The MSE undergraduate curriculum is designed to build strong foundations in mathematics and science in the freshman and sophomore years. Studies in the sophomore and junior years constitute the curricular core. These courses develop a strong grounding in the fundamentals of the materials science and engineering discipline integrated with hands-on experience in key laboratory techniques for the materials field. The core curriculum builds upon the science foundation established in the earlier yers and applies it to materials-specific problems. Students can specialize in a specific sub-field of materials or continue to build broad-based expertise in material through the selection of five technical electives in the junior and senior years. They put their new knowledge to the test in a year-long culminating design project in the senior year.