Materials and structures are among the core disciplines in aerospace engineering, and many materials and structures advances have been borne out of the aerospace industry, e.g., carbon fibers and carbon fiber advanced composites. Study of Materials and Structures in Course XVI continues within the broad context of aerospace vehicle and systems design. Significant research themes include computational modeling of materials and structures, additive manufacturing (AM), fabrication and design of hybrid nano/micro materials, understanding and modeling of basic composite material and structural behavior/response, structural design, failure, and safety considerations, MEMS/NEMS materials and structures topics, and structural dynamics, among others. The graduate curriculum, and the broader research enterprise, benefits significantly from interactions with other Departments at the Institute including Mechanical Engineering (Course II), Materials Science and Engineering (Course III), Engineering Systems Division (ESD). Furthermore, Materials and Structures students have a long history of utilizing Harvard-MIT cross-registration to take advantage of numerous mechanics and materials courses offered at Harvard.<br><br>The educational goals of this field are to develop skills in the mechanics of materials and structures, including characterization, analysis, experimentation, and modeling of aerospace materials and structures under application-specific loading and environmental stimuli. Students often learn how to apply these insights in the study of new materials and/or structures with tailored behaviors that enable enhanced performance and the creation of new materials and their structures. Early coursework emphasizes foundational skills in analytical and computational solid and structural mechanics, which can be applied to a wide range of engineering challenges. Students then tailor their course selections to align with specific research interests, narrowing the focus to certain classes of materials (e.g., fiber-reinforced composites, monolithic high-temperature materials), structures (aerostructures, space structures, devices), environmental conditions (dynamics, elevated temperatures), fabrication and manufacturing approaches, or methods of analysis.