MTU Materials Science and Engineering: Prospective Students

When asked to respond to "Does it appear that this student's academic program is oriented to the particular needs of your organization?", Joe's supervisor wrote, "If students come out of the academic program w/Joe's skill set we would be able to solve all the world's materials engineering problems."

—Co-op student Joe Kaufman's supervisor at Oshkosh Truck

Prospective Students

The Department of Materials Science and Engineering Offers:

Why Do Students Choose the Department of Materials Science and Engineering?

...The main reason I chose the materials department at Tech instead of other colleges is because of the personal attention undergraduate students receive from faculty/staff. I believe the close relation between professors and students has helped me to succeed here.

—Karl Rinke

I choose to become a MSE major because of the lab facilities; the M&M has some very advanced equipment on campus.

There is probably another important question to all those in the MSE: many of the people in my class switched from another major. The main reason I choose MSE at MTU was because of the MY2100 class. I was originally a ME.

—Nathan Wilkie

The materials science department at MTU offers many more opportunities for undergraduates to be involved with research. You also get to know the faculty better, because it is a smaller department, and your classes aren't all taught by graduate students.

—Katie Becker

In Houghton the college students are treated like full members of the community. The college and the town are interconnected in ways that make Tech special. We have professors that are also local pastors and even the City Mayor. The small town feel of Houghton is felt everywhere; as MSE (majors) the students all know their professors and have met their wives and kids. The closeness the students feel with their professors makes Michigan Tech a very hospitable environment to study in.

MSE’s at Tech get hired into high profile positions and MSE Alums tend to hire other MSE Alums.

—Timothy A. Kurdziel

Materials Science is still as pertinent today as it was yesterday. The world will always be in need of materials engineers.

—Rebekah Price

The MSE department here is one of the greatest things I've ever been a part of. The classes are small enough that you get to know the students, faculty, and staff very well. We get a more hands on feel for things than my MSE friends at other universities; the labs are very fun and interactive =)

—Julie S. Emerick

Stuff I like about our department:

We're the only department that feeds its staff, faculty, and student doughnuts every single week. Of course, talking about anything work-related is prohibited while eating doughnuts.
You don't have to make an appointment to talk to any of you professors, including the head of the department; you can just walk right in.
I picked Tech because of the small class size, and small town atmosphere. Also the opportunity to compete athletically was a decision maker.

—Pat Quiney

I was interested in materials science from attending a Women In Engineering program at MTU. I learned that the department was small, with good professors that teach the classes, and awesome labs. I also wanted to become involved in the foundry that is on campus. This was the best decision I made; I am currently on co-op with Mercury Marine in their materials lab. The experience that I received in my classes, lab, and the foundry have really helped me to transition into my job.

—Leanne Sedar

Why is Materials Science and Engineering Important to Society?

Materials are central to human experience. No matter what activity one undertakes—whether drinking from a cup, opening a can of soup, working in an office building, calling someone on a cell phone, or flying to visit relatives—materials of one sort or another are involved. They are so central to human societies that anthropologists and historians sometimes use dominant materials to characterize broad historical eras, especially in dealing with early civilizations. The long period in which stone was humanity’s primary technological material, for instance, is often termed the “stone” age. Around 5500 BCE, cultures in the Middle East learned how to smelt copper, opening the door to a larger array of tools. The era which followed this discovery is termed the “copper” or “chalcolithic” age. In like manner the discovery of bronze around 3000 BCE ushered in the “bronze” age, and the development of means of smelting iron around 1200 BCE brought in the “iron” age.

The use of materials to characterize broad eras of human history is not restricted to antiquity. Some historians have characterized the period after the discovery of mass-produced steel around the middle of the nineteenth century as the “steel” age, so important was that material to all segments of society from transport (steel rails and steel locomotives) to war (steel armor plate and steel weapons) to structures (steel-framed skyscrapers and steel-truss bridges). One early historian of technology (Lewis Mumford, Technics and Civilization, 1934) even organized the entire history of technology into three broad periods, each characterized by its dominant material and form of energy.

Success Stories

Walter Lange

"Hi there. Right now I am composing this article from my office in Singapore where I am the Vice President of Strategic Marketing for Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd. I firmly believe that Michigan Tech was a major contributor in my success and career. But how did I get here? Well, read on." READ MORE

Walter F. Lange BS 1973, MS 1977, PhD 1978

Vice President, Strategic Marketing
Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Pte Ltd
Singapore

Where Do MSE Graduates Find Jobs?

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What Makes the MTU MSE Program Unique?

Senior Design

The Senior Design projects are a crucial part of the curriculum. Students work in teams, on real projects which are submitted by our Industrial Partners. The Industrial Partner works with the team during the year. Problems are open-ended, and are very similar to problems that graduates will be solving in industry. Communication and teamwork skills are emphasized.

ICE: Innovative Casting Enterprise

ICE Mission: To be a leader in providing products and services through quality research and engineering.

ICE is a mixture of Material Science and Mechanical engineering students who are interested in furthering knowledge in the metal casting industry. We work with corporations on research and development of new casting technologies.

Institute of Materials Processing

The Institute of Materials Processing (IMP) is an innovative, multi-disciplined, non-profit, industrially oriented research and development center holding over 60 patents. The IMP is housed in a $47.7 million dollar research facility on the campus of Michigan Technological University. Though IMP is located within Michigan Tech, our funding comes solely from royalties and research projects. IMP has been providing entrepreneurs and industry with the resources to study minerals, environmental concerns and materials processing for over 40 years. IMP can assist you in meeting the challenges associated with each phase of your project's development, from preliminary studies to the final design and construction of a commercial operation.

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