The undergraduate curriculum is designed to provide the basis for developing, improving, and understanding materials and processes for application in engineered systems. It draws from physics, chemistry and other disciplines to provide a coherent background for immediate application in engineering or for subsequent advanced study. The emphasis is on fundamentals relating atomic-to-microscopic-scale phenomena to materials properties and processing, including design and control of industrially important materials processes. Core courses and electives combine rigor with flexibility and provide opportunities for focusing on such areas as nanomaterials, materials for green energy, materials for infrastructure and manufacturing, materials for health and biotechnology, and materials for next generation electronics.<br><br>The unifying theme of understanding and interrelating materials synthesis, processing, structure, and properties forms the basis of our program and is evident in the undergraduate curriculum and in faculty research activities. These activities include work on polycrystalline silicon for flat panel displays, semiconductors for lasers and solar cell applications, magnetic heterostructures for information storage and novel computation architectures, electronic ceramics for batteries, gas sensors and fuel cells, electrodeposition and corrosion of metals, and the analysis and design of high-temperature reactors and first principles calculations. Through involvement with our research groups, students gain valuable hands-on experience and are often engaged in joint projects with industrial and government laboratories.