The science of stuff: inventing, choosing and testing the metals, plastics, ceramics, composites and nanomaterials everything is made of.
Top pay: highest pay, longest training
Materials Research Scientist: Invents new materials, like super-strong alloys, flexible screens or self-healing plastics, by studying atoms and molecules. Typical pay $115k.
Battery Materials Scientist: Develops better materials for batteries so EVs go farther and phones charge faster. Typical pay $130k.
Nanomaterials Engineer: Works with materials thousands of times thinner than a hair, such as graphene, quantum dots and thin films. Typical pay $120k.
Principal Metallurgist: Top metals expert at a steel mill, foundry or aerospace company who decides how metals are made and treated. Typical pay $140k.
Corrosion Engineer: Stops rust and chemical attack from destroying pipelines, bridges, ships and chemical plants. Typical pay $110k.
Mid pay: solid pay, degree or apprenticeship
Materials Engineer: Picks, tests and develops the right materials, like metals, plastics, ceramics and composites, for products. Typical pay $108k.
Metallurgical Engineer: Specializes in metals: how they are melted, alloyed, shaped and heat-treated. Typical pay $100k.
Polymer Engineer: Develops and tests plastics, rubbers and other polymers for products from water bottles to sneakers. Typical pay $95k.
Ceramics Engineer: Works with ceramics and glass, from phone screens and spark plugs to space shuttle heat tiles. Typical pay $98k.
Composites Engineer: Designs parts made from layered materials like carbon fiber and fiberglass for race cars, bikes, wind blades and planes. Typical pay $100k.
Failure Analysis Engineer: Investigates why parts broke, from a cracked airplane bolt to an exploding phone battery. Typical pay $100k.
Welding Engineer: Designs welding procedures and joints for pipelines, ships, bridges and rockets. Typical pay $98k.
Materials Testing Technician: Runs machines that pull, crush, bend and heat materials to measure how strong they are. Typical pay $55k.
Cathodic Protection Technician: Tests and maintains systems that protect pipelines, tanks and bridges from rusting. Typical pay $65k.
Coatings Inspector: Checks that protective paint and coatings on bridges, ships and tanks are applied correctly. Typical pay $68k.
Concrete Petrographer: Slices concrete into paper-thin sections and studies it under a microscope to find out why bridges and buildings are cracking. Typical pay $85k.
Permanent Magnet Engineer: Develops and makes the super-strong rare-earth magnets inside EV motors, wind turbines, phones and fighter jets. Typical pay $105k.
Starter: fastest way in
Metallographer: Cuts, polishes and etches metal samples to reveal their hidden crystal structure under a microscope. Typical pay $52k.
Lab-Grown Diamond Growth Technician: Runs the plasma reactors that grow real diamond crystals atom by atom for jewelry, lasers and computer chips. Typical pay $50k.
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.