What should I do to specialize in material analysis techniques as a career option?

[MOKHTAR]

Summary:: What should I do to specialize in material analysis techniques as a career option?

What should I do to specialize in material analysis techniques as a career option?

 

[berkeman]

Summary:: What should I do to specialize in material analysis techniques as a career option?

Your Profile page says that you are still in high school, is that correct? How close are you to applying to undergraduate universities? Can you say which universities you are considering?

Will you have taken calculus by the time you graduate from high school? It sound like Material Science / Engineering is the major that you will want to pursue...

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate-materials

 

[Chestermiller]

Other options are Chemical Engineering and Materials Engineering.

 

[jrmichler]

What the above posters said. If you choose an engineering field, the first two years are mostly calculus, physics, statics, and dynamics. These courses are common to all engineering fields. You can change from one branch of engineering to another with minimal loss of credits after the first two years.

I started college in electrical engineering, then changed to mechanical engineering after two years, and 74 credits. I was still able to graduate in four years (eight semesters), although I think I lost one course.

 

[PAllen]

It may not be applicable now, but my father got a masters in Organic Chemistry from University of Michigan in 1948 or so, but ended up doing materials science in plastics and ceramics. He ended up being worldwide director of materials labs for IBM in the 1960s. I suspect career paths today are not as fluid as in the past.

[edit: I note from link by @berkeman that U of M is still #5 in US for materials.]

 

[CrysPhys]

It may not be applicable now, but my father got a masters in Organic Chemistry from University of Michigan in 1948 or so, but ended up doing materials science in plastics and ceramics. He ended up being worldwide director of materials labs for IBM in the 1960s. I suspect career paths today are not as fluid as in the past.

Back in 1948, materials science and engineering was in general not a recognized, independent program of study.

What should I do to specialize in material analysis techniques as a career option?

You don't say what country you are in. In the US, many major universities have departments designated as "materials science and engineering (MS&E)". That would be the place to start. But "materials analysis" covers a wide range of topics. Materials analysis is highly interdisciplinary. Depending on your interests, you can also enter the field via other majors, including physics, chemistry, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and bioengineering.

In my own career route, I majored in physics (bachelors, masters, and PhD) with electives (undergrad and grad) in MS&E. My PhD advisor got his degrees in chemistry, but was a faculty member with joint appointments in physics and MS&E.

ETA: A lot depends on whether for you materials analysis is an end in itself (i.e., your goal is a career in a materials analysis lab) or a means to an end (i.e., materials analysis is one set of tools in a larger R&D or engineering program).

 

[Locrian]

Get good at polishing things.