Materials Engineering

B.S. in Engineering with Materials Concentration

Two pathways to a career in materials engineering.

Materials Engineers develop and test materials used to create a wide range of products, from aircraft materials to biomedical technologies to semiconductors, even golf balls and batteries. You will gain experience and knowledge through our hands-on materials engineering curriculum, including:

  • Engineering Materials and Manufacturing
  • Fundamentals of Materials Engineering
  • Microfabrication
  • Nanotechnology
  • Metal, Ceramic, Polymer Materials Engineering and Manufacturing

You Have Options

The materials engineering program at Frostburg State provides many options for meeting your individual needs. Partnering with institutions of higher education across the state of Maryland, Frostburg State helps you choose how to best fulfill your personal goals. The Materials Engineering Concentration offers two pathway options:


Beyond the Classroom

In addition to coursework, you'll have a variety of ways to build your skill set and resume.

  • Gain real-world experience with the technology you'll use in your career through an internship or FSU work-study as a lab assistant. Past internships include companies such as NASA, J.F. Taylor, Jefferson Lab, Cardinal Scientific, and Northrup Grumman.
  • Prepare to join top companies nationwide.
  • Use state-of-the-art technology in the Compton Science Center, such as the additive manufacturing 3D print lab, robotics lab, materials testing lab, computational engineering workstations, and many other great resources.
  • Develop leadership skills by joining engineering clubs such as The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and The National Society of Black Engineers and take part in volunteer and outreach events with fellow students.

About Our Engineering Faculty

  • Learn one-on-one with your professors in small classes that give you an abundance of resources and guidance.
  • Discover your interest in engineering with professors who can provide you with unique hands-on learning, such as interdisciplinary capstone project development and collaboration opportunities in energy, autonomous vehicles, sensing, defense corps and more.
  • Find your niche with professors who have a variety of interests in engineering-related fields, including micro, nano-engineering; advanced composites materials development; smart materials and systems.

 


  • Program Educational Objectives

    A few years from graduation, the graduates of the Materials Engineering Program at Frostburg State University will:

    1. Perform as valuable employees or professionals in their career paths centered on Mechanical Engineering skills.
    2. Apply their broader analytical skill set through finding innovative solutions to real-world problems and creating new knowledge, ideas, and products.
    3. Demonstrate professionalism and an ability to think globally through constructive teamwork, group problem-solving, and effective communication with others not of an engineering background.
    4. Demonstrate ethical decision-making in their positions of responsibility and leadership.
    5. Engage in life-long learning by enhancing their technical knowledge and understanding of contemporary issues and taking advantage of professional development opportunities.
  • Program Outcomes

    The students of the Materials Engineering Program at Frostburg State University will demonstrate the following throughout the curriculum:

    1. An ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics.
    2. An ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors.
    3. An ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences.
    4. An ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts.
    5. An ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives
    6. An ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions.
    7. An ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies.
  • Required Courses

    ENES 100: Introduction to Engineering Design
    Course Description: Students work as teams to design and build a product using computer software for word processing, spreadsheet, CAD, and communications skills. 3 credits.

    ENES 102: Statics
    Prerequisite: MATH 236.

    Course Description: The equilibrium of stationary bodies under the influence of various kinds of forces. Forces, moments, couples, equilibrium, trusses, frames and machines, beams and friction. Vector and scalar methods are used to solve problems. 3 credits.

    CHEM 201: General Chemistry I
    Prerequisites: MATH119/119A/120/236/237/238 or permission of instructor. GEP Group C.

    Course Description: Atomic and molecular structure, theories of covalent and ionic bonding, chemical reactions, states of matter, gas laws, solutions, reaction rates, stoichiometry, and thermochemistry. Two hrs. lecture, 2 hrs. discussion and one 2-hr. lab. Every semester. 4 credits.

    ENES 221: Dynamics
    Prerequisites: PHYS 261, ENES 102, and a “C” or better in MATH 237.

    Course Description: FSU Course. Systems of heavy particles and rigid bodies at rest and in motion. Force-acceleration, work-energy, and impulse-momentum relationships. Motion of one body relative to another in a plane and in space. Two hrs. lecture and two hrs. lab per week. Fall. 3 credits.

    ENME 272: Introduction to Computer-Aided Design
    Prerequisites: ENES 100 and a “C” or better in Math 237.

    Course Description: Fundamentals of CAD, using solid modeling packages (Pro/E, SolidWorks, and Autodesk Inventor). Two- and three-dimensional drawing. Dimensioning and specifications. Introduction of CAD-based analysis tools. Students will complete a design project. 2 credits.

    ENME271: Numerical Methods in Mechanical Engineering
    Prerequisites: PHYS 261, MATH 237.

    Course Description: Develop the skills to generate readable, compact, and verifiably correct scripts and functions in MATLAB and C++ to obtain numerical solutions to a wide range of engineering models and to display the results with fully annotated graphics. Learn structured programming. 3 credits.

    ENME 232: Thermodynamics
    Prerequisites: PHYS 261 and PHYS 262.

