UK Centre for Materials Education
Working with you to enhance the student experience
Working with you to enhance the student experience
The following excerpts are taken from the draft of the Materials Benchmark Statement.
"Academic study of materials encompasses aspects of the physical sciences and of engineering. The two central themes are (i) the link between structure (on length scales from nm to mm) and chemical, physical and mechanical properties and (ii) how control of microstructure through processing can be used to optimise engineering performance."
"Materials are central to the economic well-being of the country.
This is reflected by rapid developments in new areas of materials
such as SMART materials, soft solids, nanotechnology, sensors
and biomimetics. Materials scientists or engineers help to develop
the materials required for new products, find better lower-cost
manufacturing routes, and enhance the performance of existing
materials. They consider the environmental impact and
sustainability of their products. They discover how to optimise the
selection of materials and create sophisticted databases from
which properties and service behaviour can be predicted."
The full version of this document is available in Adobe Acrobat format (40k) on the QAA website.
The QAA is conducting a consultation this draft benchmark statement.
The final statement will be published by March 2002.
The period of consultation is from Monday 16 July to Friday 16 November
2001. More details on the consultation
procedure can be found on the QAA website.
