Materials Engineer Mock Interview

25 Materials Engineer Interview Questions with 15+ User Answer Examples

1. 1.

   When have you successfully increased the performance of a material in the final product?

2. 2.

   Give me an example of a project that best describes your organizational skills.

3. 3.

   Tell me about a successful project you worked on at your last firm.

   User-Submitted Answers

   1. Project of optmizing Threading line. We were a team of three where I was doing the anaylsis part, so I have identified the value and non value adding. I came to know that some processes were unnssasary which was a reinspection at the enrty line. Moreoever, some other modification for tooling locations to minimize traveling time. By this we increase the throuput of the the line my 20%

4. 4.

   Describe a project or idea that was implemented primarily because of your efforts. What was your role? What was the outcome?

   User-Submitted Answers

   1. Focus in one subject until finished.
   2. During my experience as logistics development engineer at Brazilian foods. I was taken for a training at the company's different departments. As I was at the logistics department, I have noticed a process which was not optimal for such a essential part of the business, which was the routing plan for almost 30 trucks. Having a strong background in IE, I have used one of our techniques which is (TSP). The outcome of this test, I have found an optimal route for 4 delivery schedules that I tested. After that, I have presented my work to my direct manager, and by my finding. This triggered to adopt a route optimization software which was implemented successfully and we made a saving of operation cost by 500,000 $
   3. Implemented Road Net project which was initiated after analyzing the routing for delivery of out trucks. The idea was implemented later on with a project saving of almost 500,000$ across the kingdom during 2013/2014
   4. With my research, I gathered that the woven material, kevlar would be the ideal material which we could use however with limitations in funding, I realised that styrofoam would be the most practical material as it provides great protection and immense lightness.

5. 5.

   Why did you choose to apply at our organization?

6. 6.

   Describe a time you worked on a diverse team.

7. 7.

   Why are you the best candidate for us?

   User-Submitted Answers

   1. I am the best candidate because I believe I can do the job.

8. 8.

   Tell me about yourself.

9. 9.

   What kinds of writing have you done? How do you prepare written communications?

   User-Submitted Answers

   1. As being a planning engineer, communication is an essential part of my work and in a necessity to insure on time and accurate information flow between all departments from sales up until to delivery.

10. 10.

    How extensive are your typical testing procedures?

11. 11.

    What have you done in past situations to contribute toward a teamwork environment?

12. 12.

    Describe a time when you facilitated a creative solution to a problem.

13. 13.

    Tell me about the last time that you undertook a project that demanded a lot of initiative.

    User-Submitted Answers

    1. The last project I took that required a lot of initiative was for my son, a new Boy Scout member. Many of the kids talked about their badges, and how they could get them. The adults absorbed themselves in their phones and work while impatiently waiting for the meeting to be over. Hearing my son wistfully declare he wanted to earn his Eagle Badge in record time, I set forth a plan that involved a camping trip that could get him about a quarter of his badges in one weekend. This took a lot of planning, and even more help. I had to find, then delegate tasks to 12 adult volunteers of various categories, each with different specialties that they could share with the kids to help them get their badges in a short amount of time. My company had been using several databases to enter the same information. I wanted to streamline the process so I decided to work with the IT team to create one database that covered all of the necessary information. It was a long process, with several setbacks, but I saw it through and ended up saving the company from lots of wasted time.
    2. My robot project took some time.
    3. We were having several OCTG PO running for ARAMCO. As we were reaching the production deadline, I came to know that we might face shortage due to low yield of material. So I investigated our stock and realized we had some OCTG pipes that were hanging in our system from previous production from 2012 and onwards. So I have initiated to go in depth about these pipes, and with help of the Logistics team and QC we made a list of the condition of these pipes, and decided go for re-inspection. After completing this assessment, we were able to cover the Total order for this particular PO and it saved us a Purchasing Fee of almost 1 million dollars worth of Raw material.
    4. During my experience at BRF in the Planning Department, I was in rotational period where I have been across different functions, one of them was the logistics department. I was assigned to work with logistics team for a couple of weeks. As I was looking into the processing of routing the orders ( shipping ) to customers, I noticed that the process was not optimal way. So I have used one of the IE techniques to investigate the schedules that was made by logistics planners. I took samples of them an evaluated the distiance covered. After than, I used a technique called the TSP, where I used complex OR to get the optimal route. The results was note worthy as significant improvement was indicated using this approach. So I have presented my work. I have initiated to use a software to optimize delivery. So I have demanded to initiate this project, which we did later on during my experience there and we had a project saving cost of around 500,000 $ across the kingdom during the first year launch.
    5. I undertook a research project, for which the original scope was only about 3 months. After that time, we had some results but not enough for a full analysis, and I had the option of continuing the project on my own time (with guidance and support) or moving on to something else, so I took the initiative of continuing the project and running further experiments.
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14. 14.

    What do you know about our organization?

15. 15.

    Tell me about a time when you had to be critical of a technician. How do you handle those situations?

16. 16.

    What is your greatest strength?

17. 17.

    What is your greatest weakness? What are you doing to improve it?

18. 18.

    What are your career goals?

19. 19.

    What experience do you have in material science?

20. 20.

    Are you efficient with your time?

21. 21.

    Do you work well on a team?

22. 22.

    Describe a time when you have to think outside the box.

23. 23.

    Do you have previous experience as a Materials Engineer?

24. 24.

    How much exposure to semiconductors have you had over the course of your college career?

25. 25.

    If hired, how long do you plan on working for us?

    User-Submitted Answers

    1. Well as long as there is a room for continual growth within the company I believe, why not stay there as much as possible. At the end of the day, we all thrive of learning and improving our selfs.
    2. At present I can not tell exact period ,Every thing will depends on nature of work.
    3. Well a young professional, I am seeking to gain knowledge the best way possible in addition to continual growth. If these two elements are there, I believe I would stay in this medium as much as I can!
    4. For as long as I am able to learn and remain engaged.