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| Engineering home | Future students | Current students | Alumni | Partnerships | Staff (Intranet) | Contact Engineering |
| Research | Departments and schools | Staff directory | A-Z index | Site map |
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About the Department
I extend a very warm welcome to you, to the website of the Department of Materials Engineering, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. We are an international, research-active Department with a significant number of students and extensive, modern facilities. Home to a range of undergraduate and research degrees, our interests span the whole materials field – with expertise in metals and alloys, biomaterials and tissue engineering, nanomaterials, polymers, ceramics, composites, corrosion, advanced materials characterisation and materials modeling. We believe that at this point in history, the ability to strategically manipulate, process and characterize materials at scales from the large, all the way down to the atomic level, is the key to many of the main advances that we as a society wish to make in areas such as health care and biotechnology, information storage and improved generation, transmission and storage of energy. An understanding of, and control over, materials in the manufacturing sector is also key to the ability to succeed and to create wealth and jobs. There is much talk about nanotechnology and the profound influence it has in creating new materials and processes ("nanotechnology could have as much impact as the discovery of electricity or the development of the computer microchip" (1)). Indeed, it has been said that “"the concept of a device, very central in microtechnology, is only partly useful in the nanotech world. A number of solutions are material-like." (2). Importantly, we can now both manipulate materials at the atomic scale, and we also have the tools to observe matter at this level. With such information, we are now able to better model such behaviour and thus understand, predict and influence properties. This is true in many areas, but none more so than in the biomaterials area where it has been said “"The most important advance in the 21st century will be the introduction of atomic-scale prostheses to repair and restore human body function...the fusion of atomic-scale engineering technology with our bodies will enormously enhance human performance" (3). To achieve these ends, we do a range of research, from the fundamental to industry-based. Our Department is a participant in a large number of Research Centres, with linkages to industry and research groups throughout Australia and beyond. This is going to be highly commercially important: “The Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council....... estimates the worldwide sale of nanotechnology-based products will increase by 150 times in the next decade to $US2.6 trillion ($3.4 trillion)” (4). The Australian synchrotron is just across the road and this will further aid our research (“the synchrotron …. has the capacity…. to provide insights into new materials, and new methods of materials manufacture") (5) Another important aspect of what we do is our undergraduate course. We are one of the few undergraduate courses in Australia covering a broad sweep of materials issues, and we think this is important given the multi-disciplinary nature of most research and jobs in this area. Our undergraduates are highly sought after and find jobs in a wide range of industries, often early in their final year. This is enhanced by their ability to broaden future options via combined degrees with other disciplines in science, the humanities or law. Most recently a combined Biomedical Science and Materials Engineering degree has been introduced. We think many jobs in the future will be at this materials/bio interface. Another feature of our teaching program are external degrees (Graduate Diploma or Masters courses) which can be done anywhere in the world. We often have research scholarships going for further study, not to mention undergraduate scholarships. So whether its to join us as an undergraduate or external student, to come and do research with us, to collaborate with us from another institution or company, or just to ask us a question about materials – please feel free to contact us and we’ll do our best to help. mateng.enquiries@eng.monash.edu.au Best wishes George Simon
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