Program in Materials Science and Engineering School of Engineering Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Program Overview

There has never been a more exciting time to study materials science and engineering. Recent breakthroughs in materials research are making the traditional distinctions among classes of materials obsolete and are creating new technological opportunities. The Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MS&E) offers graduate students unique opportunities for personal, one-on-one interactions with faculty members who are at the forefront of this groundbreaking research.

Campus Setting and Surrounding Area

Located just 10 miles northeast of Albany, New York State's capital city, Rensselaer's historic 275-acre campus sits on a hill overlooking the city of Troy, New York, and the Hudson River. The area offers a relaxed lifestyle with many cultural and recreational opportunities, with easy access to both the high-energy metropolitan centers of the Northeast -- such as Boston, New York City, and Montreal, Canada -- and the quiet beauty of the neighboring Adirondack Mountains.

Research

Current research themes focus on discovering, synthesizing, processing, and characterizing novel materials for pivotal and emerging technologies; understanding atomistic and molecular level phenomena; and relating them to key properties (e.g., mechanical, electronic, magnetic, thermal, optical), through experiment and computational modeling. Examples include nanomaterials, biomaterials, electronic materials, metals, polymers, ceramics and glasses, and composites in bulk and thin film forms. These have applications in nanoelectronics, optical and magnetic devices, high strength and high temperature structures, biochemical sensing, thermal management, and energy generation, conversion, and storage. In addition to impacting many key commercial technologies RPI's MS&E research programs serve as platforms for multidisciplinary learning and collaborations across many fields of science and engineering.

Faculty Members

Faculty members at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering include:

- Douglas B. Chrisey, Professor; PhD (physics), Virginia. His research interests include laser fabrication, including laser deposition, evaporation and direct writing of thin films and coatings of advanced electronic, sensor, and biomaterials.

- Chan I. Chung, Professor Emeritus; PhD (materials science), Rutgers. His research interests include polymers and plastics. His email address is chungc@rpi.edu.

- David J. Duquette, Professor and Department Head, Materials Science and Engineering; PhD (metallurgy and materials science), MIT. His research interests include physical, chemical, and mechanical properties of metals and alloys, with special reference to studies of environmental interactions: aqueous and elevated temperature corrosion phenomena, effects of corrosive environments on fatigue behavior, environmental cracking of alloys, and role of corrosion science in understanding the planarization of metal interconnects on semiconductor devices and electrodeposition of semiconductor interconnects. His email address is duqued@rpi.edu.

- Glenn A. Eisman, Research Professor and Director, Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Research Center; PhD (physical inorganic chemistry), Northeastern. His research interests include fuel-cell and electrolytic processes, biofuel cells, materials and processes for hydrogen storage and generation. His email address is eisman@rpi.edu.

- Daniel Gall, Professor; PhD (physics), Illinois. His research interests include understanding, controlling, and quantitatively modeling -- at the atomic scale -- surface reaction pathways, growth kinetics, and microstructural evolution of thin-film crystal growth from the vapor phase in order to design nanostructures with novel desired physical properties and functionalities. His email address is galld@rpi.edu.

- Pawel Keblinski, Professor; PhD (physics), Penn State. His research interests include applications of atomic-level computational methods to study structure-property relationships in various materials, with a focus on modeling of mechanical response, mass and thermal transport in interfacial and nanostructured materials, including carbon- and silicon-based systems, polymer nanocomposites suspension of nanoparticles (nanofluids), and solid-solid interfaces related to microelectronic applications. His email address is keblip@rpi.edu.

- Liping Huang, Assistant Professor; PhD, (materials science and engineering), UIUC. Her research interests include glass materials, energy, computational modeling, ceramic materials, nanotechnology, and nanomaterials. Her email address is huangl5@rpi.edu.

- Daniel Lewis, Assistant Professor; PhD (materials science and engineering), Lehigh. His research interests include physical metallurgy, solidification, wetting behavior, phase transformations, and high-temperature structural materials for aircraft engines and fuel-cell systems. His email address is lewisd2@rpi.edu.

- Robert W. Messler Jr., Professor; PhD (physical metallurgy), Rensselaer. His research interests include development and characterization of environmentally friendly Pb-free solders, including thermomechanical fatigue; laser-based soldering; hybrid welding and adhesive bonding, i.e., weld-bonding; and joining of dissimilar combinations of metals, ceramics, and intermetallics using exothermic chemical reactions (e.g., combustion synthesis) under pressure. His email address is messlr@rpi.edu.

- Cornelius T. Moynihan, Professor Emeritus; PhD (chemistry), Princeton. His interests include thermodynamic, transport, electrical, and optical properties of glasses and liquids, as well as an investigation of whether many of the characteristics of the glass transition are due to the fact that small regions of varying density in the liquid can rearrange independently and on different time scales. His email address is moynic@rpi.edu.

