Welding Engineering Program Moves to Materials Science

The welding engineering program is forging stronger bonds after its transfer to a different college department.

Early this year the welding engineering program moved from the Department of Integrated Systems Engineering to the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

Realigning the welding program in materials science and engineering will serve both the program and the department well by aggregating resources, says Rudy Buchheit, materials science and engineering department chair.

Ohio State’s welding engineering program is the only program of its type in the United States accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET Inc., the recognized accreditor for college and university programs in applied science, computing, engineering and technology. The realignment will bring five regular faculty, three staff, 95 undergraduates, 50 graduate students, associated degree and research programs, and many dedicated welding engineering alumni from around the world to the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, increasing the total undergraduate and graduate populations to 250 and 170 students, respectively, and department faculty to more than 30. The department will still be known as materials science and engineering but will house both the welding engineering and materials science and engineering degree programs.

“We were always strong in metals science, and we’re even stronger now,” says Buchheit. “It’s going to ensure our strength in this area for a very long time. It also connects well with the economy in this part of the country, where there is high demand for our students and the welding engineering students.”