Materials Science & Engineering is an interdisciplinary field combining physics, chemistry, and engineering to understand structure–property relationships and design advanced materials. The program serves as a key academic unit within the College of Engineering, supporting both fundamental scientific discovery and applied engineering innovation. Faculty research and teaching emphasize the development and processing of metals, ceramics, polymers, composites, and electronic materials, with applications spanning energy systems, aerospace, biomedical technologies, infrastructure, and advanced manufacturing.
Overview
Materials Science and Engineering is an integrated discipline of chemistry, physics and engineering. Students receive a foundation of basic chemistry, physics and engineering coursework during their first two years. These courses are then woven into a Materials Science and Engineering framework. This must be used as a guideline to complete the degree requirements. Most courses have prerequisites that must be completed first. Also, many courses and all Materials Science & Engineering courses are only offered one semester per year, so please plan carefully. The Program of Study is a roadmap to be used in planning your degree. It is necessary that students follow the Program of Study as closely as possible; any deviation must be arranged in advance with the Academic Advisor. Taking courses out of sequence may result in a conflict, particularly if a student is planning to continue in the combined BS/MS program.
MSE Major Courses
Any student may be admitted to pre-major status in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) by requesting Pre-MSE on their application for admission or applying through the Materials Science & Engineering Academic Advisor. Students must meet with the MSE Academic Advisor to gain major status. For catalogue years 2023 and older, major status requires students to complete the following courses with a C- grade or better, except for math, which requires a C. For catalogue years 2024 and beyond, major status requires students to complete the following courses with a C or better. Courses required for this major may only be taken twice. To take a class a third time, students must petition and justify how they will be more successful. See "Course Retake Policy" for details on this process. Students are required to meet with the Materials Science and Engineering Academic Advisor to be moved from pre-major to major status. Students admitted to major status are required to complete the following Materials Science and Engineering courses with a C grade or better.
Pre-major Courses
- CHEM 1210 - General Chemistry I (4 credits)
- CHEM 1215 - General Chemistry Lab I (1 credit)
- CHEM 1220 - General Chemistry II (4 credits)
- CHEM 1225 - General Chemistry Lab II (1 credit)
- CHEM 2310 - Organic Chemistry (4 credits)
- MATH 1310 - Engineering Calculus I (4 credits)
- MATH 1320 - Engineering Calculus II (4 credits)
- MATH 2250 - Differential Equations and Linear Algebra (4 credits)
- MATH 3140 - Vector Calc. & Partial Differential Equations for Engineers (4 credits)
- MSE 1800 - Contemporary Materials Science & Engineering I (2 credit)
- MSE 2010 - Introduction to Materials Science & Engineering (4 credits)
- ME EN 2010 - Statics (3 credits)
- COMP 1010 - Programming for All: Beginning Programming (3 credits)
- PHYS 2210 - Physics for Scientists and Engineers I (4 credits)
- PHYS 2220 - Physics for Scientists and Engineers II (4 credits)
Major Courses
- MSE 3061 - Transport Phenomena in MSE (3 credits)
- MSE 3010 - Materials Processing Laboratory (3 credits)
- MSE 3011 - Structural Analysis of Materials (4 credits)
- MSE 3032 - Introduction to Thermodynamics (4 credits)
- MSE 3210 - Electronic Properties of Solids (3 credits)
- MSE 3310 - Introduction to Ceramics (3 credits)
- MSE 3410 - Introduction to Polymers (3 credits)
- MET E 5450 – Mechanical Behavior (3 credits)
- MSE 5034 - Kinetics of Solid-State Processes (3 credits)
- MSE 5098 - Senior Design (4 credits)
- Foundational Requirement (1.5-3 credits)
- Non-emphasis Track (minimum of 10 credits)
- Emphasis Track (minimum of 11 credits)
*Students are not allowed to count both MSE 3061 and MET E 5750 - Transport and Rate Phenomena towards their MSE BS program of study. Only one of the two courses will fulfill the major requirement. MET E 5750 cannot be taken as a tech elective.
General Education
Students must fulfill the University of Utah's General Education and Bachelor Degree requirements in addition to the Materials Science and Engineering degree requirements to graduate.
