There are many ways to structure your degree in materials science and engineering – a conventional major, a double major such as one in tandem with mechanical engineering, or a major with a minor in another engineering discipline or physical science. Whatever your interests, we invite you to explore and learn more about our curriculum and courses, your opportunities in undergraduate research, our honors program, and more.
Core classes cover a broad range of materials and applications…giving the students the freedom to pursue their interests. I came to Cornell with the goal of combining materials science and engineering with fiber science to improve first responder uniforms.
Core Courses are designed to provide a detailed introduction to the basic concepts of materials science and engineering. The principles learned in these classes apply to all types of materials and to all kinds of engineering materials problems. These courses are:
Hands-on experience and design are important parts of a materials science and engineering education. Most sophomore courses have laboratory components and all juniors take laboratory and design courses. Seniors may decide between an intensive one-semester laboratory course or a two-semester senior thesis project that involves research sponsored by a faculty member. Seniors must also take a design course either in the fall or spring, with the fall version incorporating multidisciplinary project teams. For a list of related courses, visit the lab, research, and design website.
.jpg)
In addition, many undergraduates participate in faculty research projects for academic credit. This provides students with a unique opportunity to put what is learned in the classroom into practice in a lab environment. Among the many benefits of this program are:
In order to ensure sufficient breadth and depth, the materials science and engineering curriculum requires that students take two materials electives and three materials applications electives, as well as an upper level technical elective.
The materials electives are:
The Materials Applications Electives are divided into five categories:
More information about electives, including a list of materials applications electives courses that have been approved in each category can be found on the MSE Electives page.
At least one elective course must meet the advanced mathematics or computational modeling requirement. The updated list of courses that satisfy this requirement can be found on the MSE Advanced Math page.
Grade RequirementsTo obtain an undergraduate degree in materials science and engineering, students must be registered for a minimum of 12 credit hours throughout each term and meet the following conditions for academic good standing:
For more information about grade, course, and graduation requirements, see the Materials Science and Engineering Graduation Checklist.
Students typically affiliate with MSE after taking ENGRD/MSE 2610 in the fall of their sophomore year, but may also affiliate after taking ENGRD/MSE 2620 in the spring of their freshman or sophomore year.
The Common Curriculum is taken by all Cornell engineering undergraduates and provides broad exposure to different engineering fields as well as exposure to the social context in which engineering is done via a sequence of liberal studies electives. A complete description of Common Curriculum requirements can be found in the Undergraduate Engineering Handbook.
Exemplary materials science and engineering students may graduate with Distinction and/or Honors by fulfilling a number of objectives. In order to be eligible to participate in this major’s Honors Program, students must meet the criteria outlined on the Honors Thesis website.
To successfully complete a minor in materials science and engineering, an undergraduate student must be enrolled in a major that approves participation and meet other requirements outlined on the minor website.
The Department of Materials Science and Engineering offers an accredited engineering B.S. degree. Our major is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, https://www.abet.org. More information is available on the ABET Accreditation website.
