Materials Selection

Catalog description

Throughout mankind's history, materials have played a critical role in civilization and technology. The selection of materials has been based on availability and functionality. The rapid advances of materials technologies in the last 150 years have made nearly all classes and forms of materials available. However, this increased material availability comes at a cost, not only in terms of the financial cost of manufacturing advanced materials, but also in terms of the environmental impact for material extraction, processing, and synthesis. The next generation of materials scientists and engineers will thus need to both understand how to optimally select materials from an ever-expanding universe of possibilities while also accounting for the environmental and societal impacts of their material choices. This course introduces materials selection as an optimization process, considering trade-offs in design performance, financial cost, and environmental sustainability. By the end of the course, students can expect to acquire a level of engineering familiarity with a broad range of materials and their properties, while being prepared to undertake environmentally responsible material design projects in critical applications in energy, sustainability, and healthcare, among others. Prerequisite: Junior standing or approval of the instructor.