The department of Materials Science and Engineering at IIT Kanpur offers exciting learning opportunities to both undergraduate and post-graduate students by offering a wide array of courses as well as by providing hands-on learning through laboratories, projects and involvement in cutting edge research.

Materials are at the core of most engineering applications that one can think of and hence it is paramount to understand the science and technology of materials to design and develop better materials. Contrary to popular belief, this branch of engineering has little to do with conventional chemistry, builds on the fundamentals of physics and mathematics leading to technology development. It is possibly the most interdisciplinary yet fundamental branch which connect the science based knowledge with engineering leading to exciting applications and avenues.

While the department teaches contents related to traditional areas such as production of metals, and manipulation of their properties for industries in various applications: construction, automobile, space, defense etc., it also addresses the need of materials for the industry in electronics (e.g. displays, LEDs, sensors), energy (e.g. solar cells and batteries) and healthcare (e.g. body implants, tissue engineering).

For detailed information on the department, click here.

For Undergraduate Aspirants

For the undergraduate students, the program offered is quite distinct and unique. The curriculum requires all the UG students to undertake rigorous course work based on fundamentals on science and general engineering. From second year onwards, the students are exposed to foundation courses in materials science which deeply backed up by science. Such courses are thermodynamics, transport phenomena, mechanical and electronic behavior of materials, science of bio-materials, principles of metal extraction and materials processing, along with five related laboratories. Subsequently, students are provided with exposure to various "electives" which help them to customize the course work according to the interest of individual students. This is typically done in three streams, namely, (a) Metal Processing, (b) Structure Characterization and Processing and Devices and Bio-Engineering. The uniqueness of our program is that these courses are offered every year in predetermined semester so that a student can choose to be the kind of engineer he/she wants to be: one with a large breadth or with more focus on metallurgy, electronics or bio industry. The students are also encouraged to take up undergraduate research or self-study. Apart from this flexibility, the curriculum also offers to opportunity for extending the quest of knowledge via dual degree programmes (B. Tech. - M. Tech.). Alternatively, students also have freedom to opt for double major allowing them to graduate with another specialization subject to fulfilment of certain requirements.

So, if you as a student who wants to have control over what kind of engineer you want to be, MSE@IITK is the place to be.

For Postgraduate Aspirants

The MSE department aspires its post graduate students to become leaders in industry, academia and research labs. The Department offers admissions into M. Tech. and PhD programmes to both MSE/Metallurgy and non-MSE graduates, subject to fulfilment of admission criteria. Accordingly, postgraduate students are also offered a variety of courses, both fundamental as well as specialized electives. Former is intended especially for the graduates who don't have prior extensive exposure to the field of MSE. The strength of our program lies in the high quality of our research. The department has strong research programs (please see the faculty profiles), a short list of which includes metal extraction, structure of materials, strength of materials, nanotechnology, computational materials science, oxide and organic electronics, displays, light emitting diodes, solar cells etc. The research laboratories are state of the art (provide hyperlink of facilities) and well-funded. The students graduating with M. Tech. degree have good placement record and a few of them also pursue higher studies. PhD scholars typically join research labs and academia and many are faculty members and scientists in leading institutions in the country as well as outside.

For details on PG programme and course work, click here