Materials Science and Engineering

Major: Materials Science and Engineering
Degree Awarded: Master of Science (MS)
Calendar Type: Quarter
Minimum Required Credits: 45.0 
Co-op Option: Available for full-time, on-campus master's-level students
Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code: 14.1801
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code: 17-2131

About the Program

The graduate master of science (MS) program in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) aims to provide an education which encompasses both the breadth and depth of the most recent knowledge base in the materials science and engineering fields in a format suitable for individuals seeking careers in academia and/or industry. In addition, the program provides students with research training through research credits and/or thesis research.

The graduate student body reflects a broad spectrum of undergraduate backgrounds. Because of the expansion into interdisciplinary areas, qualified physical and biological science, and other engineering program graduates may also join the program. Students without an undergraduate degree in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) are required to take MATE 503 Introduction to Materials Engineering.

The MS program in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) is offered both on a regular full-time and on a part-time basis. 

Career Opportunities

Graduates go on to careers in engineering firms, consulting firms, law firms, private industry, business, research laboratories, academia, and national laboratories. Materials scientists and engineers find employment in such organizations as Hewlett-Packard, Boeing, Intel, 3M, Global Foundries, Chemours, Lockheed-Martin, Johnson and Johnson, Merck, AstraZeneca, Arkema, W.L. Gore, Army Research Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Air Products, Micron, Motorola, and Corning.

Additional Information

For more information about Materials Science and Engineering, visit the Department of Materials Science and Engineering webpage.

Admission Requirements

Applicants must meet the graduate requirements for admission to Drexel University. The graduate student body reflects a broad spectrum of undergraduate backgrounds. Because of the expansion into interdisciplinary areas, qualified non-MSE engineering, physical, and biological science graduates may also join the program.

For specific information on how to apply to this program, visit Drexel University's Materials Science and Engineering Graduate Admissions webpage.

Degree Requirements 

The 45.0 quarter credits required for the MS degree include two required core courses on MATE 510 Thermodynamics of Solids and MATE 512 Introduction to Solid State Materials. Students choose four additional selected core courses.

Thesis Options

Students pursuing the thesis option are required to undertake a 9.0 credit thesis on a topic of materials research supervised by a faculty member. Alternatively, MS students can select the non-thesis option, in which case the thesis may be replaced by 9.0 credits of coursework.

All students in the thesis option are required to propose an advisor-supported research thesis topic during their first year. Students are urged to make a choice of topic as early as possible and to choose appropriate graduate courses in consultation with their advisor.

The program is organized so that part-time students may complete the degree requirements in two to four years. Full-time students may complete the program in two years.

There is no general exam required for MS students. If an MS student wishes to continue for a PhD, then the student must apply and be admitted to the PhD program. (There is no guarantee that an MS student will be admitted to the PhD program.)

*

Of the 18.0 technical elective credits, which may include up to 6.0 credits of MATE 897, at least 9.0 credits must be taken as Materials Science and Engineering (MATE) courses, while the rest may be taken within the College of Engineering, College of Arts and Sciences, or at other colleges if consistent with the student's plan of study (and given advance written approval by their advisor). At least 9.0 of these 18.0 technical electives must be exclusive of independent study courses or research credits.

Any graduate-level course in a STEM field (Engineering, Physical Sciences, or Computing/Data), as approved by the MSE Graduate Advisor, excluding MATE 536 (Materials Seminar), MATE 503 (Introduction to Materials Engineering) and  MATE 504 (Art of Being a Scientist).

Sample Plan of Study 

Facilities

Biomaterials and Biosurfaces Laboratory
This laboratory contains 10 kN biaxial and 5 kN uniaxial servo-hydraulic mechanical testing machines, a Fluoroscan X-ray system, a microscopic imaging system, a spectra fluorometer, a table autoclave, centrifuge, vacuum oven, CO2 incubators, biological safety cabinet, thermostatic water baths, precision balance, and ultrasonic sterilizer.

Nanobiomaterials and Cell Engineering Laboratory
This laboratory contains fume hood with vacuum/gas dual manifold, vacuum pump and rotary evaporator for general organic/polymer synthesis; gel electrophoresis and electroblotting for protein characterization; bath sonicator, glass homogenizer and mini-extruder for nanoparticle preparation; centrifuge; ultrapure water conditioning system; precision balance; and pH meter and shaker.

