How To Become A Forensic Materials Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a forensic materials engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a forensic materials engineer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $43.04 an hour? That's $89,518 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 1,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreForensic Materials EngineerUS Average

Salary

7.0

Avg. Salary $89,518

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.2

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.35%

Asian 13.30%

Black or African American 2.82%

Hispanic or Latino 8.92%

Unknown 3.55%

White 71.06%

Gender

female 5.56%

male 94.44%

Age - 40

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 40

Stress level

5.2

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.6

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.9

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a forensic materials engineer

Explore forensic materials engineer education requirements

Most common forensic materials engineer degrees

Bachelor's

86.9 %

Master's

8.2 %

Associate

3.3 %

Start to develop specific forensic materials engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
Litigation	29.02%
Failure Analysis	16.77%
Encase	14.48%
Technical Reports	10.79%
Autocad	9.60%

Complete relevant forensic materials engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New forensic materials engineers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a forensic materials engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real forensic materials engineer resumes.

Research forensic materials engineer duties and responsibilities

Manage and successfully complete carbon/epoxy material qualification and gain approval from FAA to use in manufacturing of composite aircraft parts.
Used AutoCAD and other software to create simple vehicle models to reconstruct possible accident scenarios.
Provide definitive conclusion on cause and origin and prepare reports on findings for insurance claims and litigation.
Invent thin film optical radiation transducers for IR scene projection devices using novel tune cavity absorber/emitter coating designs.

Prepare your forensic materials engineer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your forensic materials engineer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a forensic materials engineer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable forensic materials engineer resume templates

Build a professional forensic materials engineer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your forensic materials engineer resume.