This unit aims to provide a fundamental knowledge of Materials Science and Engineering providing fundamental knowledge on physical and chemical properties that later will be referred in the following units. The students will know and understand the atomic and molecular structure of matter; they will understand the electrical properties of solids (conductors, semiconductors and dielectric materials), in the framework of the materials’ atomic structure. The students will know and understand the fundamentals of electrochemistry and the working principles of galvanic and electrolytic cells and will also become familiar with the applications of galvanic and electrolytic cells. The students will acquire the capability of relating each material property with its genesis and in that way will be able to act at the basic materials level in order to modify the required properties for a certain Electrical Engineering application.