Materials matter at Iowa State. Materials engineers create new materials and improve existing materials. Everything is limited by the materials that are used to produce it. Materials engineers understand the relationship between the properties of a material and its internal structure—from the macro level down to the atomic level. The better the materials, the better the end result—it’s as simple as that.
The MSE Department was formed in 1975 by the merger of the previously existing Departments of Ceramic Engineering and Metallurgy. MSE is one of eight degree-granting departments in the College of Engineering.
The Department awards undergraduate and graduate degrees in Materials Engineering; our department encompasses programs in the practical and theoretical aspects of materials, their utilization, and their electronic, physical, mechanical, and chemical properties in relation to their structure.