Also called: Plastics Materials Engineer, Rubber Engineer
Develops and tests plastics, rubbers and other polymers for products from water bottles to sneakers.
You test a new recycled plastic to see if it's tough enough for car bumpers, freezing samples and smashing them with a swinging pendulum. You tweak the recipe with additives until it passes.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in polymer science, plastics engineering, chemical or materials engineering.
Ways in: 4-year college. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Polymer Science, Plastics Engineering, Chemical Engineering.
Growing faster than average (about 6% over 10 years).
Medium risk for 10 years. AI predicts polymer properties and suggests recipes, cutting lab trial and error; testing and scaling up stay human.
Classes: AP Chemistry, Physics, Algebra II, Environmental science.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2131.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.