Material Science & Metallurgical Engineering Education in India-Past, Present & Future

Metallurgy as a science discipline has been established from the beginning of stone-age. It is imperative to note as we have progressed we have added facets of material science to it and the field has evolved into a discipline of engineering. From science fiction to reality the inherent inter-disciplinary nature of this branch sets up the need of its education and training. There have been several instances in when the pivot of development has completely changed due to advancement in material science and metallurgy whether it is semiconductor industry or space industry. In this paper, we have reviewed the scope and development of this discipline in India detailing through the course of history to the present status.


Introduction:
Material science, also known as material science and engineering is the science of metals and metallurgy is the study of extraction of metals. Its study is important as we deal with metals every day.
To sustain life and energy, we are surrounded with metals and materials in various forms. The use of metals was started 5th and 6th millennium BC, even the periods and ages are being named after the major advancement in use of material. First came the Stone Age as during that era equipment and 2 1234567890''"" ICCRME-2018 IOP Publishing IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 404 (2018) 012001 doi: 10.1088/1757-899X/404/1/012001 utensils were made of stones, then came the Bronze Age and Iron Age. Earlier, metals found in native state were being used then metals which can be extracted, reformed in simple way by heating were used by masses. These all evidence shows that the metallurgy engineering or material science was needed and used from much earlier period. In India, we can get concepts related to metallurgy in various Vedas as Yajurveda & Atharvaveda. Metals were exchanged in trades between India and nearby regions. Earlier people used metals which can be obtained easily and materials like gold, silver and so on were being extensively used by people. In ancient India, metals were used majority for making weapons for wars and for making utensils. The Iron pillar made in New Delhi, India, is a perfect example of showing that metallurgy or material science was being practiced in earlier India too. To let the pillar stand for generation it was made corrosion resistance and the concept of alloy was used in making of the marvel [1].
In medieval India, with arrival of foreigners, there was more improvement to the use of material in different product making activities. Material science or Metallurgy is the science of material in which every aspect which affects the physical and chemical process of material like nature, structure, bonding, environmental factors are studied. Material science is an interdisciplinary field included in almost every branches of engineering as every field is incomplete without use of materials, so it is important to have proper knowledge to have better understanding of the field. Material science or metallurgy is included as a subject or optional subject in curriculum of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, electrical and electronics engineering, aeronautics engineering, and various other branches of technology. Due to rapid development after the world war, the manufacturing field has grown rapidly. These manufacturing units of any country provide a great boon to economy of that country, and developing countries such as India which has biggest population of youth [2]. This paper is divided three parts, first we have discussed about the metallurgy and material science education in India at undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral and post-doctoral level, then future scope of metallurgy in different industry with the employment of material science engineer and at last conclusion of material science education in India.  Table 1.

Basic Structure of Engineering Education in India:
Material science as a subject is included in various branches of engineering at different period at undergraduate and post graduate level. It was first included with physics, and then was taught with chemistry but later due to its inevitability in various fields it was taken separately as a subject [4]. It also keeps in track the research development and projects related to this field. Then its branches were Both UG and PG degree courses were being offered and doctoral or PhD was done on the specific field one want to pursue. Although it is being taught as a separate degree course but still many branches have one or more of material science course as subject in UG level.

At Diploma Level:
Diploma courses associated to material science or metallurgy engineering has been offered by only few polytechnic. In first year subjects are common with other linked branches. In second year, specific subjects (Metal Forming, Fuel Furnaces, Metallurgical Analysis etc.) related to the discipline has been offered. Subjects like testing of metals, physical metallurgy etc. are offered as a compulsory subjects in mechanical, civil, industrial, production and manufacturing diploma students. In final semester specific subjects (Steel Making, Corrosion of Metals, Alloy Steel etc.) related to the specialization are offered.

At Under Graduate Level:
There are about 6-10 core courses which is associated to the Material Science & Metallurgical

At Post Graduate, Doctoral & Postdoctoral Level:
Material Science & Metallurgical Engineering is divided into two main domains ferrous metallurgy and non-ferrous metallurgy at post graduate level material science and metallurgical engineering is offered under the specialization in Material Science, steel technology, corrosion science, industrial metallurgy, process metallurgy, foundry technology etc. [6,8]. Major topic covered under postgraduate course includes advance material characterization techniques, ceramics, steel technology, corrosion science, process energy, industrial metallurgy, material engineering, nano material, biomaterials in the end of last semester student have to justify his/her dissertation before the audience, which are the examiner.
Doctoral Research is done in the field of metal forming and mechanical behavior, material joining, iron and steel technology, integrated computational material engineering, material characterization, surface engineering, composite metal (bio-metal, ceramics, nano-metal) are the major fields in which major Indian researcher works.  Post doctoral research has been performed only in few technical premium institutes in the emerging areas of Metallurgical Engineering. At present level post doctoral research has been done in the areas of physical metallurgy and multi component metallic alloys.

About the Professional Bodies:
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About Simulation Tools:
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About Literature:
There are many fields of engineering (aerospace engineering, ceramic engineering, chemical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, electronics engineering, industrial engineering, manufacturing engineering, mechatronics engineering, mechanical engineering, production engineering, renewable engineering and so on) in which Material Science & Metallurgical engineering subjects are offered as core subjects as well as elective subjects in India.  Weekly quiz (objective) or assignment related to that week has to be submitted by the candidates.

Online Web Resources by Indian Government:
Marks are allocated for each quiz and a final examination is also conducted which covers the whole course. After completing any course successfully, a certificate is issued by the NPTEL with the logo of concerned institute and MHRD [7].

Job Prospect:
The metallurgical profession is a wide field which offers a variety of job prospects for the students who took its associated courses in technology and engineering. Metallurgical engineers in India take the employment with the companies involved in ore production and metal extraction companies. They can take the profile of plant engineer, metallurgist, welding engineer, quality check engineer, and Metallurgical R&D lab technician and so on. They are also eligible in railways, armed force and government sectors [10].

Conclusion
With push coming through programs such as 'Make in India' and other initiatives from government focused on marking India on world as a manufacturing hub, it is quintessential to start from the primal need of machines that is raw material [9]. Through our research we have found that Indian institutes have a good platform through years of educational background. The inherent need is to allocate more budget to research activities in the department to allow them evolve. Industry-academia partnerships are also important as initial set up cost is a big factor in this area. To realize the ambitious goals set up my government agencies material science engineering could be the missing link.