Materials Engineering Program Requirements

The Materials Engineering undergraduate degree program consists of a minimum of 127 credits, which must come from several areas of background, core instruction, and specialization. The breakdown among these areas is:

32 Credits from Freshman Engineering
27 Credits of Mathematics, Science, Engineering Support
18 Credits of General Education Electives
33 Credits of Materials Engineering Undergraduate Core Classes
18 Credits of Technical Electives (6 credits may be Support Electives)

View an example Plan of Study

Explanations of Each Component:

Freshman Engineering:

The freshman engineering program is intended to impart and hone the basic scientific knowledge, mathematical proficiency, and communications skills that are required for an engineer in any discipline.

General Electives:

General Education Electives are intended to supplement the quantitative and analytical skills developed in engineering courses with the liberal arts and humanities viewpoints studied by most college and university students. The aim is to assist the student in developing knowledge and active interests in the arts and humanities, and the maturity required in making the social and ethical decisions required of practicing engineers.

Materials Engineering Undergraduate Core:

These courses teach the basic principles and interconnections between microstructure, processing, and properties: the essence of materials science and engineering. The core course curriculum is intended to ensure that every undergraduate in the School receives an adequate minimal training in these essential areas, whether they choose to work with metals, polymers, ceramics, electronic materials, or composites. A list of the individual courses can be found here:

Technical Electives:

Technical Elective courses ensure that each student has the specialized knowledge and skills needed to work effectively in an engineering or research position. The breadth allows specialization into any aspect of materials science and engineering. There is allowance for some further background science and mathematics courses, but at least 12 credits must be in materials-specific designated courses.

Support Electives:

Materials Engineering requires a greater proficiency in several areas than is required by engineering in general. These areas include physics, chemistry, and mathematics, but also communications and other engineering disciplines. Each student can design his/her own plan, based on career goal and advice from academic counselor advisor, from an approved list of Support Electives.