Doctoral Program

MULTI-DISCIPLINARY DOCTORAL PROGRAM
MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

The field of materials science and engineering is central to the technological, industrial, and economical development of Texas, the United States, Mexico, and other industrialized countries.  The UTEP Ph.D. program in materials science and engineering is a multi-disciplinary program to prepare scientists and engineers to contribute to this vital field, with a specialized area using one or more of these skills to study some class or classes of materials, polymers, ceramics, semiconductors, superconductors, composites, and other materials systems.

APPLICATION PROCEDURES

Applicants must submit the standard university application form, fee, and other materials including GRE scores, to the Graduate Admissions Office.  Copies of these forms along with three letters of recommendation, a current resume, and a statement of objectives must be sent directly to Dr. L. E. Murr, Director, Materials Research Institute, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968.  Students whose native language is not English must also submit a minimum TOEFL score of 550.  Although an M.S. degree is not required, the majority of applicants to this program have completed an M.S. degree in science or engineering.

FINANCIAL AID

Research and teaching assistantships, fellowships, research stipends, and scholarships are available in the participating academic departments, the Graduate School, and the Materials Research & Technology Institute.  Students can apply through the UTEP Scholarship Office or any participating department.  Students interested in specific research areas or in working with a particular faculty mentor are encouraged to communicate directly with those individuals.

EXAMPLES OF MATERIALS RESEARCH PROGRAM AREAS AT UTEP:

• Advanced welding processes for aluminum alloys including friction - stir welding

• Mechanical performance of cast materials:  solders, welds, metal-matrix composites

• Characterization of materials interaction and degradation in space

• Composite materials:  aluminum/silicon carbide; refractory metal boride/oxide composites; polymer/glass fiber composites; applications in wind turbine design

• Corrosion, sensitization, corrosive wear, and depassivation in Fe-Ni-Cr alloys

• Chemistry of non-planar aromatics and related molecular materials systems

• Extreme plasticity and shaped charge phenomena in copper, tantalum, and molybdenum systems

• Thin films:  electroluminescence and photovoltaic phenomena and devices; optical thin films

• Silicon transition metal materials

• Imaging and sensing materials; materials systems and advanced displays

• Hypervelocity impact phenomena:  micrometeoroid and related impact on metals and composites.  The science of penetration.

• Advanced materials and manufacturing processes

• Atomic structure analysis in the transmission electron microscope

• Solid-state organic photochemistry

• Chemistry of two-dimensional materials

• Fracture phenomena and failure analysis in materials and materials systems

• Waste materials and materials-environment issues

• Experimental and theoretical surface/thin film science of various materials, structure, composition, adsorption, desorption, luminescence under irradiation, molecular dynamic and surface reconstruction calculations

• Polymer conductors and fiber optic materials

• Highway and construction materials research

• Aging aircraft materials research (USAFOSR-FAST CENTER)

• Materials modelling and computer simulations

• Materials issues in fuel cell development and operation

• Carbon nanotubes and naocrystal aggregates - materials science, environmental science, health science effects

UTEP COOPERATIVE MATERIALS LABORATORY NETWORK EXAMPLES
The concept for making specialized materials facilities available to faculty and students in the interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program in materials science & engineering is based on cooperation.  Laboratories and facilities are made available through what is called a cooperative materials laboratory network where faculty share their facilities and their expertise with other participating faculty and students.  Examples of major facilities are listed below:

•  Electron Microprobe, Geological Sciences Building

•  Surface analysis tools (SIMS, ESCA, Auger, IRS), Physical Science Building

•  Single-crystal X-ray Diffraction, Physical Science Building

•  X-ray Diffractometer Laboratories, Geological Sciences Building and Engineering Building

•  D.C. Plasma Atomic Spectrophotometer, Geological Sciences Building

•  Thermogravimetric Analysis, Physical Science Building

•  Mechanical Testing Laboratory, Engineering Building

•  Thin Film Sputtering and Deposition, Burges Hall and Engineering Building

•  Transmission Electron Microscopy and Microanalysis, Engineering Building

•  Scanning Electron Microscopy, Engineering Building

•  Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope, Education Bldg.

•  Advanced Metallography Laboratory, Burges Hall

•  Atomic Force and Scanning Tunneling Microscopy, Burges Hall

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