From
HoD's Desk
Dr. Tamoghna Chakrabarti
Head of the Department
Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, IIT Patna

The department of metallurgical and materials engineering is dedicated to the fundamental understanding of materials with emphasis on the basic concepts of structure/property/processing/performance relations and on applications to a wide variety of engineering fields. The department currently has eight highly accomplished faculty members. The department offers a B. Tech. degree in metallurgical and materials engineering and a M. Tech. degree in materials science and engineering. The postgraduate program is more interdisciplinary in approach and nature. After taking feedback from both academia and industries the syllabi of the respective programs are proposed and designed. The curriculum for these programs has been developed keeping in view the present technological status and future needs and prospects. It provides a strong background and a holistic approach towards conventional materials like metals as well as advanced materials like electronic materials, ceramics, composites, and polymers. The course curriculum is swotted periodically to incorporate new emerging trends in technologies and industrial advances.  Apart from the theoretical courses, the course curriculum also has large laboratory/practical work components, internship components, seminars, and B.Tech./M.Tech. projects and dissertations. Furthermore, the students of the department are specifically trained to develop materials for new applications, improve the properties of existing materials, enhance performance, and evaluate ways by which different materials can be used collectively. The department houses world-class research facilities under one roof. Faculty members of the department are actively involved in the execution of strong inter-disciplinary fundamental/applied research encompassing an extensive array of materials including metals, ceramics, polymers, nanomaterials, energy materials, biomaterials, and composites, to name a few. The department also has a strong base in coating technology, material synthesis, processing and computational material science.  Department is actively engaged with various funding agencies and industries such as DST, ISRO, BRNS, NRB, Tata Steel, MRF Tyres, Manali Petrochemicals Ltd., CUMI, and many more. In addition, the department had developed a strong collaboration with universities in India and abroad, defense laboratories, and industries. 

About the department: The Department of Materials Science and Engineering was established at IIT Patna in 2012. The department started a 4-year undergraduate program in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering in 2019, and a 2- year postgraduate program in Materials Science and Engineering has been running since 2014. The first batch of B. Tech. students graduated in 2023. The department's B. Tech., M. Tech. students and Ph.D. scholars have bagged placements in various core companies, MNCs, research laboratories, IITs and public sector units. Some of the B. Tech and M. Tech students have also acquired M.S./ Ph.D. positions in various top-rated universities in India and abroad. The B.Tech. students of the department conducingly run the materials engineering society (MatES), which regularly organizes invited/key-note lectures and technical exhibitions/quiz competitions. The postgraduate students of the department are the in-charge for organizing the department level technical symposium (Dravya) to create a platform for the research scholars to share their research findings. This symposium also aims to encourage discussions related to the current challenges and future opportunities pertaining to metallurgical and materials engineering. The department continues to strive for excellence and realize its vision of becoming a leading department in the country by integrating research, teaching and practice, which holds great benefits, both from student’s and teacher’s perspectives.