Department: Materials Science and Engineering
Contacts
Office: 496 Lomita Mall, Durand Building
Mail Code: 94305-4034
Phone: (650)725-2648
Email: msestudentservices@stanford.edu
Web Site: http://mse.stanford.edu
Courses offered by the Department of Materials Science and Engineering are listed under the subject code MATSCI on the Stanford Bulletin's ExploreCourses website.
The Department of Materials Science and Engineering is concerned with the relation between the structure and properties of materials, factors that control the internal structure of solids, and processes for altering their structure and properties, particularly at the nanoscale.
Mission of the Undergraduate Program in Materials Science and Engineering
The mission of the undergraduate program in Materials Science and Engineering is to provide students with a strong foundation in materials science and engineering with emphasis on the fundamental scientific and engineering principles which underlie the knowledge and implementation of material structure, processing, properties, and performance of all classes of materials used in engineering systems. Courses in the program develop students' knowledge of modern materials science and engineering, teach them to apply this knowledge analytically to create effective and novel solutions to practical problems and develop their communication skills and ability to work collaboratively. The program prepares students for careers in industry and for further study in graduate school.
The B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering provides training for the materials engineer and also preparatory training for graduate work in materials science. Capable undergraduates are encouraged to take at least one year of graduate study to extend their course work through the coterminal degree program which leads to an M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering. Coterminal degree programs are encouraged both for undergraduate majors in Materials Science and Engineering and for undergraduate majors in related disciplines.
Learning Outcomes (Undergraduate)
The department expects undergraduate majors in the program to be able to demonstrate the following learning outcomes. These learning outcomes are used in evaluating students and the department's undergraduate program. Students are expected to demonstrate the ability to:
Apply the knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering to assess and synthesize scientific evidence, concepts, theories, and experimental data relating to the natural or physical world.
Extend students' knowledge of the natural or physical world beyond that obtained from secondary education by refining their powers of scientific observation, the essential process by which data is gained for subsequent analysis.
Design and conduct experiments, as well as understand and utilize the scientific method in formulating hypotheses and designing experiments to test hypotheses.
Function on multidisciplinary teams, while communicating effectively.
Identify, formulate, and solve engineering issues by applying conceptual thinking to solve certain problems, bypassing calculations or rote learning, and relying on the fundamental meaning behind laws of nature.
Understand professional and ethical responsibility.
Understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental, and societal context.
Demonstrate a working knowledge of contemporary issues.
Recognize the need for, and engage in, lifelong learning.
Apply the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice.
The transition from engineering concepts and theory to real engineering applications and understanding the distinction between scientific evidence and theory, inductive and deductive reasoning, and understanding the role of each in scientific inquiry.
Graduate Programs in Materials Science Engineering
Graduate programs lead to the degrees of Master of Science, Engineer, and Doctor of Philosophy. Graduate students can specialize in any of the areas of materials science and engineering.
Learning Outcomes (Graduate)
The purpose of the master’s program is to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary for a professional career or doctoral studies. This is done through the course and laboratory work in solid-state fundamentals and materials engineering, and further course work in a technical depth area which may include a master’s Research Report. Typical depth areas include nanocharacterization, electronic and photonic materials, energy materials, nano, and biomaterials.
The Ph.D. is conferred upon candidates who have demonstrated substantial scholarship and the ability to conduct independent research. Through course work and guided research, the program prepares students to make original contributions in Materials Science and Engineering, and related fields.
Facilities
The department is located in the William F. Durand Building, with extensive facilities in the Jack A. McCullough Building and the Gordon and Betty Moore Materials Research Building. These buildings house offices for the chair, majority of the faculty, administrative and technical staff, graduate students as well as lecture and seminar rooms. The research facilities are equipped to conduct electrical measurements, mechanical testing of bulk and thin-film materials, fracture and fatigue of advanced materials, metallography, optical, scanning, transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, UHV sputter deposition, vacuum annealing treatments, wet chemistry, and x-ray diffraction.
The McCullough/Moore Complex is also the home of the Center for Magnetic Nanotechnology (CMN), Stanford Nanocharacterization Laboratory (SNL), and Nanoscale Prototyping Laboratory (NPL; joint facility with Mechanical Engineering in Building 530).
Depending on the needs of their programs, students and faculty also conduct research in a number of other departments and independent laboratories. Chief among these are the Stanford Nanofabrication Facility (SNF), Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials (GLAM), and Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL).
The Stanford Nanofabrication Facility (SNF) is a laboratory joining government and industrially funded research on microelectronic materials, devices, and systems. It houses a 10,000 sq. ft., class 100 cleanroom for Si and GaAs integrated circuit fabrication, a large number of electronic tests, materials analysis, and computer facilities, and office space for faculty, staff, and students. In addition, the Center for Integrated Systems (CIS) provides start-up research funds and maintains a fellow-mentor program with the industry.
Faculty
Chair: Alberto Salleo
Associate Chair: Sarah C. Heilshorn
Director of Graduate Studies: Eric Appel
Director of Undergraduate Studies: Rajan Kumar
Professors: Mark L. Brongersma, Yi Cui, Reinhold H. Dauskardt, Thomas Devereaux, Persis S. Drell, Sarah C. Heilshorn, Paul C. McIntyre, Nicholas A. Melosh, Friedrich B. Prinz, Alberto Salleo, Robert Sinclair, Shan X. Wang
Associate Professors: William Chueh, Jennifer A. Dionne, Aaron M. Lindenberg, Evan J. Reed, Andrew Spakowitz
Assistant Professors: Eric Appel, Felipe da Jornada, Leora E Dresselhaus-Marais, Guosong Hong, Andrew Mannix, Kunal Mukherjee
Courtesy Professors: Raag Airan, Zhenan Bao, Stacey F. Bent, Wei Cai, Matteo Cargnello, Christopher Chidsey, Ian R. Fisher, Curtis W. Frank, David Goldhaber-Gordon, Kenneth Goodson, Sanjiv Sam Gambhir, Wendy Gu, Geoffrey C. Gurtner, Michael T. Longaker, Arunava Majumdar, James D. Plummer, Eric Pop, Krishna Saraswat, Jonathan Stebbins, Yuri Suzuki, Peter Yang, Xiaolin Zheng
Lecturers: Rajan Kumar, Ann Marshall, Arturas Vailionis
Adjunct Professors: Khalil Amine, Geraud Dubois, Annika Enejder, Turgut Gur, Bryce Meredig, Hendrik Ohldag
Emeriti: (Professors) David M. Barnett, Clayton W. Bates Jr., Arthur Bienenstock, John C. Bravman, Richard H. Bube, Bruce M. Clemens, Theodore H. Geballe, Robert A. Huggins, William D. Nix, John C. Shyne, William A. Tiller, Robert L. White, Robert S. Feigelson (Professor, Research)