Teaching
- ME 803 (Solar Energy Materials):
- Overview of materials and materials research in solar energy conversion systems, including solar thermal energy systems, photovoltaic systems, and photocatalytic processes. Provides basic principles of the planning, design, installation and operation of solar energy systems.
- ME 779 (Phase Transfomations in Materials):
- An in-depth analysis of the thermodynamics and kinetics of phase transformation in materials. Topics include: phase equilibria and transformations, thermodynamics applied to processing of materials (metal and alloys, polymers, composites, ceramics, etc.), and kinetics in materials systems including diffusion, nucleation, growth, gas-solid and liquid-solid reactions. This course also highlights a number of commercially-significant applications where phase transformations are important.
- ME 398 (Thermodynamics I):
- An introduction to the study and analysis of thermodynamics, energy, and entropy, and their interactions relevant to engineering, centered on the First and the Second Laws of thermodynamics.
- ME 250 (Materials Engineering):
- Introduces the basic principles behind materials science and engineering. Studies diffusion mechanical properties, failure mechanisms, phase equilibrium diagrams and heat treatment principles for steels, cast irons, and other metal alloys. Provides the scientific foundation for an understanding of the relationships among material properties, structure and performance for the classes of engineering solids.
- ME 251 (Materials Engineering Lab):
- Experimental study and macroscopic mechanical response of ceramics, metals, polymers and composite materials, with an introduction to the underlying microstructural processes during deformation and fracture. The laboratory is designed to introduce students to some of the most common materials testing and characterization methods. Topics include optical metallography, tensile and compression testing, hardness testing, impact testing, fatigue testing, heat treating, scanning electron microscopy, plastic injection molding, melting and casting.