Tips for Engineering Research Jobs

Answer 1

Some people think of engineering as an entirely professional field, consisting entirely of working engineers making things in the real world. While many engineers are working professionals, some engineers chose to remain at universities where they do engineering research as professors, graduate researchers, or postdoctoral fellows. These engineering researchers help professional engineers by testing new materials, thinking about new approaches to construction and design, and finding more efficient ways to build things.

Materials science is a field devoted to testing the limits of building materials. These researchers may bring a steel beam into the laboratory, then subject it to crushing weights to see how much it can hold before it snaps. They may take the new polymers designed by chemical engineers and test them for strength, corrosion, and flexibility. These limits are important for professional engineers to determine what materials can be used in certain projects. If you are trying to find engineering research jobs, it helps to hold a PhD in engineering and to be on tenure track at a major research university.