The Berkeley Master of Engineering is an accelerated degree designed to develop professional engineering leaders of the future who understand the technical, economic, and social issues of technology.
The Berkeley MEng degree brings together expertise in a technical specialization with leadership, business, marketing, finance, and management skills. Culminating in a hands-on team-oriented capstone design project, you will apply engineering and business acumen to real-world challenges.
Innovative. Holistic understanding of engineering and business. Choose between full-time or part time enrollment. Integrative capstone design project.
Career-oriented. Increases the likelihood of advancement toward goals after 1 year of intensive industry-related study. Career advise to help with professional development and placement.
Regular contact with industry. Industry partners help you apply technical knowledge to critical current issues. Guest lecturers share successes and failures.
Small and cross-disciplinary. Technical class size ranges from 10-30 students to a weekly lecture of 150. Leadership courses range from 25-50 students.
Materials Science and Engineering is a diverse field of study drawing from all areas of physical science such as chemistry, physics, biology, and engineering. In addition to drawing from the physical sciences, materials science and engineering often crosses these disciplinary boundaries. The general program recognizes the inherent interdisciplinary nature of materials science and engineering and allows students to tailor their program of study to address their personal interests.
Traditionally, biomaterials encompass synthetic alternatives to the native materials found in our body. A central limitation in the performance of traditional materials used in medical device, biotechnological, and pharmaceutical industries is that they lack the ability to integrate with biological systems through either a molecular or cellular pathway, which has relegated biomaterials to a passive role dictated by the constituents of a particular environment, leading to unfavorable outcomes and device failure. The design and synthesis of materials that circumvent their passive behavior in complex mammalian cells is the focus of the work conducted within the MSE Department at Berkeley.
Biomimetic Surface Engineering:
Surface modification of medical implants to control wound healing and tissue regeneration.
Biologically-defined Microdevices:
Design and fabrication of surfaces, using advanced pattern techniques, to facilitate cell and molecular-based microarrays.
This area focuses on the relationships between the chemical and physical structure of materials and their properties and performance. Regardless of the material class metallic, ceramic, polymeric or composite, an understanding of the structure-property relationships provides a scientific basis for developing engineering materials for advanced applications. Fundamental and applied research in this field responds to an ever-increasing demand for improved or better-characterized materials.
This group of materials is defined by its functionality. Semiconductors, metals, and ceramics are used today to form highly complex systems, such as integrated electronic circuits, optoelectronic devices, and magnetic and optical mass storage media. In intimate contact, the various materials, with precisely controlled properties, perform numerous functions, including the acquisition, processing, transmission, storage, and display of information. Electronic, Magnetic and Optical materials research combines the fundamental principles of solid-state physics and chemistry, of electronic and chemical engineering, and of materials science. Nanoscale science and engineering is of increasing importance in this field.
Computational methods are increasingly important in all areas of science and engineering, Computational Materials Science capitalizes on advancements in these fields, which include high throughput approaches and machine learning. Materials Science and Engineering applications range from the theoretical prediction of the electronic and structural properties of materials to chemical kinetics and equilibria or modeling the chemical kinetics and equilibria in a materials processing operation, to now predicting the existence of new materials and their properties. These advances in computational techniques have yielded remarkable insight into materials behaviors, particularly at the nanoscale. Under favorable circumstances, it is now possible to predict in exquisite detail many properties of materials at the nanoscale (one nanometer = 1 billionth of a meter) by merely solving Schrodinger’s famous equation. These advancements have positioned researchers within the department to be very active in developing data for the Materials Project https://materialsproject.org, an effort to construct a database of all computable properties for all known materials.
Chemical and Electrochemical materials include both the chemical and electrochemical processing of materials, and the chemical and electrochemical behavior of materials. The former includes the scientific and engineering principles utilized in mineral processing, smelting, leaching, and refining materials, and many of the advanced techniques of processing microelectronic devices such as etching and deposition techniques. The latter includes the chemical synthesis of novel materials, environmental degradation of materials, the compatibility of materials with specific environments, along with materials used in advanced energy storage devices, and catalytic materials for energy and the environment.
All MSE MEng students should expect to complete 12 units within the MSE department at the graduate level, as well as a capstone project that will be hosted by the MSE department. This MEng track targets development of workforce and leadership skills specifically for the semiconductor industry, focusing on semiconductor materials and chips manufacturing, processing, optimization, and characterization.
The two-semester capstone experience will offer our MEng students a unique combination of technical and leadership training based on a variety of meticulously designed projects. You will work with a team of fellow students to engineer solutions using cutting-edge technology and methods to address crucial industry, market, or societal needs in the sector of semiconductor technologies. Capstone teams consist of three to five students depending on the scope of the projects and the skill sets of the team members. There are two major project types: faculty projects and partner projects. Capstone selection and assignment take place at the beginning of Fall semester. Projects vary from year to year, and a matching process will take place to pair each team with different projects.
Cutting edge research projects to be carried out in our Faculty Research Labs or teaching labs. Your team will be advised by PhD candidates, post-doctoral researchers, and faculty from the UC Berkeley College of Engineering.
Highly industry relevant projects that are hosted by partnering organizations, for example, leading semiconductor companies in the silicon valley. Your team will be advised by a technical expert from that partnering organization.
Typical MSE Course Offerings --
Note: The courses listed here are not guaranteed to be offered every year, and the course sch edule may change without notice. Refer to the current UC Berkeley Course Schedule for further enrollment information.
