Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) is concerned with the production, structure, characterization, properties and utilization of metals, ceramics, polymers, composites, electronic, optical, nano- and bio-compatible materials. Materials scientists and engineers play a key role in our increasingly complex technological society by extending the limited supply of materials, improving existing materials, and developing and designing new and superior materials with an awareness of their cost, reliability, safety, and societal/environmental implications.
Students majoring in materials science and engineering (MSE) receive a thorough grounding in the basic sciences and engineering of all materials. All students are required to take course sequences that include materials processing, thermodynamics and kinetics of materials, and their physical and mechanical behavior, plus laboratories designed to familiarize them with the instruments and advanced techniques used to process and characterize materials and evaluate their structure, properties and performance. A number of tracks allow upper-level students to focus their technical electives in areas of specialization, including materials for energy, materials for sustainability, materials for medical technology, manufacturing, or in a custom track. In addition, several required senior level courses emphasize the role and importance of materials selection and specification in design.
During their senior year, students majoring in materials science and engineering (MSE) work on a capstone senior design project over the course of three terms, with guidance from a faculty advisor and graduate student mentor. Students, generally working in small groups, synthesize information and knowledge from their courses to arrive at solutions to real-world engineering problems.
Examples of recent senior design project topics include:
- Scaling-up a Topochemical Fluorination Reactor
- Quantum Materials Properties Characterization Using Computational Models
- Designing Sustainable Plastics
- Synthesis of MXenes from Novel MAX Phases
- Near-Infrared Photodetector for Future Use in an Imaging Wand
- Screening of MXenes for Photothermal Therapy
- Hybrid Nanovesicles Made of Cell Membranes and Phosphoipids
- Stereocomplexed Nanofiber Shish-Kebabs for Sustainable Polymer Nanocomposites
- Solid Polymer Electrolytes (SPE) for Lithium Metal Batteries
- Photoluminescent Fibers as Smart Textiles
- Materials Discovery Through Machine Learning
- Photoluminescent Nanocrystals for Photodetectors
- Numerical Modeling of Selective Laser Melting via Finite Element Analysis
- Synthesis of MXenes Through Molten Salt Etching of MAX Phases
- Analysis of Electrospun Polyacrylonitrile Nanoyarn
-
MXene-Polymer Nanocomposites via Thiol-Michael "Click" Chemistry
Mission Statement
The Department of Materials Science and Engineering will provide our BS, MS and PhD graduates with the technical and theoretical knowledge, design capabilities, professionalism, and communications skills necessary for them to excel in leadership positions in academia, industry, and government at the national and international levels.
Vision
Materials science and engineering is a multi-disciplinary field that is at the forefront of all emerging technologies. Advances in the understanding of the process-structure-property-performance relationships of materials will be critical for future developments, including those in energy storage and power generation, biomaterials and nanomaterials. The Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Drexel University is recognized as a leader in these areas through its teaching and scholarly research.