While many students will take the lessons learned at a young age into jobs designing roadways, writing computer code or analyzing chemical processes, some are discovering that they can go back to a life of play by pursuing a career at a company that designs and manufactures toys. Toy manufacturers employ engineers in many capacities, from streamlining the production process, to testing toys for safety and durability, to designing packaging. As technology advances and kids become more sophisticated, however, toy companies are relying on their engineering staffs to invent new products and improve upon old favorites. Take Mattel Inc., the El Segundo, Calif., company that offers such standbys as Barbie and Hot Wheels. The company has entered into a partnership with chip manufacturer Intel to expand both companies' product lines.
Executives say the product also appeals to older kids and adults.
These aren't kids. Increasing competition, however, has played a part in creating the joint venture which, as the lab's other director Michael Bruck explains, relies on technology to take toys into a new dimension. There isn't even a defined category for these kinds of toys. We wanted to go off and do something new and different. Such competition is fierce throughout the toy industry.