Five materials science jobs and 18 MIT courses to launch your career
From sneaker design to rocket testing, start your professional journey with MIT Open Learning’s online courses.
By Katherine Ouellette
Did you know materials science and engineering (aka the study of matter) can lead to careers in industries like aerospace, health care, technology, and more? That’s because whether you’re welding a bridge underwater, testing energy-efficient solar panels, or designing the perfect sneaker, you need to understand how the materials they’re made of behave.
We asked Jessica Sandland, principal lecturer at the MIT Department of Materials Science & Engineering and digital learning scientist at MIT Open Learning, for her insights about careers that use materials science in the field. Here, we spotlight five of those jobs along with online courses from MIT Open Learning to help you start your professional journey.
Computational materials scientist
About the job
Computational materials scientists research, design, and optimize materials using computer simulations and modeling techniques. To anticipate how new and existing materials will behave, this job uses simulation and machine learning techniques to better understand the structures and properties of materials.
Fields for computational materials scientists
- Aerospace: Simulate whether materials are capable of enduring the extreme environments beyond Earth’s atmosphere.
- Chemical processing: Optimize the filtering materials used in water treatment plants.
- Electronics and semiconductors: Research flexible materials for wearable or foldable devices, such as smartwatches and phones.
- Energy and renewable resources: Develop lightweight, durable, and efficient materials for wind turbine blades.
Free courses
- Thermodynamics of Materials: “Thermodynamics is one of the essential sciences that underpin the study of materials science and engineering,” Sandland says. “This course will give you the opportunity to learn how to use materials data, computational techniques, and thermodynamic software for materials selection, process design, and more.”
- Introduction to Modeling and Simulation: Start hands-on training to learn how fundamental concepts like continuum methods, atomistic and molecular simulation, and quantum mechanics are applied to key engineering problems.
- Mathematics for Materials Scientists and Engineers: Discover which mathematical techniques you’ll need for energetics, materials structure and symmetry, materials response to applied fields, and the mechanics and physics of solids and soft materials.
- Visualizing Materials Science: Watch student tutorial videos that explore various materials science and engineering topics using visualizations in the Wolfram Mathematica programming system.
Materials engineer
About the job
Materials engineers develop, test, and optimize unique materials used to manufacture specialized products. This job evaluates new and existing materials, machinery, and processes to improve the product’s quality, performance, and cost.
Fields for materials engineers
- Aerospace: Improve aircraft safety by researching materials that can absorb and diffuse the force of impacts.
- Automotive: Test natural biological materials — like soy, hemp, and agave fibers — to develop novel materials for car interiors, structural supports, and more.
- Construction: Develop and select materials and coatings that will make buildings more fire-resistant.
- Electronics: Manipulate the properties of metals and alloys for everything electronic — from microchips, to light-emitting diodes (LEDs), to electronic inks, and more.
- Health care: Select or develop biologically-compatible materials for medical devices that are safe and effective.
- Infrastructure: Extend the lifespan of bridges, tunnels, reservoirs, and more with materials like self-healing concrete.
- Renewable resources: Optimize the materials used in geothermal energy systems to withstand extreme heat, high pressures, and corrosive conditions.
Free courses
- Structure of Materials: “An understanding of materials structure is absolutely essential to the work of a materials engineer,” Sandland says. “This course will help you develop an understanding of the structure of many different types of materials and how this structure influences the properties and performance of these materials.”
- Introduction to Solid-State Chemistry with Prof. Jeffrey Grossman or Prof. Donald Sadoway: Try hands-on experiments and watch “Why does this matter?” videos in Grossman’s course. Solve problems through worked solutions in Sadoway’s course.
Paid course for working professionals
Additive Manufacturing for Innovative Design and Production: Learn how to leverage the performance and flexibility of additive manufacturing, aka 3D printing.
Metallurgist
About the job
Metallurgists consider the physical and chemical properties of metals and alloys to determine the best material for a specific engineering application. They also design and develop new alloys, improving performance characteristics and expanding the range of potential applications for these metals.
Fields for metallurgists
- Aerospace and defense: Develop lightweight and durable alloys that improve aircraft performance.
- Energy and power generation: Create materials for energy storage systems, such as lithium-ion batteries.
- Health care: Extend the longevity of biomedical devices, such as joint implants used for total knee replacements.
- Manufacturing and production: Reduce waste from producing complex metal parts through 3D printing.
Free courses
- Mechanical Behavior of Materials (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3): “This course will help learners develop a deep understanding of the mechanical behavior of metals (and other classes of materials, too!) — including elasticity, plasticity, fracture, and fatigue,” Sandland says. “In particular, learners will discover how the behavior of a material at the atomic and microscopic levels influences the performance of a material in an engineering application.”
- Case Studies in Forensic Metallurgy: Live out your forensic scientist dreams and learn how to discern evidence from real-world solved and unsolved cases.
- Modern Blacksmithing and Physical Metallurgy: Immerse yourself in both traditional and modern methods of blacksmithing, metal casting, machining, and welding.
- Materials Processing: Explore the physical principles and scaling laws influencing the process speed, volume, and quality of materials, with a focus on heat and matter transport.
Product development engineer
About the job
Product development engineers design and optimize materials for consumer products. This job oversees the entire product lifecycle — generating ideas, selecting materials, creating prototypes, testing functionality, and improving the quality and costs.
Fields for product development engineers
- Aerospace: Ensure that the lightweight composite materials used in aircrafts are market-ready with the ability to withstand high temperatures, corrosion, and other damages.
- Automotive: Select cost-effective materials that have the necessary properties to achieve the performance goals for that car model.
- Consumer goods: Improve the performance, comfort, and endurance of sneakers through the careful selection of materials.
- Health care: Develop new methods for drug delivery that target specific areas at controlled rates, such as using biodegradable nanoparticles to treat cancer.
- Sports and recreation: Optimize the materials in equipment like tennis racquets for power and agility.
Free courses
- Structural Materials: Selection and Economics: Learn where, why, and when engineers select steel, aluminum, titanium, or other materials to build skyscrapers and vehicles.
- Principles of Engineering Practice: Explore the social, political, economic, and technological challenges of engineering practice through the real-world use-case of producing solar cells.
- Economic & Environmental Issues in Materials Selection: Discover how to evaluate the potential implications of a given material throughout the life-cycle of a product.
Research scientist
About the job
Research scientists investigate, experiment, and analyze new and existing materials, devices, and phenomena.
Fields for research scientists
- Academia: Leverage data science and machine learning to identify properties and behaviors of new materials before the material is created.
- Construction: Test the efficiency of sustainable building materials.
- Energy: Research efficient materials for photovoltaic cells, the component of solar panels that converts light energy into electricity.
- Health care: Investigate materials used in wound dressings with features such as antibacterial resistance or “smart” diagnostic properties that could help speed up the healing process.
Free courses
- Electronic, Optical, and Magnetic Behavior of Materials, available on MITx or MIT OpenCourseWare: Get a fundamental understanding of how solar cells operate.
- Organic and Biomaterials Chemistry: Meet the organic materials that make up organic solar cell technology.
These courses are available through MIT OpenCourseWare, MITx, and MIT xPRO, which are part of MIT Open Learning. OpenCourseWare offers free, online, open educational resources from more than 2,500 courses that span the MIT undergraduate and graduate curriculum. MITx offers high-quality massive open online courses adapted from the MIT classroom for learners worldwide. xPRO provides professional development opportunities to a global audience via online courses and blended programs.
