Metallurgical and materials engineering, a new profession

Posted by Sharon Martin
3
Jun 4, 2019
350 Views
Image With the progress of science, metallurgical engineering has flourished now more than before and the capability of the engineers’ to repair a failed product has secured them position in the professional market.

When an equipment or an instrument stops working due to any failure it is up to the materials engineer to examine the equipment or instrument and determine the reason behind the failure. The main job of the materials engineer is to study and research the structures of metals, plastics, ceramics, etc to refine them and make new materials from them.

Work sector of metallurgical and materials engineer

There are a number of variations in materials engineering such as metallurgical engineering, plastics engineering, ceramics engineering, etc. Metallurgical engineering is concerned with the metals. Metallurgical engineers study and research various metals such as aluminum and steel to produce new metal from them by refining them which is scientifically and technically approved. They investigate the metal products which have stopped working or failed and find the reason behind it and repair them.

Qualifications of a metallurgical and materials engineer

A metallurgical engineer requires a number of qualifications. They need to have a bachelor degree under metallurgical and materials engineering. They need some skills including math skill because they need to have good knowledge in various sector of math to study and research. They must have the skill to understand the relationship between two different material’s structure to study them and produce new material from them or repair equipment. They should have the skill to find out the problem behind a product failing, find a solution for it and make the necessary test to make sure that it does not fail again. But it is not mandatory to have a license in metallurgical and materials engineering. The license for a professional engineer can be acquired later when they gain enough experience. For metallurgical engineers, some materials science organizations provide a certificate for them.

Investigations under metallurgical and materials engineering

There are usually a number of investigations under metallurgical and materials engineering. The engineers not only study the failed products, but they also analyze the liability and litigation of the product. They analyze if the product failure is due to personal misuse or materials failure. They analyze the microstructures of the metals and the presence of the chemicals. Sprinkler systems failures, corrosion-related failures, etc are also investigated in this sector.


Final Words

Metallurgical engineers need to have great knowledge and education of the metals to determine the cause behind the product failure. Their expertise in this sector comes from their experience. They use every trick of investigation such as laboratory tests, the history of the product, the process of making that product, how the product was used, etc. they usually do not compromise when it comes to repairing a metal or product.
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