Materials and failure engineer
Working out why the part broke, and making sure the next one does not. It is the role where a lab habit matters more than a solver, and it exists in every manufacturing company in the country.
What the work actually is
Something failed in the field or on the line. You section it, look at the fracture surface, decide whether it was fatigue, overload, corrosion or a process defect, and write the finding that goes into the corrective action. The microscope answers questions the simulation cannot.
The other half is forward-looking: material selection, qualification, incoming inspection, and the reliability testing that stops a failure reaching a customer.
In semiconductors the same skill set becomes yield and reliability work, which is a different vocabulary for the same discipline and pays considerably better.
The course chain
In the order worth taking them. Each one links to what it covers, when it runs and what it needs first.
- 0581-4131Lab in engineering materialsAdvanced laboratories · Semester A · 1h
- 0542-4224Mechanics of solids 2Core: solids · Semester B · 4h
- 0542-4221Introduction to theory of elasticityCore: solids · Semester B · 4h
- 0542-4191Plastic forming processes in metalsDepartment electives · Semester B · 3h
- 0555-4555Nanomaterials: physics and biomedical usesFaculty electives · Not fixed · 4h
What prepares you
The materials lab is the entry point and the cheapest way to clear the advanced-laboratory requirement. Mechanics of solids 2 gives you fatigue and fracture, Elasticity gives you the stress fields around the defect, and Plastic forming explains the process defects you will spend a lot of time identifying.
Quick answers
Which TAU courses prepare you for the Materials and failure engineer role?
In the order worth taking them, the Tel Aviv University electives that prepare you for the Materials and failure engineer role are: Lab in engineering materials (0581-4131), Mechanics of solids 2 (0542-4224), Introduction to theory of elasticity (0542-4221), Plastic forming processes in metals (0542-4191), Nanomaterials: physics and biomedical uses (0555-4555).
Which software do you use in the Materials and failure engineer role?
In the Materials and failure engineer role you are expected to work with Optical and electron microscopy, Image analysis, ABAQUS.
Where is the Materials and failure engineer role done in Israel?
Israeli companies where the Materials and failure engineer role exists include Tower Semiconductor, Intel Israel, IAI, Stratasys, Iscar. These are examples of where the work is done, not partners, sponsors or a placement claim.
Which interest areas lead to the Materials and failure engineer role?
The Materials and failure engineer role draws on these interest areas of the TAU Mechanical Engineering electives: Miniaturised systems and materials, Structures and computational mechanics.
Closest neighbours
Medical device engineer
Mechanical engineering inside a regulated product. One of the largest and most stable employers of mechanical graduates in Israel, and the sector least affected by downturns.
Miniaturised systems and materialsMechanical designStructures and computational mechanics6 coursesAdditive manufacturing engineer
Design and production by adding material rather than removing it. Israel is a global centre for this, so the route from these courses to these companies is unusually short.
Mechanical designMiniaturised systems and materials4 coursesAerospace structures engineer
Making structures that are strong enough and no heavier than that. The Israeli defence and aerospace industry is one of the largest technical employers in the country.
Aeronautics and spaceStructures and computational mechanics6 courses
The part a page cannot give you.
What the interview actually asked, which team is worth joining, who to talk to. That comes from people who have done it, which is most of what the club is for.
Join CARNOTThis is our reading of where a mechanical degree goes in Israel, written from the course content and the shape of the local market. It is judgement, not data. We do not have interview questions, salaries or hiring numbers, and we would rather say so than invent them. If you have sat one of these interviews, tell us and the page gets better.