Why study Materials Engineering? – STI – School of Engineering

Where every innovation begins: Materials Science and Engineering

From the carbon-fiber frame of a racing bike to a prosthetic limb that moves like a natural one, from lighter, safer cars to the chips inside your phone, materials are behind nearly every innovation around you, and they never stop evolving.

Today, we design materials “to order,” engineered atom by atom for a specific purpose. Tomorrow, they will be smart: materials that sense their environment and adapt their properties in response.

The future is being built, one material at a time. Be part of it.

Become an architect of matter

At EPFL, you will explore the full spectrum of materials: polymers, ceramics, metals and alloys, optical and electronic materials, composites, and living materials.

You will learn to understand matter down to the atomic scale, because that is where the architect of matter works. By adjusting the composition of an alloy, introducing inclusions, or applying a heat treatment to obtain a specific crystalline structure, you shape the properties you want at the macroscopic scale.

You will do this with state-of-the-art tools such as electron microscopy and spectroscopic measurements, and analyze the results with sophisticated software. This lets you understand precisely how a material’s microstructure determines its performance, the foundation of the modern approach to materials science.

From microstructure to manufacturing

Developing a high-performance material is only part of the story. To reach the industrial market, a product must also be manufacturable and cost-effective.

As an engineer, you will always weigh four key considerations:

Performance goals
Material choice, with the desired microstructure
Production techniques
Cost-effectiveness

And you will keep the whole life cycle in mind: the environmental impact of fabrication, and the possibilities for recovery and recycling after a material’s first use. Sustainability is a core part of our educational program.

Careers: a world of opportunities

You can work for companies whose core business is materials themselves, where materials are developed and designed: metallurgy, polymer synthesis, composites manufacturing, or ceramics.

Materials specialists are also in strong demand in high-tech industries where materials make the difference: aerospace, biomedical and biotech, sports, electronics, photonics, and microengineering.