Dr. Gary L. Messing
Department Head,
Distinguished Professor of
Materials Science and Engineering

Welcome to the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Penn State!

Materials Science and Engineering (MatSE) is one of thirteen engineering departments at Penn State. As demonstrated in the recent National Research Council report we are one of the top ranked materials departments in the U.S.  We offer an in depth education over the full spectrum of materials science and engineering.
           
After completing the core materials courses in the sophomore and junior years, students can choose to specialize in any branch of materials or application themes such as ceramics, metals, polymers, or energy materials, electronic materials, structural materials and biomaterials in their senior year.   Undergraduate students are actively engaged in high level research through the Undergraduate Research Fellows program, International Internships in Materials (IIM), numerous Cooperative Education & Professional Internship Program (Co-op) activities with industry and government labs, and the required senior thesis or design project with The Learning Factory.

The department oversees the Intercollege Graduate Degree Program at Penn State (i-MatSE).  There are currently 170 graduate students advised by MatSE faculty as well as i-MatSE faculty members from other science and engineering departments.  The extensive research activities at Penn State are organized under the Materials Research Institute (MRI).  Penn State faculty have research programs covering all interdisciplinary areas in materials including nanotechnology, electronic materials, photonic materials, energy materials, biomaterials, computational materials, and structural materials with applications in health care, communications, transportation, recreation, energy and electronics.  MatSE faculty members provide leadership in MRI, the NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers on Dielectric Materials,  Computational Materials Design, and the Keck Smart Materials Integration Lab.  We are also actively engaged in the National Science Foundation Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (NSF MRSEC) for Nanoscale Science.  Faculty are located in the new Millenium Science Complex and Steidle Building, which are both on the central campus.

In our video, you'll learn more about materials research at Penn State, how our research touches the lives of millions every day, and how our research affects the global economy.