Why Study Materials?

Throughout much of human history, progress has been defined by advances in the materials human society uses, such as during the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age. Today, in every sector of human activity, materials continue to impact all fronts of society and significantly enhance the quality of life.

Materials are constantly concocted or invented to meet the demands of science and society. We can make synthetic skin, blood, and bone. We can make information superhighways from glass. We can make shields to protect planes that fly in and out of Earth's atmosphere. We can make materials that repair themselves, that swell and flex like muscles, that repel ink or paint and that capture the energy of the sun.

Materials technology is the basis of all modern industries that drive the global economy. Few would have predicted fifty years ago that silicon would have such dominance in communications and information processing. Throughout the twenty-first century and beyond, materials will continue to enable technology that explores new frontiers, and develop more efficient and cleaner ways to power the world.

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