The graduate concentration in Materials Science and Engineering has an associated interdisciplinary faculty group comprising faculty and researchers from multiple research centers and institutes as well as three academic colleges. This interdisciplinary offering provides IPh.D. students an opportunity to develop high-demand skills related to the design, fabrication, and utilization of materials across a variety of disciplines and industrial sectors.

The I-PhD Concentration in Materials Science & Engineering will prepare students for successful careers in a variety of industry sectors that require a workforce trained in Materials Science & Engineering. These include: Chemical Processing, Electronics, Metals, Ceramics, Polymers, Composites, Manufacturing and Product Development, Defense, Infrastructure, and Health Care and Biomedical Technologies

Success of many engineering applications depend on designing, fabricating and utilizing materials with specific sets of functional properties. A specialty in Materials Science & Engineering within the I-PhD program will prepare students to understand and utilize the correlations between structure, composition, processing and properties of materials, from nanometer to microscopic and macroscopic scales, for a wide variety of multi-disciplinary applications ranging from aerospace, transportation and infrastructure to energy, environment, and biotechnology. This materials-focused program would be an umbrella concentration within the current I-Ph.D. program and make it easier for potential employers to identify students with this training, from within a larger breadth of expertise across multiple departments and research centers.