General Education Requirements:
- American Institutions (AI)
- Writing (WR)
- 2 Fine Arts (FF)
- 2 Humanities (HF)
- 2 Social/Behavioral Science (BF)
*QA and QB requirements are automatically fulfilled by the MSE Program.
Bachelor's Degree Requirements:
- Diversity (DV)
- International Requirement (IR)
*CW and QI requirements are automatically fulfilled by the MSE Program.
Graduation Requirement Worksheet
If you have students that need to have a general education credit from another institution reviewed, please complete the College of Engineering General Education Exception Form.
Foundational Requirement
Students choose one of the following 2000-level classes. This requirement is one 1.5 to 3 credit class that prepares students for advanced technical electives and their unique interests in materials science. Students using a catalogue year older than Fall 23 automatically have ECE 2200/2210 as a requirement on their Degree Audit and will need an exception applied to their Degree Audit so that the class fulfills their graduation requirements. To those students, please email the academic advisor to request a class (other than ECE 2200/2210) to be added to your Degree Audit. *Note: Several of these courses require major status within the related department. To register for the class, you may have to request a permission code from the department that teaches the class. You can find the permission code request forms here.
Choose one of the following:
ECE 2200/2210 - Electrical and Computer Engineering
BIOL 2020 - Principles of Cell Biology
BIOL 2021 - Principles of Cell Science
ME EN 2650 - Manufacturing for Engineering Systems
ME EN 2450 - Numerical Methods for Engineering Systems
CH EN 2450 - Numerical Methods
CHEM 2320 - Organic Chemistry II
ME EN 2550 - Probability and Stats for Engineering
CVEEN 2750 - Computer Tools
Non-Emphasis Track
For a non-emphasis, students are required to complete a minimum of five credits from Section 1, minimum of two credits from Section 2, and minimum of three credits from Section 3. All courses must be passes with a "C" grade or better.
Section 1 - Materials Science and Engineering
Complete a minimum of 5 credits from the approved course list.
Students should plan accordingly when picking Section 1 tech electives. The following credit combinations will fulfill the Section 1 requirement: 3+3; 3+2; 2+2+2; 3+2+2. Students will not be penalized for taking more than the required credits.
MSE 5050 courses are special topics and will vary each semester. Students may take multiple sections of MSE 5050 to fulfill the tech elective requirement, so long as the topic is not repeated.
Offered fall semester (not guaranteed)
- MSE 5073 – Nanostructures Materials: Science & Technology
- MSE 5074 – Photovoltaic Materials & Solar Cells
- MSE 5050 – Nanoscale Probing and Imaging
- MSE 5050 – Optics for Energy
- MSE 5201 – Semiconductor Device Phy I (odd years only)
- MSE 5520 – Single Crystal Growth and Crystallography (odd years only)
Offered in the spring semester (not guaranteed)
- MSE 5040 – Introduction to Modern Biomaterials
- MSE 5055 – Microsystems Design & Characterization
- MSE 5050 – Polymers: Chemistry*
- MSE 5050 – Materials for Energy
- MSE 5540 – Materials Informatics (even years only)
- MSE 5530 – Polymers: Materials (even years only)
- MSE 5510 – Materials Innovation (odd years only)
- MSE 5050 – Recycling (odd years only)
Offered spring or fall, but not consistently
- MSE 5072 – Thin Film Techniques
- MSE 5353 – Physical Ceramics
- MSE 5354 – Processing of Ceramics
- MSE 5475 – Introduction of Composites
- MSE 5050 – Def & Frac Nanocomposites
- MSE 5050 – Biomaterials Engineering
- MSE 5050 – Fundamentals of Nanofabrication
Section 2 - Metallurgical Engineering
Complete a minimum of 2 credits from the approved course list.
