| Date | Milestone |
Spring 2014
| Formation of the department approved; Jointly managed by the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the College of Arts and Sciences |
| August 2015 | Krishna Rajan hired as Erich Bloch Chair |
| Fall 2015 | Faculty search initiated |
| Fall 2015 | MS/PhD curriculum formulated |
| Spring 2016 | First set of new faculty arrive in department
|
| June 2016 | First Erich Bloch Symposium held
|
Fall 2016
| First graduate classes offered |
| Fall 2016 | MDI Industry-Resident Scholar program initiated
|
2017
| MS/PhD curriculum formally approved |
| 2017 | New faculty hires receive first federal grants from the NSF, AFOSR, DOE and DARPA |
| June 2017 | Second Erich Bloch Symposium held
|
| Summer 2017 | Collaboratory for a Regenerative Economy (CoRE) established |
| 2017 | First group of graduate students receive national research awards |
| 2017 | Inaugural class of MS graduates |
| 2018 | Completion of hiring phase for inaugural class of faculty: MDI has 17 faculty, including several research appointments |
| 2018 | MDI completes move into Bonner Hall with its own dedicated teaching and laboratory space |
2018
| NSF-Science and Technology Center BioXFEL Phase 2 awarded |
| June 2018 | Third Erich Bloch Symposium held |
| February 2019 | Quanxi Jia elected to National Academy of Inventors
|
| 2019 | SAMRI-SUNY Applied Materials Research Institute established with MDI representing UB on advisory board |
| 2019 | MDI awarded NSF-REU to establish summer undergraduate research program |
| June 2019 | Fourth Erich Bloch Symposium held |
| Spring 2020 | BS degree formally approved for Fall 2020 start |
| 2020 | Center for Materials Processing Data (CMPD) industry–academia consortia with UConn, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute established |
| May 2020 | Inaugural class of PhD graduates |
| Fall 2020 | Accelerated BS/MS program established with the Department of Chemistry |
