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Materials Engineers vs Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians

Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index

A factual, source-backed comparison of Materials Engineers and Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”

Materials Engineers Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$108,310
$64,790
Employment · BLS OEWS
22,770
73,410
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
62nd pct
60th pct

At a glance

Dimension Materials Engineers Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians
Median pay $108,310 $64,790
Employment 22,770 73,410
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+5.7%) About average (+1.7%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 1,500 6,300
Typical education · O*NET Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
AI exposure · published exposure studies Moderate · 62nd pct Moderate · 60th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 56th pct · 30% of tasks 47th pct · 26% of tasks
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index — Augmentation-leaning (52.2%)
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman No No

Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.

Skills

Shared: Engineering and Technology, Physics, Production and Processing, Mathematics, Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Complex Problem Solving, Oral Comprehension, Written Comprehension, Oral Expression, Deductive Reasoning, Inductive Reasoning, Category Flexibility, Critical Thinking, Written Expression, Problem Sensitivity, English Language, Writing, Speaking, Mathematics, Information Ordering, Mathematical Reasoning, Near Vision, Design, Fluency of Ideas, Computers and Electronics, Originality, Judgment and Decision Making, Visualization, Speech Recognition, Monitoring, Operations Analysis.

Specific to Materials Engineers

  • Chemistry
  • Science
  • Active Learning
  • Flexibility of Closure
  • Perceptual Speed
  • Speech Clarity
  • Instructing
  • Service Orientation

Specific to Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians

  • Mechanical
  • Systems Analysis
  • Systems Evaluation
  • Time Management
  • Selective Attention
  • Public Safety and Security
  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Number Facility

Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).

Tools & technology

Shared: Spreadsheet software , Office suite software , Presentation software , Computer aided design CAD software , Object or component oriented development software , Data base user interface and query software , Electronic mail software , Document management software , Process mapping and design software , Development environment software , Word processing software , Enterprise resource planning ERP software , Analytical or scientific software , Computer aided manufacturing CAM software .

Specific to Materials Engineers

Specific to Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Materials Engineers or Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.

More comparisons

Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Materials Engineers vs Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/materials-engineers-vs-industrial-engineering-technologists-and-technicians

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Materials Engineers vs Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/materials-engineers-vs-industrial-engineering-technologists-and-technicians

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-materials-engineers-vs-industrial-engineering-technologists-and-technicians,
  title  = {Materials Engineers vs Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/compare/materials-engineers-vs-industrial-engineering-technologists-and-technicians}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.