Materials Science and Engineering PhD

Major: Materials Science and Engineering
Degree Awarded: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Calendar Type: Quarter
Minimum Required Credits: 90.0 
Co-op Option: None
Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code: 14.1801
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code: 17-2131

About the Program

The PhD 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 in-depth research training through their thesis project.

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

Career Opportunities

PhD program 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, 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, 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

Curriculum

A student must have at least the required 90.0 quarter credits for the PhD degree. An MS degree is not a prerequisite for the PhD degree, but can count for 45.0 quarter credits if the courses are approved by the graduate advisor. For students without an MS degree, but with previous graduate coursework, they may transfer no more than 15.0 credits (equivalent to 12.0 semester credits) from approved institutions provided they follow the rules and regulations described in the Materials Requirements of Graduate Degrees. 

 The required 90.0 credits for a PhD degree are tabulated below:

• Required core courses: 6.0 credits
• Additional required courses: 7.0 credits (MATE 504 &  MATE 536 [1.0 credit for first 6 terms])
• Selected core courses: 12.0 credits
• Optional courses: 9.0 credits
• Research or additional option courses: 47.0 credits
• Dissertation: 9.0 credits (MATE 998)
  Total: 90.0 credits

Program Requirements

 

Students must successfully pass degree-required exams including final dissertation defense and submission of the final dissertation.

*

PhD students must achieve a minimum "B-" grade in each of the required core courses. Waiver of any of the six (6) core courses must be approved by the MSE Department graduate advisor and the student's thesis advisor in advance.

**

 MATE 536 is a 1.0 credit course that must be repeated 6 times. 

An introductory course, MATE 503, is required for students without an undergraduate materials science and engineering degree.

Additional courses are encouraged for students entering the department with an MS degree. Students choose a doctoral thesis topic after consultation with the faculty.  Students are required to consider topics early in the program. An oral thesis presentation and defense are scheduled at the completion of the thesis work.

In addition to the graduate seminar, which is required of all graduate students, doctoral program students must pass an oral candidacy examination and a thesis proposal defense. The exam is designed to improve and assess the communication skills and the analytical abilities of the student. The following procedures should be followed to complete the PhD.

Candidacy Exam Requirement

All MSE PhD students are required to take the PhD Candidacy Examinations administered by the MSE Department.

Additional Information

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

Sample Plan of Study

 

At least 90.0 credits are required for the PhD degree, which is based on the completion of a dissertation. Typical PhD students complete between 144.0-216.0 credits in the course of their PhD studies.

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