How Do I Become a Ceramic Engineer?

A ceramic engineer is a professional who uses scientific principles to perform research and develop ceramic products used in common items, such as those used in the insulation of electric lines and even in fiber optic technologies. Ceramics essentially are materials that can withstand hot temperatures, are not made out of metal, and are not natural. If you wish to become a ceramic engineer, you must complete at least a few years of college training and acquire field experience.

An individual who would like to become a ceramic engineer should complete a minimum of a four-year bachelor’s degree in the ceramic engineering field. To get into a ceramic engineer undergraduate degree program, you should give your potential training program a copy of your high school diploma or the equivalent certification. Schools also want you to fill out their specific enrollment applications and additionally want to see your secondary training course transcript, as well as your previous standardized test scores.

Several science courses are part of a training program for ceramic engineering. While in your college program, you should study the chemistry of various substances, the field of physics, and the methods used to process ceramic. In addition, you must go over calculus principles, statistics, and engineering graphics. Your ceramic engineering training program courses additionally will help you get used to using blueprints and drafting tools to create plants and instruments used to develop ceramics.

An internship is an important step if you desire to become a ceramic engineer. While completing an internship, you should get hands-on experience with transforming raw materials into ceramic parts and even glass substances. Sites such as those in the biomedical, automotive, and even aerospace industries can provide you with practical ceramic engineering experience under the direction of a supervisor who possesses field expertise. You must practice working independently and as part of a team in addition to honing your communication and analytical skills to be successful as a ceramic engineer.

If you want to increase your advancement opportunities in the ceramic engineering field or pursue university research and teaching opportunities, you need to complete your master’s degree or PhD in ceramic engineering. These types of programs feature classes such as crystallography — a field that involves studying matter’s structure — as well as kinetics, which deal with assessing chemical reaction rates. While in a two-year master’s degree program designed for those who want to become a ceramic engineer, you often have to complete a thesis research project. A similar, yet more extensive, research dissertation project is a requirement for graduation from a three- to four-year PhD program.