History

Established in 2009, the School of Materials and Chemistry (SMC) at the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology (USST) can be traced back to the Industrial Mold and Tooling program of Shanghai National Mechanical College since 1952. Around 5000 professionals (both undergraduates and graduates) have been trained, as the original Tooling program evolved to undergraduate programs such as “Materials Shaping and Mold” and “Materials Forming and Control Engineering”, with an earned regional/national reputation over the past decades.

 The predecessor of SMC, USST adheres to the university tradition featuring the fusion of Chinese and Western educational styles and an open mind to academic diversity. SMC strives for excellence in both education and research. With its core value “Let every talent flourish”, SMC seeks to become an institution with national and international recognition featuring the fabrication and application of functional materials, by keeping up-to-date with the needs of society, reaching out to the industrial world, carrying out cutting edge research and integrating scientific research with classroom and lab teaching and training, and most of all, by pursuing talents and creating an environment for innovations.

In 2021, the newly integrated School of Materials and Chemistry welcomed the joining of the Department of Applied Chemistry.

Institutions

Department of Electromechanical Materials & Forming

Department of Energy & Environmental Materials

Department of Chemistry

Educational Programs

1. Three B.S. Programs:

(1) Materials Science and Engineering ( “National Engineering Education Certification” program,  “National First-class Undergraduate Major”,  “Shanghai Prominent Engineers Education” pilot program)

(2) Materials Forming and Control Engineering (“National Engineering Education Certification” program,  “Shanghai First-class Undergraduate Major”,  “Shanghai Undergraduate Education Highland” program)

(3) Applied Chemistry

2. Three M.S. programs:

(1) Materials Science and Engineering

(2) Materials and Chemical Engineering

(3) Chemistry

3. Three Ph.D. Programs:

(1) Electrical and Mechanical Functional Materials

(2) New Energy Materials

(3) Biomedical Chemistry and Sensing

Yearly recruitment: about 190 undergraduates and 250 graduates.

Research Areas

(1) Advanced Energy Materials

(2) Carbon-Based Functional Materials

(3) Electrical Functional Materials

(4) Electrohydrodynamic Atomization

(5) Functional Alloys and Forming Technology

(6) Additive Manufacturing

(7) Low-dimensional Materials/Biomaterials

(8) Nanocatalysis and Sensing Materials

(9) Rare Earth Polymetallic Materials

(10) Materials Conversion and Clean Energy Catalysis

(11) Bismuth Science and Biomaterials

(12) Green Chemical Processes and Marine Biomaterials

Faculty

SMC, USST has more than 100 full-time teachers, 95% of the faculty own doctorate degree. There are > 20 full-time professors, of whom many are candidates or winners of several national talent programs, such as “Cheung Kong Scholar”, “Oriental Talents”, ‘Pujiang Talents” etc. Over 60% of the faculty members have oversea experience. Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering and Chinese Academy of Science, HU Zhaolin and WANG Zhonglin are among the honorary and/or guest professors.

Laboratory Facilities

Labs of the School, totaling to 8500 square meters are equipped with apparatus and instruments for materials fabrication, property testing, structure characterization and surface modification, with a total value at 90 million RMB yuan. Four international university-corporation joint laboratories (Interdisplinary Centre for Additive Manufacturing, USST-Zwick, USST-PerkinElmer and USST-FEI) host >50 state-of-the-art instruments, such as HRTEM, SEM, XRD, AFM, ROMAN, FTIR, GPC, DMA, TG, DSC and ICP.

Cutting-edge Research

Faculty members of SMC, USST, over the past three years, have been awarded with > 50 high profile research programs by national agencies such as the 973, the 863 and the National Science Foundation of China, in addition to governmental agencies. Research funding has also come from corporate sources, such as Baowu Steel, Shanghai Electric, Shanghai Volkswagen, Shanghai GM, SAIC Motorand HuaYi Group. The annual research funding now exceeds 10 million RMB.

The faculty members make >100 SCI publications in technical journals and > 100 patent applications each year. The School owns the intellectual property to tens of new materials, represented by highly conductive alloys, new energy materials, nano-carbon materials, special graphites, advanced forming and manufacturing technologies,etc.

Working Closely with Society

SMC, USST is a standing council member of Chinese Heat Treatment Society, Chinese New Materials Society, and Chinese Energy Society. We are also the leading organizer of several regional societies, including Shanghai Die & Mould Trade Association, Shanghai New Carbon Materials Trade Union, Shanghai PU Union, Shanghai New Materials Trade Union and Shanghai Trade Union of Steels Service. Extensive cooperation is underway with Baowu Steel, Shanghai Electric, Shanghai Volkswagen, Shanghai GM, SAIC Motor and HuaYi Group.

International Cooperation

SMC, USST is actively engaged in academic cooperation with universities, corporations and research institutions from countries such as Germany, USA, UK and Australia. Cooperative educational programs in various forms have been established, which offers Chinese and oversea students valuable opportunities to go oversea or come to SMC, USST for education and innovation activities.

Support for Students

SMC, USST actively explores new ways for the training of excellent materials engineers by implementing a Materials Science and Engineering core curriculum taught in English and strengthening students’ hands-on engineering skills through integrated labs and a cluster of undergraduate and postgraduate-level innovation projects. Additionally, all faculty members serve the duty as undergraduate advisors and offer their guidance for course learning, innovation activities, career plan, graduation projects, and job placement to each student. SMC financially supports undergraduate and postgraduate scientific innovation activities through scholarships to enhance students’ competence. Graduates from the School have been well received over the past decades, with a job placement ratio for graduates standing at 98%.