Materials and Nanotechnology

This is an archived copy of the 2023-24 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit http://catalog.ndsu.edu.

By the end of the first academic year, the student will select an academic adviser from among the MNT faculty and arrange for the appointment of a supervisory committee. This committee will consist of at least four members of the graduate faculty. This includes the student's major adviser, at least one additional MNT faculty member, and a graduate school representative 

The plan of study will be prepared by the student, in consultation with the major adviser and supervisory committee, by the end of the first year in residence. The plan must be approved by the student's graduate supervisory committee, the MNT Program Director, and the Graduate College dean. Master’s students must complete the plan of study by the end of the second semester of study.  Doctoral students should complete the plan of study at the end of the first year of study and at least one month prior to the comprehensive oral examination

Master of Science 

Materials and Nanotechnology students are able pursue a master's degree under either the Plan A - Master's Thesis or the Plan C - Culminating Experience option. Each option requires a minimum of 30 graduate credits with a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better. 

The Plan A thesis option represents a more traditional Master of Science degree, with an independent research component in the form of an original thesis that can serve as a foundation for future doctoral work in science or engineering. For the thesis option, of the required minimum 30 graduate credits, at least 16 credits must be from approved graduate courses numbered from 601-689, 691, 700-789, and 791 while the research credits (798) must be not fewer than 6 nor more than 10. 

The Plan C option is appropriate for working professional students or students who are certain that they do not wish to pursue a doctorate in any field of science or engineering. . In the context of the MNT program, this option requires a 6-10 credit culminating experience (794) which replaces the research credits (798). 

Ph.D.

The doctorate requires a minimum of 90 graduate credits. A minimum of 27 credits of didactic coursework are required; no more than 15 didactic credits may be transferred as part of the Plan of Study. The MNT Ph.D. program requires students to complete a series of 7 core courses totaling 17 semester credits. The student will complete additional elective courses to fulfill the Graduate School requirement of 27 semester credits in academic courses. An overall GPA of 3.0 or better must be maintained.

 Core Curriculum

MNT 729Materials Characterization3
MNT 730Nanotechnology and Nanomaterials3
MNT 732Physical Properties of Materials3
MNT 745Preparing Future Researchers1
MNT 756Molecular Modeling3
MNT 760Materials Synthesis Processing3
MNT 790Graduate Seminar1

Students must complete at least an additional 12 credits of graduate level coursework. The courses should be chosen by the students in consultation and with the approval of the student's supervisory committee.

Suggested courses include the following:

Microelectronics Focus
ABEN 682Instrumentation & Measurements3
CPM 796Special Topics2
CHEM 766Quantum Chemistry I4
CHEM 767Quantum Chemistry II2
ENGR 780Electromagnetic Theory3
ECE 751Electromagnetic Theory and Applictions3
IME 627Packaging for Electronics3
IME 720Surface Engineering3
IME 635Plastics and Injection Molding Manufacturing3
MNT 735Optoelectronics Materials and Processing3
PHYS 771Quantum Physics I3
Biomaterials Focus
ABEN 758Applied Computer Imaging and Sensing for Biosystems3
BIOC 716Protein and Enzyme Biochemistry3
BIOC 673Methods of Biochemical Research3
CE 725Biomaterials-Materials in Biomedical Engineering3
CPM 771Modern Methods of Polymer Characterization3
ME 668Introduction to Biomechanics3
ME 731Mechanical Behavior of Materials3
ME 743Biomechanics Of Impact3
ECE 685Biomedical Engineering3
ECE 687Cardiovascular Engineering3
PSCI 611Principles of Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics3
PSCI 701Quantative Drug Design2
Nanomaterials Focus
CE 641Finite Element Analysis3
CE 793Individual Study/Tutorial3
CPM 673Polymer Synthesis3
CHEM 766Quantum Chemistry I4
CHEM 767Quantum Chemistry II2
CPM 686Corrosion and Materials3
CPM 773Organic Chemistry Of Coatings3
CPM 782Physical Chemistry Of Coatings3
CPM 796Special Topics3
IME 720Surface Engineering3
ME 682Fuel Cell Science and Engineering3
ME 712Advanced Finite Element Analysis3
ME 733Polymer Nanocomposites3
ME 734Smart Materials and Structures3
PHYS 758Statistical Physics3
PHYS 781Solid State Physics3
General Materials Science and Engineering Focus
ABEN 658Process Engineering for Food, Biofuels and Bioproducts3
ABEN 644Transport Processes3
ME 673Engineering with Polymeric Materials3
CE 641Finite Element Analysis3
CE 720Continuum Mechanics3
CHEM 732Advanced Survey of Analytical Chemistry4
CHEM 736Mass Spectrometry2
CPM 673Polymer Synthesis3
ME 633Composite Materials Science and Engineering3
ME 751Advanced Thermodynamics3
PHYS 611Optics for Scientists & Engineers3
PHYS 781Solid State Physics3
 

