Everything is made of something.
Making a more sustainable and healthier world starts with imagining new materials. Everything from renewable energy to medical devices to consumer electronics can be advanced by improving the materials they are made from.
Our Programs
Studying the properties of materials and their applications is ideal for those who are excited to work at the forefront of industries like electronics, energy, and healthcare.
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![Asher and Zaina smile while working in the lab]()
Bachelor of Science (B.S.)
Build a strong foundation through hands-on labs, modern facilities, and a senior research or design experience.
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![ELI undergraduate research in the Richard Robinson Lab with students]()
Master of Engineering (M.Eng.)
A one-year, non-thesis degree focused on industry-ready skills and applied learning.
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![Two students working in Professor Grace Xing's lab]()
Master of Science (M.S.)
A two-year, thesis-based program centered on research, specialization, and academic rigor.
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![Professor Judy Cha working with a student in front of 4 display monitors in her research lab]()
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Advanced, interdisciplinary research training for students pursuing original contributions to the field.
Strategic Areas of Research
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![Eric Dufresne Research image of Droplets]()
Bioinspired Materials and Systems
Bioinspired composites, engineered protein films for adhesion, lubrication and sensing applications, molecular tools for in-vitro and in-vivo imaging, and biomaterials for tissue engineering and drug delivery.
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![Andrej Singer Research Image of bright spectrum of colors across a rectangle]()
Electronics and Photonics
Oxide semiconductors, 3D integration, materials beyond silicon, high K and low K dielectrics, plasmonics, spintronics and multiferroics.
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![Research Image from Julia Dshemuchadse's group]()
Energy Production and Storage
Photocatalysis, photovoltaics, thermoelectrics, phononics, batteries and supercapacitors.
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![Crosspolarized microscope image of cholesterol acetate crystals with added quarter waveplate]()
Green Technologies
We have targeted green composites and new systems for CO2 capture and conversion as areas of future growth.
News Highlights
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![Diana Michaelson '27 (left), co-president and co-founder of Cornell Nuclear is Clean Energy (NiCE), speaks during a weekly meeting, along with with Neal Goturi '29 (right), of the ILR School.]()
Going nuclear: Student group embraces clean energy
The newly formed student group Cornell Nuclear is Clean Energy is embracing nuclear technology to fight climate change and create jobs.
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Alumna Karen Winey ’85 elected to National Academy of Engineering
Karen Winey ’85, an alumna and former member of the Cornell Department of Materials Science and Engineering Advisory Council, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering.
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Four on faculty to receive DOE early-career grants
Four Cornell faculty members are among 99 researchers across the U.S. who have been awarded grants by the U.S. Department of Energy as part of its Office of Science Early Career Research Program.
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Largest gift in university history names Cornell David A. Duffield College of Engineering
More than $520 million in contributions from David A. Duffield ’62, MBA ’64 – including a new pledge of $371.5 million and a 2025 commitment of $100 million, combined with previous gifts – will establish the Cornell David A. Duffield College of Engineering.
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Supersonic tests defy a 70-year-old rule of metal strength
Smaller grains – the microscopic crystal regions within the material – normally make metal stronger, but when deformed at extreme speeds, this rule flips and metals with very small grains actually become softer, new Cornell research reveals.
Upcoming Events
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MSE Seminar: Ian McCue (Northwestern)
Thermodynamic Design and Evaluation of Interlayers for Similar & Dissimilar Joining Similar and dissimilar joining of shape memory alloys (SMAs) has gained increased attention in recent years, due…
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MSE Seminar: Ling Li (UPenn)
Materials Rules of Life: on the Form, Function, and Formation of Biological Structural and Functional Materials Organisms from nature construct various biological materials for a variety of structura…
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MSE Seminar: Evan Wang (Texas)
Ultrasound-Activated Nanoparticles and Wearable Bioelectronics for Translational Neural Interfaces The ability to interface with the nervous system non-invasively and with high precision is central to…
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MSE Seminar: Aristide Gumyusenge (MIT)
Application-guided design multifunctional mixed ionic-electronic conductive co-polymers and polymer composites In this talk, I will share recent progress from my research group on designing conjugated…
