Below is a listing of the graduate courses offered by our Intercollege Graduate Degree Program. More information on each course (including prerequisites) can be found by clicking on the course title or by visiting the University Bulletin. Information about specific degree requirements can be found on the Master's Degree or Doctoral Degree pages.
Schedule of Courses
MatSE Courses
MATSE 501: Thermodynamics of Materials (3)
Application of thermodynamics to materials equilibria and processes, including solution theory, electrochemical processes, capillarity, and the effect of stresses.
MATSE 503: Kinetics of Materials Processes (3)
Introduction to application of transition state theory and mass transfer to the kinetics of materials and mineral processes.
MATSE 505: Advanced Thermodynamics (3)
Introduction to statistical and irreversible thermodynamics as applied to chemical and materials systems.
MATSE 506: Interfacial Electrochemical Processes (3)
Survey of thermodynamic and kinetic fundamentals of electrochemical processes at interfaces.
MATSE 507/BIOE 517: Biomaterials Surface Science (3)
Special properties of surfaces as an important causative and mediating agent in the biological response to materials.
MATSE 508/BIOE 508: Biomedical Materials (3)
Properties and methods of producing metallic, ceramic, and polymeric materials used for biomedical applications.
MATSE 510/CH E 510: Surface Characterization of Materials (3)
Physical and chemical principles of characterization techniques widely used in materials science, chemistry and engineering.
MATSE 511A: Powder X-Ray Diffraction (1)
Compound identification, lattice parameter measurement, and other applications of the powder diffraction method.
MATSE 511B/GEOSC 511B: Transmission Electron Microscopy (1)
Principles and practice of transmission electron microscope operation. Students undertake individual projects.
MATSE 511E: Scanning Electron Microscopy (1)
Principles and practice of scanning electron microscope operation. Students undertake individual projects.
MATSE 511G: Analytical Electron Microscopy (1)
Modern analytical electron microscope techniques: scanning transmission electron microscopy; electron energy loss spectroscopy; energy dispersive analysis of x-rays.
MATSE 512/GEOSC 512: Principles of Crystal Chemistry (3)
Relation of structure to ionic size and nature; influence of pressure and temperature on structure; chemical-structural defects, crystalline solutions, phase-transitions.
MATSE 514: Characterization of Materials (3)
Classical and new (microprobe, scanning microscope, magnetic resonance, and Mossbauer) techniques for the characterization of composition, structure, defects, and surfaces.
MATSE 518: Wetting Properties of Materials: Theories and Practice (3)
Fundamentals of water wetting phenomenon are developed with special emphasis on thermodynamics of absorption and adhesion.
MATSE 523/NUC E 523: Environmental Degradation of Materials in Nuclear Power Plants (3)
Degradation of materials performance when exposed to the combination of high temperature, neutron irradiation, and aggressive electrochemistry found in nuclear reactors.
MATSE 530: X-Ray Crystallography and Diffraction (3)
Reciprocal lattices and the Ewald sphere construction; crystal structure determination by powder and single crystal techniques; space groups.
MATSE 531: Transmission Electron Microscopy (3)
Diffraction pattern analysis and simple contrast theory applied to the structures of materials; analytical techniques in the microscope.
MATSE 535: Geometrical Crystallography (3)
Derivation of lattices, types, point groups, and space groups; and group theory applied to crystallography and spectroscopy.
MATSE 540: Crystal Anisotropy (3)
Symmetry aspects of crystals and physical properties. Matrix and tensor methods.
MATSE 542: Polymeric Materials: The Solid State (3)
Introduction to the fundamental concepts necessary to understand solid state structure and properties of polymer materials.
MATSE 543/CHEM 543: Polymer Chemistry (3)
This graduate course discusses recent advances in polymer chemistry that leads to new polymeric materials with interesting structures and properties.
MATSE 544: Computational Materials Science of Soft Materials (3)
Pursue applications of computational modeling methods to soft materials; explore use of these methods to different research areas.
MATSE 547: Thermophysical Properties of Ceramics (3)
Heat capacity, heat of fusion, thermal conductivity, and thermal expansion in relation to macroscopic measurements and basic atomic concepts applied to ceramic materials.
MATSE 548: Dielectric and Other Electroceramics (3)
Preparation and properties of ceramic semiconductors, dielectrics, and magnetic materials.
MATSE 552: Sintering of Ceramics (3)
Design and interpretation of ceramic microstructures through an understanding of the physics and chemistry of sintering and grain growth.
