(710c) Computational Materials Education and Training (CoMET): A Graduate Training Program to Teach Fundamentals of Quantum Density Functional Theory to Engineers and Scientists

Density functional theory will play a significant role in the discovery of new materials that offer solutions to the most pressing technological problems facing our society. Yet no engineering curriculum exists at many US universities beyond basic graduate classes in quantum mechanics to teach students the essentials of DFT. Practical DFT training often focuses on how to use packages, with less emphasis given to understanding the underlying methods and their limitations. The CoMET program directly addresses the need for DFT literacy and involves faculty from three Colleges and six different departments across science and engineering at Penn State. Through CoMET, we have established a graduate minor in Computational Materials, which highlights two courses in fundamental and practical aspects of DFT. Integral aspects of this program are the DFT Café, where students and faculty meet weekly to discuss key papers in the development and use of DFT, a weekly seminar series, where students present DFT-based research, an international summer school, and a capstone project. I will discuss the deployment of the CoMET program, including hurdles that we faced, our progress so far, and the outlook for implementing elements of this program into the graduate Chemical Engineering curriculum.