Offered in the fall semester (not guaranteed)
- MET E 5260 – Physical Metallurgy I
- MET E 5300 – Alloy and Material Design
- METE 5480 – Steelmaking
- METE 5260 – Physical Metallurgy
- METE 5420 – Mineral Surface Chemistry (even years only)
- MET E 5270 – Powder Metallurgy (even years only)
- METE 5230 – Biomedical Devices and Sensors (even years only)
- MET E 5680 – Mineral Processing II (odd years only)
- MET E 5310 – Concepts and Applications in Renewable Energy (odd years only)
Offered in the spring semester (not guaranteed)
- MET E 5600 – Corrosion Fundamentals
- MET E 5670 – Mineral Processing I
- MET E 5760 – Process Synthesis, Design & Economics
- MET E 5780 – Metals Processing
- MET E 5600 – Corrosion Fundamentals and Minimization
- METE 5470 – Practical Digital Image Processing and Analysis
- MET E 5210 – Nuclear Materials (even years only)
- METE 5300 – Alloy and Materials Design (even years only)
- MET E 5720 – Molten Salt Engineering (odd years only)
Offered spring or fall, but not consistently
- MET E 5800 – Special Topics Metallurgy Engineering
- MET E 5800 – Nuclear Safeguards
- MET E 5280 – Magnetic Materials and Devices
- MET E 5290 – Principles and Practice of Nanoscience and Technology
- MET E 5040 – Introduction to Modern Biomaterials
- MET E 5330 – Energy Conversion Storage Materials
- METE 5250 – Principles and Practice of X-ray Diffraction
Section 3 - Engineering Course or Internship
Complete a minimum of 3 credits from the approved course list.
Complete a minimum of three credits with an internship/research experience or an engineering course. Courses listed in Section 1 and 2 can also be used to fulfill the Section 3 requirement. All course not listed below must be approved by the Materials Science and Engineering Academic Advisor to count toward a Section 3 technical elective.
Students may use one 3-credit internship to fulfill the Section 3 tech elective. Students may not use multiple types of internships to count for credit. Internships only fulfill a Section 3 tech elective and cannot be used to fulfill a Section 1 or 2 tech elective. Internships must be approved by the MSE Department two weeks before the semester of the internship/research experience. For information on how to register for MSE 5800/ MSE 5061, click here.
- MSE 5800 – MSE Industry/MCL Internship
- MSE 5061 – MSE Research Internship
Students who do not complete an internship may choose from the following approved courses:
- CHEM 3000 – Quantitative Analysis
- CHEM 3070 – Thermodynamics and Chemical Kinetics
- CHEM 3100 – Inorganic Chemistry
- CH EN 3353 – Fluid Mechanics
- CH EN 3453 – Heat Transfer
- CH EN 3553 – Chemical Reaction Engineering
- CH EN 3603 – Mass Transfer and Separations
- CH EN 4203 – Process Dynamics and Control
- CH EN 5308 – Electrochemical Systems for Energy Storage and Beyond
- CH EN 5310 – Renewable Energy
- COMP 5360 – Introduction to Data Science
- CS 5962 – Programming for Engineers*
- CVEEN 5730 – Project Management and Contract Administration
- EAE 3600 – 3D Modeling
- ECE 5250 – Introduction to Quantum Computers
- ENGIN 5030 – Patent Law and Strategy
- GEO 3070 – Mineralogy and Petrology for Engineers
- PHYS 3740 – Introduction to Quantum Theory and Relativity
- ME EN 5110 – Industrial Safety
- ME EN 5160 – Fundamentals of Systems Engineering
- ME EN 5170 – Systems Engineering and Integration
- ME EN 5520 – Mechanics of Composite Materials
- ME EN 5000 – Law for Engineers and Scientists
- ME EN 5050 – Fundamentals of Micromachining Processes
- ME EN 5055 – Microsystems Design and Characterization
- ME EN 3000 – Design of Mechanical Components
- ME EN 3650 – Heat Transfer
- ME EN 3710 – Fluid Mechanics
- ME EN 5200 – Classical Control System
- ME EN 5510 – Applied Elements
- MG EN 5030 – Materials Handling
- MG EN 5080 – Sustainable Resource Development
- NUCL 3000 – Nuclear Principles in Engineering and Science
- NUCL 3200 – Radiochemistry with Laboratory I
Emphasis Track
Students may pursue a non-emphasis track or they may choose from one of the following emphases: Materials for Energy, Biomedical Materials, or Semiconductors. For each emphasis, students must complete a minimum of 11 credits. All courses must be passes with a "C" grade or better.
