NTU Materials Science and Engineering

[fishball]

Recently I have been helping some ppl and answering their queries on NTU materials science and engineering.

If anyone have more queries on this course pls feel free to post your questions here.

FYI: I just grad from the course this year

[hihiapolla]

Hi,

I am interested about learning and doing research about Material Science n Engineering. Since I am graduated from IT background, I want to do research about simulation. However I do not know how to start, and what is the important terms and concepts I need to know about that. Right now I am trying to learn from MIT OCW (Material Engineering Course).

Maybe you can share some advice about the main idea of Material Engineering/Science?

Thanks in advance . I also just graduated, I am working but I do research to prepare my further studies.

Originally Posted by fishball

Recently I have been helping some ppl and answering their queries on NTU materials science and engineering.

If anyone have more queries on this course pls feel free to post your questions here.

FYI: I just grad from the course this year

Do you ever regret taking up the engineering course?
Pls be honest... So at least people don't waste their lives if they were to receive your honest advice..
What was the salary you offered at the job interviews?
What was the best offer you have received?
Do you think it is difficult to find related jobs to you course of study?
Do you think there are prospects for material science eng graduates in singapore?

[fishball]

Originally Posted by hihiapolla

Hi,

I am interested about learning and doing research about Material Science n Engineering. Since I am graduated from IT background, I want to do research about simulation. However I do not know how to start, and what is the important terms and concepts I need to know about that. Right now I am trying to learn from MIT OCW (Material Engineering Course).

Maybe you can share some advice about the main idea of Material Engineering/Science?

Thanks in advance . I also just graduated, I am working but I do research to prepare my further studies.

NTU MSE do have some prof doing simulation based research. If you are interested in a particular field of research, I suggest u approach the professor in that field to work under him for final year project (FYP) in year 4. You can look at NTU MSE website to check out the specialization of the MSE profs. If possible get a phd cert as it is essential if u want to climb high in field of research. Local Phd studies are usually sponsored with monthly stipend of about 3-3.6k.

First 3 years in NTU MSE are foundation years and year 4 is the time to choose your specialisation such as, nanomaterials, biomaterials, solar cells, semicon tech, advance materials analysis, polymers science, composites, energy storage devices, thin film tech, etc....

Strictly speaking there is actually no specialization in MSE, you just choose the course u prefer like mix and match. If u like semicon industry then choose more semicon courses.

MSE is more science than engineering and is directed towards research. However, aspects of engineering is still present but not as much as mechanical engineering. So you can expect less maths and physics in MSE. Instead, MSE focus on mechanisms of materials failure, mechanisms of nanomaterials growth, manufacturing techniques, materials properties, etc. You can visit NTU MSE website to get a better idea of the courses. There are description of all the courses in that website.

[fishball]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Do you ever regret taking up the engineering course?
Pls be honest... So at least people don't waste their lives if they were to receive your honest advice..
What was the salary you offered at the job interviews?
What was the best offer you have received?
Do you think it is difficult to find related jobs to you course of study?
Do you think there are prospects for material science eng graduates in singapore?

Whether u regret or not really depends on your passion for the course. If u take the course that u dislike of cos u will regret. I personally don't regret taking this course as I'm interested in science of materials. I believe what you are more interested in is the jobs prospects after graduating from MSE.

Indeed, not many engineering companies are hiring people from MSE but dont be dishearten. Lets look at this from another angle, the number of MSE grads are much lesser than other engineering schools and what we study are niche fields hence naturally the jobs we can do is restricted.

For related fields, the best paying jobs that i know of are engineers at oil majors and semiconductor engineers. Many oil majors require a general engineering degree. If u want to stick to your specialisation, join oil majors as inspection engineers. The salary is dependent on the company u join.

For semicon engineers, the basic is decent at about 3.2-3.4k. The real money comes from OT and bonuses. If u are wiling to work very hard (OT for 7 days a week) it is possible for fresh grad to earn in the lower range of 6k.

Do note that not all people are lucky to get these high paying jobs so dont set your expectations too high. Other jobs in related fields pays about 2.7k-3.3k. If u dont mind getting this pay, its not difficult to get a job.

If u want to work in non engineering fields, there are even more job opportunities like grad programs from companies or govt jobs which require any good degree. For me, I chose a non engineering job.

For those who are interested in research, prospects are good too as there are many phd programs which offers a monthly stipend of 3-3.6k during the 4 years of phd studies.

[hihiapolla]

Originally Posted by fishball

NTU MSE do have some prof doing simulation based research. If you are interested in a particular field of research, I suggest u approach the professor in that field to work under him for final year project (FYP) in year 4. You can look at NTU MSE website to check out the specialization of the MSE profs. If possible get a phd cert as it is essential if u want to climb high in field of research. Local Phd studies are usually sponsored with monthly stipend of about 3-3.6k.

First 3 years in NTU MSE are foundation years and year 4 is the time to choose your specialisation such as, nanomaterials, biomaterials, solar cells, semicon tech, advance materials analysis, polymers science, composites, energy storage devices, thin film tech, etc....