MATSE 555/PHYS 555: Polymer Physics I (3)
Introduction to the fundamental concepts needed to understand the physics applicable to polymer melts, solutions and gels.
MATSE 560/MN PR 507: Hydrometallurgical Processing (3)
Fundamental physico-chemical factors underlying the aqueous extraction and recovery of metals and nonmetals from ores, minerals, and scrap metal.
MATSE 561: Metal Electrode Reactions (2-3)
Evaluation of electrode reaction mechanisms and kinetics at metal/electrolyte interfaces relevant to corrosion and industrial electrolyte processes.
MATSE 562: Solid to Solid Phase Transformations (3)
Mechanisms and rate-determining factors in solid-phase reactions in metals; diffusion processes, nucleation theory, precipitations from solid solution, eutectoid decomposition and order-disorder phenomena.
MATSE 563/E MCH 534: Micromechanisms of Fracture (3)
Mechanisms of fracture and their relationship to loading conditions, environment, flow behavior, processing history, and microstructure.
MATSE 564/E MCH 535: Deformation Mechanisms in Materials (3)
Deformation of crystalline/amorphous solids and relationship to structure; elastic, viscoelastic and plastic response over a range of temperatures and strain rates.
MATSE 565: Metals in Electronics (3)
Processing and performance of metals in electronics, covering electrical resistivity, metal film deposition, metal/semiconductor contacts, interconnects, and electronic packaging.
MATSE 570/EME 570: Catalytic Materials (3)
Preparation and characterization of solid catalytic materials and the relationships between their surface, defect, and electronic properties and catalytic activity.
MATSE 575: Functional Polymeric Materials (3)
In-depth discussions of structure/property relationships in functional polymers and modern concepts of polymerization methods.
MATSE 580: Computational Thermodynamics (3)
The integration of fundamental principles and advanced computational approaches in the thermodynamics of materials, including hands-on computation, theory and application.
MATSE 581: Computational Materials Science II: Continuum, Mesoscale Simulations (3)
This course will focus on computational techniques and fundamentals of phase transformation simulations on the continuum, mesocale level.
MATSE 582: Materials Science and Engineering Professional Development (1)
This course covers ethical conduct of research, pathways of professional development and strategies and tools for research.
MATSE 590: Colloquium (1-3)
Continuing seminars which consist of a series of individual lectures by faculty, students, or outside speakers.
MATSE 596: Individual Studies (1-9)
Creative projects, including nonthesis research, which are supervised on an individual basis and which fall outside the scope of formal courses.
MATSE 598: Special Topics (1-9)
Formal courses given on a topical or special interest subject which may be offered infrequently.
MATSE 600: Thesis Research (1-15)
No description.
MATSE 601: Ph.D. Dissertation Full-Time (0)
No description.
MATSE 602: Supervised Experience in College Teaching (1-3 per semester/maximum of 6)
Supervised assistance with the teaching program in metallurgy.
MATSE 611: Ph.D. Dissertation Full-Time (0)
No description.
MATSE 897: Special Topics (1-9)
Formal courses given on a topical or special interest subject which may be offered infrequently.
Additional Electives
Below is a list of additional courses offered across campus suggested by students or faculty members in the iMatSE program. If you are a current student or faculty member and have other suggestions, please let us know.
Regularly-Offered Courses
CH E 524: Chemical Engineering, Application of Thermodynamics (3)
Elements of thermochemistry and thermodynamics of greatest importance in chemical engineering.
CH E 528: Colloids (3)
Unified treatment of formation, growth and stability of colloids based on principles of intermolecular and colloidal forces and thermodynamics.
CH E 544: General Transport Phenomena (3)
Formulation and solution of transport problems involving momentum, heat, and mass transfer, with chemical engineering applications.
CHEM 519: Materials Chemistry (3)
An overview of the role played by chemistry in the field of materials science.
CHEM 535: Physical Organic Chemistry (3)
Reactive intermediates, reaction kinetics and thermodynamics, solvent effects, conformational analysis, reaction mechanisms, noncovalent interactions in synthesis, and stereochemistry.
E SC 501: Solar Cell Devices (3)
Principles of photovoltaic energy conversion and their utilization in engineering devices. Emphasis on current solar cell research and development efforts.
E SC 502: Semiconductor Heterojunctions and Applications (3)
Theory, fabrication techniques, and electronic applications of semiconductor heterojunctions, including metal-semiconductor and electrolyte-semiconductor junctions.
