Innovations
The main areas of scientific and pedagogical activity of the Institute of Materials are the fields of materials science, materials engineering and materials science. The Institute, with a new staff divided into two departments, provides education and research in the design of metallic, non-metallic materials and composites from their chemical composition, through their production and processing technologies with regard to modification of their structure and phase composition to the modification of materials with regard to their structural and functional properties and resistance to mechanical and physico-chemical degradation.
The Institute guarantees and provides education of innovative profile courses of study programmes, which educate students in a wide field of metallic, non-metallic materials and composites with an overlap into the field of metallurgical and mechanical engineering technologies of their design, production, processing, evaluation of their quality and extent of degradation and determination of the service life of material products.
In the field of scientific research and innovation activities, the Institute's staff and PhD students as well as other students are engaged in research, development and innovation not only in the field of classical structural and functional materials of all types and technologies of their production and processing, but also in advanced and new materials and innovative material technologies of their processing. These include new materials for electrochemical cells, for thermoelectric applications, for refractory applications, for hydrogen storage and transport, for biodegradable in-body implants, for antibacterial applications, etc.
The personnel structure of the institute guarantees high intensity and efficiency in the field of scientific research work of the institute, obtaining funds for the successful implementation of scientific research projects and building of scientific research infrastructure, in the field of presentation of scientific research results in renowned scientific and professional journals and, of course, in the field of cooperation with other domestic and foreign educational, research and industrial institutions.
The employees of the institute are able to precisely implement methodologies for assessing the structure of materials, detecting their properties and assessing their degradation, to propose innovative solutions for processing materials by progressive technologies of casting, forming, heat treatment, powder metallurgy and surface treatment, and to identify and solve problems in the implementation, operation and management of production-technological systems associated with the production and processing of materials and their products.