Online Graduate Certificate in Reliability and Maintainability Materials Science and Engineering
Reliability and Maintainability Engineering
Program Overview
The Online Graduate Certificate in Reliability and Maintainability Materials Science and Engineering is a 12-credit, fully online program designed for working material science engineers, process engineers, and graduate students. Graduates are equipped with the understanding and ability to improve the reliability, durability, and lifecycle performance of materials and engineered components. Upon completing this reliability engineering certificate, graduates will be prepared to:
- Apply reliability and maintainability engineering principles to evaluate the performance and longevity of engineering materials and components.
- Analyze material degradation mechanisms, including fatigue, corrosion, wear, creep, and fracture, to improve product reliability.
- Utilize materials characterization, failure analysis, and predictive analytics to support condition monitoring and lifecycle management.
- Develop strategies to improve material selection, structural integrity, and maintenance planning for critical engineering systems.
- Support engineering decision making through reliability analysis, risk assessment and lifecycle cost optimization.
Why Earn This Certificate?
Reliability and maintainability expertise is in growing demand across many fields, including energy, electronics, and infrastructure. This online graduate certificate equips engineers and technical professionals with knowledge and analytical tools to enhance the performance, safety, and sustainability of materials and products across a wide range of engineering applications. You’ll understand how the application of reliability and maintainability engineering principles to materials science and engineering topics, including:
- Material Behavior
- Degradation Mechanisms
- Corrosion
- Fatigue
- Fracture
- Advanced Manufacturing
- Materials Characterization
Who This Certificate is For
This program is well-suited for working material science engineers, process engineers, R&D engineers, and maintenance professionals seeking formal credentials without pausing their careers. It is also open to graduate students looking to specialize within an engineering degree path.
By earning this certificate, you open new and advanced career paths such as:
- Coatings Engineer
- Damage Tolerance Engineer
- Environmental Reliability Engineer
- Failure Analysis Engineer
- Process Metallurgist
Admission Requirements
- Applicants must meet the minimum criteria established by the UT Knoxville Graduate Council.
- The program accepts students for Fall, Spring, and Summer terms, offering multiple entry points throughout the year to fit the schedules of working professionals.
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Featured Courses
Probabilistic failure models and parameter estimation (maximum likelihood, Bayes techniques). Model identification and comparison, accelerated life tests, failure prediction, system reliability, preventive maintenance, and warranties.
Principles of maintenance and reliability engineering and maintenance management. Topics include information extraction from machinery measurements, rotating machinery diagnostics, nondestructive testing, life prediction, failure models, lubrication oil analysis, establishing a predictive maintenance program, and computerized maintenance management systems.
Qualitative and quantitative techniques for assessing and improving process systems reliability and safety. Probabilistic risk assessment, event tree analysis, fault tree analysis, statistical inference, and associated dependent failure analysis. This is the graduate version of NE 485 and requires additional assignments and expectations for graduate students.
Course is divided into two major components. First half of the course will focus on introducing the students to the concepts of reliability and maintainability and the impact of lean on the reliability of complex systems. The concepts of reliability engineering are utilized to address lean system failures, including equipment failures, human failures, material failures and scheduling failures. Will develop the ability to design systems that are both lean and reliable. The second half of the course will introduce students to specific case studies of systems failures and ask student to develop solutions by considering different dimensions including financial, technical feasibility, risk, safety, security and others. Multi criteria decision making methodologies will be presented to allow students to make decisions when different criteria lead to conflicting solutions.