- Sanford S. Sternstein, Professor Emeritus; PhD (chemical engineering), Rensselaer. His research interests include physical and mechanical properties of polymers and composites. His email address is sterns@rpi.edu.

- Rahmi Ozisik, Associate Professor; PhD (polymer science), Akron. His research interests include processing, characterization, and modeling of polymeric systems; coarse-graining methods and multiscale modeling, modeling of polymers and proteins using Monte Carlo and Molecular Dynamics, structure and dynamics of nanoparticle-filled polymer composites, and surfaces and interfaces of polymer nanocomposites. His email address is ozisik@rpi.edu.

- G. Ramanath, Associate Professor; PhD (materials science and engineering), Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research interests include synthesis and directed assembly of mesoscale heterostructures from nanoscale building blocks and thin-film and interface science, with emphasis on exploring new materials and architectures for future micro- and nanodevices and understanding the relationships between atomic-level structure and chemistry and properties. His email address is ramanath@rpi.edu.

- Linda S. Schadler, Professor; PhD (materials science and engineering), Pennsylvania. Her research interests include properties of polymer nanocomposites with an emphasis on designed interfaces for tailored properties including mechanical, optical, and electrical response. Her email address is schadl@rpi.edu.

- Yunfeng Shi, Assistant Professor; PhD (materials science and engineering), Michigan. His research interests include computational study of molecular-level mechanisms in advanced materials systems and design active nanostructures for energy applications. Other areas of interests include molecular motors, nanoporous materials, energetic materials, metallic glasses and metal-semiconductor interfaces. His email address is shiy2@rpi.edu.

- Richard W. Siegel, Professor and Director, Nanotechnology Center; PhD (metallurgy), Illinois. His research interests include synthesis and processing, characterization, properties, and applications of nanostructured materials, including ceramics, metals, composites, and biomaterials; and creation of nanoscale building blocks, especially inorganic nanoparticles. His email address is rwsiegel@rpi.edu.

- Christoph O. Steinbruchel, Professor Emeritus; PhD (chemical physics), Minnesota. His research interests include electronic materials, specifically the processing of thin films of these materials and on their characterization, particularly the deposition of films with desired structure and properties, the carving out of miniature devices from such films by selective and anisotropic etching, and the interactions at the interface between two films. His email address is steinc@rpi.edu.

- Minoru Tomozawa, Professor; PhD (metallurgy and materials science), Univ. of Pennsylvania. His research interests include the origin of glass memory effect, measurement of fictive temperature of glasses, effect of fictive temperature on mechanical strength of glasses, glasses with fictive-temperature-independent, mechanism of water diffusion, glass strengthening by surface stress relaxation, measurement of defects in glasses, and high energy storage capacitors. His email address is tomozm@rpi.edu.

- Roger N. Wright, Professor; ScD (metallurgy), MIT. His research interests include mechanical and thermal processing of materials, with emphasis on data and physical understanding needed for process modeling; and friction-lubrication-surface quality interactions in metalworking, particularly with regard to drawing of copper and aluminum wire, and forming of steel sheet for automotive applications. His email address is wrighr@rpi.edu.

Specialty Program and Degree Opportunities

The department offers Master of Science (MS), Master of Engineering (MEng), and PhD degree programs. All graduate students must complete 18 credits from the 5 core graduate courses in mechanical behavior, thermodynamics, kinetics, structure, and electronic properties. Both the MS and the MEng degrees require the completion of a minimum of 30 credit hours. Both MS and MEng students must complete 6 additional course credits (2 courses) beyond the core courses. Six credits of research work leading to an MS thesis are also required. Students pursuing MEng degrees are required to complete capstone independent study projects. The PhD degree requires completion of 72 credit hours. Students must complete at least 27 credits of course work, the remainder being credits for research work leading to a PhD thesis.

The Institute

Recognized as a leader in interactive learning and interdisciplinary research, Rensselaer continues a tradition of excellence and technological innovation dating back to 1824. More than 100 graduate programs in more than 50 disciplines attract top students, researchers, and professors. The discovery of new scientific concepts and technologies, especially in emerging interdisciplinary fields, is the lifeblood of Rensselaer's culture and a core goal for the faculty, staff, and students. Fueled by significant support from government, industry, and private donors, Rensselaer provides a world-class education in an environment tailored to the individual.

Living and Housing Costs

Graduate students at Rensselaer may choose from a variety of housing options. On campus, students can select one of the many residence halls, and there are abundant options off campus as well, many within easy walking distance.

Student Group

The Materials Department has about 45-55 graduate students: 35-40 full-time (8-10 women), 5-10 part-time (5 women), half international.

Applying

The admission deadline for the fall semester is December 15. Basic admission requirements for each student are: the submission of a completed application form (available online); the required application fee ($75); a statement of background and goals; official transcripts; official scores on the GRE General Test; TOEFL, IELTS, or PTE scores (if applicable); and 2 recommendations.

