of metallurgy extractive or chemical, physical, and mechanical or process. Extractive metallurgists are concerned with removing metals from ores and refining and alloying them to obtain useful metal. Physical metallurgists study the nature, structure, and physical properties of metals and their alloys, and methods of processing metals into final products. Mechanical metallurgists develop and improve metalworking processes such as casting, forging, rolling, and drawing.
Ceramic engineers develop new ceramic materials and methods for making ceramic materials into useful products. Ceramics include all nonmetallic, inorganic materials which require high temperatures in their processing. Ceramic engineers work on products as diverse as glassware, semiconductors, automobile and aircraft engine components, fiber-optic phone lines, tile, and electric power line insulators.
A materials engineer prepares a thin-film deposition experiment.
Materials engineers evaluate technical requirements and material specifications to develop materials that can be used, for example, to reduce the weight, but not the strength of an object. Materials engineers also test and evaluate materials and develop new materials, such as the composite materials now being used in ""stealth'' aircraft.
Metallurgical, ceramic, and materials engineers held nearly 19,000 jobs in 1992. About one-quarter worked in metal-producing and processing industries. They also worked in industries that manufacture aircraft and aircraft parts, machinery, and electrical equipment, and in engineering consulting firms, research and testing services, and government agencies.
Those seeking to become employed as metallurgical, ceramic, and materials engineers should find good opportunities, as the anticipated growth should be sufficient to absorb the relatively low number of new graduates in this engineering discipline.
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Reprinted with Permission of U. S. Department of Labor