Metals are extremely versatile materials. The strength, durability, magnetic, and conductive properties of metals make them useful in a wide range of applications. Today, with new techniques and sophisticated instrumentation, metals are taking on a new shape. Superplastic metals act like putty, and can be used to manufacture stuff with complex shapes. Powdered metals are used for injection molding of home appliances, farm equipment, and automobile parts.
Surgeons use shape memory alloy staples that are easily removed with the wave of a hot wand.
All of these new applications were developed by metallurgists who focus on increasing the performance of metals by combining different metallic compounds, manipulating their structure, or manufacturing them in new ways. They also study the imperfections in metal, like its behavior under stress or its rate of oxidation. Metallurgists study corrosion and look for ways to prevent it. They investigate new welding methods, techniques for coating and treating metal surfaces to protect and impart new properties, and look for new ways to combine metals with other materials. Metallurgists are in great demand across the country.