    Course Description: FSU Course. Introduction to thermodynamics. Thermodynamic properties of matter. First and second laws of thermodynamics, cycles, reactions, and mixtures. Variable. 3 credits.

    ENES 220: Mechanics of Materials
    Prerequisites: ENES 102, PHYS 261, and a “C” or better in MATH 237.

    Course Description: FSU Course. Stress and deformation of solids-rods, beams, shafts, columns, tanks, and other structural, machine, and vehicle members. Topics include stress transformation using Mohr’s circle; shear and moment diagrams; derivation of elastic curves; and Euler’s buckling formula. Two hours of lecture and two hours of discussion. Fall. 3 credits.

    ENME 331: Fluid Mechanics
    Prerequisite: "C” or better in both ENES 221 and ENME 232.

    Course Description: Principles of fluid mechanics. Mass, momentum, and energy conservation. Hydrostatics. Control volume analysis. Internal and external flow. Boundary layers. Modern measurement techniques. Computer analysis. Laboratory experiments. Two hrs. lecture and two hrs. lab per week. Fall. 3 credits.

    ENME 350: Electronics and Instrumentation I
    Prerequisites: A “C” or better in PHYS 262 and MATH 237; co-requisite PHYS 263 or ENEE 204 for B.S. in Engineering majors.

    Course Description: FSU Course. Modern instrumentation. Basic circuit design, standard microelectronic circuits. Digital data acquisition and control. Signal conditioning. Instrumentation interfacing. Designing and testing of analog circuits. Laboratory experiments. Two hrs. lecture and two hrs. lab per week. Fall. 3 credits.

    ENME 332: Transfer Processes
    Prerequisites: “C” or better in ENME 331.

    Course Description: FSU Course. The principles of heat transfer. Conduction in solids. Convection. Radiation. Modern measurement techniques. Computer analysis. Two hours lecture and two hours lab per week. Spring. 3 credits.

    ENME 351: Electronics and Instrumentation II
    Prerequisites: “C” or better in ENME 350 and PHYS 263.

    Course Description: FSU Course. Continuation of ENME 350. Modern instrumentation. Basic circuit design, standard microelectronic circuits. Digital data acquisition and control. Signal conditioning. Instrumentation interfacing. Designing and testing analog circuits. Laboratory experiments. Two hours lecture and two hours lab per week. Spring. 3 credits.

    ENME 382: Engineering, Materials, and Manufacturing Processes
    Prerequisites: “C” or better in ENES 100 and ENES 220, Co-requisite MATH 238.

    Course Description: FSU Course. Basic material structures and properties. Mechanical behavior of materials. Manufacturing processes theory. Materials processing. Quality assurance. Laboratory experiments. Two hours lecture and two hours lab per week. Spring. 3 credits.

    ENES 401: Energy Engineering
    Prerequisite: Physics 263.

    Course Description: Principles of thermodynamics; conventional and alternative energy sources and storage systems. Integration of alternative sources of energy and distributed generation. Energy conservation, environmental impacts of energy use, energy sustainability. Spring. 3 credits.

    ENME 405: Materials Engineering
    Prerequisite: ENME 382.

    Course Description: Structure of crystalline solids and imperfections in materials. Electrical, thermal, magnetic, and optical properties of materials. Characterization of materials by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Fall. 4 credits.

    ENME 481: Project Development
    Prerequisites: ENME 382 and completion of all ENEE 100- and 200-level courses with a “C” or better. May not be taken at the same time as PHYS 491

    Course Description: Introduction to product development in the field of materials engineering. Selection of a subject for the Capstone Design Project course. Development of a design concept. Preliminary design to prepare a list of materials, parts, and equipment needed to build and test a prototype. Codes and standards related to manufacturing and testing of the selected product. Teamwork to prepare a project proposal. Preparation of technical reports and oral presentations to discuss technical, economic, environmental, and ethical aspects of the proposed design. Preparation of a proposal for the capstone design project. 3 credits.

    ENME 410: Capstone Design
    Prerequisites: Completion of ENES 491 or ENME 481 and permission of department chair. May not be taken at the same time as ENEE 408 and PHYS 492.

    Course Description: The culmination of prior coursework in materials engineering. Utilization of modern design tools and methodologies to evaluate society or industry-based problems in Materials Science and Engineering to come up with a strategy to address the problem, with a particular emphasis on teamwork and oral/written communication. Spring. 3 credits.

    ENME 425: Microfabrication
    Prerequisite: Senior standing in physics or engineering or permission of department chair.

    Course Description: Overview of microfabrication technologies and the science of miniaturization. Microsensors, nanotechnology. Photolithography, dry etching, wet etching, chemical vapor deposition, and physical vapor deposition. Three hrs. integrated lecture and lab. Spring. 3 credits.

 


Career Outlook for Materials Engineers

Materials engineers develop, process, and test materials used to create a wide range of products; serve as a focal point in the material development/selection/process development in the growing fields, such as defense, energy, infrastructure and biomedical engineering. For more information, visit Bureau of Labor Statistics - Materials Engineering.

Our graduates are highly sought out and employed by companies such as U.S. Office of Naval intelligence, U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Huntington Ingalls Industries, and Northrop Grumman.


 

 

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Department of Engineering