This course will provide first-year graduate students with a comprehensive introduction to materials science, which makes a strong foundation for further studies or research on materials. The course is intended for first-year graduate students who did not major in MSE for their undergrad studies. It also prepares first-year PhD students for their Qualifying or Bypass Exam at the beginning of their second year.

The course is organized into four thematic modules: Structure and Composition of Materials; Material Properties and Advanced Characterization; Functions and Applications of Materials; and AI-accelerated Materials Discovery and Advanced Processing.

The course is team-taught by faculty from the MSE department, each presenting based on their area of expertise— ranging from metallurgy, polymers, ceramics, and composites, to materials for sustainability and healthcare, as well as advanced manufacturing and computational modelling.