Materials Research Engineer
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Materials Research Engineer researches materials and works to discover materials that may be used in new and emerging technologies and support innovation. Identifies new or different combinations of materials to improve product performance and durability.
Job Outlook
There were 63 Materials Research Engineer job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 3073 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Materials Engineer industry, which includes the Materials Research Engineer career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2016:
Salary
Many new Materials Research Engineer jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $110,142.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $96,594.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Materials Research Engineer postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $92,034.
Education and Experience
Posted Materials Research Engineer jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 38.37% |
| Master's Degree | 32.9% |
| Doctoral Degree | 50.05% |
| Other | 3.84% |
Posted Materials Research Engineer jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 32.86% |
| 3 to 5 years | 47.33% |
| 6 to 8 years | 9.31% |
| 9+ years | 10.5% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Materials Research Engineer positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Research (64.37%)
- Communication (36.8%)
- Innovation (22.62%)
- Writing (22.39%)
- Presentations (21.51%)
- Problem Solving (18.74%)
- Leadership (13.47%)
- Teamwork (12.79%)
- Management (12.5%)
- Verbal Communication Skills (11.03%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Materials Science (75.01%)
- Chemistry (54%)
- Electrochemistry (7.62%)
- Material Characterization (9.12%)
- Physics (34.11%)
- Polymer Chemistry (13.32%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Semiconductors (6.57%)
- Laboratory Experience (7.38%)
- Physical Science (6.61%)
- Materials Engineering (10.49%)
- Data Analysis (18.94%)
- Metallurgy (5%)
- Biochemistry (4.02%)
- Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing) (6.71%)
- Chemical Engineering (31.42%)
- Experimental Design (6.82%)
- Electrical Engineering (7.38%)
- Experimentation (14.02%)
- Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (8.95%)
- Composite Materials (7.79%)
- Commercialization (8.07%)
- Mechanical Engineering (13.77%)
- Fabrication (3.84%)
- Manufacturing Processes (5.24%)
- Python (Programming Language) (9.65%)
- Process Development (8.35%)
- Machine Learning (7.86%)
- Spectroscopy (10.77%)
- Project Management (12.51%)
- Search Engine Marketing (12.76%)
- New Product Development (18.39%)
- Research And Development (9.16%)
- Technical Writing (3.22%)
- Thermal Management (6.12%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Novel Materials (3.22%)
- Atomic force microscope (AFM) (3.67%)
- Nanomaterials (4.16%)
- Nanoscopic Scale (4.96%)
- Transmission Electron Microscopy (2.48%)
- Scanning Electron Microscopy (4.68%)
- X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (3.98%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.
- Novel Materials (3.73%)
- Atomic force microscope (AFM) (4.26%)
- Materials Science (87.06%)
- Material Characterization (10.59%)
- Physics (39.59%)
- Polymer Chemistry (15.46%)
- Transmission Electron Microscopy (2.88%)
- X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (4.62%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Materials Research Engineer skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Materials Scientist
- Postdoctoral Researcher
- Scientist
- Postdoctoral Fellow
- Materials Science Intern
- Associate Scientist
- Postdoctoral Associate
- High School Science Teacher
- Materials Engineer
- Polymer Scientist
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
- Polymer Chemist
- Research and Development Chemist
- Chemical Engineer (General)
- Ceramic Engineer
- Materials Engineer (General)
- Chemist (General)
- Process Development Engineer
- Research & Development Engineer
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Materials Research Engineer jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (151)
- Sandia Corporation (113)
- Argonne National Laboratory (87)
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (57)
- Pennsylvania State University (53)
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (42)
- Ford (39)
- Eurofins (38)
- Kimberly-Clark (37)
- Actalent (28)
North Carolina
- North Carolina State University (6)
- Actalent (4)
- Schneider Electric (3)
- University of North Carolina (3)
- Albemarle (3)
- BD (3)
- Fujifilm (3)
- University of North Carolina at Greensboro (2)
- Li Industries (2)
- North Carolina Central University (2)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.