After transferring to Iowa State, Nick Tader’s experience taking Principles of Materials Science and Engineering ignited a passion. With support from faculty, advisors and fellow students, Nick declared materials engineering as his major.
“I picked Iowa State because of the excellent reputation of one department. Surprisingly, I found my passion through a required course in a different discipline: materials engineering.
This class was answering all my questions that I wanted answers to, and everything was just becoming so clear.
All of the departments here are strong, so I knew I could change my major and still be confident that I would receive an outstanding education.
From the minute I decided to transfer here, I had support. An advisor helped make the process go smoothly and created a schedule of classes that fit best with me and allowed me to explore other disciplines within the college.
I joined the rocket club, where I could see all the different disciplines of engineering in practice with over 100 other students from various engineering departments.
Over the summer, I had the opportunity to do research with Dr. Steve Martin and the Glass and Energy Materials Group, researching the basic properties, glass formations, structures, and dynamics of glass systems while also studying the ionic transport dependence on glass structure and chemistry for applications in solid-state lithium and sodium batteries.
Transferring to Iowa State has given me confidence in my education through the resources and opportunities that all students have, including transfer students.”