Welcome

best Departments of Materials Science in the world, and the undergraduate students are an important component of our past and future success. The purpose of this handbook is to outline for the First Year the teaching and other arrangements for undergraduates studying within the Department. Tutorials will be organised separately by your College tutor. There are two undergraduate courses, Materials Science (MS) and Materials Economics and Management (MEM), and the handbook briefly describes the structure of lectures, practicals, tutorials and examinations for these, together with library, computing, career guidance, safety, counselling and other support facilities. Our aim is to provide you with education and training that will enable you to obtain employment at a professional level in industry or government, to pursue subsequent graduate studies, or to start your own high-tech business! Each of the two courses offers graduates an accredited M.Eng. honours degree, covering the science and engineering of materials within the context of a well rounded general education. The courses are designed to balance the coverage of different elements of materials science. The coverage of materials includes metals, ceramics, polymers and composites. The coverage of disciplines includes physics, chemistry, engineering and mathematics and the coverage of properties includes mechanical, thermal, electronic and optical. We also encourage you to investigate the relationship between Materials Science and Society; wealth creation, employment generation and new scientific and technological developments. Everyone in the Department is committed to achieving our aims, and all believe that the Department should be a friendly and exciting place for study and work. We look forward to your contribution and we hope that you will find your time here both stimulating and enjoyable