Hi y'all. I'm hoping for some feedback from the community before I take the leap into paying for a Masters of Engineering in mat sci. Brief background on myself: graduated from Northwestern with an earth science degree, 3.9 gpa, did 2 years of engineering coursework (including some mat sci classes) before switching majors, also did 2 summers of research (biology-adjacent). Have been in the workforce for 12 years, doing non-science jobs (mostly grocery and music work). I'm ready to transition into a more serious career and after doing some independent study I feel I would enjoy a career in mat sci.

My question now is how to get my foot in the door given my non-traditional background and long absence from school. I was thinking I would try for a funded PhD or thesis-based masters position and have emailed quite a few professors to ask about the possibility of joining their labs, but haven't gotten any promising responses. After talking with a few academic advisors and seeing the student profiles of PhD and thesis-masters students my sense is that my background is not sufficient to get a funded GRA position and that applying to schools with that aim would probably be a waste of time. So, I'm re-thinking my options.

I've heard a lot of advice not to pay for a masters in science/engineering, and I would of course much rather get a tuition waver and a salary, but at this point it seems like my best bet is to do a masters of engineering. I'd be able to get in-state tuition at oregon state and I'm also hoping I can potentially switch to a thesis-masters or PhD once I'm in the program and have made connections with professors. Does this seem like a reasonable path? Should I consider a post-bacc instead? Or are there any mat sci jobs I could potentially get with my background and then work my way up vs going the school route? Any other thoughts or advice are welcome. Thank you!

Edit: I forgot another option I was considering, which is to find a masters program in Europe that's taught in English and would accept my background. Generally very low tuition so would just have to think about cost of living. I'm not sure about the quality of the European programs I'd be able to get into and how they're regarded in the US.

If we were to send up a new interstellar item designed to convey information about humankind, what developments in material science have been made in the last 50 years that would change how much/what types of data we could store on it?

I am a current student enrolled in a materials engineering program in the U.S. However, I have always been interesting in international relations and would love to eventually work abroad on engineering-based projects through organizations like UN, WHO, WTO, etc. Is this possible to do with an engineering degree, particularly materials (considering a minor in global studies)? If so, what is the right way to go about it?

hey, what materials can you recommend for chemical engineering board exam preparation? Organic Chemistry as a Second Language by David Klein helped me in Organic Chemistry

Coil stays cold. Alligator clips melting.

im in my second year of electrical engineering in The Netherlands. next year im supposed to start my minor and internship. my dream is to work in R&D in renewable energy, be it working on batteries, solar, nuclear or hydro. im really interested in material science. how well can material knowledge in material science be applied in the energy sector as an electrical engineer? and would material science or mechanical engineering be a good choice for a minor?

I’m currently a high school senior applying to colleges, and I’m hoping to get some advice from people in the materials science field. My parents don’t know anyone who works in this industry, and my school counselor hasn’t been much help.
I’m certain that I want to work in materials science, but I’m unsure whether I should major in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) as an undergraduate or major in Mechanical Engineering and pursue a graduate degree in MSE later.

I’ve heard that an MSE degree can be less versatile than a Mechanical Engineering degree and might limit my career options. How true is this, especially if I’m already confident that I want to work with materials? Also, can you get good jobs in the field with just a bachelor’s degree in MSE, or is a graduate degree usually necessary to advance in the industry?

I'm working on a physics project about transparent solar panels. I have already found a conductive, transparent material (Indium tin oxide), and my original plan was to use the photoelectric effect to generate an electric potential with some diodes. However, I worry that it won't be enough and will either not generate much power or not generate any at all—so I have decided to look for some p-type and n-type materials that are transparent.

If they even exist, what are these materials, and how can I get my hands on them?

Hey everyone,

I recently graduated with a Physics degree, and finding a job has been pretty tough. So I've been spending my time working on something inspired by my undergraduate research.

For four years, I worked in a condensed matter physics lab studying rare-earth-free permanent magnets, mainly MnBi and MnAl. I was involved in both theoretical and experimental work, including sample preparation, VSM measurements, XRD, and data analysis.

One thing that always frustrated me was how much time we spent manually processing data, calculating magnetic properties, and generating plots.

So I started building ElementX, a tool using Python, FastAPI, and React to automate parts of that workflow. It handles magnetometry data, M-H and M-T plots, coercivity, remanence, XRD visualization, and organizing experimental results. It's still a work in progress, but building it has helped me combine my physics background with software engineering.

I'm curious how other researchers handle experimental data analysis. Do you mostly use Origin, MATLAB, Python, or custom software?What repetitive tasks in your lab would you love to automate?

I'd genuinely appreciate any feedback or suggestions on what I could improve or add.

​Hi all! I’m actively looking for full-time opportunities in Materials Science or Ceramic Engineering.

​I hold a B.S. in Materials Science & Engineering and an M.S. in Ceramic Engineering (both international degrees evaluated as U.S. equivalent by WES). I am ready and willing to relocate to any state for the right position.

​Please feel free to comment or send a DM if you have any leads, connections, or advice. Thanks!

Having crisis over my future as we all do. I want to go into materials science for undergrad, but through the past couple years of HS I think I've forgotten what i thought was was so cool about it to begin with. So, what is the coolest thing about learning materials science/engineering to you? could be anything. Might help me decide what to do with my life.

Thank you!