The program permits a typical term load of two departmental program subjects, one HASS subject, and one elective subject. Departmental advisors work with students to arrange effective schedules, and also to assist in selecting elective subjects suitable to the student's needs and interests. Participation in laboratory work by undergraduates is an integral part of the curriculum. The undergraduate student also has access to extensive facilities for research in materials as part of UROP and thesis projects. Engineering design figures prominently in a substantial portion of the laboratory exercises.
Students develop communication skills by reporting data in a variety of ways.
The department has modern undergraduate materials teaching laboratories containing a wide variety of materials processing and characterization equipment. Most types of refractory and electrical ceramics and glasses can be prepared and their properties studied. Facilities for the growth of metallic and non-metallic crystals are available. Equipment is available for the study of heat and mass flow and for thermodynamic and kinetic investigations at high temperatures. Deformation, solidification, joining, and vapor deposition may be carried out.