Metallurgical engineering programs prepare people to use math and science to make and test metals used in buildings and other structures. Students learn how to produce metals from ores. They also learn to test metals for strength and durability.

Pick up a quarter or a dime and take a good look at the metal it is made of. When the cost of silver got too high in the 1960s, metallurgical engineers had to find a cheaper replacement to use for minting these coins. They wanted something that would look silvery and not rust easily. The new metal had to be easy to stamp into coins, yet be harder than silver and thus last longer. It had to work in slot machines and not be rejected as a slug. And it had to have a nice jingle. Eventually they came up with the metal sandwich that you're holding in your hand.

This gives you an idea of some of the problems that metallurgical engineers face. In a metallurgical engineering program, you learn how to solve problems such as this one by applying principles of science and math. Some metallurgical problems deal with how to extract metals from ores and mix them to create useful alloys. Other problems are related to the physical structure of metals. (Did you know that metal is made of crystals? Look closely at a galvanized garbage can and you'll see some.) Still other problems are related to the ways manufacturers process metal by hammering, casting, stretching, and rolling it.

Four or perhaps five years of full-time study beyond high school will earn you a bachelor's degree in this field. That is usually good preparation for the job market. About 20 colleges in the U.S. offer this program at the bachelor's level. Some of them allow you to study straight through to a master's degree in five years.

You also may enter this field by getting some other engineering degree, and then getting a master's in metallurgical engineering. Normally this takes one or two years beyond the bachelor's. About 20 graduate schools of engineering offer this degree.