We all have heard one way or another about material science or material engineering , and it does sound both interesting and a little confusing for non-specialists. So what does material science really mean ? and what do material engineers really do? That is what we are going to talk about in the following article.
Content
- The definition of material science and engineering
- What do material engineers do?
- What makes material engineering so interesting and exciting?
- Why is material engineering so important?
- Applications of material science and engineering
The definition of material science and engineering
Material Science is the science that seeks to understand the fundamental physical origins of material behavior in order to optimize properties of existing materials through structure modification and processing, design and invent new better materials, and understand why some materials unexpectedly fail.
Material Engineering is about designing, processing, testing and discovering materials (mainly solids) , it’s about analyzing the structure, properties, performance and processing of objects.
What do Material Engineers Do?
Material Engineers do a variety of things, they focus on creating things out of solid materials, things that could be used in an aircraft, a car or even a space shuttle!
Science Engineers look at a problem, a failure or a part that is not functioning the way it’s supposed to. They ask themselves ‘How can we make this component better in order to help our device function better?’.
Material Engineers create, innovate, transform and optimize how materials work. They take all the materials and make them stronger, lighter, faster-making and easier to process.
What Makes Material Engineering So Interesting And Exciting?
Material Science is a new field, with 21st century technology Material Engineers will be able to start doing stuff like ‘Smart Materials’. This field is always changing and Material Engineers are always learning something new.
Why Is Material Engineering So Important?
Typically Materials are what brings the ‘next stage’ in technology, if we think about the bronze age or silicon we’ll understand the importance of learning the basic features about the right materials.
Once humans were able to make silicon wafers in high purity, a whole new era of technology has begun.
Applications Of Material Science And Engineering
- Aircraft Design
Air-crafts traveling at supersonic speed are subject to so much friction from the air molecules that the aircraft can be heated to several hundred degrees Fahrenheit. The material engineer might have to figure out or design the best material to use that can handle these conditions.
- Cars
Material Engineers are very important when it comes to cars. Cars are designed to crumple when they are in a crash. Cars crumple to absorb energy from the crash and they need the right material and structure to do this. If the car was extremely tough and no damage was done to the car in the crash, all that energy will be transferred to the driver.
The frame of the car may have harder metals at the top compared to the bottom, because of how that would transfer energy from a crash away from the driver. How a car will be impacted from a crash is kind of predictable, because that’s how engineers design them, and a huge part of this is picking the right material with the right properties.
- Bio-materials
Material Engineers could work on bio-materials which are used for constructing artificial organs or to replace bone or tissue. These materials need to interact with the human body and not cause harm.
There are many other applications for Material Science and Engineering, so if you’re considering taking an interesting engineering field for a career, Material Engineering may be just the one for you!
THE INTERNATIONAL BOARD FOR EDUCATION AND CULTURE
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