Graduate and Research Central Coordination Office (CCPG)

Graduate Program in Materials and Chemical and Metallurgical

General Information

Program Overview

Metallurgy and Materials are in the technological base of modern civilization. There is no synthetic product which is not directly involved with the use of materials, whether they are metals, ceramics, polymers, semiconductors or even biological, which are also called biomaterials. In fact, almost every technological development requires the employment of these materials, either individually or in aggregate form, such as composites of two or more different materials. The Materials Engineer actively participates in the selection, improvement and optimization of technological materials used, from the base industries (steel, oil, cement, etc.) to high technology industries (computers, nanomaterials for drug transport, etc.). The scope of work of a materials engineer comprises the mineral extraction processes and benefaction, metallurgical processes, synthesis of ceramics, polymers and biomaterials, the synthesis of nanostructured materials (nanomaterials) and composites, and protection processes and environmental recovery.

The importance of Materials Science and Engineering in the development and well-being of humanity can be measured by the constant evolution of diverse and spectacular equipment and devices, which constitute the most modern products from the automotive, aeronautic, naval, electronic, computing, telecommunications, civil construction, mining, metallurgy, chemical products, power generation and distribution, bioengineering etc. In a broad sense, new technological developments have been made possible thanks to advances in materials engineering. Such scope of applications has been, nowadays, the major reason for the increasing demand for Materials Engineers and Metallurgical Engineers - professionals working in an increasingly broad universe of industrial segments.

The Processes and Environmental Engineering is at the heart of the production of materials used in advanced technologies. The Graduate Program of the Materials Engineering Department is aware of this relationship and seeks to motivate students to gain strong awareness based on better processes of environmental production, preservation and recovery.

Objectives

The structure of the Materials Engineering Department - DEMa covers all academic levels (Undergraduate, Master and Doctor) in the area of  chemical material processing/synthesis, characterization of metallic and non-metallic materials properties and its various relationships with the environment. Thus, the Graduate Program seeks to provide a comprehensive training in materials engineering, with insertion in production chain and production in a sustainable manner, of semi-finished and finished products. The teaching and research activities development led the Department to establish its Master’s and Doctoral Programs in 1971 and 1991, respectively.

The continuous search for maintaining high academic and research standards has been, over the years, one of DEMa's striking features.  The Department's teaching and research infrastructure has gone through an extensive modernization process, as well as through a Graduate Program curriculum restructuring involving the Program's change of name, lines of research and offered disciplines. Through these initiatives, the DEMa constantly evolves to meet the technological development demands, which regard both its performance in new areas of knowledge and its training of qualified professionals able to meet the market's new challenges and demands.

This curriculum aims to adapt the DEMa's Graduate Program to the new demands of sectors involved with science and technology. The use of materials is such a generic practice that few people realize they depend on it for almost everything they do. Clothes, cars, domestic and electronic appliances, dental tools and fillings, and human prostheses are examples of the wide range of the use of materials. This use requires researchers capable of making connections between often different worlds. This Program intends to meet this aspect by offering differentiated training in materials for people with different academic backgrounds. For this reason, it accepts undergraduates from different fields, such as:

Engineering (Metallurgy, Materials, Chemical, Mechanic, Civil, Electrical, Environmental, etc) - Basic Sciences (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics and Informatics)-Architecture, – Geology, - Health Sciences (Pharmacy, Dentistry and Medicine), - Archaeology and Museology.

Over the last years, the Program has maintained an average of sixty graduate students, which is compatible with the size of the faculty, consisting of 14 full-time doctors.

The Graduate Program allows the improvement of professionals with a materials and metallurgy academic background, as well as providing other graduates an extensive involvement in specific areas, such as mineral technology, environmental technology, chemical processing of raw materials for the production of materials and characterization of their structural, physical and mechanical properties.

The Master’s course aims to deepen the students' basic training and develop their capacity to work in research and development projects aimed more directly at the solution of practical engineering problems. It is also an initial step for students interested in research to engage in deeper studies in the Doctoral course.

The Doctoral Program aims to train highly qualified professionals, destined to occupy positions that require a more scientific base, combined with independent and critical thought and creative ability.

