Materials Science and Engineering Profession

Materials Science & Engineering is the study of mechanical, physical, and chemical properties of engineering materials, such as metals, ceramics, polymers, and composites. The objective of a Materials Engineer is to predict and control material properties through an understanding of atomic, molecular, crystalline, and microscopic structures of engineering materials. A Materials Engineer is an essential member of an engineering team responsible for synthesis and processing of advanced materials for manufacturing. A graduate's work may be in areas as diverse as automobile, aerospace, biomedical, or microelectronics manufacturing. Opportunities are available through these industries in the area of research, quality control, product development, design, synthesis, and processing operations.

What does a Materials Science & Engineering Major do?

Learn about career information by visiting The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society site.

Degree Options in Materials Science & Engineering

Since the Materials Science and Engineering degree bridges the areas of metals, ceramics and polymers, students may specialize in an area that will enhance their ability to enter particular engineering enterprises, and/or communicate and design with different types of engineers on a multi-disciplinary team by completing of the following options that will appear on their transcript: Biomedical Materials, Manufacturing, Metallurgy, or Polymers.

For students who do not choose one of the above options, the flexibility of the MSE degree program allows students to take classes from many other departments that allow them to deepen their knowledge in complimentary areas, such as business, electronic materials, statistics, etc.

For more informaton on the coursework required for the various options, please view the MSE Undergraduate Curriculum Requirements.