Materials Engineering
1. Background
Training of materials engineers is aimed at developing their ability to create study and characterize materials at microscopic and macroscopic level, in order to optimize their use in the multitude of applications. Most materials engineers specialize in a particular material. Metallurgical engineers specialize in metals; ceramic engineers develop ceramic materials and the processes for making them into useful products such as glassware or fiber-optic communication lines. Polymer engineers specialize in plastics and/or composite materials which have gained growing importance over the past decades. The primary focus of the Materials Engineering program is to provide undergraduates with a fundamental knowledge-base associated with materials-processing, their properties, and their selection and application. Materials engineering is an exciting, fast developing end evolving field that leads and allows the product development of new materials and processing routes. The relatively recent emergence of nanotechnology is a prime example of these processes.
New materials technologies developed through engineering and science will continue to make startling changes in our lives in the future, and people in materials science and engineering will continue to be a key component in these changes and advances. Not all graduates of materials engineering, however, will spend their professional life on the front line of new materials. A large fraction of all current and future technology is based on conventional production and processing approaches. These fields of activity are the backbone of any nation's technology and require constant supervision, quality control and assurance to ensure their optimal performance.
Proper training of materials engineers is of primary importance in ensuring advanced, high level industrial activity a key component of the nation's wealth and security.
2. Materials Engineering Program Educational Objectives:
Program educational objectives are broad statements that describe what graduates are expected to attain within a few years of graduation. The Materials Engineering program at BGU prepares graduates for: performing at a satisfactory level in professional positions in industry or in government facilities or to pursue graduate education in engineering, science, or other field.
Learning Outcomes:
Learning outcomes describe what students are expected to know and be able to do by the time of graduation. The student outcomes for the Materials Engineering program are:
(a) an ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering;
(b) an ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data;
(c) an ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, manufacturability, and sustainability;
(d) an ability to function on multidisciplinary teams;
(e) an ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems;
(f) an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility;
(g) an ability to communicate effectively;
(h) the broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental, and societal context;
(i) a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning;
a knowledge of contemporary issues;
Undergraduate students in Materials Engineering require 156 credit points to complete the studies for a B.Sc. degree. The two first years of study include courses in mathematics (calculus, differential equations, and statistics); physics (mechanics and electro-magnetism), elementary chemistry and introductory computing. It also offers two semester course of materials science and thermodynamics.
At the end of the second year of studies, students have the choice of continuing in either Structural Materials Engineering or the Electronic Materials tracks. A number of courses are common to both tracks, namely Physical Metallurgy, Processing-1. Each track offers a number of mandatory courses specific to the section. Electives are offered in a wide variety of materials-related fields for students to select according to their preference. Forth year students are expected to complete a project, carried out under the supervision of a staff member, either in the laboratories of the Department or in an external approved institution.
The Department of Materials Engineering offers two joint degree undergraduate study programs with the Department of Physics and the Department of Mechanical Engineering. The programs were undertaken as the result of requests arising from various Industrial groups and IDF (Israel Defense Forces). We believe that these interdisciplinary study programs will attract a significant number of students and will provide a measure of distinctness to the Department.
