1.

Historical Perspective Historically, the development and advancement of societies have been intimately tied to the members ability to produce and manipulate materials to fill their needs. In fact, early civilizations have been designated by the level of their materials development (Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age). With time they discovered techniques for producing materials that had properties superior to those of the natural ones; these new materials included pottery and various metals. Furthermore, it was discovered that the properties of a material could be altered by heat treatments and by the addition of other substances. Thus, tens of thousands of different materials have evolved with rather specialized characteristics that meet the needs of our modern and complex society; these include metals, plastics, glasses, and fibers. 2. The Four Components of Materials Science and Engineering The structure of a material usually relates to the arrangement of its internal components. There are four levels of structure: a. Subatomic level - involves electrons within the individual atoms and interactions with their nuclei. b. Atomic level - encompasses the organization of atoms or molecules relative to one another. c. Microscopic level - contains large groups of atoms that are normally agglomerated together d. Macroscopic level - those that are viewed by the naked eye A property is a material trait in terms of the kind and magnitude of response to a specific imposed stimulus. Generally, definitions of properties are made independent of material shape and size. The six categories of properties for solid materials are: a. Mechanical b. Electrical c. Thermal d. Magnetic e. Optical f. Deteriorative

Processing pertains to the way a material is handled and used in a product. The way a material is processed is related to the final structure that the product is going to have. The performance of a material is based on the effectiveness of the material on the use that it is being subjected. Performance is related to the properties of the material. 3. Classification of Materials Metals - Materials in this group are made of metallic elements such as iron, aluminum, copper, etc. Ceramics - Ceramics are compounds between conducting and non-conducting such as oxides and carbides. Polymers - are the familiar rubber and plastic products.
Composite - Composite materials are two or more combinations of the basic groups of materials. Advanced Materials - These are materials used in high-tech applications such as electronic gadgets Different types of these are: Semiconductors - Semiconductors have properties between conductors and

insulators.
Biomaterials - These are materials that are integrated inside the human body. Smart materials - These are a group of new materials that are able to change and

react with predetermined manners to different changes to their surroundings.

Nanoengineered materials - These are materials under study that contains

manually structured materials to produce properties that are otherwise impossible on normal circumstances