Materials Science and Engineering

Come along and realise the future energy society through the development of efficient solar cells, hydrogen storage devices and new nanostructured materials for use in superconductors, batteries, fuel cells and catalysts! Do you want to become an expert on metal production and recycling, the use of aluminum, steel and titanium in cars, ships, aircrafts or offshore installations? Materials are important: They produce energy, rescue lives, create jobs and save the environment.

What is Materials Science and Engineering?
Materials Science and Engineering is an interdisciplinary study programme, ranging from the production of aluminum, steel and silicon to the development of new materials for energy production and hydrogen storage. Materials are therefore an important priority area for the Norwegian industry. You will, as a graduated Materials technologist, be faced with exciting challenges in terms of environmentally friendly production and recycling of metals, advanced use of materials in offshore installations in the North Sea and the northern regions, as well as the development of new materials based on nanotechnology for environmentally-friendly utilization of our national energy resources.

Why choose Materials Science and Engineering?
The Master's degree programme in Materials Science and Engineering provides expertise in areas important for Norway as an industrial nation, both today and in the future. NTNU has some of the world's best profession- and research studies in this field. You will as a student at the Materials Science and Engineering programme benefit from this expertise, and get an education that is perceived both relevant and career promotive in a job situation.

The programme offers small classes with about 30 students, something that allows you to quickly become familiar with your fellow students. This class environment, cohesion and the personal contact with the scientific staff in the department makes the Materials Science and Engineering programme so unique, compared to most other university studies. Therefore, you should choose the Materials Science and Engineering programme at NTNU.

Challenges and opportunities
Do you know that metals can be produced in many different ways, either from natural raw materials, or by recycling scrap metal? Aluminium and steel are examples of materials that to an increasing degree is recycled, which will give you as a materials technologist new and exciting challenges. Silicon for solar cells is an important material that currently is manufactured via recycling of expensive silicon from electronics. At the time being, the Norwegian solar cell industry is focusing on mass production of solar cell silicon through direct reduction of SiO2 (quartz) to silicon using carbon. In the future you may, as a Materials technologist take part in the development of this important industry in Norway.

Have you ever wondered about which kind of materials a car, a boat, an aeroplane or an offshore installation are made of? Why exactly that material is used, what material properties that are important, and finally what determines the property of the material? This requires a basic knowledge of how nano- and microstructures affect the utilisation potential of materials. As a tool for structure characterisation advanced electron microscopes with a resolution all the way down to atomic level are used. Join us as a material technologist and create the aluminum cars of the future, or form the basis for safe and environmentally friendly utilisation of the oil and gas resources in the North Sea and the northern regions.

Have you considered that the increased use of hydrogen as an energy carrier assumes a quantum leap in the development of so-called functional materials? These are smart materials that form the basis for solar cells, superconductors, computers, batteries, fuel cells and catalysts, and which have a physical property that can be utilised. Environmentally speaking, hydrogen is an attractive energy carrier. Therefore, eleven of the largest car manufacturers in the world have developed fuel cell driven cars based on hydrogen. Do you want to, with basis in nanotechnology, to develop cheaper and more durable materials for use in fuel cells and thus contribute to ensuring that this technology will be able to compete well in the future? Then the Master's degree programme in Materials Science and Engineering at NTNU suits you perfectly.

Course Objectives
Since Materials Science and Engineering is interdisciplinary, you must have solid basis in mathematics, physics, chemistry and information technology. At the same time, you need to understand how the materials are produced, how they function, which properties they have and how they are shaped and used. This is what you learn during the first three years. Further specialisation will begin in the fourth year with the selection of a main profile, and is concluded with the writing of a master's thesis in the spring of the fifth year. As a Materials Science and Engineering graduate you should have gained the necessary skills in the use of scientific methods to solve major industrial and research projects within your subject area.

The three main profiles offered are:

• Metal Production and Recycling
• Materials Development and Properties
• Materials for Energy Technology

Study advisors can help you find the main profile that suits you.

Moreover, a further specialisation towards a master's degree happens in the fifth year by the selection of special subjects, projects and the master's thesis. The latter is connected to ongoing industrial and research projects.