Arizona State University will undertake a three year program to develop, implement and evaluate four core courses on Materials Synthesis and Processing. These courses are distinguished by an interdisciplinary approach, involving students and faculty in Engineering, Physics, and Chemistry. The courses will be integrated into academic programs at Arizona State University as a Materials Science option in the degree programs in Engineering, Physics and Chemistry. They will have a direct impact on the integration of programs in Materials Science and Engineering within ASU and will complement and strengthen the graduate program in the Science and Engineering of Materials. The four proposed courses are: 1) A sequence of two lecture courses in advanced material synthesis and processing with emphasis on thin films of electronic materials; and 2) Two laboratory courses consisting of 3 projects each semester chosen from a wide range of 20 topics that emphasize synthesis and processing, followed by characterization and property evaluation of advanced materials. The majority of the projects will be carried out in a new laboratory specially dedicated to these courses. Novel features of the courses include the use of case studies in lectures and videotaping of student presentations in laboratory projects. The courses will be evaluated by faculty, students and an external advisory committee. It is planned to publish a text on the lecture courses, and the experiments for the laboratory course will be available in manual form. It is also planned to publish descriptions of the courses in the Materials Research Society Bulletin.
