Advanced ceramic and glass materials play a critical role in the aerospace industry, semiconductor and quantum computing technologies, clean energy systems, healthcare and more.

Renowned for their ability to perform where other materials fail, ceramics are inorganic, nonmetallic materials offering the widest range of material properties to serve an equally wide range of environments — but there is a shortage of ceramic engineers in the U.S. who have the skills to take full advantage of these material properties.

A National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded partnership between Missouri S&T and two other U.S. universities aims to help fill that gap.

Led by Alfred University, the NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) program will provide scholarships for undergraduate students studying ceramic engineering or glass engineering at Alfred University, Colorado School of Mines and Missouri S&T — the nation’s only universities offering undergraduate degrees in these fields.

“By removing financial barriers and elevating student experiences across three leading programs, this effort strengthens both individual student outcomes and the field as a whole,” says Dr. David Lipke, associate chair for academic affairs and associate professor of materials science and engineering at Missouri S&T. “It’s an investment with impact well beyond the classroom to strengthen the national pipeline to a discipline that underpins critical technologies.”

Each of the three schools will receive $1 million in NSF funding over five years to support the scholarships. Need-based scholarships will be awarded to between 12 and 15 U.S. students total at the three schools each year, with students eligible to receive support for their sophomore, junior and senior years of study.

Students will receive professional development opportunities including mentorship, industry field trips, networking events and internships, and exposure to research.

“Those who focus on ceramics and glasses form such a tight-knit community within the already small profession of materials science that the friendships and professional networks last for decades,” says Dr. Geoff Brennecka, head of metallurgical and materials engineering at Colorado School of Mines. “The time that these S-STEM students spend together on their summer rotations and interacting with faculty and professionals in the ceramics field will build strong foundations of valuable professional networks for the rest of their careers.”

Over the summer, scholarship recipients will visit each school for two weeks and work on a range of ceramic engineering projects.

Their research, conducted throughout the academic year, will focus on several high-demand areas, including semiconductor development, hypersonics, energy and healthcare. These projects will be conducted across the partner institutions, drawing on each university’s core strengths in ceramic materials research.

“I am most excited about the hands-on undergraduate research that these students will be able to do together,” says Dr. Gabrielle Gaustad, dean of the Inamori School of Engineering at Alfred. “My undergraduate summer research opportunity at Alfred University in ceramic engineering really set me on a fun and impactful career path, so I’m thrilled to bring these opportunities to current students.”

Gaustad says the participants will work in teams, organized so that students from the different schools collaborate on research, with faculty from the host universities serving as advisors. The projects will carry over from one school to the next.

At Missouri S&T, Lipke, along with Dr. Kelley Wilkerson, associate dean for undergraduate education in S&T’s College of Engineering and Computing and associate teaching professor of materials science and engineering, and Dr. Charmayne Lonergan, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, will oversee the program. At Colorado School of Mines, Brennecka, along with professors Laura Carroll and Kim Scott, will lead efforts, while Gaustad will serve as the principal investigator at Alfred University.

For more information about Missouri S&T’s ceramic engineering programs, visit mse.mst.edu.

About Missouri S&T

Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) is a STEM-focused research university of over 7,000 students located in Rolla, Missouri. Part of the four-campus University of Missouri System, Missouri S&T offers over 100 degrees in 40 areas of study and is among the nation’s top public universities for salary impact, according to the Wall Street Journal. For more information about Missouri S&T, visit www.mst.edu.