BS Materials Engineering

Materials engineering involves the development, production, modification, and application of engineering materials to meet the specific needs of society. It is based on an understanding of the structures and forces that control the engineering properties of metals, ceramics, polymers, and composites. Through the development of this understanding, the student learns how to control the properties of materials through various industrial manufacturing processes, how to select the optimum material and predict its behavior under various environmental and service conditions, and how to alter this behavior through materials design, research, and development. Materials Engineers are employed in every major industry, including aerospace, chemical, automotive, metals casting, biomedical, and microelectronics.

The materials engineering B.S. degree program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, http://www.abet.org. In addition to courses in mathematics, calculus-based physics, chemistry, and the humanities/social sciences, students take a core of fundamental engineering course work and a sequence of materials engineering courses. The required materials engineering courses address ceramics, polymers, composite materials, and metals. They emphasize the relationships among properties, structure, processing, and performance.