Materials Science & Engineering is the interdisciplinary field focused on the development and application of new materials with desirable properties and microstructures. Disciplines in the physical sciences and engineering fields frequently play a central role in developing the fundamental knowledge that is needed for materials studies. The discipline of Materials Science & Engineering integrates this knowledge and uses it to design and develop new materials and to mate these with appropriate technological needs.

IMSE facilities

The majority of the IMSE user facilities are located in the basement of Scott Rudolph Hall (Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences), including a 12,000 net square foot facility opened in Fall 2013, which includes a nanofabrication facility and a materials characterization facility. These facilities are available for use by researchers both inside and outside the university. Please email the relevant point of contact regarding user fees, training and scheduling.

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Graduate program

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The IMSE offers an interdisciplinary PhD program in Materials Science and Engineering designed to allow students to easily work across departmental boundaries. Student apply directly through the McKelvey School of Engineering, pursue coursework offered by several of the member departments and conduct their thesis research with the mentorship of interdisciplinary faculty teams. This allows our students to take advantage of the rich breadth of materials science expertise and facilities across the university.

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WashU Materials Research in the News

Imaging technique shows new details of peptide structures

Imaging technique shows new details of peptide structures

A new imaging technique developed by engineers at Washington University in St. Louis can give scientists a much closer look at fibril assemblies, stacks of peptides like amyloid beta, most notably associated with Alzheimer’s disease. These results stem from a fruitful collaboration between lead author Matthew Lew, associate professor in the Preston M. Green Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering, and Jai Rudra, associate professor of biomedical engineering, in WashU's McKelvey School of Engineering.

Novel material supercharges innovation in electrostatic energy storage

Novel material supercharges innovation in electrostatic energy storage

In a study published April 18 in Science, Sang-Hoon Bae, assistant professor of mechanical engineering & materials science in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis and his collaborators, including Rohan Mishra, associate professor of mechanical engineering & materials science, and Chuan Wang, associate professor of electrical & systems engineering, both at WashU, and Frances Ross, the TDK Professor in Materials Science and Engineering at MIT, introduced an approach to control the relaxation time – an internal material property that describes how long it takes for charge to dissipate or decay – of ferroelectric capacitors using 2D materials.

Faculty spotlight

IMSE brings together more than 50 faculty and student researchers from engineering, the physical and natural sciences and the medical school to discover new materials, understand how they behave and envision innovative applications.