Coursework

The intent of the Materials Science & Engineering (MSEN) interdisciplinary program is to provide students with a broad theoretical and practical education that will allow them to be successful in a wide variety of high tech academic and industrial jobs related to the development, processing, manufacture, and application of materials from the macro-, to micro- to nanoscales. Typical students in this program will be full-time students residing on campus, but provisions may be made to support remotely located part-time students already engaged in professional careers.

MS students are required to take a course curriculum that includes six hours of research thesis, 18 hours of core courses, and nine hours from a selected concentration.

MS Concentrations:

Biological Materials and Devices

Energy Materials and Devices

Mechanical and Structural Materials

Microelectronic-Photonic Materials and Devices

Nanoscale Materials and Devices

Materials Modeling

PhD MSEN are expected to achieve proficiency in the core requirements of the MS degree plus additional core courses in Advanced Materials Science & Engineering and Design of Experiments. Beyond this, the student may enroll in appropriate science and engineering graduate courses to meet the total requirement of 27 course hours beyond the MS degree and to develop deep level knowledge in their area of research. The PhD also requires enrollment in 21 dissertation hours.

Program Requirements

MSEN students enter the program from a wide range of Bachelor of Science or Master of Science backgrounds. The program has a minimum undergraduate requirement of:

Physics through Calculus-based introduction to quantum mechanics
Math through Differential Equations

MS degree seeking students admitted with a BS in a science area will enroll in the MS Materials Science degree program; students with a BS in engineering from an ABET accredited school may enroll in the MS Materials Science or the MS Materials Engineering degree programs. All PhD students enroll in the PhD Materials Science and Engineering degree program.

Catalog pre-requisites to the MSEN curriculum's advanced courses in fields outside of a student's BS degree are evaluated by the course instructor and the student's advisor and waivers issued as appropriate.