Materials Engineering involves the synthesis of fundamental and practical knowledge to develop, produce, modify, and apply engineering materials to meet the specific needs of society. It is based on the basic understanding of the structures and forces that control the engineering properties of metals, alloys, ceramics, and polymers.

Through development of this understanding, the student learns how to control the properties of materials through the various industrial manufacturing processes, how to select the optimum material and predict its behavior under various environmental and service conditions, and how to alter this behavior through materials design, research, and development.