In addition to its graduate programs, the department is responsible for the Undergraduate Engineering Science Program which offers an option in Materials Science and Engineering. The department presently consists of 20 faculty members and approximately 85 graduate students including the faculty and students of Engineering Physics . New graduate students enter the department with previous degrees in materials science, metallurgy, ceramics, polymer science, all branches of engineering, physics, chemistry and mathematics. The diversity of backgrounds among incoming students provides novel approaches to challenging research problems. The majority of the research in the Department is supported by various government agencies, including the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Air Force Wright Aeronautical Laboratories, Army Research Office, ARPA, Department of Energy, Los Alamos National Laboratory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Institute of Standards and Technology, National Science Foundation, Naval Surface Weapons Center, Naval Air Development Center, Office of Naval Research, and Virginia Center for Innovative Technology.
Additional funding is provided by industry.