Research

Since the dawn of civilization, materials have been central to our growth prosperity, security, and quality of life. Nevertheless materials research as an intellectual activity is less than 50 years old.

The field of materials research is defined by the strong interrelationships among materials' properties, structure and composition, synthesis and processing, and performance. In developing new materials, discover and application, and therefore science and engineering, are closely interrelated.

Materials researchers investigate the structure and composition of materials on scales ranging from the electronic and atomic through the microscopic to the macroscopic. They develop new materials, improve established materials, and create methods to produce materials reliably and economically. Researchers seek to understand phenomena and to measure materials properties of all kinds. They also evaluate and manipulate the performance of materials as structural or functional elements in engineering systems. This diversity of interests is reflected in the manifoldness of materials researchers, who represent a broad range of academic disciplines, from physicists and chemists to mechanical engineers.