The Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) is an interdisciplinary field that combines principles from physics, chemistry, biology, and design, with engineering to study the relationships between the structure, properties, processing, and performance of materials. Materials lie at the heart of almost every modern technology.
From grocery bags to smartphones, from aerospace technologies to renewable energy solutions, from medical devices to quantum computing, MSE serves as a foundation for innovation, enabling the discovery and development of the next generation products.
Vanessa Chan is an accomplished entrepreneur, angel investor, speaker and educator renowned for her expertise in innovation and entrepreneurship at the intersection of technology and business. Under President Biden, Vanessa served as the Chief Commercialization Officer and Director of the Office of Technology Transitions at the U.S. Department of Energy. In this role, she was instrumental in nationally advancing clean energy technologies, notably through the “Pathways to Commercial Liftoff” reports, which provided roadmaps for decarbonizing various sectors, including geothermal and hydrogen. In recognition of her work, Time named her as one of the world’s 100 most influential business leaders in climate in the Time100 Climate 2024 list.
After earning a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) from Lehigh University, Nadia Krook earned a Ph.D. in MSE at the University of Pennsylvania. Krook is currently a lead engineer at DuPont.
Jan Genzer earned a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania in 1996. He is currently a professor and Associate Department Head at NC State.
Penn MSE faculty lead advancements in materials science, driving innovation across energy, healthcare, electronics, and more. With a commitment to groundbreaking research and personalized mentorship, they inspire students to pursue creative solutions and prepare for impactful careers in academia, industry, and pioneering research fields.
Area of expertise: Polymer science
Students know me for: Personalized attention and productivity
I want to make an impact in: Educating Penn students and energy-related technologies
Area of expertise: The design of hydrogel biomaterials to mimic the extracellular matrix
Students know me for: Encouraging independent and creative thinking to help students mature as scientists in class and in the lab
I want to make an impact in: Our understanding of the complex mechanisms of tissue dysfunction that occur during aging and disease
Area of expertise: Novel materials synthesis, assembly and eco-manufacturing of smart and sustainable materials
Students know me for: My broad, dynamic and inclusive research portfolio, my attention to details, and genuine care for their growth and success.
I want to make an impact in: Science and technology with a focus on advancing a sustainable future.
The purpose of this course is to introduce key concepts underlying the design, properties and processing of functional materials and their applications, and to apply these concepts in the rapidly growing field of nanomaterials and nanotechnology. Fundamental chemical and physical principles underlying electronic, dielectric, optical and magnetic properties will be developed in the context of metals, semiconductors, insulators, crystals, glasses, polymers and ceramics. Miniaturization and the nanotechnology revolution confronts materials science with challenges and opportunities.
Basic principles of chemical thermodynamics as applied to macro and nano-sized materials. This course will cover the fundamentals of classical thermodynamics as applied to the calculation and prediction of phase stability, chemical reactivity and synthesis of materials systems. The size-dependent properties of nano-sized systems will be explored through the incorporation of the thermodynamic properties of surfaces. The prediction of the phase stability of two and three component systems will be illustrated through the calculation and interpretation of phase diagrams for metallic, semiconductor, inorganic systems.
To understand the atomic arrangements of crystalline matter, this class focuses on crystallography, symmetry, and diffraction techniques. The first half focuses on learning how to describe the structure of crystalline matter through the basics of crystallography and symmetry by introducing two-dimensional symmetry operations, point, and plane groups; this knowledge is then extended into three-dimensions to arrive at an understanding of space lattices and space groups. The second half is concerned with applying this information to understand structures through various diffraction and microscopy techniques.
This course will introduce students to the broad field of failure through hands-on real-life examples of specific failures. All engineering materials classes will be considered, including metals, polymers, elastomers, ceramics, and glasses. Emphasis will be placed on understanding how to actually analyze a failed component and understand the cause of failure. Several classes will be conducted by outside experts from places like the NTSB, FBI and OSHA.
Polymer is one of the most widely used materials in our daily life, from the rubber tires to clothes, from photoresists in chip manufacturing to flexible electronics and smart sensors, from Scotch tapes to artificial tissues. This course teaches entry-level knowledge in polymer synthesis, characterization, thermodynamics, and structure-property relationship. Emphasis will be on understanding both chemical and physical aspects of polymers, polymer chain size and molecular interactions that drive the microscopic and macroscopic structures and the resulting physical properties. We will discuss how to apply polymer designs to advance nanotechnology, electronics, energy and biotechnology. Case studies include thermodynamics of block copolymer thin films and their applications in nanolithography, shape memory polymers, hydrogels, and elastomeric deformation and applications.
This course will provide a graduate level introduction to the science and engineering of materials. It is designed specifically to meet the needs of students who will be doing research that involves materials but who do not have an extensive background in the field. The focus is on fundamental aspects of materials science and will emphasize phenomena and how to describe them. The course assumes an undergraduate background in any area of physical/chemical science and undergraduate mathematics appropriate to this. The course will also be accessible to students of applied mathematics.
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Dr. Shu Yang has been recognized as one of National Geographic’s 33 Extraordinary Changemakers.
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