What does a materials engineering technician do?
Materials engineering technician responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real materials engineering technician resumes:
- Manage and distribute cad standards to contributing design consultants and assist with any design issues as necessary.
- Perform construction material testing on asphalt, concrete, soil and aggregate specimens both in the field and in the laboratory.
- Assist in geotechnical field investigations and operate geoprobe rig.
- Direct inbound and outbound logistics operations, such as transportation and warehouse activities, safety performance, and logistics quality management.
- Work on non-classify and highly-classify scientific instruments using certify NASA soldering procedures.
Materials engineering technician skills and personality traits
We calculated that 16% of Materials Engineering Technicians are proficient in Asphalt, ACI, and Test Results. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Detail oriented, and Customer-service skills.
We break down the percentage of Materials Engineering Technicians that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Asphalt, 16%
Performed construction material testing on asphalt, concrete, soil and aggregated specimens both in the field and in the laboratory.
- ACI, 9%
Concrete testin wich I'm training for my ACI certification
- Test Results, 8%
Prepare client report of test results.
- ASTM, 8%
Performed laboratory aggregate testing including quality and durability testing; performed concrete batch plant inspections for ASTM C94 compliance.
- Construction Materials, 7%
Perform tests and inspection of construction materials according to code book standards AASHTO, ASME, and ANSI/AWS.
- Failure Analysis, 6%
Cross sectioning materials for measurement failure analysis.
"asphalt," "aci," and "test results" are among the most common skills that materials engineering technicians use at work. You can find even more materials engineering technician responsibilities below, including:
Analytical skills. One of the key soft skills for a materials engineering technician to have is analytical skills. You can see how this relates to what materials engineering technicians do because "industrial engineering technologists and technicians assess changes in conditions, operations, and the environment to help industrial engineers figure out how systems should work." Additionally, a materials engineering technician resume shows how materials engineering technicians use analytical skills: "assisted in the analysis of samples from various ceramic laboratory tests via petrographic and scanning electron microscopy. "
Detail oriented. Another essential skill to perform materials engineering technician duties is detail oriented. Materials engineering technicians responsibilities require that "industrial engineering technologists and technicians must record precisely what they measure and observe." Materials engineering technicians also use detail oriented in their role according to a real resume snippet: "prepare drawings, documents, details, schedules or specifications using programs such as autocad, civil3d and arc view gis. "
Communication skills. For certain materials engineering technician responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "communication skills." The day-to-day duties of a materials engineering technician rely on this skill, as "industrial engineering technologists and technicians must listen carefully to instructions from engineers and must clearly articulate problems to their supervisors." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what materials engineering technicians do: "install, modify, configure and test air force and dod communications equipment and cabling for the afscn at onizuka afb. "
Math skills. A commonly-found skill in materials engineering technician job descriptions, "math skills" is essential to what materials engineering technicians do. Materials engineering technician responsibilities rely on this skill because "industrial engineering technologists and technicians use mathematics and statistical techniques to analyze data collected from studies." You can also see how materials engineering technician duties rely on math skills in this resume example: "performed mathematical calculations required to summarize test results. "
Observational skills. While "observational skills" is last on this skills list, don't underestimate its importance to materials engineering technician responsibilities. Much of what a materials engineering technician does relies on this skill, seeing as "industrial engineering technologists and technicians closely watch the performance of people or organizations so that they can suggest improvements." Here is a resume example of how this skill is used in the everyday duties of materials engineering technicians: "recorded valuable test data and pointed out deviations that resulted from equipment malfunctions, or observational errors. "
See the full list of materials engineering technician skills
The three companies that hire the most materials engineering technicians are:
- Intel2 materials engineering technicians jobs
- Tesla2 materials engineering technicians jobs
- Thermo Fisher Scientific2 materials engineering technicians jobs
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Compare different materials engineering technicians
Materials engineering technician vs. Air tester
Technicians are skilled professionals who primarily work with technology in different industries. They are knowledgeable about the technical aspects of the various items they work with. They are usually working with electricity or with technological advancements. Technicians may be assigned to do the construction of equipment or materials related to their field of study. They may also be assigned to conduct diagnostics and other maintenance activities to ensure that the equipment works properly. Technicians may also be required to conduct basic repairs in case of problems. It is important that technicians have good analytical skills and decision-making skills.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, materials engineering technician responsibilities require skills like "asphalt," "aci," "test results," and "astm." Meanwhile a typical air tester has skills in areas such as "assembly line," "stainless steel," "rail cars," and "tig welding." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Air testers tend to reach similar levels of education than materials engineering technicians. In fact, air testers are 2.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.1% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Materials engineering technician vs. Metallurgical laboratory assistant
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that materials engineering technician responsibilities requires skills like "asphalt," "aci," "test results," and "astm." But a metallurgical laboratory assistant might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "heat treat," "sample preparation," "flux-core," and "tensile testing."
In general, metallurgical laboratory assistants achieve similar levels of education than materials engineering technicians. They're 2.1% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 1.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Materials engineering technician vs. Material stress tester
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, materials engineering technicians are more likely to have skills like "failure analysis," "sem," "quality issues," and "geotechnical." But a material stress tester is more likely to have skills like "quality control tests," "windows," "in-house," and "hma."
Most material stress testers achieve a higher degree level compared to materials engineering technicians. For example, they're 11.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Materials engineering technician vs. Technician
Even though a few skill sets overlap between materials engineering technicians and technicians, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a materials engineering technician might have more use for skills like "asphalt," "aci," "astm," and "construction materials." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of technicians require skills like "patients," "customer service," "patient care," and "hand tools. "
The telecommunication industry tends to pay the highest salaries for technicians, with average annual pay of $46,660. Comparatively, the highest materials engineering technician annual salary comes from the manufacturing industry.In general, technicians hold similar degree levels compared to materials engineering technicians. Technicians are 0.9% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.7% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of materials engineering technician
Updated January 8, 2025
