Materials Science Option (MS)

The aim of the Materials Science option is to prepare students for research, professional practice, or advanced study in a rapidly advancing interdisciplinary field, focusing on the relationships between the properties of materials and their internal structure and how this structure can be controlled. The program builds on the core curriculum to develop analytical competence and use it for individualized research, culminating in a one-year senior thesis. Materials Science students develop professional independence, creativity, leadership, and the skills for continuing professional and intellectual growth. The first year of the four-year course of study leading to a Bachelor of Science degree is common for all students of the Institute, although first-year elective subjects are available as an introduction to various aspects of engineering and applied science. At the end of the first year, students who elect the Materials Science option are assigned advisers appropriate for their expressed field of interest. Together with their advisers, they develop programs of study for the next three years. Beyond the Institute-wide requirements of physics, mathematics, and humanities, the Materials Science option requires one year of applied and computational mathematics and a prescribed number of units selected from a wide variety of courses in science and engineering. An undergraduate thesis is an essential part of the academic program. Any student in the Materials Science option whose grade-point average is less than 1.9 at the end of the academic year in the subjects listed in the option requirements may be refused permission to continue to work in the Materials Science option.

1. Fulfillment of extended core requirements in Differential Equations (Ma 2 or equivalent); Probability and Statistics (Ma 3 or equivalent); Waves (Ph 2 a, Ph 12 a or equivalent), Quantum Mechanics (Ph 2 b, Ph 12 b, Ch 21 a or equivalent); Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics (Ph 2 c, Ph 12 c or equivalent).
2. Demonstration of competency in computer programming or computer science by taking CS 1, or by taking an approved alternative course, or by passing a placement exam administered by the computer science option.
3. 18 units of laboratory courses taken from the following list: APh 77 bc, APh/EE/MS 9, Ae/APh 104 bc, CE 180, EE/CS 10ab, EE 45, EE 90, EE 91 ab, EE 110 abc, ME 50 ab, ME 72 ab, MS 121, MS/APh 122, MS 125, MS 142, or from EAS courses with the word "laboratory" in the title, but excluding those courses for which first-year laboratory credit is allowed.
4. ACM/IDS 104 and ACM 95/100 ab, or Ma 108 abc, or Ma 109 abc.
5. SEC 10 or equivalent; SEC 11, SEC 12, SEC 13 or equivalent.
6. APh 17 ab or ChE 63 ab or APh/MS/ME 105 ab.
7. MS 115 and MS/ME/MedE 116 and MS 90 (or other appropriate laboratory in MS).
8. At least 45 of additional units from the following list of restricted electives: ACM/IDS 104, Ae/AM/CE/ME 102 abc, APh/MS/ME 105 abc, APh 114 abc, APh/EE 130, APh/Ph/MS 152, APh/Ph/Ae/MS 153, APh/EE 183, Ch 21 abc, ChE/Ch/MS 113, Ch 120 ab, Ch 121 ab, Ch 125 ab, Ch/ChE 147, ChE/Ch 148, CS 11, Ge 114 ab, ME 12 abc, MS 121, MS/APh 122, MS 125, MS 131, MS 132, MS 133, APh/MS 141, MS 142, MS/ME 161, MS/APh 162, MS/ME 166, Ph 125 abc. Substitution of courses may be approved at the discretion of the option representative.
9. Senior thesis MS 78 abc.

Passing grades must be earned in at least 486 units, including those listed in requirements 1–9 above. Courses in fulfillment of option requirements may not be taken on a pass/fail basis if the class has a graded option.