..:: Make Career as Metallurgical Engineer in India ::..
What is it about?
Metallurgy is one of the oldest sciences that deals with metals and their applications. The word metallurgy has a Greek origin: metallon (metal) and ourgia (working). Metallurgical engineering deals with the extractions of metals from their ores, purifying them and shaping them for practical use. This subject includes physical and chemical properties of metals, their atomic and crystalline structure, mineral beneficiation and structure-property relationship. Metallurgy has two major divisions: extractive or process Metallurgy and physical or alloy Metallurgy. The first involves extracting metals out from their ores and refining them. It includes a wide variety of specialised commercial processes such as mineral dressing, roasting, sintering, smelting, leaching, electrolysis and amalgamation. Physical Metallurgy is about adapting metals for their final use and improving their performance.
Working hour for a Metallurgical Engineer :-
For those into research and teaching -
- 6 to 8 am : Study/read
- 8.30 am to 11.30 am : Take class/do some research work.
- 1.45 am to 1.45 pm : Prepare Class notes, write papers/analyse data.
- 2 pm : Quick Lunch
- 3 to 4 pm : Go the library and read up on research work again
- 5 pm : Call it a day
For those in the industry - Middle Management
- 9 am : Get morning feedback from plant; note production figures.
- 10 am : Morning meeting with superior and subordinates
- 11.30 am : Do quality assurance and related work; study requests for developmental jobs
- 1 pm : Quick Lunch
- 2 pm to 3.30 pm : Shop floor visit/safety related visit
- 4 pm : Interact with Customers
- 6 pm : Leave for home
The Payoff for a Metallurgical Engineer :-
- Entry level : Around Rs. 40,000 a month
- Middle level : Around Rs. 1,00,000 a month
- Senior level : Sky is the limit
Skills required to become a Metallurgical Engineer :-
- Knowldege of experimental techniques, operational features of sophisticated instruments.
- Analytical ability
- Be good at basic science (Physics, chemistry, mathematics and geology)
- Ability to take prompt decisions
- Patience and capacity for work hard
How do I get there?
You should take up physics, chemistry and mathematics at the plus two level and clear the IIT - Joint Entrance Examination after Class XII. You should have to them complete a four-year degree programme in Metallurgical Engineering, which is conducted by some IITs, NITs and other engineering colleges or a five-year dual degree - BTech and MTech together - offered by these IITs/engineering institutes. After graduation, you can go for postgraduation and then PhD/research.
Institutes & URLS :-
- IIT Kharagpur
- IIT, Mumbai
- IIT, Kanpur
- IIT, Madras
- IIT, Roorkee
- Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
- Indian Institue of Science, Banglore (Only Post Graduate Degree)
- Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur
Pros and Cons for a Metallurgical Engineer :-
- Hands-on engineering with scope of diversifying into industry, academic and research work.
- Variety in work - from the nano level (real small materials) to the giga level (steel structure)
- Wide scope of learning as the subject is interdisciplinary.
- It is not a desk job
- Requires hard work
- It's hazardous and polluting industry.
