student in materials lab

When you enroll in the Materials Engineering major at UWM, you’ll join a relatively new academic field that is changing the world in innumerable ways. Modern materials scientists develop and test composite and simple materials that, for example, extract pollutants from water, hold the ability to self-heal, last longer, or are manufactured in a way that reduces the amount of by-products sent to landfills.

In our tight-knit classrooms, labs and through internships and co-ops, you’ll blend knowledge in chemistry, physics and engineering as you investigate the relationship between the structure of materials at the atomic or molecular level and their macroscopic properties.

You’ll graduate ready to apply your knowledge to in fields such as aerospace, architecture, biomedicine, computers and electronics, construction, metal manufacturing, transportation and recreation.

Program Type

Major, Minor

Program Format

On Campus

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Career Outlook

In 2023, the median annual wage for materials engineers was $104,100.*

The Milwaukee region has one of the highest employment levels nationwide for materials engineering.* Milwaukee also has one of the largest concentrations of foundries in the United States; our Foundry Education Program is a source of well-trained engineers for this industry.

*U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Student wearing goggles
“This is amazing!” As a Materials Science and Engineering student Rosie asks “What if?” and “How?” in her undergraduate research and Argonne National Lab internship. She says the field is a lot like baking or cooking . . . but instead of a cake, you end up with something amazing like smart concrete.

What to Expect

Increased speed to graduation

Our new and redesigned curriculum makes it easier and faster for you to complete your degree. You’ll also find greater flexibility in the electives available to customize your experience. 

What makes our program stand out

Materials engineering is based on mathematics, physics and chemistry. You will learn about the nature of substances that might be used for a particular purpose and the chemical and physical processes that are involved in their production. Materials engineers become experts at understanding and using the relations between processing, structure, properties and the performance of materials.

You can tailor your electives to focus on specific areas such as: 

  • Advanced materials characterization
  • Biomaterials
  • Materials for energy application
  • Materials processing
  • Metal casting
  • Specific courses in ceramics, polymers, composites, and electronic materials

Interested in a Career in the Metal Casting Profession? Scholarships Available!

Our Foundry Education Foundational (FEF) Program helps ensure great talent enters the profession and offers students—starting as soon as their freshmen year—annual, renewable scholarships and industry connections. More than 50% of students in this program receive scholarships ranging from $500-$2,000 each year. Over 200 of our students have been awarded these scholarships since UWM was named a FEF school in 1996.

Graduates have consistently and readily found jobs with foundries – including Badger Alloys, Grede, Kohler Industrial Castings, Signicast, Spuncast, Stainless Foundry, Waupaca Foundry—and companies — including Boeing, GE Aviation, General Motors, Intel, Lockheed Martin, Oshkosh and Tesla.

FEF really is a one-of-a-kind organization. I can say from being a member in many professional societies that none are as proactive in getting students meaningful experience, industry connections, scholarships and ultimately great jobs as FEF


Emily (FEF scholarship recipient; now at Kohler Co.)Alumna, Materials Science and Engineering

Additional scholarship resources for careers in the metal casting industry:

Honors

You will be eligible for these honors in the major during your studies and upon completing your degree.

Students at UWM have many opportunities to earn honors recognition.

UWM’s College of Engineering & Applied Science program provides many opportunities to pair classroom learning with hands-on experiences outside the classroom. The college’s location in Wisconsin’s largest city, with a broad network of industry partnerships, gives you easy access to well-paid internships and co-ops, as well as other important opportunities to enhance your resume. 

Did you know? 

  • 97 percent of our graduates launch their careers or continue their education upon graduation.
  • $78,000 average starting salary
  • SOURCE: UWM First Destination Survey for the College of Engineering & Applied Science, 2021-2023

Internships & Co-ops

You’ll have many hands-on opportunities to develop your skills and determine what type of career experience you would like after graduation, with opportunities to earn a significant paycheck in nearby internships and co-ops over summer breaks and even during the academic year.

Here are some of the businesses where our materials science & engineering students have had internships, co-ops or careers:

  • Charter Steel
  • Clarios
  • GE Healthcare
  • General Motors
  • Honda of America
  • Johnson Controls
  • Kohler Co.
  • Lucas-Milhaupt
  • MetalTek
  • Metallurgical Associates
  • Modine Manufacturing
  • Nucor Steel
  • Rockwell Automation
  • SACO AEI Polymers
  • Signacast
  • Sikorsky (Lockheed Martin)
Capstones/Senior Design Projects

In your senior year, you’ll team up with other students to complete a Capstone Project, during which you’ll use what you’ve learned in class to complete an experience similar to an employer request. Past students have created membranes for filtration of pharmaceuticals from drinking water using metal-organic framework materials, energy-saving heat treating processes for steel alloys, high-capacity lithium-ion battery materials and more.

STUDENTS IN ACTION: Based entirely on the work of four materials engineering students, a Saukville specialty steel manufacturer saved $43,095 during the year the capstone was implmented. And those savings will continue into the future.

Read their story and view senior design projects here.