In the last years, professors of the Graduate Program have been awarded several major projects, such as the Scientist of Our State, CNPq Productivity and Universal, Sector Funds (CTHIDRO and CEPETRO), PADCT-Rio (FAPERJ) and Green/Yellow Funds. Some of these projects allowed the improvement of several research laboratories infrastructure, many of which incorporate modern techniques of characterization through analysis and digital image processing. Due to the professors' easy and natural adaption, as well as the students' great demand, one can observe a clear tendency towards the development of projects dedicated to environment-related topics. In this respect, one can note a great motivation for work involving effluent treatment, co-processing, recycling and recovery of effluents, mathematical and physical modeling, and environmental remediation, based on unit operations of traditional areas of mineral processing, hydro/electro and thermal metallurgy. One can also observe an increasing number of multidisciplinarity, identified through synthesis and characterization projects, with the participation of professors from the two major research areas (Process and Environment Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering). In the Materials Science and Engineering area, one can verify a tendency towards increasingly sophisticated microstructural characterizations, through the implementation of new techniques and equipment, such as the electronic microscopy transmission of X-ray diffraction, or from the use of softwares dedicated to image processing and analysis. One can also perceive that this tendency coincides with the significant number of projects involving nanomaterials, a topic of undeniable current relevance, regarding both scientific aspects and technological applications. This fact reinforces the observed tendency of the increasing number of multidisciplinary projects with the participation of professors who work with synthesis and characterization of materials.

History

The Materials Engineering Department – DEMa is part of the Scientific Technical Center (CTC) at PUC-Rio. The DEMa consists of 14 full-time faculty members; all are holders of doctoral degrees in foreign or national universities and more than half are CNPq production scholarship researchers. These faculty members work in undergraduate and graduate teaching, research and development.

The laboratories' infrastructure include state-of-the-art equipment in the following fields: mineral benefaction, mineral reduction, waste treatment, environmental technology, remote environmental monitoring, chemical analysis and processing, particle characterization, thin films, thermal analysis, composite fabrication, mechanical behavior, electronic microscopy, x-ray diffraction, image processing, digital microscopy and computation.

Master’s Degree

Grants the “Masters Degree in Materials and Chemical and Metallurgical Processes Engineering”. Since its creation in 1971, the DEMa has already granted more than 300 masters. It offers full-time students the possibility of a CAPES, CNPq and FAPERJ scholarship, as well as tuition wavers offered by the University for specific situations and grants for projects. It is widely considered to be among the country's most highly regarded Masters’s Program in the field of materials and metallurgy.  

Doctoral Degree

Grants the “Doctoral Degree in Materials and Chemical and Metallurgical Processes Engineering”. Since its establishment in 1991, its rapid expansion has benefited from the experience of the Master’s Program and has already granted over 60 doctoral degrees. Its students include university professors, researchers from government institutions and professionals from the industry. It offers full-time students the possibility of a CAPES, CNPq and FAPERJ scholarship, as well as tuition wavers conceded by the University and grants for projects.

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Concentration areas and lines of research

Concentration Area: Materials Science and Engineering

Concentration Area: Process and Environment Engineering

Research Projects

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Course Recognition

Master’s and Doctoral degrees

Recognition:
CAPES (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Eduction Personnel; from Brazilian Ministry of Education) evaluation: grade 5 (in a 3 to 7 scale) for the 2010-2012 period.
Approved by the CNE/CES MEC n.288/2015 of July 08, 2015.
Granted degrees: Master and/or Doctor in Materials and Chemical and Metallurgical Processes Engineering

Requirements for obtaining the Master’s and Doctoral degrees

Master

• Completion of a minimum of 24 credits, three (3) in a thermodynamics disciplines, nine (9) in disciplines relative to the student's concentration area, and the rest in disciplines in related areas, according to a study plan previously approved by the Graduate Committee.
• Students with a distant academic background from Metallurgical Engineering, or Materials Engineering, must complete one or more foundational disciplines according to a study plan proposed by the Graduate Committee.
• Approval in the MET 2800 (Research Seminar) discipline.
• Approval in the English Language Exam (reading) conducted by DEMa,
• Presentation, defense and approval in Master Dissertation.

Required Electives Group

MET 2804 | Fundamentals of Thermodynamics - 3 credits (or)
MET 2808 | Thermodynamics of Materials - 3 credits

Doctor

• Completion of at least 48 credits (from which a maximum of 24 credits previously obtained from the Master’s course may be reused), nine (9) in compulsory disciplines and the rest in disciplines in related areas, according to a study plan previously approved by the Graduate Committee.
• Approval in the MET course 3004 (Doctoral Qualifying Examination).
• Approval in the MET course 3007 (Proposal of Doctoral Thesis)
• Presentation, defense and be approval in Doctoral Thesis.

Compulsory Disciplines

• Process and Environment Engineering
  MET2808 Thermodynamics of Materials - 3
  MET2810 Transport Phenomena in Materials Engineering - 3
  MET2862 Kinetics and Reactors Engineering - 3
• Science and Engineering of Materials
  MET2808 Thermodynamics of Materials - 3
  MET2831 Defect Theory in Solids - 3
  MET2833 Transformation of Phases in Solid State - 3

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Admission and Enrollment

The DEMa conducts a selection process to admit nine students to the Graduate Program (Master and Doctor) twice a year, usually in the months of December and July. More details can be obtained at the Department Office.

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