Part 2. The Recent Past: 1982-1988 

In the Fall of 1982 Professor Merton C. Flemings succeeded Professor Owen as Department head. Since then the Department has continued its transformation into a balanced and integrated materials department. This involved many changes in teaching programs, organization, and faculty. 

Undergraduate Studies 

A new undergraduate curriculum, the first in over ten years, went into effect in 1983. The revised curriculum contained a strong core of required subjects that cut across all materials classes and provided a foundation for a materials science and engineering education. Restricted electives offered in the four major classes of metals, ceramics, polymers, and electronic materials permitted a measure of materials-oriented specialization. 

The first laboratory of a new two-tier sequence was instituted in 1983-84 and proved to be a success. The second laboratory subject required new planning and new facilities. A great improvement in the undergraduate laboratory facilities was made possible by substantial gifts from the Balfour Foundation and IBM. The original laboratory subject 3.081, which under Professor Ogilvie's direction had reached registrations of over 100 students, was taken over by Professor Hobbs in 1984-85. 

Graduate Studies 

The Department introduced a new policy governing the preparation for the doctorate examination. The two core subjects, thermodynamics and kinetics, were recommended for all doctoral candidates. 

A new interdepartmental Program in Polymer Science and Technology was instituted in 1986 under the direction of Professor Robert E. Cohen (Department of Chemical Engineering), who was succeeded in 1987 by Professor Frederick j. McGarry. The program was open to graduate students registered in the Departments of Materials Science and Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, and Physics. 

The graduate enrollment in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering reached 277 students in 1985-86, reflecting a large number of applications. The quality of accepted applicants continued to improve, but it was felt that limitations of physical and teaching resources militated against further increases in graduate enrollment. 

The subject areas open to graduate students and the distribution of students for the academic years 1983-84 through 1986-87 is shown in the following table: 

