Design processing plants and equipment.

“Design processing plants and equipment.” is a core task performed by Materials Engineers. Among the occupation's 21 rated tasks, workers place it 2nd by importance (#20 most important). About 81% 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.

• Design industrial systems or equipment. in Drafting, Laying Out, and Specifying Technical Devices, Parts, and Equipment

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: T1.

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

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-9011,
  title  = {Design processing plants and equipment.},
  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-9011}
}