Department of Materials Science and Engineering
The Department of Materials Science and Engineering is jointly operated by the College of Engineering and College of Arts and Sciences.
The department offers Bachelor of Science, Master of Engineering, Master of Science, and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. This multidisciplinary department includes faculty members from several disciplines, including aerospace engineering, biology, biomedical engineering, chemical engineering, chemistry, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, nuclear engineering, and physics. Many of today's most pressing scientific problems stem from the limitations of materials currently available, and this department is at the forefront of new knowledge and discovery at Texas A&M University.
What is Materials Science and Engineering?
Materials science and engineering involves the characterization of the physical and chemical properties of solid materials—metals and alloys, ceramics, magnetic materials, polymers, optical materials, semiconductors, superconductors, and composites—for the purpose of using, changing or enhancing inherent properties to create or improve end products. Materials science and engineering involves examining how the microstructure (crystalline or amorphous) of a material can be changed to influence the strength, electrical conductivity, optical, or magnetic properties of a material. This field is inherently multidisciplinary, encompassing mechanical, chemical, biomedical, civil, electrical, and aerospace engineering; physics; and chemistry.
Materials science comprises the study of materials from the macro to the atomic scale—from highway building materials to carbon nanotubes—but, independent of scale, the study of materials is concerned fundamentally with the effect of structure and chemistry on the properties of materials. Materials have historically been so important that different eras of civilization were named according to the materials from which tools were fabricated: the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age. The development of the semiconductor spawned the modern era of information technology, often called the Silicon Age. Advances in materials science might make this new millennium the Biomaterials/Nanomaterials/Optical Materials Age.
What do Materials Scientists and Engineers do?
In industry, materials scientists and engineers work with natural or synthetic materials and, most often, with combinations of materials to improve existing products or develop novel products. For instance, at Intel, the developer of the processing chip used in most PCs, materials scientists optimize the materials used in chip packaging, balancing differing coefficients of thermal expansion, heat dissipation, brittleness and compliancy, and cost for optimum performance and economic feasibility.
Other materials scientists are at the forefront of the revolution in biotechnology, developing materials for the components of artificial joints, heart valves, and other replacement body parts. Smart materials in medical and dental applications show tremendous potential, such as compressible stents that reform to their intended shape upon contact with body heat once inserted into an artery, ceramic cement for bone repair, or shape-memory alloys to correct misplaced teeth or spine curvature. (Smart materials have one or more properties that can be dramatically altered, such as multi-viscosity oil, with a viscosity that varies with temperature.)
Related research involves developing smaller and more reliable components, such as ferromagnetic activators acting as tiny machines in military and other applications. In aerospace engineering, materials scientists are developing airframe and fuselage materials with high strength-to-weight ratios and developing smart materials into integrated sensors and actuators for reconfigurable wings and other adaptive structures.
Why is Materials Science and Engineering Important?
Many of the technologies that we need to solve pressing societal problems (efficient energy generation, access to clean water, information processing and storage, safe and efficient transportation, as examples) are fundamentally limited by the materials that we have available to us. Materials scientists and engineers are critical to discovering new materials to advance these technologies.
Materials Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University
The face of materials science and engineering is continuously evolving. Currently, there is massive interest domestically and internationally in new manufacturing processes (3-D printing, additive manufacturing, etc.) and in utilizing computational and informatics approaches to intelligently and rapidly design new materials. Here at Texas A&M, our faculty embrace these new aspects while maintaining vigorous educational and research efforts in the classical core tenants of materials structure, thermodynamics, and kinetics.
For more information, visit the Department of Materials Science and Engineering website.
