Material magic: Materials science is creating new technology and transforming modern life

Materials science and engineering is one of the most important engineering disciplines today. Work and study in the field of materials science and engineering is grounded in an understanding of why materials behave the way they do, and encompasses how materials are made and how new ones can be developed. People in the Iron Age discovered this when they learned that soft iron could be heated and then quickly cooled to make a material hard enough to plow the earth; the same strategy is used today to make high-strength aluminum alloys for jet aircraft.

Materials science extends from the extraction of the materials from their mineral sources to their refining and fabrication into finished products. It also examines their chemical, crystal, molecular and electronic structure because structure influences not only a material’s magnetic and electronic characteristics but also its mechanical properties such as strength.

What do I have to do?

Materials science is a multi-disciplinary field involving the properties of matter and its applications to various areas of science and engineering. It includes elements of applied physics and chemistry, as well as chemical, mechanical, civil and electrical engineering. With significant media attention given to nanotechnology in the recent years, materials science has been propelled to the forefront at many universities.

Materials scientists work on:

• Thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, kinetics and physical chemistry, for phase stability, transformations (physical and chemical) and diagrams.

• Crystallography and chemical bonding, for understanding how atoms in a material are arranged.

• Mechanics, to understand the mechanical properties of materials and their structural applications.

• Solid-state physics and quantum mechanics, for the understanding of the electronic, thermal, magnetic, chemical, structural and optical properties of materials.

• Diffraction and wave mechanics, for the characterisation of materials.

• Chemistry and polymer science, for the understanding of plastics, colloids, ceramics, liquid crystals, solid state chemistry, and polymers.

• Biology, for the integration of materials into biological systems.

• Continuum mechanics and statistics, for the study of flow of fluids and ensemble systems.

• Mechanics of materials, for the study of the relation between the mechanical behaviour of materials and their microstructures.

What should i study?

For the graduate course, you should have passed your Plus Two with physics, chemistry and maths. Eligibility for the postgraduate programme is an MSc in chemistry, physics or a BE/BTech in relevant disciplines such as chemical engineering, polymers, electrical, etc, with a first class or equivalent.

What next?

Material scientists can build a career in research, development, manufacturing, processing or education. It has been estimated that about 60 per cent of all people who are employed as chemists or chemical engineers will eventually work on polymer materials. The entire computer industry is built essentially on a single material silicon and the advances in computer technology is being driven by the development of new materials. Thus, it may be that some day soon the microprocessor will be built from plastic.

Past and present CEOs of Intel, for example, are materials scientists. Graduates of materials science and engineering programmes find employment in organisations like Hewlett-Packard, Intel, IBM, 3M, Lockheed-Martin, Xerox, Motorola, Monsanto and Corning, Eastman and Kodak, etc.

Materials science is creating new technology and transforming modern life. For example, the ongoing revolution in biotechnology entails the creation of new materials that will help prolong and improve the quality of life. Such an invention could be ceramic cement for bone repair.

WHERE TO STUDY

• Department of Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science, IIT Bombay, Mumbai.
• Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras, Roorkee.
• Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore.
• National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirapalli.
• Institute of Technology, BHU.