Abstract

A graduate program in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) was first established in the Philippines at the University of the Philippines Diliman campus in 1993, mainly in response to the needs of the semiconductor and electronics industry which now accounts for 69% of the country’s exports. The University of the Philippines is currently the only university in the country offering this program in the graduate level (M.S. and Ph.D.). The Ph.D. MSE program has produced 4 graduates since its initial offering. In 1999, the undergraduate program in Materials Engineering was also pioneered at the University of the Philippines, eventually producing the first batch of graduates in 2002. Since its initial offering, Materials Engineering has seen a dramatic increase in enrollment and in fact there are more students taking this course now compared to the traditional course in Metallurgical Engineering. Considering the multidisciplinary nature of the program, both the College of Engineering and the College of Science are jointly involved in the teaching of the graduate program in Materials Science and Engineering. Key research facilities needed for high-level research in materials are shared in the two colleges at the University of the Philippines and major equipment for materials characterization and synthesis were acquired through the Department of Science and Technology-Engineering Science and Education Project (DOST-ESEP) with bulk of the funding coming from the World Bank. In the graduate level, most of the students actually come from the semiconductor and electronics industry sector, as well as other local universities trying to develop their own program in materials engineering. There is now an increasing active involvement of the private industry to further influence the curriculum and the quality of the program by offering assistance in terms of maintenance of facilities, scholarships, sharing of expertise, research funding, and collaborative projects in research involving students and faculty. The government continues to provide its traditional support in the funding of major research projects in materials science and engineering through key agencies such as the Philippine Council on Advanced Science and Technology Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (PCASTRD-DOST). The future of Materials Engineering research and education in the Philippines appears to be very bright at this point, especially with the prospects of more active collaboration in the ASEAN-Japan region.
Introduction

The study of materials is deemed to be very important for the advance of current technology considering that many technological breakthroughs in the past have usually been the outcome of the development of important materials. History will tell us that progress in civilization has been associated with the rise in the production and utilization of certain materials such as bronze, iron, steel, and of course, silicon. Even now, the term “nanotechnology” is already a major buzzword in the scientific community and its eventual maturation in the not so distant future is heralded to make available for our utilization materials with superior properties far exceeding our expectations. The discipline known as Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) must therefore be an important field of study which any country should give high priority. Expertise in materials will be very much needed for a country to keep pace with the rapid changes in technology.

This paper will present the status of Materials Engineering research and education in the Philippines in line with the objective of establishing a network for research and other types of collaboration activities with its Asian neighbors in the very important field of materials. For meaningful partnerships to be achieved, it is important that one be informed of what potential partners have to offer in terms of expertise, experience and facilities so that collaboration activities can be dovetailed to the specific needs of the parties involved.
Materials Engineering Education

Prior to the establishment of formal MS and PhD program offerings in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of the Philippines Diliman campus in 1993, certain courses were already being offered that provided fundamental education in materials, particularly in metals and ceramics. For instance, B.S. Metallurgical Engineering started to be offered at the University of the Philippines Diliman campus as early as the 50s. Later on, two other schools in the country would be offering the same degree, Mapua Institute of Technology (Mapua Tech) in Manila and Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSu-IIT) in Iligan City of southern Philippines. The B.S. Ceramic Engineering program was also established later in MSU-IIT and Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) in Ilocos Norte province.

The metallurgical engineers and ceramic engineers were taught about the fundamental principles of materials science and engineering though their respective curricula focused only either in metals or ceramics. For example, metallurgical engineering education familiarized the students with important principles about crystal structures, defects like dislocations, and heat treatment which other engineering graduates may not even be aware of. The metallurgical and ceramic engineers could be considered then to be the most knowledgeable engineers in the country as far as materials, were concerned. However, the curriculum did not develop adequacy in areas such as polymer science and engineering or electronic materials such as semiconductors, magnetic materials and superconductors. Organic chemistry, critical to the study of polymeric materials, was for instance not even a required subject.

In the graduate level, there was also an established MS program in Metallurgical Engineering in UP Diliman. There were two areas of focus: one in Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy and the other in Physical and Adaptive Metallurgy, with the latter actually leaning more to the Materials Science and Engineering aspect of the discipline. Enrollment figures in both the undergraduate and graduate program were low compared to other engineering disciplines and the then U.P. Department of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering was the smallest Department in the College of Engineering. Today, licensed metallurgical engineers in the country have a total number less than 600 engineers. Traditionally, the employment opportunities up to the 1980s for metallurgical engineers were mostly in the big mining companies which were then abundant in the country. However, in the 90s, the mining industry suffered a slump and an opportunity was instead created for metallurgical engineers to practice in the semiconductor and electronics industries of the Philippines. At present, the semiconductor and electronics sector already accounts for 69% of the country’s exports and can actually be considered to be the major employer of graduates in both Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering in the country.

During the term of President Fidel V. Ramos, what spurred the creation of the graduate program in Materials Science and Engineering in the Philippines was the project known as DOST-ESEP, which stands for the Department of Science and Technology-Engineering and Science Education Project. Prior to this, expertise in Materials Science and Engineering had been identified to be critical to the industrialization efforts of the country by the Science and Technology Coordinating Council of the Republic of the Philippines. A program in Materials Science and Engineering was needed to support the efforts in other technology sectors such as energy, information, equipment and medical technologies. The creation of the MSE program was then a key component of the Engineering and Science Education Project, with most of the funding coming from loans from the World Bank.

