Department of Materials, Imperial College London
The Department of Materials is responsible for the teaching and research in materials science and engineering at Imperial College London, occupying the Royal School of Mines and Bessemer buildings on the South Kensington campus. It can trace its origins back to the metallurgy department of the Government School of Mines and Science applied to the Arts, founded in 1851. History. The department was founded as the metallurgy department of the Government School of Mines and Science Applied to the Arts, founded in 1851, under the leadership of John Percy. He resigned nine years later , when the school was moved to the Huxley building along Exhibition Road. The next department head was not appointed until 1880, when William Chandler Roberts-Austen took on the role. William Gowland was appointed head in 1902, staying on to become head of the department after the formation of Imperial College in 1907. The department moved to the newly completed Bessemer building in 1912. In 1926, a common set of exams were created for the awarding of both the Associateship of the Royal School of Mines and the Bachelor of Science from the University of London, prior to which students  were required to sit separate after three years of study. In 1939, World War II lead the department's evacuation to Swansea, during which time it was partly integrated with University College, Swansea. In the 1960s, the department expanded beyond metals, organising new inter-departmental courses on materials science and technology. This led to the establishment in the 1970s of two separate courses, a BScEng course in metallurgy, and a BSc course in materials science, and the renaming of the department to the Department of Metallurgy and Materials Science. The Bessemer building was rebuilt finishing in 1964, as part of  a college wide rebuilding scheme. In 1991, the number of courses offered was greatly expanded, including the introduction of integrated master's and specialised degrees. In 2002, the department installed an aberration-corrected analytical transmission electron microscope. Kilner, Atkinson, and colleagues from Imperial including Brandon, developed low temperature solid oxide fuel cells and formed the spin out Ceres Power. Haynes and Mostofi have developed the ONETEP density functional theory code, for which Haynes was awarded the Maxwell medal in 2010. In 2018 Breeze, Alford and colleagues developed the first continuous room temperature maser. Facilities. The department has a variety of  labs and facilities in the Royal School of Mines and Bessemer buildings. These include the Harvey Flower Electron Microscopy Facility, the x-ray analysis lab, the thin film laboratory, surface analysis, the high temperature ceramics facilities (as part of the Centre for Advanced Structural Ceramics), and the near atmosphere x-ray photo-electron spectroscopy lab. Academics. Study. Undergraduate. The undergraduate program at the department includes 4-year integrated course leading to an MEng degree in Materials Science and Engineering, and a 3-year course leading to a BEng degree in Materials Science and Engineering. There is also the option of  a specialist stream in nuclear engineering (delivered jointly with the departments of chemical and mechanical engineering). All students graduating with the MEng degree also automatically receive an Associateship of the Royal School of Mines, ARSM. Postgraduate. The department has a large research portfolio and offers a PhD degree programme and two full-time taught MSc programmes. The PhD in Materials Science and Engineering is a 3-year research degree which involves conducting work in one of the department's research laboratories. All postgraduate students of the department are also eligible for the Diploma of Imperial College, DIC, alongside their standard  degree when graduating. Notable alumni. Notable alumni include: Annual Bauerman Lecture. In 2016, the Department instituted an annual prize lecture to highlight advances in Materials Science and Engineering. The annual lecture is named in honour of Hilary Bauerman, one of the first 7 students to enter the Government School of Mines in 1851.