Dr Saad A Mutasher of Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus explains how materials science is changing the world – and how you can be part of this exciting field. 

 

Materials science has a huge impact on everyday life as everywhere in the world, everyone uses materials. Materials may be classified into several groups: metals, ceramics, polymers, semiconductors, and composite materials. It is the innovations in engineering them that bring about clever uses of materials, old and new.

 

New materials open doors to new technologies, whether they are in civil, chemical, construction, nuclear, aeronautical, agricultural, mechanical, and biomedical or electrical engineering. In materials science engineering, understanding the material selection process is the key to engineering any application and/or parts design.

 

Materials scientists: 

Each of the activities is dependent upon the other. Materials scientists are usually engaged in more than two of these processes.

 

Materials engineers are in high demand by industry and government in research, development, production and management. Materials engineering is a hands-on career that often begins in manufacturing or technical support and moves on into management, research, development, sales or consulting. Materials engineers work on the leading edge in many industries as follows:

 

The main core subjects for a typical materials science course are:

Students interested in becoming materials engineers should develop a strong background in chemistry, physics and maths, along with social studies, languages, the humanities and the arts. You should also be interested in applying your knowledge to developing materials, products and production processes.