I’m a materials engineer in automotive and my colleagues treat what I do like it’s black magic. In reality it’s a ton of reading customer specs and journal papers. The other half of my job is networking with suppliers and OEM materials engineers who know far more about their products than I do. The other half is making sure Purchasing does not muck up every program by sourcing the wrong but cheaper materials...much fun.

Guys like the one described in the OP usually turn up in Sales a few years down the road.

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Fester from Detroit, Mi