Student Organizations

American Foundry Society

Provides academic, hands-on and career opportunities to students interested in metallurgy and the metal casting industry.

For full descriptions and contact information of all engineering and materials engineering related student organizations and clubs, click here.

Resource Rooms & Teaching Labs

Research Labs

Advanced Analysis Facility

This facility houses and maintains research instrumentation, which provides full capability for materials and chemical analysis.

Foundry and Solidification Lab

This small-scale foundry provides students with hands-on training in cutting-edge foundry processing techniques and research.

UWM Center for Composite Materials

The center links the materials processing industry and UWM’s students and faculty in research efforts.

Resource Rooms

UWM students have a wealth of additional resources available to them within the College of Engineering & Applied Science. From computer labs and tutoring resources to teaching labs and spaces to create or collaborate. Details here.

Research Opportunities

A benefit of attending a top tier R1 research university is the opportunity to work with faculty engaged in cutting-edge research and to participate in the Support for Undergraduate Research Fellows (SURF) program. The SURF program helps you to improve your professional preparation through research by closely working with our faculty to explore, discover, and transform ideas into reality.

SURF students also receive funding for their efforts: from 2012-2023 almost $1.5M was awarded to over 700 students from our college.

Graduate and undergraduate students also have the opportunity to participate in the annual Research Poster Competition & Experiential Learning Expo, providing them with excellent opportunities to share their work with judges from industry.ition to see who can best represent their research visually on a poster and verbally by describing it to judges.

Student Startup Challenge

Directed by the Lubar Entrepreneurship Center, the UWM Student Startup Challenge is an optional, co-curricular program that fosters our students’ innovative and entrepreneurial ideas. You can work alone or as part of a team as you gain the skills that come from entrepreneurial experience.

 

We’re Here to Help

Our dedicated Center for Student Experience & Talent (SET) works with our students to prepare them for a career after graduation.

What You’ll Do

Because everything we use is made of some material or combination of materials, materials science engineers are central to the development and design of new products. Your work might focus on:

  • Developing new materials for applications in energy, healthcare, automotive, aerospace, and others
  • Failure analysis
  • Fundamental research including computational materials and laboratory-based work
  • Primary production processes and subsequent manufacturing such as metal casting, polymer processing, advanced coatings
  • Quality control
  • Business development and intellectual property
Graduates of this program have been hired by these companies:
  • Charter Steel
  • Clarios
  • GE Healthcare
  • General Motors
  • Honda of America
  • Johnson Controls
  • Kohler Co.
  • Lucas-Milhaupt
  • MetalTek
  • Metallurgical Associates
  • Modine Manufacturing
  • Nucor Steel
  • Rockwell Automation
  • SACO AEI Polymers
  • Signacast
  • Sikorsky (Lockheed Martin)

Student Stories

Ameralys outside Harley-Davidson

My internship at Harley-Davidson’s Product Development Center has been amazing. Never before would I have believed that before even beginning my sophomore year of college I would have landed my first real engineering job.


Ameralys (Paid internship and career launch at Harley-Davidson)BS, Materials Science

Advising

Megan Wisnowski
  • Academic Advisor, Undergraduate Advising
  • Students with last names M-R
Brandon Clark
  • Academic Advisor, Undergraduate Advising
  • Students with last names A-E
Tina Current
  • Senior Advisor, Undergraduate Advising
  • Students with last names beginning F-L
  • Prospective Transfer Student Liaison
Jennie Klumpp
  • Senior Advisor, Undergraduate Advising
  • Students with last names beginning S-Z
  • Prospective Student Liaison

Tutoring

Steven Anderson
  • Retention Coordinator, Tutoring
  • Student Support Center Coordinator
  • Freshmen Orientation Instructor

Faculty

Nidal Abu Zahra
  • Professor, Materials Science & Engineering
  • Department Chair, Materials Science & Engineering
Ben Church
  • Associate Professor, Materials Science & Engineering Department
  • Director, Advanced Analysis Facility
Nikolai Kouklin
  • Professor, Materials Science and Engineering
faculty member xiaoli ma
  • Lawrence E. Sivak '71 Faculty Fellowship
  • Associate Professor, Materials Science and Engineering
William Musinski
  • Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science & Engineering
Junjie Niu 2024
  • Richard and Joanne Grigg Professor
  • Professor, Materials Science and Engineering
  • Affiliate Professor, School of Freshwater Sciences
Pradeep Rohatgi
  • Distinguished Professor, Materials Science and Engineering Department
  • Distinguished Professor, Biomedical Engineering
  • Distinguished Professor, Mechanical Engineering
  • Director, Center for Advanced Manufacture of Materials
Accreditation
The BS program in Materials Science and Engineering is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, https://www.abet.org, under the General Criteria and the Program Criteria for Materials, Metallurgical, Ceramics and Similarly Named Engineering Programs.
Contact
Materials Science & Engineering
Contact Info: ceas-materials@uwm.edu

Street Address
College of Engineering & Applied Science
3200 North Cramer Street
Milwaukee, WI 53211

Mailing Address
College of Engineering & Applied Science
P.O. Box 784
Milwaukee, WI 53201-0784