Affiliated Faculty

Achintya N. Bezbaruah, Ph.D.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2002
Research Interests: Environmental sensors, Recalcitrant and micro pollutants, Contaminant fate and transport, Small community water and wastewater treatment, Environmental management

Eugene B. Caldona, Ph.D.
Mississippi State University, 2020
Research Interests: Advanced coatings and materials, Corrosion, Electrochemistry, Surface chemistry, Nanocomposites

Yongki Choi, Ph.D.
City University of New York, 2010
Research Interests: Nano-bio-electronics, Carbon nanotube circuits, Single-molecule electronics, Biomedical applications

Andrew Croll, Ph.D.
McMaster University, Ontario, 2009
Research Interests: Polymers, Diblock copolymers, Thin films, Pattern formation, Mechanics

Alan R. Denton, Ph.D.
Cornell University, 1991
Postdoctoral, University of Guelph, 1991-94; Technical University of Vienna, 1994-95, Research Center Julich, 1996-98
Research Interests: Soft condensed matter theory, Computational physics

Erik K. Hobbie, Ph.D.
University of Minnesota, 1990
Postdoctoral: NRC Fellow, NIST, 1990-1992
Research Interests: Colloidal nanoparticles, Polymers, Complex fluids, Chromatography, Self-assembly, Photoluminescence, Flexible electronics

Syeed M. Iskander, Ph.D.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2019
Postdoctoral, University of Southern California, 2019-2020
Research Interests: Non-recyclable municipal solid waste management, Food waste management, Plastics pollution, Landfilling, and Landfill leachate management

Long Jiang, Ph.D.
Nanyang Technological University, 2003
Research Interests: Polymer/composite processing, Polymer processing machinery/design, Nanocomposites, Biobased polymers/composites, Functional composites with novel microstructures

Alan R. Kallmeyer, Ph.D.
University of Iowa, 1995
Research Interests: Theoretical, computational, and experimental solid mechanics, Fatigue and fracture of engineering materials, Composite materials

Dinesh Katti, Ph.D.
University of Arizona, 1991
Research Interests: Geotechnical engineering, Constitutive modeling of geologic materials, Expansive soils, Multiscale modeling, Steered molecular dynamics, Computational mechanics, Nanocomposites and biomaterials

Kalpana Katti, Ph.D.
University of Washington, 1996
Research Interests: Advanced composites, Nanomaterials, Biomaterials, Biomimetics, Materials characterization/modeling, Analytical electron microscopy, Bone tissue engineering

Dmitri Kilin, Ph.D.
Chemnitz University of Technology, Chemnitz, Germany, 2000
Research Interests: Photo-induced dynamic processes of charge transfer, Nonradiative charge carrier relaxation, Surfaces/interfaces of metal/semiconductor nanomaterials for photovoltaic/photocatalytic energy conversion

Svetlana Kilina, Ph.D.
University of Washington, 2007
Research Interests: Photoexcitation process on the organic-inorganic interfaces in hybrid nanostructures, Functionalized carbon nanotubes and quantum dots, Non-adiabatic dynamics in hybrid nanostructures, Electron-phonon interactions in ligated quantum dots and functionalized carbon nanotubes, Self-assembly of bio/nanomaterials, Transport in conjugated polymers

Andrei Kryjevski, Ph.D.
University of Washington, 2004
Research Interests: First-principles theoretical descriptions of the electronic properties of nanomaterials

Ivan T. Lima Jr., Ph.D.
University of Maryland, 2003
Research Interests: Photonics

