University of California, Riverside - Graduate Materials Science and Engineering Program - Overview
University of California, Riverside -- Materials Science & Engineering Program
The Graduate Program in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) at the University of California, Riverside prepares students to excel in careers in fields ranging from nanotechnology, electronics, and computing to biomedical, automotive, and aerospace.
The program is uniquely interdisciplinary, involving a wide-range of academic departments from two colleges of the University of California - Riverside. The program focus is on nanotechnology, materials for energy generation and storage and sustainability.
The MSE program is housed by the Bourns College of Engineering (BCOE) of the University of California, Riverside. All BCOE engineering programs are ranked high by the National Research Council and U.S. News and World Report.
The new Materials Science and Engineering building, which was opened in 2011, features 134,000 square feet of laboratory and teaching space. It includes a 10,000-square foot clean room facility, which more than quadruples the capabilities for nanofabrication.
Master's and Doctoral Degrees in Materials Science & Engineering
Students in the MSE program at the University of California, Riverside, can earn Master of Science (M.S.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees in Materials Science & Engineering.
The degree programs provide a strong foundation in fundamental materials subjects, while allowing students to pursue advanced study and research in the selected areas of specialization.
Interdepartmental Collaboration Defines Program
The MSE program is a unique collaboration between UC Riverside's Bourns College of Engineering and the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences. With expertise that transcends departmental and disciplinary boundaries, MS&E engineers and scientists are studying the structure and properties of materials in order to develop the next generation of devices and technologies that will improve our lives.
Faculty Leads Groundbreaking Research Efforts
The highly renowned MSE faculty has been involved in cutting-edge materials science research. The graduate students, participating in the program, have the opportunity to work with faculty members and research staff on real-life problems making their contribution to a new technological revolution.
There many exciting developments, discoveries and ground-breaking research results happenings in the laboratories of MSE Program participating faculty.
From nature to engineering -- one major area of research in Professor David Kisailus' research group at UC-Riverside. This research involves studying the processes of biomineralization in order to understand the mechanisms controlling the synthesis and organization, through self-assembly, of the resulting structures. The ultimate goals of the Kisailus group research are to develop novel "bio-inspired" synthetic processes toward novel, technologically relevant materials.
Professor Alexander Balandin and his Nano-Device Laboratory research group members have discovered that graphene -- a unique carbon material with the thickness of just one atom -- has extremely high intrinsic thermal conductivity. The researchers in the Balandin group are investigating graphene's potential for heat removal from 3D electronic chips. They also built and tested the first low-noise top-gate graphene transistor and graphene amplifier -- steps toward graphene applications in communications.
In the laboratory of Professor Elaine Haberer, researchers are investigating bio-templating and bottom-up assembly techniques that mimic processes in the natural world to arrange nanoscale components into larger scale structures, such as electronic and optoelectronic applications.
Distinguished Professor Robert Haddon is an internationally recognized expert in carbon nanotubes. His group members investigate chemistry and applications of carbon nanotubes and neutral radical conductors.
A central theme of Professor Roland Kawakami's research is development of a fundamental understanding of electron spin and magnetism in nanostructures-solids with physical structure on the nanometer scale. Harnessing these new phenomena for emergent technologies such as spin-electronics and quantum computation requires a deep understanding of electron spin.
Outstanding Research Facilities
Students in the MSE program have access to outstanding research facilities and equipment in the Bourns College of Engineering and campus users¿ facilities.
Facilities include the state-of-the-art fully equipped clean room, molecular beam epitaxy and chemical vapor deposition systems, materials synthesis and characterization equipment in the Bioengineering, Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Electrical Engineering and the Mechanical Engineering departments.
Instrumentation is also available in the Central Facility for Advanced Microscopy and Microanalysis (CFAMM), and cutting-edge computational facilities are available in the departments of Computer Science and Engineering and Electrical Engineering.
Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE)
The MSE graduate program greatly benefits from cooperation with UC Riverside's Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering.
The CNSE research activities include spintronics, 3D electronics, graphene and carbon materials and applications, advanced transistors, MEMS/NEMS devices, as well as variants of the devices with novel materials and process sequences.
The facility also offers electron beam lithography and focused ion beam (FIB) instruments with state-of-the-art nanofabrication capabilities.
Admission and Financial Aid at the University of California, Riverside
Applicants to the M.S. or Ph.D. programs in MSE should have undergraduate degrees in relevant disciplines such as bioengineering, biochemistry, chemistry, chemical engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, or physics.
Those with backgrounds in other scientific fields are also encouraged to apply, however any academic deficiencies should be made up within the first year of graduate study.
Applicants to the Graduate Program in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of California, Riverside are required to have a minimum undergraduate grade point average of 3.0, and minimum GRE scores of 1100.
Most students receive fellowships, teaching assistantships or graduate researcher appointments.
UC Riverside Enjoys Diversity, High Ranking, Prime Location
The University of California, Riverside, one of 10 universities in the University of California system, is considered one of the most ethnically diverse research universities in the U.S., with an enrollment of more than 19,000 students.
"Washington Monthly" ranked the university as 16th in the nation in contributing to the public good, and "U.S. News and World Report" has ranked the college among top tier universities nationwide.
Located in a growing high-tech area approximately 50 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, the campus is close to picturesque deserts, mountains, ski resorts, ocean beaches and coastal recreational areas.