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MSE Program Courses

Undergraduate courses that may be used to satisfy program requirements are listed below. (The actual courses selected for a coherent program of study will be determined in conjunction with the student's departmental adviser and program adviser.)

Core Materials Course (choose one)
MSE 301 Introduction to Materials Science and Engineering
MSE 324 Structure and Properties of Materials
CEE 364 Materials in Civil Engineering

Experimental Methods Course (choose one)
MSE 302 Laboratory Techniques in Materials Science and Engineering
CHM 371 Experimental Chemistry

Thermodynamics Course (choose one)
CBE 246 Thermodynamics I
CHM 306 Physical Chemistry: Thermodynamics, Molecular Simulations, and Kinetics
ELE 342 Principles of Quantum Engineering
MAE 221 Thermodynamics
PHY 301 Thermal Physics

Approved Electives (choose three, with one outside student's major department)

Applied and Computational Math
APC 350 Methods in Partial Differential Equations

Chemical and Biological Engineering
CBE 410 Product Engineering: Structure and Design of Molecules
CBE 415 Polymers
CBE 421 Catalytic Chemistry
CBE 423 Biologically Inspired Materials

Chemistry
CHM 301, 302 or 303, 304 Organic Chemistry
CHM 305 or CHM 405 Physical Chemistry: The Quantum World
CHM 306 or CHM 406 Advanced Physical Chemistry: Chemical Dynamics and Thermodynamics
CHM 333 Oil to Ozone: Chemistry of the Environment
CHM 403 Advanced Organic Chemistry
CHM 407 Inorganic Chemistry: Structure and Bonding
CHM 408 Inorganic Chemistry: Reactions and Mechanisms
CHM 409 Structural Solid State Chemistry

Civil and Environmental Engineering
CEE 361 Matrix Structural Analysis and Introduction to Finite Element Methods
CEE 365 Soil Mechanics

Electrical Engineering
ELE 341 Solid-State Devices
ELE 342 Principles of Quantum Engineering
ELE 352 Physical Optics
ELE 441 Solid-State Physics I
ELE 442 Solid-State Physics II
ELE 453 Optical Electronics

Geosciences
GEO 103 Natural Disasters
GEO 312 Introduction to Mineralogy and Petrology
GEO 363 Environmental Geochemistry: Chemistry of the Natural Systems
GEO 371 Global Geophysics

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
MAE 223 Modern Solid Mechanics
MAE 305 Mathematics in Engineering I
MAE 306 Mathematics in Engineering II
MAE 322 Mechanical Design
MAE 334 Materials Selection and Design
MAE 344 Introduction to Bioengineering and Medical Devices
MAE 423 Heat Transfer

Molecular Biology
MOL 214 Introduction to Cellular and Molecular Biology (non-molecular biology majors only)
MOL 345 Biochemistry
MOL 348 Cell and Developmental Biology
MOL 457 Computational Aspects of Molecular Biology

Operations Research and Financial Engineering
ORF 309 Probability and Stochastic Systems

Physics
PHY 208 Principles of Quantum Mechanics (non-physics majors only)
PHY 304 Advanced Electromagnetism
PHY 305 Introduction to the Quantum Theory
PHY 405 Modern Physics I - Condensed Matter Physics

Graduate courses open to undergraduates by petition

MSE Core Course Descriptions

MSE 301, "Materials Science and Engineering" An introduction to the synthesis, structure, properties, and technical performance of important current and future materials (i.e. semiconductors and biomaterials) from an atomistic and molecular perspective. Topics include: microscopic interactions and resulting structures; property and performance determination; materials application and environmental impact. Three lectures. Y.L. Loo

MSE 324, "The Structure and Properties of Materials" This course is an introduction to the properties of engineering materials that emphasizes the correlation between their atomic and microscopic structure and their macroscopic properties. Topics include structural, mechanical, thermodynamic, and design related issues important to engineering applications. This course satisfies the 'intro course' requirement for the Materials Certificate and the materials requirement of the MAE Department. Three lectures and one precept. C.B. Arnold

CEE 364, "Materials in Civil Engineering" The structure and properties of building materials including cement, concrete, steel, asphalt, and wood; fracture mechanics; strength testing; mechanisms of deterioration (corrosion, freeze-thaw cycles, pollution). Laboratories on brittle fracture, heat treatment of steel, strength of concrete, and mechanical properties of wood. This course satisfies the 'intro course' requirement for the Materials Certificate. Prerequisite: CEE 205 or instructor's permission. G.W. Scherer

MSE 302, "Laboratory Techniques in Materials Science & Engineering" Laboratory techniques and structure/property relationships in materials. The course includes lectures on the theory of electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, electrical and mechanical properties and the processing of materials. Corresponding laboratory sessions introduce students to techniques for characterization of structure and properties at different length scales as well as providing an opportunity to process materials. Aspects of performance and their economics will be featured.  Prerequisite: MSE 301 or equivalent. two lectures one laboratory. J.C. Sturm. C.B. Arnold

CHM 371, "Experimental Chemistry I" A broad range of quantitative chemistry laboratory methods. Synthesis and characterization of an inorganic complex. Experiments in kinetics, thermodynamics, spectroscopy, and magnetic resonance. This course satisfies the 'laboratory course' requirement for the Materials Certificate. Lectures on mass spectroscopy and apparatus design. Two lectures, two three-hour laboratories.