Welcome from the Chair

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the Department of Materials Science and Engineering within the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania. Consistent with the ranking of Penn as one of the top five universities in the nation, this department is recognized for the quality of its educational program and the research activities of our world-renowned faculty. The interests of our faculty are diverse and topical and include cutting-edge programs in nanoscience and nanotechnology, biomaterials, ceramics, polymers, and metals. Today our department has over 20 faculty members, 25 postdoctoral associates, 85 graduate students and 75 undergraduate students.

Our academic program provides the highest quality education in the fundamentals and applications of technologically-relevant materials. This is presented in a unique multidisciplinary setting where students can tailor their education and research to their own specialized interests. Many multidisciplinary materials institutes and centers at Penn are closely linked with this department and complement the research programs. These include the NSF-supported Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (the "LRSM"), the longest running inter-disciplinary Materials Research Laboratory in the country; an NSF-Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC) focused on "Molecular Function at the Nano/Bio Interface"; the state-funded Nano Technology Institute; and the Institute of Medicine and Engineering, which provides additional links between researchers in the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the School of Medicine. With these centers come state-of-the-art, centralized facilities for the preparation and characterization of a broad range of materials systems; the centerpiece of these is the Penn Regional Nanotechnology Facility, a regional center for the study of the structure and chemistry of materials.

This website guides you through our undergraduate and graduate programs and provides information on the research interests and achievements of our faculty. If you are visiting our website as a prospective student, I hope you will find our program sufficiently interesting to seek additional information. If you should find yourself in the Philadelphia area, please stop by and visit.

Peter K. Davies
Professor and Chair, Department of Materials Science and Engineering