Look around you, materials are everywhere…

The earliest humans used only a limited number of materials, such as stone, sand, wood and bones, which were available in their nearest environment. The development of ancient societies was always connected to their ability to produce tools by using advanced materials. Latter in history, ancient humans developed skills and discovered techniques for working with materials with superior properties, such as clay and various metals. Moreover, it was found that material properties could be controlled by heating (heat treatment process). Prehistoric periods of early civilizations (i.e., Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age) were named after their advanced materials.

However, only after the Industrial Revolution, scientists and engineers started to understand the relationships between production processes, structure and macroscopic level properties. Since then, numerous advanced materials had been developed, including plastics, glasses, ceramics, supper alloys, semiconductors, biomaterials, liquid crystals and composites. Today our everyday lives are deeply influenced by the materials surround us. Houses, transportation, computers, clothing and toys are all made of different kinds of materials. Most products we use are made of many dissimilar materials to satisfy various needs.

Materials science and engineering is an interdisciplinary field which investigates the relationship between microstructure (down to the atomic or molecular scales), manufacturing processes, material properties and performance. It also deals with crystallography, solid state diffusion, crystal defects, metallurgy, thermodynamics, materials characterization, fracture mechanics, corrosion, failure analysis, nanotechnologies and much more. In addition, materials scientists and engineers develop new materials and processes used for advanced technological applications.