Sylvio May, Ph.D.
Jena, 1996
Research Interests: Physics of lipid membranes, Biophysics

Keerthi Nawarathna, Ph.D.
University of Houston, 2005
Research Interests: Lab-on-a-chip technologies, Single-cell genomics, Nanobioengineering, Tissue engineering, Novel imaging techniques for biology, Computation/simulations

Selvakumar Prakash Parthiban, Ph.D.
Nagoya University, 2012
Research Interests: Biomaterials, Regenerative medicine, Tissue-engineered vascular grafts, Microvasculature, Decellularized extracellular matrix, Bioceramics, Cancer and vascular biology

Xiaoning Qi, Ph.D.
North Dakota State University, 2009
Research Interests: Corrosion characterization and prevention, Coating design and formulation, Sustainable coatings, Nanocomposites

Mohiuddin Quadir, Ph.D.
Freie University of Berlin, 2010
Research Interests: High performance delivery technologies, Biosynthetic interfaces for medical coatings, Synthesis of new polymers from bio-based resources

Seth C. Rasmussen, Ph.D.
Clemson University, 1994
Postdoctoral, University of Oregon, 1995-1999
Research Area: Inorganic/organic materials chemistry, Chemical history

Bakhtiyor Rasulev, Ph.D.
Uzbek Academy of Science, 2002
Postdoctoral, Drew University, 2002; Jackson State University, 2004-2007
Research Area: Structure-property studies of materials, Cheminformatics for materials,  Modeling of nanomaterials interactions with biosystems,  Nano-descriptors, Development of predictive structure-activity/toxicity models

Jing Shi, Ph.D.
Purdue University, 2004
Research Interests: Microelectronics packaging, Direct-write material deposition, Laser processing for electronics, RFID applications, Modeling of manufacturing processes, Computer integrated manufacturing

Mukund P. Sibi, Ph.D.
City University of New York, 1980
Postdoctoral, Dartmouth College, 1980-1982; University of Waterloo, 1982-1985
Research Interests: Synthetic organic chemistry, Natural products

Xiangqing (Annie) Tangpong, Ph.D.
Carnegie Mellon University, 2006
Research Area: Vibrations, dynamics and friction, friction-vibration interaction, friction damping in rotating structures, damping in nanocomposites and biomaterials

Chad A. Ulven, Ph.D.
University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2005
Research Interests: Advanced composites materials, Green materials processing, Nondestructive evaluation, Characterization of advanced materials under extreme conditions

Jessica Vold, Ph.D.
North Dakota State University, 2015
Research Interests: Additive manufacturing of materials, Polymer composites, Materials characterization, Entrepreneurship

Andriy Voronov, Ph.D.
Lviv Polytechnical Institute, 1994
Postdoctoral, Institute Charles Sadron, CNRS, 1997
Research Interests: Polymer synthesis and characterization

Alexander J. Wagner, Ph.D.
University of Oxford, 1997
Postdoctoral MIT, 1998-2000, Edinburgh, 2000-2002
Research Interests: Computational soft matter, Phase separation, Diffusion, Interface physics

Danling Wang, Ph.D.
University of  Washington, 2013
Research Interests: Chemiresistive sensors, Semiconducting nanomaterials, Optical spectroscopy, Electronic devices, Microfabrication

Dean Webster, Ph.D.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University 1984
Research Interests: Synthesis of high performance polymers, Polymerization reactions, Crosslinking chemistry, Quantitative structure-property relationship

Xiangfa Wu, Ph.D.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2003
Beijing Institute of Technology, 1998
Research Interests: Nanofabrication/nanomaterials, Advanced functional composites, Fracture/impact mechanics

Wenjie Xia, Ph.D.
Northwestern University, 2016
Research Interests: Multiscale modeling, Mechanics of materials, Polymers and composites, Soft matter, Bioinspired materials, Mechanobiology

Qifeng Zhang, Ph.D.
Peking University, 2001
Postdoctoral, University of Washington, 2006-2008
Research Interests: Electronic materials, Nanomaterials: synthesis, characterization and device application, Nanotechnology, Materials/devices/technology for energy conversion and storage, Solar cells, Lithium ion batteries, Photocatalysis