Materials engineering is a key discipline that innovates our lives. It studies the properties of different materials and applies them to technologies, leading the development of future industries.
What objects are around you today? There are probably various objects such as pencil cases, notebooks, clothes, computers, and watches that are made of different materials and are part of our lives. Therefore, materials are closely related to human life and are studied in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. All the various devices and tools that make our lives more convenient and comfortable are the result of making the best use of the properties of various materials. The development of materials has paralleled the progress of human civilization, and their importance in modern society is increasing day by day.
In the 1900s, the departments of Metal Engineering, Weapons Materials Engineering, and Fiber Polymer Engineering were merged to form the Department of Materials Engineering, which covers the entire study of new materials in the 21st century. Most universities have a Department of Materials Science and Engineering, but they all cover similar areas of study, with only a difference in name. The official name of the department is Materials Science & Engineering, and students study science and engineering in parallel. In this department, students study the properties of various materials and explore ways to apply them in real life.
The three-year course covers a wide range of subjects. As a result, the depth of learning in certain areas can be shallow, and about half of the students go on to graduate school. Among the required courses in the chemistry department, physical chemistry is the foundation of materials science, and students learn Gibbs free energy and phase equilibrium. Gibbs free energy is an indicator of whether a reaction can occur under certain conditions of pressure and temperature, and phase equilibrium is a diagram that shows the overall state of a substance at a given pressure and temperature, whether it is a gas, liquid, or solid. In the case of Introduction to Mechanics, which is studied in parallel with Physical Chemistry, students learn the theoretical conditions for the stable design of structures such as piers and cables. For example, when building a suspension bridge, students can calculate the length of the cable and the weight of the bridge to withstand the average wind speed. At this point, the materials used in the bridge will vary, but if you find out the coefficient of thermal expansion, modulus of elasticity and other properties unique to each material through the given appendix, you can also find out how much the bridge will be deformed by temperature or external pressure. In this way, you will learn about the dynamics of large structures, but you will also learn about microscopic phenomena such as the movement of electrons in semiconductors, which is what modern physics is all about. The concept of the function of an electron, called phase shifted quantum electrodynamics (Ψ), is introduced to determine the position of an electron in space and time, and the possibility of electron motion is studied using this function. This concept is used to analyze the motion of electrons in a semiconductor and to learn theories that can increase the efficiency of this motion.
The academic discipline of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering is very broad. Starting with an understanding of the fundamental properties of materials, the department explores ways to develop and apply new materials based on this understanding. For example, new materials such as carbon nanotubes have a high potential for application in various fields due to their unique strength and electrical properties. In addition, self-healing materials, known as smart materials and shape memory alloys, have the ability to spontaneously deform or repair damage under certain conditions and are expected to play an important role in future innovative technologies.
The Department of Materials Science and Engineering offers a variety of major electives to learn about different fields, with the inorganic semiconductor field being particularly popular. Within semiconductors, there are inorganic semiconductors and organic semiconductors, and the inorganic semiconductor area has traditionally been strong since the 2000s. In this field, researchers study semiconductors that go into electronic devices and learn how to increase their efficiency. About 77% of graduates from this lab have joined electronics companies after receiving their Ph.D.s, and the lab in the Department of Materials Engineering publishes the largest number of papers in Korea each year.
In the 21st century, trends change rapidly every year, so certain fields become popular and then fall out of favor, while other lesser-known fields suddenly emerge as key areas. Therefore, even undergraduate students often think about what to major in, and if I were to choose an area that has recently grown rapidly, it would be the bio-materials and organic semiconductor sectors. In the case of bio-materials, students learn about functional bio-technology, which is used to detect and eliminate cancer cells in the body, as well as biomaterials for biomedical applications such as artificial joints and implants. This is a promising field, as the demand for these materials is growing as human life expectancy increases. Organic semiconductors are used in everything from AMOLEDs, which are currently used in liquid crystal displays, to displays in general. In addition, many graduate students are studying them because many of the devices being developed in the future will also focus on improving clarity by using organic light-emitting materials.
Times are changing very quickly, and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering is also expanding the range of major electives to keep up with the new trends. I think the flexibility in dealing with this and the ability to explore and study different areas is the unique appeal of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Students in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering are constantly taking on new challenges in the ever-changing technological environment and pushing the boundaries of materials science and engineering. In this way, the Department of Materials Science and Engineering plays an important role in leading future technological innovation, and students have the opportunity to learn and research in line with these changes.
