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A: Materials science and engineering is a discipline that extends from the basic science of materials structure and properties to the design and evaluation of materials in engineering systems. Most engineers--mechanical, civil, chemical, electrical--work with materials on the job, and many become well acquainted with the properties of the materials they use most often. The role of a materials engineer is to understand why materials behave as they do under various conditions; to recognize the limits of performance that particular materials can attain; and to know what can be done during the manufacture of materials to meet the demands of a given application.
The Department of Materials Science and Engineering of the Case School of Engineering offers programs leading to the Bachelor of Science in Engineering, Master of Science, and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. The department conducts academic and research activities with metals, ceramics, composites, and electronic materials. Increasingly, the demands for new materials, and for improved materials in existing applications, transcend the traditional categories. The technological challenges that materials engineers face will continue to demand a breadth of knowledge across the spectrum of engineering materials.
Materials science draws on chemistry in its concern for bonding, synthesis, and composition of engineering materials and their chemical interactions with their environment. Physics provides a basis for understanding the mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties of materials, as well as the tools needed to ascertain the structure and properties of materials. Mathematics is used throughout materials manufacture and analysis. Ultimately, however, materials is an engineering discipline, bringing basic science tools to bear on the technological challenges related to materials products and their manufacture.
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