Materials testing technician: varied training with strong career potential

Materials testing is a central part of industrial production and makes a crucial contribution to the quality assurance of components and products. Although their work often receives little attention, materials testing technicians play an important role in checking and ensuring material properties throughout a component’s entire life cycle. They often work behind the scenes, but are indispensable to quality assurance and therefore to a company’s success.

Quality assurance

When people think of quality assurance, they often first consider checks on dimensions, quantities or machine functions. Materials testing, however, goes a step further: as its name suggests, it focuses on the material itself.

The starting point is always a seemingly simple question: what can my material actually do? “Seemingly” is the key word, because this question encompasses many further aspects:

• Is it actually the right material?
• Is the material free from defects or damage?
• What is the material’s “life history”?
• How much load can the material withstand under different conditions?

Training content

Training as a materials testing technician generally takes three to three and a half years and covers a broad range of specialist knowledge. Subjects include metalworking technology, materials testing, quality assurance and scientific fundamentals. The workload is substantial, and it can even be condensed: vocational retraining participants learn the same content and take the same final examination, but in 28 rather than 42 months.

During training, future materials testing technicians learn to test different materials and analyse their properties. This includes applying different inspection methods, preparing for tests and following them up, and working with standards and testing specifications.

According to the IHK framework curriculum, training covers more than a dozen inspection methods, each with its own testing technology, standards and particular features. A consolidated version of the German ordinance governing vocational training for materials testing technicians is available at https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/werkstoffprausbv/.

Inspection methods covered in training

A central part of training is learning about different testing methods and their applications. Examples include:

• Tensile test: how does a component behave under mechanical loading? When does plastic deformation begin, and when does fracture occur?
• Metallography: what is a component’s “life history”? What traces have manufacture, heat treatment or service conditions left in its microstructure?
• Hardness testing: how resistant is a material to external influences? How much does it wear, and how quickly?

Non-destructive materials testing

Alongside destructive testing, there is therefore a second major field: non-destructive testing (NDT). Here are some typical examples:

• Ultrasonic testing: can internal discontinuities, cracks or cavities that could cause damage later be detected in a component?
• Magnetic particle testing: can very fine cracks on a material’s surface be detected?
• Eddy current testing: might corrosion be present? Or what material is it? (For example, material sorting by conductivity measurement.)

Background knowledge: understanding the material

Although performing tests is the most visible part of training, understanding the processes within the material is equally important. Materials testing technicians work, in a sense, one step after production. They test the results of processes such as casting, rolling, forging, welding and coating. These processes must be understood in order to interpret test results correctly. Typical questions include:

• How are discontinuities distributed during rolling?
• What happens in the heat-affected zone during welding?
• How does a material change when it is heated and subsequently cooled?

Alongside basic mathematics and physics, this deeper understanding is therefore one of the most important elements of training. In their subsequent day-to-day work, materials testing technicians become their companies’ materials experts.

Career prospects

Whether training takes 28 or 42 months, with numerous inspection methods, plenty of theory and even more practice, training or vocational retraining in materials testing is demanding.

The effort is worthwhile, however, because career prospects are excellent. German and European industry depends on quality, so materials testing will continue to play a central role in the long term. Demographic change also has an impact: many experienced specialists are retiring, while fewer young people are entering technical apprenticeships. This creates very good labour-market opportunities for graduates and career changers.

The profession also offers solid earnings prospects: according to the German Federal Employment Agency’s Entgeltatlas (2023 figures), starting salaries for materials testing technicians are approximately €3,000 gross per month, with average earnings of around €3,800 gross for those with professional experience (source: Entgeltatlas).

Continuing education opportunities

Career paths in materials testing are therefore open and varied. The profession offers not only secure prospects but also numerous development opportunities. Examples include advanced technician training, NDT certification up to Level 3 with inspection supervision duties, and specialisation in specialised inspection methods such as computed tomography (CT) or scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis

Conclusion: the materials testing profession

Anyone interested in technology, materials and scientific principles will find materials testing an exciting, future-proof profession. Whether through a conventional apprenticeship or vocational retraining, materials testing technicians combine practical work, analysis and responsibility, making a crucial contribution to the quality and safety of modern products.

Looking for a new career direction? Then it is worth taking a closer look at the materials testing profession. Further information is available at https://www.werkstoff-service.de/en/w-s-trainingcenter/career-change-and-vocational-rehabilitation/.