In today's world there is a constant demand for new materials of superior quality or with particular combinations of properties. It is the task of the materials engineer to use chemical and physical processes to provide new materials, more useful and valuable products, and improvements in the properties of existing materials on a cost-effective basis.

Materials engineering, like other branches of engineering, is based on mathematics, physics, and chemistry.

Necessarily, the engineer must work with every type of material, whether it be metal, glass, plastic, or naturally occurring rock or wood; and electrical conductors, semiconductors, or insulators, transparent or otherwise. The variety of available materials is as wide as the applications; to use them to good effect, the engineer must understand the nature of the substances that might be used for a particular purpose and the chemical and physical processes that are involved in their production.

Being in a central position in the development and design of new products, the materials engineer has excellent and varied career opportunities, extending from fundamental research through primary production processes and subsequent manufacturing to quality control and failure analysis.

Mission Statement

The Materials Department is committed to provide comprehensive undergraduate and graduate education in Materials Engineering, outstanding research, and service to our students, College, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and the community, as well as to active participation in professional societies.

Programs

Materials Science and Engineering Courses

NameRankDegreeSchoolGraduate FacultyEmeritus Faculty
Nidal Abu-Zahra Associate Professor, Chair PhD Cleveland State University Yes No
George S. Baker Professor PhD No Yes
Benjamin Church Associate Professor PhD Georgia Institute of Technology Yes No
Hugo F. Lopez Professor PhD Ohio State University Yes No
Xiaoli Ma Assistant Professor PhD Arizona State University Yes No
Joachim P. Neumann Professor PhD No Yes
Junjie Niu Assistant Professor PhD Zhejiang University Yes No
Pradeep K. Rohatji Wisconsin Distinguished Professor ScD Massachusetts Institute of Technology Yes No
Dev Venugopalan Associate Professor, Vice Provost PhD McMaster University Yes No