Review new product plans, and make recommendations for material selection, based on design objectives such as strength, weight, heat resistance, electrical conductivity, and cost.

“Review new product plans, and make recommendations for material selection, based on design objectives such as strength, weight, heat resistance, electrical conductivity, and cost.” is a core task performed by Materials Engineers. Among the occupation's 21 rated tasks, workers place it 13th by importance (#9 most important). About 90% of workers say it is relevant to their job.

This is a single occupation-specific task statement from O*NET. The figures below describe how central the task is to the job and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the task will be automated.

Work activities this task rolls up to

O*NET groups concrete tasks into broader work activities shared across many occupations.

• Assess compliance with environmental standards or regulations. in Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards
• Advise others on business or operational matters. in Providing Consultation and Advice to Others

AI exposure

The OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rates this task E2. Exposure with tools — software built on top of a language model (not the model alone) could cut the time by at least half.

Exposure measures whether a model could meaningfully speed the task up — it is an estimate of overlap with model capabilities, not a measure of whether the work will be done by software. The study's intermediate score (β) for this task is 0.50. Automation potential label: T2.

Other tasks in this occupation

• Analyze product failure data and laboratory test results to determine causes of problems and develop solutions. · importance 4.3
• Design and direct the testing or control of processing procedures. · importance 4.2
• Monitor material performance, and evaluate its deterioration. · importance 4.2
• Conduct or supervise tests on raw materials or finished products to ensure their quality. · importance 4.1
• Evaluate technical specifications and economic factors relating to process or product design objectives. · importance 4.1
• Modify properties of metal alloys, using thermal and mechanical treatments. · importance 4.1
• Guide technical staff in developing materials for specific uses in projected products or devices. · importance 4.0
• Determine appropriate methods for fabricating and joining materials. · importance 4.0
• Supervise the work of technologists, technicians, and other engineers and scientists. · importance 3.9
• Plan and implement laboratory operations to develop material and fabrication procedures that meet cost, product specification, and performance standards. · importance 3.9
• Plan and evaluate new projects, consulting with other engineers and corporate executives, as necessary. · importance 3.8
• Supervise production and testing processes in industrial settings, such as metal refining facilities, smelting or foundry operations, or nonmetallic materials production operations. · importance 3.8
• Solve problems in a number of engineering fields, such as mechanical, chemical, electrical, civil, nuclear, and aerospace. · importance 3.6
• Conduct training sessions on new material products, applications, or manufacturing methods for customers and their employees. · importance 3.6

See all tasks on the Materials Engineers page.

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.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

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

@misc{singulariki-task-9010,
  title  = {Review new product plans, and make recommendations for material selection, based on design objectives such as strength, weight, heat resistance, electrical conductivity, and cost.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/tasks/task-9010}
}