DOST-ESEP made possible acquisition of fundamental equipment for education and research in Materials Science and Engineering education. This included for instance major materials characterization equipment such as a 200 kV transmission electron microscope, scanning electron microscope with wavelength dispersive system, x-ray diffractometer and thermal analyzers. The ESEP equipment were concentrated in the three leading universities in the Philippines (University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University and De la Salle University). These universities were to become the centers of education in engineering and science in the country and envisioned to provide graduate training to faculty from the other local schools and universities. In line with the objective to set up doctorate programs in science and engineering in these identified centers of education, full foreign scholarships were also awarded to faculty members of the key colleges and institutes as early as 1992. This was to ensure that the critical mass of experts be available to make the graduate programs viable. Local full scholarships were also provided to faculty from other local universities and the doctorate students in the local PhD MSE program were given the opportunity to conduct their thesis in foreign universities under a sandwich program, prior to the delivery of critical MSE equipment in the country for research.

To further ensure successful implementation of the graduate program in Materials Science and Engineering, a Virtual Center in Materials Science and Engineering was created in UP Diliman. This would allow sharing of laboratory facilities for research or education by the College of Science and College of Engineering. Considering the multidisciplinary nature of Materials Science and Engineering, the graduate MSE program at UP Diliman campus was offered as a joint program offering of the College of Engineering and the College of Science. The Department of Mining, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering (DMMME) of the College of Engineering and the National Institute of Physic (NIP) of the College of Science were designated as the key department/institute to implement the MSE program. Faculty from other departments or institutes who had the proper expertise to teach MSE courses could be tapped to serve as lecturers or thesis advisers.

In the present MSE graduate program in UP Diliman, students come from BS Engineering or BS Science graduates. B.S. graduates of Metallurgical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Ceramic Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronics and Communications Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Civil Engineering have enrolled in the program. The BS Science graduates are usually graduates in Physics or Chemistry. Undergraduate remedial courses on fundamental materials science courses are prescribed for those entering with no materials background. The MS MSE students take the same core courses in MSE whether from engineering or science background. Aside from 18 units of lecture courses under the MS MSE Thesis Option, six units of laboratory courses are required to be taken to develop their skills in experimental research in materials, especially if they have plans of pursuing the Ph.D MSE later. The MS MSE Non-Thesis Option is available for those who are working full-time in the industry. Only faculty members who are PhD holders are deemed qualified to teach in the graduate MSE program. In a typical semester, there are about 12-14 full-time faculty members with PhD degrees actively involved in teaching graduate MSE subjects and/or serving as thesis advisers under the MS MSE program.

There are also students who are faculty members from other schools and they usually enter under scholarships from their sending institutions. Though the UP Diliman campus is the only one that currently offers the MSE graduate program in the country, other academic institutions in the country have also plans to set up their own programs in materials in the not so distant future. Taking the lead is Mapua Institute of Technology which has recently started offering its undergraduate program in Materials Science and Engineering. They have replaced their traditional program in Metallurgical Engineering by something more oriented towards MSE in hope of increasing enrollment figures.

The enrollment statistics in the MSE graduate program at the College of Engineering alone as of academic year 2002-2003 in all year levels total to 72 for the MS MSE and 8 for the PhD MSE program. This is a comparatively high figure compared to the other engineering graduate programs in UP. This does not yet include enrollment figures in the MS MSE program at the College of Science which is comparatively much lower. Every semester, not less than ten students are accepted into the program at the College of Engineering. However, most of these students enter only on a part-time basis and take only one to two subjects per semester since they are usually working in industry.

In 1999, the UP Department of Mining, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering pioneered the BS Materials Engineering program. This addressed certain deficiencies in the traditional BS Metallurgical Engineering program which did not provide adequate education to deal with a wider range of materials, especially those encountered in the semiconductor and electronics industry such as molding compounds, die-attach materials, semiconductors, ceramic substrates, and the like. By removing the Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy part of the Metallurgical Engineering curriculum and replacing these with courses such as Electrical and Magnetic Materials, Polymer Materials, Ceramic Materials, Composite Materials, IC Packaging Technology, Failure Analysis and Materials Testing, etc., the BS Materials Engineering curriculum would now produce graduates who will be more suited to the needs of the semiconductor and electronics industry.

Unlike the graduate program in MSE which is a joint offering with the College of Science, the BS Materials Engineering program is solely under the DMMME. There are a total of 13 faculty members, majority of which have either PhD or MS, involved in the teaching of Materials Engineering courses.

Many of the students enrolled in the MS MSE program are working students who are usually employed in the semiconductor and electronics industries. There is a high demand now for materials expertise in industry especially in the area of failure analysis and new packaging materials.

In 1999, the program accepted a pilot batch of incoming third year engineering students who shifted from the other disciplines to this new program. Majority of the students of this pilot section graduated in April, 2002 after three years of their acceptance in the program. If we look at the enrollment figures in Table 1, the incoming freshmen for AY 2002-2003 have practically reached the set quota of 75 Materials Engineering freshmen students per year (or two sections per year). Considering also the batch of students from first to third year level, there are now more Materials Engineering students compared to Metallurgical Engineering students. The positive feedback from the earlier graduates has certainly played a role in enticing the high school graduates to take a career in Materials Engineering.