Akbulut, Mustafa, Associate Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of California at Santa Barbara, 2007
Alge, Daniel L, Associate Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Purdue University, 2010
Arroyave, Raymundo, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Massachusetts Inst of Technology, 2004
Asadi, Amir, Assistant Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of Manitoba, 2013
Balbuena, Perla B, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, The University of Texas at Austin, 1996
Banerjee, Sarbajit, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, State University of New York at Stony Brook, 2004
Batteas, James D, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of California at Berkeley, 1995
Bazzi, Hassan, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, McGill University, 2003
Benzerga, Amine A, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Ecole Nationale Superieure Des Mines De Paris, 2000
Bullard, Jeffrey, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of California at Berkeley, 1993
Butler, Brady, Visiting Assistant Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Johns Hopkins University, 2017
Cagin, Tahir, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Clemson University, 1988
Case, Raymundo P, Professor of the Practice
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, 2002
Castaneda-Lopez, Homero, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Penn State University, 2001
Creasy, Terry S, Associate Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of Delaware, 1997
Demkowicz, Michal J, Associate Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2005
Elabd, Yossef A, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Johns Hopkins University, 2001
Elwany, Alaa Mohamed, Assistant Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009
Erdemir, Ali, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Georgia Institute of Technology, 1986
Fang, Lei, Associate Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Northwestern University, 2010
Gaharwar, Akhilesh K, Associate Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Purdue University, 2011
Grasley, Zachary C, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, 2006
Green, Micah, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007
Grunlan, Jaime C, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of Minnesota, 2001
Grunlan, Melissa A, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of Southern California, 2004
Guo, Bing, Associate Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Tsinghua University, China, 1998
Harris, Harlan R, Associate Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Texas Tech University, 2003
Hartl, Darren, Associate Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Texas A&M University, 2009
Hemmer, Philip R, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Massachusetts Inst of Technology, 1984
Hipwell, M Cynthia, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of California at Berkeley, 1996
Hwang, Wonmuk, Associate Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Boston University, 2001
Jeong, Hae-Kwon, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of Minnesota, 2004
Kameoka, Jun, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Cornell University, 2002
Karaman, Ibrahim, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2000
Katehi-Tseregounis, Linda, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of California, 1984
Kolluru, Pavan, Assistant Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2014
Kuo, Yue, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Columbia University, 1980
Kuttolamadom, Mathew A, Associate Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Clemson University, 2012
Lagoudas, Dimitris C, University Distinguished Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Lehigh University, 1986
Le Graverend, Jean-Briac B, Associate Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Ecole Nationale de Mécanique et d’Aérotechnique, France, 2013
Liang, Hong, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Stevens Institute of Technology, 1992
Lin, Paotai, Associate Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Northwestern University, 2009
Lutkenhaus, Jodie, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007
Ma, Chao, Assistant Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of California, 2015
Mansoor, Bilal, Associate Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of Michigan, 2010
McDeavitt, Sean M, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Purdue University, 1992
McShane II, Michael J, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Texas A&M University, 1999
Michaudel, Quentin, Assistant Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, The Scripps Research Institute, 2015
Naraghi, Mohammad, Associate Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, 2009
Naugle, Donald G, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Texas A&M University, 1965
Needleman, Alan, University Distinguished Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Harvard University, 1971
Nyakiti, Luke O, Instructional Assistant Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Texas Tech University, 2008
Ozmetin, Ali E, Senior Lecturer
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Texas A&M University, 2009
Paramore, James, Visiting Assistant Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of Utah, 2015
Pentzer, Emily, Associate Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Northwestern University, 2010
Pharr IV, George M, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Stanford University, 1979
Pharr, George, Assistant Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Harvard University, 2014
Qian, Xiaofeng, Associate Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2008
Radovic, Miladin, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Drexel University, 2001
Raiman, Stephen, Assistant Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of Michigan, 2016
Reddy, Junuthula, Distinguished Professor and Regents Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of Alabama at Huntsville, 1974
Ross Jr, Joseph H, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1986
Sagapuram, Dinakar, Assistant Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Purdue University, 2013
Seminario, Jorge M, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 1987
Shamberger, Patrick J, Associate Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of Washington, 2010
Shao, Lin, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of Houston, 2001
Sheldon, Matthew T, Assistant Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of California at Berkeley, 2010
Srivastava, Ankit, Associate Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of North Texas, 2013
Su, Hung-Jue, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, 1988
Sukhishvili, Svetlana A, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 1989
Talreja, Ramesh R, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, The Technical University of Denmark, 1974
Tamamis, Phanourios, Assistant Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of Cyprus, 2010
Teizer, Winfried, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of Massachusetts - Amherst, 1998
Thomas, Edwin L, Visiting Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Cornell University, 1974
Tu, Qing, Assistant Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Duke University, 2017
Vaddiraju, Sreeram, Associate Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of Louisville, 2006
Wang, Jyhwen, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Northwestern University, 1991
Wang, Shiren, Associate Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Florida State University, 2006
Ware, Taylor, Associate Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of Texas at Dallas, 2013
Whitcomb, John D, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Virginia Tech, 1988
Wilkerson, Justin, Assistant Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Johns Hopkins University, 2014
Williams, Richard, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of California at Berkeley, 1978
Wong, Zi Jing, Assistant Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of California at Berkeley, 2015
Wooley, Karen L, University Distinguished Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Cornell University, 1993
Wu, Wenhao, Associate Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of Chicago, 1992
Xie, Yu Xuan, Assistant Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, University of Sydney, 2013
Yu, Choongho, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, The University of Texas at Austin, 2004
Zhou, Hongcai J, Professor
Materials Science & Engr
PHD, Texas A&M University, 2000