Future employment opportunities, alumni achievements

Rensselaer's graduate students are hired in a variety of industries and sectors of the economy and by private and public organizations, the government, and institutions of higher education. Starting salaries average over $60,000 for master's degree recipients.

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Tuition, Scholarships, and Financial Aid

Financial aid is available in the form of teaching and research assistantships, which include tuition scholarships and stipends. Rensselaer assistantships and university, corporate, or national fellowships fund many of Rensselaer's full-time graduate students. Outstanding students may qualify for university-sponsored Rensselaer Graduate Fellowship Awards, which carry minimum stipends of $20,000 and a full-tuition and fees scholarship. All fellowship awards are calendar-year awards for full-time graduate students. Summer support is also available in many departments. Low-interest, deferred-repayment graduate loans are also available to US citizens with demonstrated need.

Research Facilities

Research is supported by state-of-the-art facilities and equipment: one of the country's largest academically based class 100 clean room facilities, a large array of parallel computer clusters with hundreds of computing nodes, and a 70 Tflop supercomputing center, high resolution TEM and SEM instrumentation, proximal probe facilities, extensive thermal analysis and spectroscopy facilities, and an array of synthesis and processing equipment for nanoscale and traditional metals, polymers, and ceramics.

The Department of Materials Science and Engineering faculty members work in many interdisciplinary research centers, including the National Science Foundation Center for Directed Assembly of Nanostructures, the Center for Advanced Interconnect Systems Technologies, Center for Automation Technologies and Systems, Computational Center for Nanotechnology Innovations, Center for Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Research, Center for Future Energy Systems, Center for Integrated Electronics, Center for Multiphase Research, Combinatorial Sciences and Materials Informatics, the Rensselaer Nanotechnology Center, and the Scientific Computation Research Center.

• Degrees Offered
• Major Degree Levels Offered
• Metallurgy Master of Science (MS)
  Master of Engineering (M Eng)
  Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
• Ceramics And Glass Science Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
  Master of Science (MS)
  Master of Engineering (M Eng)
• Electronic Materials Master of Engineering (M Eng)
  Master of Science (MS)
  Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
• Polymers Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
  Master of Science (MS)
  Master of Engineering (M Eng)
• Composites Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
  Master of Engineering (M Eng)
  Master of Science (MS)

• Degrees Awarded
• Master's Degrees 5
• Doctoral Degrees 6
• First Professional Degrees Not reported
• Other Advanced Degrees Not reported
• * Shows the number of degrees awarded for the last academic year that data was reported.

• Earning Your Degree
• Part-time study available? Yes
• Evening/weekend programs available? No
• Distance learning programs available? No
• Terminal master's degree available? Yes

• Degree Requirements
• Master's Degrees Required
• Doctoral Degrees Required and Required
• First Professional Degrees Not reported
• Other Advanced Degrees Not reported

• Acceptance Rate
• Applied304
• Accepted45
• Acceptance Rate14%
• Enrolled16
• Applying
• Application Fee - Domestic $75
• Application Fee - International $75
• Electronic applications accepted? Yes
• Applications processed on a rolling basis? Yes
• Application Deadlines
• Type Domestic International Priority Date
• Fall deadline January 15th January 15th Yes
• Winter deadline Not Reported Not Reported Not Reported
• Spring deadline August 31st August 31st Yes
• Entrance Requirements
• Master's DegreesGRE
• Doctoral's DegreesGRE
• First-Professional's DegreesNot Reported
• Other Advanced DegreesNot Reported
• International DegreesTOEFL required, 570 paper based, TOEFL iBT

• Tuition & Fees
• In-state tuition *$39,600
• Out-of-state tuition *$39,600
• International student tuitionNot Reported
• * Tuition for full-time graduate student per academic year
• Fees
• Per-academic year fees$1,896.00
• Per-term feesNot Reported
• One-time feeNot Reported
• * Fees for full-time graduate students
• Financial Support
• Financial award applicants must submitNot Reported
• Application deadlines for financial awardsFebruary 1
• Types of financial support availableFellowships, Research Assitantships, Teaching Assistantships, Career or Field-Related Internships, Institutionally-sponsored Loans, Graduate Assistantships

• Gender
• Total Graduate Students63
• Female Percentage22%
• Male Percentage78%
• Participation
• Total Graduate Students63
• Part-time Percentage10%
• Full-time Percentage90%
• Ethnicity
• Hispanic / Latino0%
• Black / African American0%
• White / Caucasian100%
• American Indian / Alaskan Native0%
• Asian0%
• Native Hawaiian / Other Pacific Islander0%
• Two or more races0%
• Unknown0%

• Faculty Breakout
• Total Faculty16
• Full-time Percentage100%
• Part-time Percentage0%
• Female Percentage12%
• Male Percentage88%

• Existing Research
• Focus of faculty researchMaterials processing, nanostructural materials, materials for microelectronics, composite materials, computational materials
• Externally sponsored research expenditures last year$3,628,342