Engine efficiency is limited by the availability of materials able to withstand high operating temperatures. Materials engineers seek biomaterials chemically compatible with, and capable of assimilating, human tissue and bone for dental, bone, and joint replacements. Electronic device and microcircuitry advances have been made possible by advances in materials designs and processing techniques. The discovery of high temperature superconductors has presented materials engineers with a range of engineering challenges. Stability, current-carrying capacity, fabrication methods, and the critical temperature at which materials become superconducting are some of the areas in which engineers are seeking the advances necessary to implement these exciting new materials.
Composite materials are a mixture of materials having widely different characteristics.
The resulting composite materials are designed to exhibit properties superior to their individual parent materials. Frequently, composites are ceramic or metal fiber reinforced materials with a matrix of polymers, ceramics or metals. To the materials engineer, these composite materials involve a wide range of challenges in design and fabrication. Materials engineers create materials from the atomic level up to finished products. The atomic make-up, crystalline structure, and crystal morphology must be tailored to optimize the macroscopic properties of the material.