MSE Minor

Minors are intended as optional programs that will encourage coherence in the work that students undertake outside their major field(s) of study.  The department offers a minor in Material Science and Engineering that is open to all students who are not majoring in MSE and who have completed the necessary prerequisites for the minor requirements.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

The MSE minor is open to any undergraduate who has:
  • A minimum overall GPA of 2.5 and a GPA of 2.5 in the prerequisite courses (MSE 45, MSE 45L, and MSE 40) for the minor.
  • Declared a major (not MSE) on the UC Berkeley campus.
  • Completion of the minor must not delay graduation.

GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS

To be given credit for the MSE minor, undergraduates must:
  • Maintain a GPA of 2.5 in the minor courses.
  • 2.5 GPA in upper division courses.
  • Have only one upper-division course used for the minor that overlaps with courses used for the major.

APPLICATION PROCESS

  • Submit the Petition for Admission to the Undergraduate Minor to Medina Kohzad (210 HMMB) after completion of the prerequisite courses.
  • The department will approve or deny the application.  If approved, the department will retain a copy and give the student a copy of the form.
  • Submit a Petition for Completion of the Undergraduate Minor to Medina Kohzad (210 HMMB) upon completion of the minor requirements.
  • The department will verify the completion of minor and send the original form to the Office of the Registrar.  A copy will be sent to the student’s College or School and one retained in the department.  (Note:  for graduating seniors, this must be done no later than two weeks after the end of the term.)
  • The department will send a copy to the College and retain a copy for the department file.
  • A notation in the memorandum section of the student’s transcript will indicate completion of the minor.

* All courses required of the minor must be taken for a letter grade unless only offered on a Pass/Not Pass basis.

FACULTY ADVISOR

The Faculty Advisor for the minor is Professor Daryl Chrzan.

PREREQUISITES (must be taken for letter grade)

  1. MSE 45 (previously E45), Properties of Materials
  2. MSE 45L (previously E45L), Properties of Materials Laboratory
  3. E40 (previously E115), Engineering Thermodynamics*

*For BioE major, E 40 can be substituted with Chem 120B, or Chem C130/MCB C100A
*For ChemE majors, E 40 can be substituted with CBE 141
*ChemE majors must also take two courses from MSE 104, MSE 111-113, and MSE 117-125.
*For ME major, E 40 can be substituted with ME 40

General Course Requirements

Students must take these two courses

Course Units Title Prerequisites
MSE 102 3 Bonding, Crystallography, and Defects MSE 45
MSE 103 3 Phase Transformations and Kinetics
MSE 102, MSE 45; Undergraduate thermodynamics course recommended.
Additional Upper Division Courses

Contact Us

Department offices are located in 210 Hearst Memorial Mining Building, in the Northeast corner of campus.

Address:

Department of Materials Science and Engineering  
210 Hearst Memorial Mining Building
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-1760
Phone: (510) 642-3801
Fax: (510) 643-5792