Designing alloys to meet customer needs. Troubleshooting customer problems. Investigating new alloys. Obtaining my PhD and using the experience and knowledge gained from this in my career. Novel alloy compositions requiring new manufacturing methods, often driven by the requirements of the telecommunications industry.
Magentic materials is a very specialist field and hence difficult to diversify without retraining.
They need to think carefully about the choice between academia and industry. They will have to enjoy the scientific field they enter. Perhaps IT or engineering back-up skills would be of benefit.