Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

Materials determine how every engineered system performs, from strength and durability to cost and reliability. A Metallurgical and Materials Engineering minor from Colorado School of Mines gives you practical insight into how materials are made, processed and selected for real applications.

This minor is a strong addition to your undergraduate education if you want to understand why materials behave the way they do and how those behaviors influence design decisions. You’ll gain the ability to evaluate tradeoffs between performance, manufacturability and lifecycle considerations. Employers value this background because it shows you can make informed material choices that directly affect product quality, safety and cost.

Program Overview

The Metallurgical and Materials Engineering minor introduces you to the structure, properties and processing of metals and other engineering materials. You’ll learn how composition and processing influence performance and how engineers tailor materials for specific applications.

At Mines, materials education is grounded in applied science and engineering practice. Coursework emphasizes problem-solving, data analysis and real-world examples drawn from industry. This minor strengthens your bachelor’s degree by adding materials literacy that supports better design, analysis and decision-making across many engineering fields.

Program Options

This minor is housed in the Metallurgical and Materials Engineering department.

• Metallurgical processing focus 
Explores how metals are extracted, refined and processed and how those processes affect material properties.
• Materials properties and performance focus 
Emphasizes structure-property relationships and how materials respond to mechanical, thermal and chemical environments.