Introduction to Materials Science & Engineering

Catalog description

Everything you see around you has one thing in common - it is made of a material. In this course, we will explore how most of the world’s largest problems (health, energy, clean water, infrastructure, sustainable cities, transportation etc.) have MSE at the heart of the solution. Students will be given an overview of the different classes of materials and how advances in structure, properties, processing and performance lead to new end-user applications that have changed and will continue to change the world around us. Students will learn how technologies are commercialized and the hurdles that need to be addressed if a technology will ever make it to market. Hurdles such as understanding the decision makers along a value chain, regulatory challenges and unit economics will be explored. Students will also be given the opportunity to learn about how things are made and will design their very own pint glass to be laser engraved and will make their very own ceramic beer stein. There is a final project that will be done in groups where teams will explore an industrial area and the materials science behind solving the biggest problems for that industry.