Organization and trends in materials science and engineering education in the US and Europe

Materials education in the United States and Europe is today provided to st udents by a wide range of departments, programs and institutes. Only a smal l fraction of these are what we term "core MSE" departments. These departme nts practice the discipline of MSE, providing undergraduate and graduate ed ucation in, and carrying out research on, the four elements of the hid and their interrelations. The elements are structure, processing, properties an d performance. Viewing this MSE as a discipline (while simultaneously as a part of a larger discipline) provides new directions for, and freedom in, c urriculum reform. It also provides a framework for developing a focus for o ur research efforts and guiding their direction. (C) 2000 Acta Metallurgica Inc. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.