Minor in Materials Science

Materials are now, and have often been, at the heart of the solutions to many of society’s problems. Many of the barriers to widespread incorporation of alternate and renewable energy, from higher-capacity, more robust, less expensive batteries for energy storage, to high efficiency/low cost solar devices, involve the need for new materials. Materials will play a large role in the area of health care. New medical devices, drug delivery systems, and synthetic biological tissue are just a few of the health-related applications in need of new materials for their success. In addition, materials challenges are front and center in the ever-evolving areas of electronic devices. Engineers and scientists with knowledge of materials science and engineering concepts are needed to address these and many more materials challenges.

Materials science and engineering is an interdisciplinary program with affiliated faculty from all of the engineering disciplines, as well as faculty from chemistry, and physics. Two undergraduate options involving materials science and engineering are available. Students pursuing a B.S. in engineering science may choose a program concentration in materials science and engineering. This option requires the student to take MSE 1500, 1500L, and 2500, and other materials science and engineering elective courses to complete their 27 hours of engineering program electives. Students pursuing a B.E. in an engineering discipline can earn a minor in materials science and engineering.

Materials Science and Engineering Minor

The minor in materials science and engineering provides the student with an understanding of engineering materials. It complements and adds to the student’s major in one of the engineering disciplines, exposing the student to an interdisciplinary approach to problem solving. The minor program in materials science and engineering requires 16 hours of program courses, of which 7 hours are devoted to MSE 1500, 1500L and MSE 2500. No more than 10 hours below the 2500 level may be applied to the minor.

Program Requirements

MSE 1500, 1500L Materials Science I and Laboratory
MSE 2500 Materials Science II

The remaining 9 hours can be chosen from the following list of courses.

MSE 3860 Undergraduate Research
MSE 3889-3890 Special Topics
BME 2100 Biomechanics
BME 2200 Biomedical Materials: Structure, Property, and Applications
BME 4200 Principles and Applications BioMicroElectroMechanical Systems (BioMEMS)
BME 4500 Nanobiotechnology
ChBE 4840 Synthesis and Applications of 2D Nanomaterials
ChBE 4850 Semiconductor Materials Processing
ChBE 4860 Molecular Aspects of Chemical Engineering
ChBE 4870 Polymer Science and Engineering
ChBE 4880 Corrosion Science and Engineering
CE 2205 Mechanics of Materials
CE 3205 Structural Design
CE 4200 Advanced Structural Steel Design
CE 4210 Advanced Reinforced Concrete Design
CE 4211 Mechanics of Composite Materials
EECE 4283 Principles and Models of Semiconductor Devices
EECE 4284 Integrated Circuit Technology and Fabrication
ME 3202 Machine Analysis and Design
ME 4251 Modern Manufacturing Processes
ME 4275 Finite Element Analysis
Chem 3010 Inorganic Chemistry
Chem 3300 Physical Chemistry: Quantum Mechanics, Spectroscopy, and Kinetics
Chem 3630 Macromolecular Chemistry: Polymers, Dendrimers, and Surface Modification
Phys 2250W Introduction to Quantum Physics and Applications I
Phys 2290 Electricity, Magnetism, and Electrodynamics
Phys 3640 Physics of Condensed Matter
For more information about undergraduate studies in Materials Science and Engineering, contact Professor Bridget Rogers