Introduction to Metallurgy (Udemy.com)
A starting point for understanding metals – how they are made and their mechanical properties
Created by: Ray Harkins
Last updated August 2026
What you will learn
- What is Metallurgy
- A Brief History of Metals
- Physical Metallurgy
- The Periodic Table
- Material Test Reports
- Mechanical Properties of Metals
- What is Alloying
- How Steel is Made
How it compares
Against the other 335 rated Udemy courses in Engineering on CourseDuck:
- Rating4.4 out of 5higher than 39% of them
- Reviews807#105 of 336 by number of reviews
- Length3 hoursshorter than 71% of them
- Last updatedAugust 2026more recently than 95% of them
Course Description
Metallurgy is a major topic within material science that deals with the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements and their mixtures known as alloys. And this science of metallurgy that was birthed before the Bronze Age now extends into every sector of consumer and industrial products and structures. From the International Space Station to automobiles and airplanes ... from iPads to sky-scrapers ... nearly every product imaginable rests upon a foundation of metallurgy.
As a result, all sorts of manufacturing professionals -- quality and process engineers, supply chain professionals, production managers and more -- can benefit from understanding the basics of metallurgy. But for most of these professionals, metallurgy feels unapproachable. Its scientific concepts and terminology sounds foreign and complex, and few professional metallurgists take the time to explain the concepts to the outside world.
That is why we created this course, Introduction to Metallurgy. In it, you will learn a wide range of the fundamental concepts of this critical science. But don't worry ... we step through every concepts to help your learning process. In this course, we will cover:
What is Metallurgy
A Brief History of Metals
Physical Metallurgy
Mechanical Properties
How Steel is Made?
Crystal Structures
Alloying
And MUCH MORE!!
Plus, read what other students have said about Introduction to Metallurgy:
"Excellent beginner launch point for Metallurgy, especially for the price." - Mark M.
"Greatly appreciated Ray and Garry's explanations of a topic I struggled with during my BSME curriculum. I would agree that the vocabulary was a barrier to me the first time around, and so the effort to explain these terms and provide a glossary was helpful." - Michael R.
"Great course! I am a new metallurgical lab tech and this course taught me a lot." - Lee B.
"Both instructors seem passionate about this course. The lectures were easy to understand and very relevant to the field that I am in." - Ojinga B.
"A good high level overview of metallurgy." - Brent M.
"This was a very good introduction to the basics of metallurgy. This provided good insight for practical application." - Brad A.
This class is designed for quality, manufacturing, engineering and supply chain professionals looking to expand their skill set into this important field of study. "An Introduction to Metallurgy" will give you a foundational understanding of these key ideas and prepare you for more advanced training.
While an advanced understanding of chemistry and engineering is required to become a professional metallurgist, only a basic understanding of manufacturing is required to get started in this class.
Sign up today to begin your journey into the field of metallurgy!!
Instructor Details
- 4.4 Rating
807 Reviews
Ray Harkins
Ray Harkins is a senior manufacturing leader, educator, and founder of The Manufacturing Academy, with more than 30 years of experience in manufacturing engineering, quality engineering and management, and operations leadership. He currently serves as a General Manager in manufacturing, overseeing operations, quality, engineering, and continuous improvement while remaining actively engaged in solving the day-to-day challenges faced by manufacturers.
After beginning his career in manufacturing engineering, Ray expanded into quality and operations leadership, working alongside leading industry professionals throughout North America and Japan and touring hundreds of manufacturing facilities. These experiences shaped his belief that manufacturing professionals deserve practical training that they can immediately apply to improve quality, productivity, and their careers.
That philosophy has guided the development of more than 60 online courses covering Lean Six Sigma, Statistical Process Control, Supply Chain Analytics, Manufacturing Leadership, Reliability Engineering, and Operations Management. His courses are used by individual professionals and corporate training departments worldwide and have helped more than 140,000 students build practical skills and advance their careers.
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Reviews
By Clifford Panokarren on 12/19/2025
An awesome introduction to metallurgy with which you can grasp the fundamentals and take it to the next level. It gives you the basic rules that you can remember as far a metallurgy goes that set the foundation for deeper learning and understanding of metallurgy.
By Cory Schulfer on 11/11/2025
The content is great. I'd like to see content visually represented, simply would be fine. For example, we're talking about Iron on a periodic table, well throw a box around iron. Personally, I'm not completely well versed in iron but if my attention was drawn to it on the periodic table, it would be beneficial.
By Pietra de Souza Pereira on 7/28/2024
It's a good course. It gives exactly what it said it would: an introduction. I wish I had taken this course sooner because it would've helped me in my classes at college, but it was useful to make a content review. If you're interested in Metallurgy but know nothing about it, this is a good starting point. It covers many sides of the subject in a succinct way.
By Vivian Hui on 1/7/2024
This is a very good introduction course to metallurgy. The two instructors have beyond textbooks knowledge of the topic. The class format and material are easy to follow and enjoyable. This is a good course for people who are not metallurgy nor material science major in college but they want to learn about basic metallurgy related topics.
By Merchant Pavy-Jardine on 11/12/2023
I have almost completed the course and overall it has been super helpful! I have just started getting into blade smithing and thought it would be a good idea to learn some of the terminology and how different alloys are made before progressing further. This course has done exactly that with some interesting history and extra info on top. There are a few areas that are repeated a fair bit but other than that it's been great. would definitely recommend!
By Sachin Rane on 10/7/2023
Nice explanation of Metallurgical Terms and mechanical properties of Steel. Periodic Table explanation is very relevant. Could love to have more practical content during explanation. Worth recommending to peer group !!!
By Ryan Towles on 10/6/2023
A basic, general overview of the topic. Unfortunately, its unorganized, repetitive, and (like many others have stated) has terrible audio quality making it very difficult to stay focused, and motivated to continue. A lot of the time the speaker is very sloppy and nonchalant in his approach to teaching the material. Overall, I wouldn't recommend this class.
By Jeno Peek on 8/9/2023
I received an introduction to metallurgy. Before this course, I did not have any knowledge on this concept so I can not compare it to anything surrounding metallurgy. This was also my first course on Udemy. I think it was a good overview. I would have liked to see a more polished presentation. Both instructors seem knowledgeable about metallurgy and I trust their understanding so I would recommend this course.
By Anonymized User on 7/7/2023
This metallurgy course is an excellent choice for anyone new to the subject. As a student of material sciences, I found it to be an invaluable refresher that covered the essentials. The only area that could use some improvement is the audio quality. Occasionally, there is a noticeable hissing and background noise coming from the teacher's microphone, which can be a bit distracting. However, despite this minor drawback, the course effectively delivers a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental principles of metallurgy.
By Gary Robison on 6/2/2022
I welded for 25 yrs, transitioned into a metal lab technician. Mechanical properties, hardness testing, charpy impact test, all are in line with my duties with in the lab. The history of metals and the refining methods, I found it to be informative and necessary for people who have never seen the process of the making of Iron.
Quality Score
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Overall Score : 88 / 100












