Metals Science and Engineering
The Metals Science and Engineering Program has a long and rich
history at Penn State. Its roots were established with the academic
program in metallurgy founded in 1907. Today the Metals Science
and Engineering Program, along with programs in Ceramic Science
and Engineering, Electronic and Photonic Materials, and Polymer
Science and Engineering, comprise the Department of Materials
Science and Engineering in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. |
Suggested Curriculum
Faculty in Metals
Undergraduate Handbook |
Metals Science and Engineering Introduction
Metals have been used for thousands of years. They have played
a major role in the development of our civilization. Metals
are extremely versatile materials. The strength, durability,
magnetic, and conductive properties of metals make them useful
in a wide range of applications. Today, with new techniques
and sophisticated instrumentation, metals are taking on a new
shape. Superplastic metals act like putty, and can be used
to manufacture stuff with complex shapes. Powdered metals are
used for injection molding of home appliances, farm equipment,
and automobile parts. Surgeons use shape memory alloy staples
that are easily removed with the wave of a hot wand.
All of these new applications were developed by metallurgists
who focus on increasing the performance of metals by combining
different metallic compounds, manipulating their structure,
or manufacturing them in new ways. They also study the imperfections
in metal, like its behavior under stress or its rate of oxidation.
Metallurgists study corrosion and look for ways to prevent
it. They investigate new welding methods, techniques for coating
and treating metal surfaces to protect and impart new properties,
and look for new ways to combine metals with other materials.
Metallurgists are in great demand across the country. They
find careers in the metals industry, in construction and transportation
systems, highways, the electronics and aerospace industries,
and in consumer products manufacturing. |
Undergraduate Advisor to Students in Metals Option:
Paul R. Howell
Professor of Metallurgy
231 Steidle Building
814-863-3363
howell@matse.psu.edu |
| Metals Undergraduate Option
The undergraduate specialization in Metals Science and Engineering
provides an opportunity to explore a broad range of both scientific
and engineering principles as applied to metals and alloys,
their extraction, their production, and their use. Although
metallurgists are often employed by metals producing industries,
an increasingly large number are finding employment in industries
that use metals--including those in the electronics and aerospace
fields.
To meet the wide range of career opportunities and demands,
the Metals Science and Engineering option emphasizes fundamental
concepts common to all materials and their application to the
engineering design of specific processes or alloys. In addition,
the "applied" courses in the curriculum are based
on two central themes in metallurgical engineering: processing
and properties.
The program is fully accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineers and Technology (ABET) |
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