Strictly speaking there is actually no specialization in MSE, you just choose the course u prefer like mix and match. If u like semicon industry then choose more semicon courses.

MSE is more science than engineering and is directed towards research. However, aspects of engineering is still present but not as much as mechanical engineering. So you can expect less maths and physics in MSE. Instead, MSE focus on mechanisms of materials failure, mechanisms of nanomaterials growth, manufacturing techniques, materials properties, etc. You can visit NTU MSE website to get a better idea of the courses. There are description of all the courses in that website.

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. Actually I am really interested for taking study of Material Science and Engineering, however I got degree from Computer Engineering and I think it is not related, therefore I am rather afraid for applying PhD scholarship. Beside, I am really lazy taking all the things like GRE, TOEFL and other thing that is need to apply for scholarship.

Right now, I am trying to get and make a stepping stone before applying for PhD scholarship program by doing a research first and make some publication (previously I am doing research for image processing). Right now I am trying to do collaboration based research with my supervisor in Indonesia (we do a long time based research, although I am rather stuck here on the basics).

Since I am trying to do research, I already have choice for my specialization. I think I will choose between solar cell/semi-cons. Thanks for sharing pal.

There's a post above on semicon. I beg to differ from the poster. Semicon in SG is going downhill and most positions are in operations. Shift work is also detrimental to your physical, social and family health.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

There's a post above on semicon. I beg to differ from the poster. Semicon in SG is going downhill and most positions are in operations. Shift work is also detrimental to your physical, social and family health.

Yes, one must be prepared to do shift work and lots of OT. Working all weekend is common. So its a matter of personal choice. If u can endure the hardship, the monetary reward is quite substantial as mentioned above.

However, it is not true that semicon in SG is going downhill. On the contrary, many semicon companies have even expanded their local production plants (google for more info). Semicon is the heart of all technological products, unless we stop using these products, semicon industry will not start going downhill or become redundant (or sunset industry).

Technology is improving at a rapid pace, hence the cycle life of a product is getting shorter. Fine tuning the production to run a specific product takes time and it needs to be fast hence engineers work alot of OT during these periods. Since cycle life is shorten, engineers work even harder. The good is more OT pay, the bad is lousy work life balance.

Most entry positions are definitely operations for MSE students. You will be in-charge of a small part of the manufacturing like wafer cleaning, thin film deposition, etc. MSE grads are well trained for all these processes as its a major part of our curriculum. Do note that when you are posted to a particular manufacturing section, you will be expected to stay there for a few years. The reason being it takes some time for fresh engineers to understand and excel.

[fishball]

This is a reply to gary_qop qns on MSE. I will answer him here so as to benefit more ppl who are also interested in MSE.

Does this course requires alot of physics?
There will definitely but quite abit of physics involved but much lesser then mechanical engineering (MAE). The level of physics will definitely be more difficult than JC physics. Example for the physics module, we deal with stuff in 2D whereas MAE ppl have to solve qn in 3D. MSE physics is 3AU whereas MAE physics is 4AU hence MSE ppl have lesser content to cover. In year 1, the course 'materials physics' was previously 'physics 1'. There have been some modification in the course to cater more to MSE ppl. I'm not sure about the modification as i took 'physics 1' instead. I heard 'materials physics' is easier but i cant confirm tt.

In year 1 do we have to do java code and C++ programming and all sort of stuff?
Year 1 computing course is for all engineering students. Its only C language programming. Much easier than C++. Dont worry about it, its quite an easy course provided u practise ur past year papers and tutorials.

Can I also enquire more about Polymers and Composites, Materials Structure and Defects & Mechanical Behavior of Materials?
You can visit NTU MSE wubsite. There are course descriptions for all courses in MSE.

How your uni life is like?
Each sem is slightly longer than 3months and every sem we have about 5-6 courses to clear. So most of the time I will be studying for tests (1-2 tests per course before exam) or doing projects. Before u know it, exam is around the corner. But u will have much more freedom and time compared to JC.

Does this course entails tutorial classes? and how are the lecturers like? Do we get a one to one session with them?
Yes, there will be tutorials. For a 3AU course, it is 1 hr tutorial and 2 hours lecture weekly. For 4 AU course its 3 hours lecture and 1 hr tutorial. MSE have a mix of good and bad lecturers but mostly good. Bad lecturers are only lousy in giving lecture but actually good when u ask them qn 1on1 basis. If have qns u can approach them directly after lectures or tutorials or even email them to book a time to meet in their office 1to1. Its quite easy to get a 1to1 session.

How is the material science 'family' like? is it very competitive there?
Join the orientation camp in MSE to get to know more people. It is difficult to know ppl during tutorials and lectures as all will be very busy listening and learning. For my batch, I think MSE dont have the competitive environment.

[gary_qop]

Hey thanks for your reply fishball, another thing I would like to ask is whether there will be any form of drawing designs that are required and also will it be more lab and research based or more of designing and practical hands on?