In fact, you are not the only one who will be making investment. We are here to make this process fruitful, efficient, exciting and enjoyable. The cornerstone of our program is flexibility. Our graduate program in materials research is highly interdisciplinary, and is being expanded to include faculty from other departments such as physics, chemistry, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering and bioengineering. Our facilities are first rate, and many students use major national facilities at national laboratories, such as synchrotron radiation and neutron sources.
All faculty members are very active in research, and nationally and internationally well known.
Our graduate students are involved in the research at the frontier of science and technology. I urge you to turn the web pages of each faculty and research group. Some of you may have a negative image of Philadelphia. If so, you will be pleasantly surprised when you visit here. Downtown Philadelphia has been greatly renovated, particularly because of the success of a new convention center.