Materials Science and Engineering

Department:

Mechanical, Materials, and Aerospace Engineering

College:

Armour College of Engineering

Degrees:

Master of Science in Materials Science and Engineering
Doctor of Philosophy in Materials Science and Engineering

Description:

The Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering Department offers several flexible programs in mechanical and aerospace engineering, with five major areas of study: computer-aided design and manufacturing, dynamics and control, fluid dynamics, solids and structures, and thermal sciences. The department also offers programs in materials science and an interdisciplinary program in manufacturing engineering.

Material science engineers take fundamental science and apply it directly to a vast range of real-life situations. Materials science engineers — using physics, chemistry, and engineering — develop new materials and ensure that the ways in which our materials are produced do not impair their performance. For example, in the development of spacecraft, engine components need to be temperature resistant and very strong. The surface and windows need to withstand the very high temperatures of re-entry without allowing too much heat into the spacecraft. Ceramic tiles used for this heat shield then need a suitable adhesive in order to be attached to the exterior. The study of how materials behave is crucial in the development of modern space technology.

The Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) program at IIT produces graduates who understand the structure, selection, and behavior of engineering materials, including metals, ceramics, polymeric, electronic, and composite materials. This knowledge applies to the design of new materials, the improvement of existing materials, and the optimization of manufacturing methods.

Specializations:

Mechanical, Materials, and Aerospace Engineering Certificate Programs:

Distance Learning:

http://www.distance-education.iit.edu

Dual Degrees / Joint Degrees:

Master of Manufacturing
Master of Science in Manufacturing Engineering
Master of Science with specialization in Energy/Environment/Economics (E3)

Research Facilities:

Mechanical and aerospace engineering laboratories include the Fejer Unsteady Wind Tunnel; the Markovin Low-Turbulence Wind Tunnel; the National Diagnostic Facility, a computer-controlled, high-speed, subsonic flow wind tunnel; a high-speed jet facility for aeroacoustic research; a hydrodynamics laboratory; flow visualization systems; laser-based measuring equipment; several computer-based data acquisition, processing and display systems of the Fluid Dynamics Research Center; laboratories for research in robotics, guidance and navigation, computer-integrated manufacturing, Footlik CAD lab, railroad engineering, biomechanics and its instrumentation, combustion, internal combustion engines, two-phase flow and heat-transfer, electrohydrodynamics, and combined heat and mass transfer; and research facilities for atomization, spray flames, and emissions from mobile and stationary combustion sources.

Metallurgical and materials engineering laboratories include facilities for research in metallography, heat treatment, and mechanical testing; optical, scanning and transmission electron microscopes; powder metallurgy, and laser machining facilities. The department has numerous computers and workstations available for computational research activities.

Research Areas:

The faculty conducts research activities in fluid dynamics, including aeroacoustics, flow control, turbulent flows, unsteady and separated flows, instabilities and transition, turbulence modeling, flow visualization techniques computational fluid dynamics; metallurgical and materials engineering, including microstructural characterization, physical metallurgy of ferrous and nonferrous alloys, powder materials, laser processing and machining, high temperature structural materials, mechanical behavior, fatigue and fracture, environmental fatigue and fracture, computational x-ray diffraction analysis, texture, recrystallization and computational methods in materials processing; solids and structures, including experimental mechanics- composites, fracture mechanics, design and testing of prosthetic devices, and holographic interferometry; computational mechanics- fracture mechanics, cable dynamics and analysis of inelastic solids; theoretical mechanics, including wave propagation, fracture, elasticity and models for scoliosis; computer aided design and manufacturing, concentrated in the areas of computer-aided design, computer-based machine tool control, computer graphics in design, manufacturing processes, wear and fracture behavior of cutting tools, tribology, frictional wear characteristics of ceramics, dynamic behavior of rail vehicles including self-excited oscillations, longitudinal dynamics and handling of trains, and interactive computer simulation of rail vehicles; thermal sciences, including spray combustion, atomization, alternative fuels, mobile and stationary source combustion emissions, and thermodynamic and economic aspects of industrial cogeneration of heat and electricity and waste-heat generation; and dynamics and control, including guidance, navigation, and control of aircraft and spacecraft, intelligent control for aircraft models, flow fields, robotics devices for laser machining; and dynamic analysis and control of complex systems.

Admission Requirements:

1. Cumulative undergraduate GPA minimum: 3.0/4.0

2. Combined GRE score minimum:
For tests taken before Oct.1,2002: 1600* (combined)
For tests taken on or after Oct.1,2002: 1000 (quantitative + verbal) 3.0 (analytical)

*Typical admitted quantitative score minimum: 650.

3. TOEFL minimum (if required): 550/213/80 (paper based/ computer based/ internet based).

Admission as a regular graduate student requires a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution, normally in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, metallurgical engineer, materials engineering, or engineering mechanics. A candidate with a bachelor's degree in another field, wand with proficiency in other engineering disciplines, mathematics and physics, may also be eligible for admission. However, students must remove any deficiencies in essential undergraduate courses that are prerequisites for the chosen degree program in addition to meeting the other requirements of the graduate program.

How to apply:

Office of Graduate Admission

Departmental Website:

http://www.iit.edu/engineering/mmae/

The material on these web pages contains the most current program offerings and requirements, and is intended for informational purposes only. Program offerings and requirements change from time to time, and these web pages are changed accordingly. The requirements applicable to a particular student's program are those set forth in the official Graduate Bulletin that was in effect the year the student began his or her graduate program. Therefore, to find the official program requirements applicable to his or her program, a student must consult the Graduate Bulletin from that year.