Making Education in Materials Science and Engineering Attractive to Undergraduate Students

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Materials research and education is currently one of the liveliest areas of science and engineering and is likely to be so for many decades. It is an outstanding example of an interdisciplinary field; persons who call themselves materials researchers are found in departments of chemistry, physics, metallurgy, ceramics, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, and mechanical engineering, and also in many departments that now call themselves by the name “materials science and engineering.” The field has grown so rapidly that the term “materials science and engineering,” has many different meanings. In fact, most of the funding that supports materials science and engineering research is awarded to investigators in the more traditional disciplines, and the vast majority of scientists and engineers working in the field were educated in these traditional core disciplines.

There is no question that the field of materials science and engineering is a success. However, is materials science and engineering now a discipline as well as a field? Should MS&E departments exist and what should be their educational mission? Should MS&E departments offer undergraduate and graduate majors? These questions are being discussed by many university faculties as they work to devise effective research structures and educational programs to respond to the growth of interest in a field that does not fit neatly into any single traditional discipline, but is far too important to ignore.

Recently, the University Materials Council appointed a committee to consider these issues and specifically address the challenge of creating effective, attractive programs of undergraduate education in materials science and engineering.