Percentage of Graduate Students Registered in Subject Areas 

Part 2. The Recent Past: 1982-1988 
In the Fall of 1982 Professor Merton C. Flemings succeeded Professor Owen as Department head. Since then the Department has continued its transformation into a balanced and integrated materials department. This involved many changes in teaching programs, organization, and faculty. 
Undergraduate Studies 
A new undergraduate curriculum, the first in over ten years, 
went into effect in 1983. The revised curriculum contained a strong core of required subjects that cut across all materials classes and provided a foundation for a materials science and engineering education. Restricted electives offered in the four major classes 
of metals, ceramics, polymers, and electronic materials per- 
mitted a measure of materials-oriented specialization. 
The first laboratory of a new two-tier sequence was instituted in 1983-84 and proved to be a success. The second laboratory subject required new planning and new facilities. A great improvement in the undergraduate laboratory facilities was made possible by substantial gifts from the Balfour Foundation and IBM. The original laboratory subject 3.081, which under Professor Ogilvie's direction had reached registrations of over 100 students, was taken over by Professor Hobbs in 1984-85. 
Graduate Studies 
The Department introduced a new policy governing the preparation for the doctorate examination. The two core subjects, thermodynamics and kinetics, were recommended for all doctoral candidates. 
A new interdepartmental Program in Polymer Science and Technology was instituted in 1986 under the direction of Professor Robert E. Cohen (Department of Chemical Engineering), who was succeeded in 1987 by Professor Frederick j. McGarry. 
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The program was open to graduate students registered in the Departments of Materials Science and Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, and Physics. 
The graduate enrollment in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering reached 277 students in 1985-86, reflecting a large number of applications. The quality of accepted applicants continued to improve, but it was felt that limitations of physical and teaching resources militated against further increases in graduate enrollment. 
The subject areas open to graduate students and the distribution of students for the academic years 1983-84 through 1986-87 is shown in the following table: 
Table 8-1 
Percentage of Graduate Students Registered in Subject Areas 
    Electronic         Materials   Materials   
Ceramics Materials Metallurgy Polymerics   Science   Engineering   
1984-85   21   12     26   11   16   13   
1985-86   21   16     24   10   13   16   
1986-87   19   22     20   11   12   16   
1987-88   18   23   - .   21   12   12   15   
Research               The Department continued to emphasize a strong research program. The following pairs categorize the main research areas: 
Structure and transformations 
Structure/property relations Structure/processing relations Property/performance relations Processing and systems modelling 
Projects in these areas were conducted in most of the materials classes: metals, ceramics, polymers, and electronic materials. 
The Materials Processing Center 
The Metals Processing Laboratory, established in 1952, has been described in Chapter 6. With the closing of the Foundry in 1967, the Laboratory lost a major activity. In the late 1970s there was a surge of interest in processing; this interest, in keeping with the rising concern with all materials, embraced the wider field of materials processing. 
On the initiative of Professor Flemings, a proposal of a Materials Processing Center was made in November 1978 by MIT to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This proposal was received favorably and led to the establishment in 1980 of the Materials Processing Center of the School of Engi- 
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neering. According to its Charter, the Center's range of interests comprised (i) processing fundamentals and applications, (ii) materials systems engineering, and (iii) societal issues, including "process improvement or substitution to minimize environmental impact, energy consumption, health hazards." By Fiscal 1985-86, as stated in the Annual Report, the Center's research covered ceramics, composites, electronic materials, polymers, and metals; problem areas included rapid solidification, welding and joining, electroprocessing, environmental degradation of materials, materials systems analysis, and mathematical and physical modelling. 
The Center became a successful operation under the direction of Professor Flemings, who was succeeded by Professor H. Kent Bowen and, subsequently, the current director Professor Ronald M. Latanision, all three of whom were members of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Research was conducted by graduate students and faculty members from several departments and the Center's own staff. The Center inaugurated an Industry Collegium in 1981 as a means of establishing contacts with industry through various cooperative activities and exchanges. 
Materials Systems Laboratory 
In 1982 Professor joel P. Clark established the Materials Systems Laboratory, which became part of the Materials Processing Center and the Center for Technology, Policy and Industrial Development. Materials systems analysis was defined as the application of operations research, rnicroeconomic analysis, and engineering fundamentals to problems related to the production and use of materials. 
The Laboratory's main objective was to develop a consistent framework for analyzing the demand for engineering materials and the cost of producing and using materials over the medium-to-long term. A more limited objective was the development of engineering-economic supply and demand functions of individual mineral and materials markets. 
The Materials Systems Laboratory represented the Department's most determined and most successful effort in the borderline area between engineering and the economics of materials. 
Departmental Organization 
In the Fall of 1982 Professor Flemings set up an Ad Hoc Committee, under the chairmanship of Professor Bernhardt j. Wuensch, which was charged with the task of reviewing the Department's organization, especially with respect to graduate studies. The Ad Hoc Committee's recommendation resulted in a Degree Program Committee, an Admissions Committee for graduate students, and a Graduate Committee concerned with policy. Although seemingly complex, this structure proved to be effective in operation. 
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The Ad Hoc Committee's report also suggested the setting-up of informal "interest groups" of members of the faculty and senior research staff who shared scientific and technical interests. The original gro!,ps were in the following nine areas: 
Physical Ceramics; Ceramics Processing; Physical Metallurgy; Chemical Metallurgy; Metallurgical Engineering; Modelling and Processing; Polymer Science; Polymer Engineering; and Electronic Materials. However, several of these groups were consolidated. The areas of interest and their membership in 1987-88 are listed in Appendix j. 
Faculty 
New faculty members were needed in areas of emerging importance. This called for additional funding and extensive recruiting activities. From 1982 to 1988 a number of faculty members were added, specifically in electronic materials, ceramic processing, manufacturing/mechanical metallurgy, and polymers. (See Chart 2 or Appendix E.) 
Conclusion 
Part 2 of this chapter is a brief account of the scope of developments and activities in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering in recent years. In closing it seems appropriate to quote a statement from the Department's Report to the President for the Academic Year 1986-87: "a sense of achievement, excitement, and opportunity pervades the Department." 
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