Materials for Energy Emphasis
Choose a minimum of 11 credits from the following:
| Course Name | Credits | Pre-requisites | Most likely to be offered: |
| CH EN 5308 – Battery Technology and Manufacturing | 3 | 'C' or higher in CH EN 2300 AND CH EN 3553 AND CH EN 3603 AND CH EN 3853. Go here to request a permission code. | fall |
| CHEM 5640/MSE 5050 – Materials Chemistry for Alternative Energy | 2 | none listed | spring; last taught spring 2022 |
| ECE 5331 – Optics for Energy | 3 | none listed | fall |
| ENV 3368 – Energy Choices for the 21st Century | 3 | none listed | fall |
| MSE/MET E 5210 – Nuclear Materials: Processing, fabrication, use/disposal | 3 | 'C-' or better in CHEM 1220 OR CHEM 1221 | spring, even years only; last taught spring 2024 |
| MET E 5310 – Concepts and Applications in Renewable Energy | 2 | unknown | unknown |
| MSE/MET E 5720 – Molten Salt Engineering | 2 | 'C-' or better in MSE 3032 OR MET E 3630 | spring, odd years only; last taught spring 2023 |
| MSE/MET E 5074 – Photovoltaic Materials and Solar Cells | 3 | 'C' or better in (MSE 3210 OR Department Consent) AND Full Major status in Materials Science & Engineering | fall, even years only; last taught fall 2024 (upcoming) |
| MSE/MET E 5600 – Corrosion Fundamentals and Minimization | 3 | CHEM 1220 | fall, odd years only; last taught fall 2021 |
| MET E 5320 – Materials Engineering and Environment | 2 | ‘C-‘ or better in CHEM 1220 OR CHEM 1221 | fall, odd years only; last taught fall 2023 |
| NUCL 3000 – Nuclear Principles in Engineering and Science | 3 | 'C-' or better in ((MATH 1220 OR MATH 1320 OR MATH 1321) AND (CHEM 1220 OR CHEM 1221) AND (ME EN 2010 OR PHYS 2220) | spring |
| NUCL 3100 – Radiation Interactions | 3 | 'C-' or better in (MATH 1220 OR MATH 1320 OR MATH 1321) AND (CHEM 1220 OR CHEM 1221) AND (ME EN 2010 OR PHYS 2220) | spring |
| MATH 5770 – Introduction to Optimization | 3 | 'C' or better in MATH 2250 OR MATH 2270 OR MATH 2271 OR Instructor Consent | fall |
| MATH 5610 – Introduction to Numerical Analysis I | 4 | 'C' or better in (MATH 1260 OR MATH 1321 OR MATH 2210 OR MATH 2310 OR MATH 3140) AND (MATH 2250 OR MATH 2270 OR MATH 2271) | fall |
Students can choose MATH 5610 or MATH 5770, but not both.
Biomedical Materials Emphasis
Choose a minimum of 11 credits from the following:
| Course Name | Credits | Pre-requisites | Most likely to be offered: |
| BME 3202 – Physiology for Engineers | 4 | 'C' or better in (BME 3301 AND (CHEM 2310 OR CHEM 2311)) AND Full Major status in Biomedical Engineering. Go here to request a permission code. | fall |
| BME 3801 – bioDesign I | 3 | 'C' or better in BME 3301 AND BME 3202 AND Full Major status in Biomedical Engineering. Corequisites: 'C' or better in BME 3070 OR CS 3130 OR ECE 3530. Go here to request a permission code. | spring |
| BME 4250 – Biomechanics I | 4 | 'C' or better in BME 3301 AND Full Major status in Biomedical Engineering. Go here to request a permission code. | fall |
| BME 4801 – bioDesign II | 3 | 'C' or better in BME 3801 | fall |
| CH EN 3353 – Fluid Mechanics | 3 | 'C' or better in (MATH 2250 AND PHYS 2220 AND CH EN 2300 AND CH EN 2450 AND CH EN 2800) AND Full Major status in Chemical Engineering. Go here to request a permission code. | fall |
| MET E 5230 – Biomedical Devices and Sensors | 3 | none listed | fall, odd years only; last taught fall 2021 |
| CHEM 5810/PHYS 5810 – Nanoscience: Where Biology, Chemistry, and Physics Intersect | 3 | none listed | spring; last taught spring 2023 |
| ME EN 5050 – Fundamentals of Micromachining Processes | 3 | Full Major status in the College of Engineering | fall |