Ceramics Processing Laboratory
This laboratory contains a photo-resist spinner, impedance analyzer, Zeta potential meter, spectrofluorometer, piezoelectric d33 meter, wire-bonder, and laser displacement meter.

MAX Phase Ceramics Processing Laboratory
This laboratory contains a vacuum hot-press; cold isostatic press (CIP) and hot isostatic press (HIP) for materials consolidation and synthesis; precision dilatometer; laser scattering particle size analyzer; impedance analyzer, creep testers, and assorted high temperature furnaces.

Mechanical Testing Laboratory
This laboratory contains mechanical and closed-loop servo-hydraulic testing machines, hardness testers, impact testers, equipment for fatigue testing, metallographic preparation facilities, and a rolling mill with twin 6" diameter rolls.

Mesoscale Materials Laboratory
This laboratory contains instrumentation for growth, characterization, device fabrication, and design and simulation of electronic, dielectric, ferroelectric, and photonic materials. Resources include physical and chemical vapor deposition and thermal and plasma processing of thin films, including oxides and metals, and semiconductor nanowire growth. Facilities include pulsed laser deposition, atomic layer deposition, chemical vapor deposition, sublimation growth, and resistive thermal evaporation.  Variable-temperature high-vacuum probe station and optical cryostats including high magnetic field, fixed and tunable-wavelength laser sources, several monochromators for luminescence and Raman scattering spectroscopies, scanning electron microscopy with electron beam lithography, and a scanning probe microscope.

Nanomaterials Laboratory
This laboratory contains instrumentation for testing and manipulation of materials under microscope, high-temperature autoclaves, Sievert’s apparatus; glove-box; high-temperature vacuum and other furnaces for the synthesis of nano-carbon coatings and nanotubes; and electro-spinning system for producing nano-fibers.

Oxide Films and Interfaces Laboratory
This laboratory contains an oxide molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) thin film deposition system; physical properties measurement system for electronic transport and magnetometry measurements from 2 – 400K, up to 9 T fields; and 2 tube furnaces.

 Powder Processing Laboratory
This laboratory contains vee blenders, ball-mills, sieve shaker and sieves for powder classification, several furnaces (including one with controlled atmosphere capability); and a 60-ton Baldwin press for powder compaction.

Soft Matter Research and Polymer Processing Laboratories
These laboratories contain computerized thermal analysis facilities including differential scanning calorimeters (DSC), dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA), and thermo-gravimetric analyzer (TGA); single-fiber tensile tester; strip biaxial tensile tester; vacuum evaporator; spincoater; centrifuge; optical microscope with hot stage; liquid crystal tester; microbalance; ultrasonic cleaner; laser holographic fabrication system; polymer injection molder and single screw extruder.

Natural Polymers and Photonics Laboratory
This laboratory contains a spectroscopic ellipsometer for film characterization; high purity liquid chromatography (HPLC) system; lyophilizer; centrifuge; refractometer; and  electro-spinning system for producing nano-fibers.

X-ray Tomography Laboratory
This laboratory contains a high resolution X-ray tomography instrument and a cluster of computers for 3-D microstructure reconstruction; mechanical stage, a positioning stage, and a cryostage for in-situ testing.

Materials Characterization Core Facility
The Department of Materials Science & Engineering relies on Materials Characterization Core facility within the University for materials characterization and micro- and nano-fabrication. These facilities contain state-of-the-art materials characterization instruments, including environmental and variable pressure field-emission scanning electron microscopes with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) for elemental analysis and Orientation Image Microscopy (OIM) for texture analysis; a Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) with STEM capability and TEM sample preparation equipment; a dual beam focused ion beam (FIB) system for nano-characterization and nano fabrication; a femtosecond/ terahertz laser Raman spectrometer; visible and ultraviolet Raman micro spectrometers with a total of 7 excitation wavelengths for non-destructive chemical and structural analysis and Surface Enhanced Raman (SERS);  a Nanoindenter; an X-ray Photoelectron Spectrometer (XPS)/Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis (ESCA) system; and X-Ray Diffractometers (XRD), including small angle/wide angle X-Ray scattering (SAX/WAX).

More details of these instruments, information on how to access them, and instrument usage rates can be found on the Core Facilities webpage.

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty

Emeritus Faculty