>>12217043That is a good question. It is an interdisciplinary field that has both scientists and engineers working in it. If you look at the research being conducted at your school, you can see that some of the physicists, chemists, and engineers are all doing some kind of work on materials.
in regards to what you will learn, I think the curriculum is very similar to a mechanical engineering curriculum with the exception of major specific courses.
regarding research, it is generally to have materials that are better than what we currently have. For example, aerospace always wants materials that are stronger and lighter. One thing I was familiar with was something called metamaterials which is another hot field. Fundamentally, there is some kind of limitation that a "natural" material cannot exceed. However, with a special structure that can be possible.
I personally would suggest doing Mechanical as undergrad as it's pretty broad and has decent job prospects. Many material scientists do ME undergrad then go to grad school for material science.
