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When we talk about human history, we refer to phases of innovation by material: The Stone Age, The Bronze Age, The Iron Age, and now.. The Plastic Age. As deemed in the Dustin Hoffman film “The Graduate”, “the future is plastics” but what does that mean for materials science and engineering?

Forgive me for a bit of a history lesson here, but it is important to understand that in the 21st century our world has formulated plastics at a rapid pace, inventing materials for war, for space, and for consumers. The first academic department to focus on these advanced materials was at Northwestern University (Chicago!) in 1955, and the first materials research society held a conference in 1973. Materials science and engineering is not only about understanding plastics, but it emphasizes 4 interconnected categories in the study of any material from plastics, to metals and ceramics.

These 4 important categories include:

1. Processing: starting with raw materials to process ready materials through physical or chemical manipulation with theory of phase diagrams, diffusion, solubility parameters, and phase transformations Example: in the case of processing natural polymer resins such as those used as a varnish for protecting surfaces of paintings or furniture, the resin comes from a sap of a tree dammar which must be collected, crystallized, then dissolved into turpentine
2. Structure: “zoom” down to the atomic structure and interatomic bonding for it’s impact on a materialExample: the intramolecular polymer chemistries can be fine tuned by manipulating variables in the polymerization reactor such as the catalyst, reaction time, comonomer, cooling flowrates, depending on the reaction type
3. Properties: design for imperfections in solids, to improve known failure mechanisms, and for any specific type of end use property requiredExample: for dental appliances that are additive manufactured (3D printed) for end-use fitting, mechanical, spatial, and optical measurements are important to ensure quality to the patient
4. Performance: design for end use requirements to ensure the materials are consistent from one product to the nextExample: for eyeglass lenses made with composite polymer materials, different production methods using chemical and energetic approaches target adhesion strength between layers, and antioxidations are added to maintain the color even as materials degrade through repeated exposure to humidity/heat cycles

Whether one is a materials scientist who develops and synthesizes new materials, and/or a materials engineer who creates new products/ systems with existing materials and/or developing new techniques for processing materials, the significance of the MSE skillset- processing, structure, properties, and performance- is imperative to our future.

It is up to us what materials we let define us, as we have been reinventing them since the stone age!