Some Background on Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern
Northwestern University was a pioneer in recognizing
the importance of studying the science and technology of all materials, not
just metals. That awareness led to the first materials science academic department
in the world. Our materials science department began in the 1950s when a group
of faculty realized that the fields of metallurgy, ceramics, and polymers could
be merged and studied as a whole.
Shortly thereafter Northwestern was chosen as one
of three sites to house new federally funded materials research centers for collaborative
work by materials scientists, physicists, and chemists. The Materials Research
Center at Northwestern was able to establish state-of-the-art research facilities
available to students as well as to professors and visiting scientists.
The graduate-level Department of Materials Science
grew rapidly as faculty members were added to provide an integrated, broad approach
to materials science. To reflect the developing strengths in engineering as well
as science, "engineering" was added to the department name in the 1960s.
An undergraduate program was established at about that time. In additon to the
original sub-disciplines of metals, ceramics, and polymers, the department grew
to include electronic materials, interface science, biomaterials, and nanomaterials.
The department achieved and has maintained a world-class
reputation, due largely to the outstanding achievements of our faculty and graduate
students in every area of materials research. In recent reports on doctoral programs,
both the National Research Council and the Gourman Report rated our department
as one of the nation’s top two in materials science and engineering. Likewise,
the U.S. News and World Report ranks our undergraduate program in materials science
and engineering as one of the top 3 in the nation. As the founders of the department
retire, the vigorous young professors who take their place continue our reputation
for excellence. Six of our faculty members have won prestigious National Science
Foundation Young Investigator Awards. Our reputation is due as well to our graduates’ outstanding
careers as educators, research scientists, corporate executives, and research
and development engineers.
Today our department has 30 faculty members, 30
postdoctoral researchers, 110 graduate students, and 60 undergraduate students.
Research opportunities have continued to expand as other science centers have
been located at Northwestern. These include the Center for Advanced Cement-Based
Materials, the Institute for Bioengineering and Nanoscience in Advanced Medicine,
the Institute for Environmental Catalysis and the Institute for Nanotechnology.
Since 1992, the department has been housed in Cook Hall
which provides approximately 60,000 square feet of materials-related space.
Since the department was organized, the interests of
the faculty have spread broadly across the physical sciences, engineering and
medicine. Materials Science faculty collaborate extensively in research and teaching
with colleagues in other departments. The other engineering departments as well
as the physics and chemistry departments are housed in a building attached to
ours, furthering collaboration. Graduate students’ working relationships
with colleagues extend beyond departmental and even University boundaries. Our
large number of industrial contacts and the Crown Family Graduate Internship
Program make it possible for graduate students to gain industrial experience
while working toward their degrees.
Our department’s mission today continues
the farsighted and broad vision of its founders:
- To provide a well-rounded education in materials science and engineering
to meet the needs of industry, academia, and government
- To give definition to the evolving discipline
- To conduct frontier research
- To provide leadership in the interdisciplinary materials community
Mission statement
The Campus
A major private research university, Northwestern
has 6,500 graduate students and 7,500 undergraduate students. On the Evanston
campus, 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, are located undergraduate programs
and the graduate programs in engineering, management, the arts and sciences,
music, speech, education and social policy, and journalism.
Extracurricular resources on the Evanston campus
include Big Ten sports events; performances by visiting artists as well as
Northwestern’s music, theater, and dance faculty and students; film showings;
game rooms and gathering rooms in the student center; water sports and a private
beach. The Henry Crown Sports Pavilion and Norris Aquatics Center houses an
Olympic-sized swimming pool; a conditioning room; tennis, squash, and racquetball
courts; and a jogging track. Surrounding the campus is the city of Evanston,
with restaurants, theaters, a central business district, and a cosmopolitan
population of 70,000.
