Trends in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) Education

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• published: 30 Jan 2015
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Speaker: Reza Abbaschian, Dean, William R. Johnson, Jr. Family Professor and Distinguished Professor of Engineering (UC Riverside) Materials research over the last three decades has led to significant advances in the manufacturing of new materials with tailored and unique properties for a variety of applications. These advances have come about mostly because of a highly influential National Research Council study titled “Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) for the 1990’s: Maintaining Competitiveness in the Age of Materials,” that defined and delineated MSE around four basic elements of synthesis and processing, structure, properties and performance. In this presentation, an overview of the recent trends in incorporating these four basic elements in MSE education will be given, followed by an example of the MSE program at the University of California, Riverside. The program offers interdisciplinary BS, MS and PhD degrees in MSE. At the undergraduate level, the program integrates with all five engineering departments in the Bourns College of Engineering (BCOE). This new approach allows students to have meaningful interactions with engineers from other engineering disciplines who ultimately are the “end-users” of materials. At the graduate level, the UCR MSE program integrates with other disciplines such as Physics and Chemistry. Speaker Biography Reza Abbaschian began his tenure as Dean of the Bourns College of Engineering and Distinguished Professor and William R. Johnson, Jr. Professor in September 2005. Prior to his appointment at UCR, Dr. Abbaschian was the Vladimir A. Grodsky Professor of Materials Science and Engineering Department at the University of Florida, where he also served as Chair of the Department for 16 years. During his tenure, the Department rose to a U.S. News & World Report top-ten ranking for both undergraduate and graduate education. Dr. Abbaschian received his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, M.S. in metallurgical engineering from Michigan Technological University, and BSc in mining and metallurgy from Tehran University. He has published more than 250 scientific articles on subjects ranging from metal processing to composites, solidification and high temperature-high pressure growth of jewelry diamonds, which led to the formation of Gemesis Diamond Company. He holds five patents and eight patent disclosures and has authored eight books, including the recently published fourth edition of Physical Metallurgy Principles. Dr. Abbaschian is a past President of ASM International, the largest materials society. His awards include the TMS Educator Award, Structural Material Division's Distinguished Scientist/Engineer Award, TMS Leadership Award, ASEE Donald E. Marlowe Award, Davis Productivity Award of the State of Florida, and the Albert Sauveur Achievement Award which he received on October 2013 in Montreal, Canada. The award recognized him as "outstanding scientist and researcher in solidification fundamentals and materials processing, educator and leader in advancing the materials profession." He has been elected a Fellow of ASM, TMS and AAAS.