Materials Engineering, as a specialty within Civil Engineering, involves the analysis and investigation of the structure, behaviour and properties, and usage of all types of materials in Civil Engineering works. Students who undertake a degree in the Materials program will take departmental graduate courses in structures, solid mechanics, portland cement and concrete, and courses from other departments. Such courses constitute a skeleton program to which other specialized courses that meet both the requirements of the Materials program and the individual student’s interests and needs can be added.

The general emphasis of research in the Materials program is on the relationship between the structure and the mechanical properties of Civil Engineering materials, especially portland cement and concrete, timber, and composites. Some more specific topics of current and planned research include the following: mechanical properties of portland cement concrete (plain and fibre-reinforced); damage mechanisms in portland cement concrete under both static and dynamic loading conditions; permeability of portland cement concrete; shotcrete (wet and dry processes); rebound mechanics and modeling; shrinkage, cracking and durability; fracture and deformation of wood; use of fiber reinforced plastic composites for new construction and repair, and use of recycled materials in concrete.