| MSE/MET E 5600 – Corrosion Fundamentals and Minimization | 3 | CHEM 1220 | fall, odd years only; last taught fall 2021 |
| MSE 5040 – Introduction to Modern Biomaterials | 3 | 'C' or better in (MATH 2250 AND PHYS 2210 AND CHEM 2310) AND Full Major status in Materials Science & Engineering. | spring; last taught spring 2022 |
| MSE 5530 – Polymer Synthesis and Characterization | 2 | 'C-' or better in CHEM 2310 | spring; last taught spring 2024 |
| MATH 5610 – Introduction to Numerical Analysis I | 4 | 'C' or better in (MATH 1260 OR MATH 1321 OR MATH 2210 OR MATH 2310 OR MATH 3140) AND (MATH 2250 OR MATH 2270 OR MATH 2271) | fall |
| MATH 5770 – Introduction to Optimization | 3 | 'C' or better in MATH 2250 OR MATH 2270 OR MATH 2271 OR Instructor Consent | fall |
Students can choose MATH 5610 or MATH 5770, but not both.
Semiconductors Emphasis
Choose a minimum of 11 credits from the following:
| Course Name | Credits | Pre-requisites | Most likely to be offered: |
| ECE 3200 – Introduction to Semiconductor Devices | 3 | 'C-' or better in (ECE 1240 OR ECE 1250) AND "C" or better in (MATH 1220 OR MATH 1320 OR MATH 1321 OR AP Calc BC score of 4 or higher) AND Full Major status in (Electrical Engineering OR Computer Engineering). Go here to request a permission code. | fall and spring |
| ECE 5210 – Physics of Nano-electronics | 3 | ||
| ECE 5255 – Advanced Electron Microscopy for Semiconductors | 3 | none listed | fall |
| ME EN 5035 – Design of Experiments | 3 | 'C' or better in (ME EN 2550 OR MATH 3070) AND Full Major status in Engineering | spring |
| ME EN 5050 – Fundamentals of Micromachining Processes | 3 | Full Major status in the College of Engineering | fall |
| MSE 5540 – Materials Informatics | 3 | 'C-' or better in MSE 2001 OR Department Consent | spring |
| MSE 5074 – Photovoltaic Materials and Solar Cells | 3 | 'C' or better in (MSE 3210 OR Department Consent) AND Full Major status in Materials Science & Engineering | fall, even years only; last taught fall 2024 (upcoming) |
| MSE 5073 – Nanostructured Materials: Science and Technology | 3 | 'C' or better in PHYS 2220 OR PHYS 3220 | fall; last taught fall 2024 (upcoming) |
Retake Policy
The Materials Science and Engineering Department upholds a two-class retake policy for math, chemistry, physics, materials science, and metallurgical engineering classes (i.e. major classes). Students can take a class two times without penalty. If a student fails the class for the second time, then they must petition to take the class a third time. A failing grade is a C- for students following Degree Audit catalogues dated 2023 or older (except for math classes, which require a C). Students following the 2024 (and newer) catalogues are required to pass their major classes with a C or better.
2026-2027 flowchart:
MSE Program of Study (Engineering Calculus) 2026-2027
MSE Program of Study (Traditional Calculus) 2026-2027
2025-2026 flowchart:
MSE Program of Study (Engineering Calculus) 2025-2026
MSE Program of Study (Traditional Calculus) 2025-2026
2024-2025 flowchart:
MSE Program of Study (Engineering Calculus) 2024-2025
MSE Program of Study (Traditional Calculus) 2024-2025
*Engineering Calculus only available at University of Utah (Engineering Calculus classes are geared towards engineering majors, whereas traditional Calculus classes may include students from many majors. The Engineering classes would be less theoretical and more applied towards engineering type problems). Please see the Materials Science & Engineering advisor if you’ve only taken Calculus I and would like to switch to Engineering Calculus (one week Math boot camp required).