E SC 541: Laser-Materials Interactions (3)
Laser beam interactions with metallic, ceramic, polymeric and biological materials; effects of wavelength, power, spatial and temporal distributions of intensity.
E SC 577: Engineered Thin Films (3)
Broad overview of the preparation-characterization-porperty relations for thin films used in a wide range of industrial applications.
E E 542: Semiconductor Devices (3)
Characteristics and limitations of bipolar transistors, diodes, transit time, and bulk-effect devices.
E E 543: Ferroelectric Devices (3)
Theoretical background of ferroelectric devices, practical materials, device designs, drive/control techniques, and typical applications.
E E 547: Dielectric Devices (3)
Applications of insulator physics and devices based on insulator properties.
E MCH 523: Ultrasonic Nondestructive Evaluation (3)
Methods, techniques, applications of Ultrasonic Nondestructive Evlauation wave propagation; signal processing and pattern recognition applied to UNDE; practical laboratory demonstrations.
E MCH 524A: Mathematical Methods in Engineering (3)
Special functions, boundary value problems, eigenfunctions and eigenvalue problems; applications to engineering systems in mechanics, vibrations, and other fields.
E MCH 530: Mechanical Behavior of Materials (3)
Engineering materials mechanical responses; stress/strain in service context of temperature, time, chemical environment; mechanical testing characterization; design applications.
MATH 505: Mathematical Fluid Mechanics (3)
Kinematics, balance laws, constitutive equations; ideal fluids, viscous flows, boundary layers, lubrication; gas dynamics.
MATH 523: Numerical Analysis I (3)
Approximation and interpolation, numerical quadrature, direct methods of numerical linear algebra, numerical solutions of nonlinear systems and optimization.
PHYS 512: Quantum Theory of Solids I (3)
Electrons in periodic potentials; single electron approximations; lattice dynamics; electrical, optical, and magnetic properties of solids; transport theory.
PHYS 513: Quantum Theory of Solids II (3)
Electron-phonon interaction, BCS theory; Landau Fermi-liquid theory; disorder and localized states; spin-wave theroy; many-body theory.
PHYS 514: Physics of Surfaces, Interfaces, and Thin Films (3)
This course focuses on interfacial and surface phenomena; structural, electronic, vibrational and thermodynamic properties; physisorption and chemisorption; phase transitions and ultrathin film nucleation; and growth phenomena.
PHYS 524: Physics of Semiconductors and Devices (3)
Electronic structure, optical and transport properties of crystalline and amorphous semiconductors, quantum wells, superlattices; quantum devices; quantum Hall effect.
STAT 500: Applied Statistics (3)
Descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing, power, estimation, confidence intervals, regression, one- and 2-way ANOVA, Chi-square tests, diagnostics.
Special Topics Courses
The courses below are not assigned a permanent number and may or may not be offered again. The letters A, B, C, etc. are used in place of X and are reused from semester to semester. Below is a sample of special topics courses offered during the 2013-14 academic year.
MATSE 597: Special Topics (1-9)
Formal courses given on a topical or special interest subject which may be offered infrequently.
MATSE 597A: Quantum Mechanics for Material Scientists and Engineers (3)
Introduction to the concepts of quantum mechanics and application to problems in materials science with emphasis on solid state materials.
MATSE 597A: Polymers in Energy Research (3)
This course focuses on current research involving how polymers are used in energy applications such as batteries and solar cells.
MATSE 597B/CH E 597C: Scattering in Soft Matter Science (3)
The course covers fundamental and applied aspects of soft matter scattering and provides a comprehensive introduction to the theory, techniques and applications of scattering.
MATSE 597C/EGEE 597C: Nanoscale Energy and Environmental Engineering (3)
The course will cover the synthesis, characterization and applications of nanomaterials to energy generation, storage, conversion, conservation, control and environmental engineering. Selected topics in nanmaterial toxicity and production/process/product economics will be included.
E SC 597X
Courses offered included Introduction to Bioarchitecture, Applications of Soft Lithography in Bionanotechnology and Medical Ultrasound.
EE 597X
Courses offered included Nanophotonics and Plasmonics, Processing and Characterization of Semiconductor Surfaces and Compound Semiconductors.
M E 597X
Courses offered included Materials for Energy Conversion and Storage, Atomic Simulation for Engineers and High Power Energy Storage.