Cool Projects
Cutting Edge-Curriculum
Materials Engineering is known for
its innovative curriculum and handson projects. In your first year you’ll
design, build and test a solar water
heater. You’ll also work with a local
non-profit organization that helps
them better meet their clients needs.
In the past, our students have worked
for home-less shelters, animal shelters,
rehabilitation facilities for people
with mental disabilities, and childrens
rec centers. The projects continue
throughout your sophomore, junior
and senior years, culminating in an
individual senior design project.
The Materials Engineering Department
received a $1 million grant from the
National Science Foundation to create
a new curriculum designed to educate
students to address the challenges of
the 21st century. The new curriculum
places greater emphasis on teamwork,
communication, sustainability, and
understanding how engineers’ work
impacts the rest of the world.
Club Profile
There are several student
organizations within the department including the Materials
Engineering Student Society, the
Microsystems Technology group,
the National Associationm of
Corrosion Engineers, and Alpha
Sigma Mu the materials engineering honor society. In addition, many
students participate in outreach
programs to local elementary and
middle schools.
things to know
Modern Facilities
Materials Engineering is focused on
understanding how the composition
and processing of materials can result
in certain atomic structures, and
how these structures determine the
properties and behavior of materials.
With this knowledge we can manipulate
materials to perform the way we want.
To do this, materials engineers need
very sophisticated equipment. At Cal
Poly we house numerous material
characterization equipment, including
scan- ning electron microscopes,
atomic force microscope, lithography
for semiconductor manufacturing,
mechanical testing equipment, and many
processing systems. At Cal Poly, even
freshmen get to use this equipment - you
won’t find that at most other schools!
Future Careers
Material Engineers work in many
industries including semiconductors,
biomedical devices, aerospace,
automotive, sports equipment and
many more. Many graduates also go
on to completely different professions
including medicine, law, public policy,
and community service. The typical
Materials Engineering student earns
$60,000 year starting salary.
Class Size
A typical Materials Engineering
class has 36 students in the
lecture and 15 - 20 in the labs.
Students work frequently in small
project teams of 4-8 students with
faculty advisors.
Materials engineers are trained to manipulate the composition, processing and atomic structures of modern
materials to create new materials that perform as needed in an engineering application. At Cal Poly, we
extend this definition to provide you with the intellectual and interpersonal growth needed to participate in
transforming our society into one that is sustainable on a global scale.
Learn more at http://mate.calpoly.edu/prospective/