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Materials Science is a field with a broad impact, and our department is a lively community of students and faculty committed to shaping a better world through new materials. You can join us by majoring or minoring in MSE. As you prepare to come to campus, you can learn more about MSE in the following ways:
Curious about how MSE impacts critical technologies? Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World by Mark Miodownik is a great read and a great place to start your exploration of the material world. Complete the contact information form to receive your free eBook version!
New technologies are needed to meet global energy requirements while addressing climate change and sustainability. Innovative materials can increase our energy supply, facilitate transportation of energy, and decrease consumption. Topics include materials issues in photovoltaics, fuel cells, batteries, transportation, lighting, and building technologies.
Biomaterials exist at the intersection of biology and engineering. This course explores materials in the human body, their properties and microstructure, and their synthetic and semi-synthetic replacements, including as examples bones, joints, teeth, tendons, and ligaments. Topics include mechanical properties, corrosion, toxicity, and biocompatibility.
You can get answers and updates about MSE anytime via our undergraduate discussion site. In early July you will get an email inviting you to the site, if you haven't been invited by August, email Michele and request an invite!
Materials science and engineering (MSE) pertains to the structure, properties, design, development, manufacture, and engineering application of materials of all types. Students may specialize in a number of materials technology areas including ceramics, metals, polymers, or electronic and photonic materials. Students also can design a special program of elective study, such as biomaterials or green engineering, among others.
Graduates are employed in aerospace, automotive, chemical and material, communications, electronics, petroleum and energy, and basic materials-producing industries. Students may qualify for graduate study in engineering, the sciences, medicine, law, and business.
The Department of Materials Science and Engineering offers a Bachelor of Science in Materials Science and Engineering (BS MSE). Courses are focused on thermodynamics, physical materials, mathematical programming, materials selection and optimization. Students can select from two majors within the degree program. Review the University Catalog to see the required coursework.
Materials Science and Engineering (MSE)
Our traditional MSE major allows students to tailor their degree with electives in several subdisciplines such as, metals, ceramics, polymers, electronic materials, composites, biomaterials, and nanomaterials.
Materials Science and Engineering: Nuclear Option (MSE: NUCM)
The MSE: NUCM major focuses coursework on materials used in nuclear power generation and other critical industries that must be engineered to perform under extreme conditions, from high temperatures and mechanical stresses to exposure to corrosive chemicals and energetic particles.
The undergraduate MSE program provides courses and experiences related to the following areas within materials science and engineering: biomaterials; ceramics; composites; electronic materials; metals; polymers. A short description of each area and related degrees and minors are provided below to enhance your major exploration experience.
Biomaterials
Biomaterials is the study of materials at the intersection of biology, medicine, and MSE. Metals, ceramics, polymers, electronic materials, and composites are used to interact with biological systems through the course of any therapeutic or diagnostic procedure. Methods for design, development, and characterization within the context of a living system are explored in the classroom. Cutting edge research on translating biomaterials to the clinic is underway here at Virginia Tech in the areas of drug delivery, tissue engineering, cancer treatments, diagnostic tools, and many more.
Related Engineering Degrees: Biological Systems Engineering Chemical Engineering
Related Degrees: Biological Sciences Biochemistry Chemistry Geosciences Mathematics Nanoscience Packaging Systems and Design Sustainable Biomaterials
Related Minors: Biomedical Engineering Chemistry Geosciences Green Engineering Mathematics Nanoscience Packaging Science Philosophy, Politics, and Economics
Ceramics
Ceramics are present in a variety of components and devices from everyday items to advanced components in special industries. Their unique characteristics such as temperature stability, high elastic modulus, chemical inertness and low thermal expansion coefficients make them outperform other material classes in different scenarios. Our department works on the frontier of ceramic science and engineering to develop a range of structural and functional ceramics, from aerospace components to electronic packaging, as well as biomaterials, superconductors, magnetic and optical devices.
Related Engineering Degrees: Aerospace Engineering Chemical Engineering Civil Engineering
Related Degrees: Biological Sciences Biochemistry Chemistry Geosciences Mathematics Nanoscience Sustainable Biomaterials
Related Minors: Biomedical Engineering Chemistry Geosciences Green Engineering Mathematics Nanoscience Philosophy, Politics, and Economics
Electronic Materials
Electronic materials are semiconductors, metals, ceramics, polymers, or composites that are used to make functional components in electronic or optoelectronic systems. Electronic devices such as diodes and transistors are made of semiconductors functioning as switches in computers, power converters, or wireless communication systems. Solar cells are semiconductor optoelectronic devices, which can also function as transmitters or receivers in fiber-optic communication systems. Inductors and transformers in electronic systems take advantage of magnetic properties of electronic materials, while capacitors and insulation rely on their dielectric properties.
Related Engineering Degrees: Computer Engineering Electrical Engineering
Related Degrees: Nanoscience
Related Minors: Biomedical Engineering Chemistry Geosciences Green Engineering Mathematics Nanoscience Packaging Science Philosophy, Politics, and Economics
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Scientists have long desired to create synthetic systems that function with the precision and efficiency of biological systems. Using new techniques, researchers are now uncovering principles that could allow the creation of synthetic materials that can perform tasks as precise as biological systems. To assess the current work and future promise of the biology-materials science intersection, the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation asked the NRC to identify the most compelling questions and opportunities at this interface, suggest strategies to address them, and consider connections with national priorities such as healthcare and economic growth. This book presents a discussion of principles governing biomaterial design, a description of advanced materials for selected functions such as energy and national security, an assessment of biomolecular materials research tools, and an examination of infrastructure and resources for bridging biological and materials science.
The biocompatibility of biomaterials depends on tissue-material interactions at the site of implantation that initially rely on favorable interactions between macrophage-biomaterial implantable surfaces - that are then optimized for immunomodulation and eventual clinical translation [Bozinovski 2021]. Biomaterials are developed in accordance with ISO standards to determine their physicochemical characteristics and cytotoxicity, to ensure successful outcomes in clinical trials. These include assessing the foreign body reaction, inflammation, encapsulation, and the accumulation of macrophages in the peri-implant zone (Figure 1).
In my previous articles I have communicated about cell-biomaterial interactions in cardiology, the development of immuno-materials for immune-engineering, bioinspired microfabrication for tissue engineering, and four-dimensional biofunctionalization to bioengineer biologically inspired artificial tissues for applications in regenerative medicine. This post offers a quick recap on the advancements and primary methods of biomaterials engineering for regenerative repair across the fields of cardiology, bone tissue engineering, renal medicine, and the disciplines of neural and immune engineering.
Ideally, implantable biomaterials must be able to regulate inflammation, vascularization, and tissue modeling at the cell material interface. Macrophage-endothelial cell niches are crucial to regulate the biocompatibility of materials, and this complexity can be tailored to restore homeostasis in various diseases as a new therapeutic strategy of precision medicine [Guan 2023]. Precision medicine is based on the development of disease-specific molecular classification methods that accurately reflect clinical behavior [Yin 2023].
Although interactions between macrophages and endothelial cells during disease progression are widely known, much yet remains to be known of the extracellular matrix and its role in the intercellular process relative to cell-biomaterial interactions [Guan 2023],[Boghdady 2021]. Cell-generated forces including tensegrity are foundational across several biological and pathological processes [Ingber 2003], and cell-biomaterial interactions themselves are subject to tensegrity, during biomaterial-assisted cell proliferation and growth to use them as extracellular matrices. Tenable properties allow the study of macrophage-endothelial cell fate, and regulate innate and adaptive immunity to facilitate angiogenesis, and regeneration [Guan 2023].
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