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Material engineer vs development engineer

The differences between material engineers and development engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a development engineer has an average salary of $93,206, which is higher than the $86,258 average annual salary of a material engineer.

The top three skills for a material engineer include DOD, failure analysis and data analysis. The most important skills for a development engineer are java, python, and software development.

Material engineer vs development engineer overview

Material EngineerDevelopment Engineer
Yearly salary$86,258$93,206
Hourly rate$41.47$44.81
Growth rate6%2%
Number of jobs89,717224,881
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 72%Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Average age4141
Years of experience-6

What does a material engineer do?

Materials engineers are responsible for developing, processing, and testing materials used to create a wide variety of products. These professionals study and evaluate the properties and structure of different materials, including plastics, metal, ceramics, and composites, to create new products. They also perform other tasks that include providing technical advice on suitable materials, diagnosing faults, and providing advice on planning and conducting inspections, repairs, and maintenance. Additionally, they may also oversee the work of other scientists like technicians and evaluate the technical and economic factors surrounding the design aspects of products.

What does a development engineer do?

A Development Engineer is responsible for the development and validation of products, systems, and components. They are also responsible for quality control of work and continuous improvement of engineer activities.

Material engineer vs development engineer salary

Material engineers and development engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Material EngineerDevelopment Engineer
Average salary$86,258$93,206
Salary rangeBetween $65,000 And $113,000Between $70,000 And $122,000
Highest paying CityMenlo Park, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateNew HampshireWashington
Best paying companyAppleMeta
Best paying industryTechnologyTechnology

Differences between material engineer and development engineer education

There are a few differences between a material engineer and a development engineer in terms of educational background:

Material EngineerDevelopment Engineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 72%Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Most common majorMaterials Science And EngineeringMechanical Engineering
Most common collegeGeorgia Institute of TechnologyMichigan Technological University

Material engineer vs development engineer demographics

Here are the differences between material engineers' and development engineers' demographics:

Material EngineerDevelopment Engineer
Average age4141
Gender ratioMale, 78.5% Female, 21.5%Male, 85.5% Female, 14.5%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 2.1% Unknown, 3.5% Hispanic or Latino, 8.0% Asian, 19.6% White, 66.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 16.7% White, 67.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage10%5%

Differences between material engineer and development engineer duties and responsibilities

Material engineer example responsibilities.

  • Manage and successfully complete carbon/epoxy material qualification and gain approval from FAA to use in manufacturing of composite aircraft parts.
  • Position entails ownership of machinery and equipment performance used to produce supply for aluminum aerospace and automotive components.
  • Determine processing for titanium bloom and slab.
  • Perform QC checks throughout the process to continually improve.
  • Oversee chemistry adjustment of molten before pouring into the molds.
  • Evaluate material microstructure, chemistry makeup, and stress/strain properties.
  • Show more

Development engineer example responsibilities.

  • Used RS.exe from command line to automate report execution, export to PDF and archive to FTP site.
  • Manage Terraform and refactore from monolithic to application specific components.
  • Develop python code on Linux kernel (raspberry pi) for battery monitoring system.
  • Migrate an existing J2EE application to MVC framework.
  • Develop LINUX device driver for new real-time clock chip support.
  • Help in modifying shell scripts to convert from IBM AIX to Linux.
  • Show more

Material engineer vs development engineer skills

Common material engineer skills
  • DOD, 15%
  • Failure Analysis, 5%
  • Data Analysis, 4%
  • CAD, 4%
  • ASTM, 4%
  • Material Properties, 3%
Common development engineer skills
  • Java, 17%
  • Python, 9%
  • Software Development, 5%
  • JavaScript, 5%
  • Lifecycle Management, 4%
  • UI, 3%

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