Materials
Our highly rated materials courses offer a great mix of science, engineering, design, and hands-on practical work, with strong demand for our graduates from employers.
Materials at Loughborough
The development of new and improved materials is at the heart of a huge range of technologies, from objects we use every day like food packaging, to novel batteries and fuel cells to power electric vehicles, through to more advanced materials for biomedical applications, such as implants. Our courses will give you the knowledge and understanding you need to develop new materials to meet society’s challenges.
Materials science and engineering has been a core strength at Loughborough for over 50 years and we are one of just a few dedicated Materials departments in the UK. We are an open and friendly department with a high staff/student ratio, allowing us to support our students strongly during their degree.
Our courses
Links with industry
All our courses offer the option to complete a salaried year in industry, where you can gain an extra qualification (Diploma in Industrial Studies – DIS). Close links with industrial partners mean we can provide our students with considerable help in sourcing, securing, supporting and assessing their placement.
Our students join a variety of companies on their placement, these include: Airbus, BAE Systems, BMW, Bosch, Caterpillar, CERN, GSK, Jaguar Land Rover, Johnson & Johnson, Tata Steel and VW Group.
Industrial contacts in the Department are substantial, with an annual research income of over £3 million. Industry sponsored student projects, many related to our bigger research programmes, add real relevance for our students and many of the same companies offer year-long and summer placement jobs.
These contacts not only provide potential employment for our students, but also bring invaluable experience from within industry which is reflected in our teaching.
Facilities
The Department is superbly well-equipped, with extensive laboratories containing state-of-the-art equipment in materials processing, testing, analysis, simulations and characterisation, electron microscopy, x-ray, thermal and surface analysis.
Our newly refurbished building houses an extensive array of industrial and pilot scale materials processing machines and equipment for preparation, formulation and testing. Our computer laboratories offer IT, CAD, modelling, materials selection and process simulation applications.
Accreditation
Our established degree courses are accredited which is the first step towards professional qualifications such as Chartered Engineer (CEng) for our students. We finance membership of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) for all our students and strongly believe in the benefits professional institutes and industry bodies can bring.
Career opportunities
Materials graduates are currently in high demand from employers since the subject covers a wide breadth of engineering and manufacturing activity across many industrial sectors.
Our degrees prepare our students for careers in a wide range of sectors, including aerospace, automotive, biomedical, energy and sustainability, consumer goods, sports, and defence, and our graduates go on to work in large and small companies in the UK and internationally. Some remain in the Higher Eduation sector to study research degrees.
The average starting salary for our graduates is £27,750 (Graduate Outcomes Survey, 2018 graduates)*, with many going onto work at companies such as:
- Bentley
- Bombardier
- Bosch
- Caterpillar
- Dyson
- Jaguar Land Rover
- Nissan
*Average salary 15 months post-graduation – UK domiciled.
Our students
Student experience
Our department has been named the top university for overall satisfaction for Materials Technology, according to the 2020 National Student Survey (NSS).
The annual survey asks students for their views on key aspects of their university experience including learning and teaching, assessments and feedback, academic support, and learning resources.
We’re also 2nd in the UK for Materials and Mining Engineering (The Guardian University Guide 2021), meaning that you’ll be joining a highly regarded department.