The UCLA MS Engineering Online Program offers the Master of Science in Engineering degree. Students in this degree program may earn a certificate indicating that their program of study was equivalent to the MS Material Science and Engineering degree if they meet all of those degree requirements. The degree requirements are found in the UCLA HSSEAS Announcement (http://www.seasoasa.ucla.edu/admissions/hsseas-announcements). Only the comprehensive examination plan (not the thesis option) is available through the online program. In addition, students may also earn a certificate of completion of Advanced Structural Materials or Electronic Materials by completing one of those course sequences.
An understanding of the microstructure of solids is at the heart of materials science. "Microstructure" is used broadly in reference to solids viewed at the subatomic (electronic) and atomic levels, and the nature of the defects at these levels. The microstructures of solids at various levels, especially the defects, profoundly influence the mechanical, electronic, chemical, and biological properties of solids. The phenomenological and mechanistic relationships between the microstructure and the macroscopic properties of solids are, in essence, what materials science is all about. This is best represented by the "materials science triangle": synthesis-microstructure-properties.
Materials engineering is concerned with the design, fabrication, and testing of engineering materials. Such materials must simultaneously fulfill dimensional properties, quality control, and economic requirements. Several manufacturing steps may be involved: (1) primary fabrication, such as solidification or vapor deposition of homogeneous or composite materials; (2) secondary fabrication, including shaping and microstructural control by operations such as mechanical working, machining, sintering, joining and heat treatment and (3) testing, which measures the degree of reliability of a processed part, destructively or non-destructively. |
