Important developments supporting the design and application of new ceramics and composites

Exploring the latest findings, new materials, and applications, this issue keeps readers current with some of the most important developments in strategic materials and the computational design of ceramics and composites. It features select contributions from one symposium and three focused sessions that took place in January 2012 during the 36th International Conference and Exposition on Advanced Ceramics and Composites (ICACC) in Daytona Beach, Florida:

• Geopolymers and Other Inorganic Polymers reported on a variety of established and new applications, including the development of sustainable and environmentally friendly ceramic composites.
• Computational Design, Modeling Simulation, and Characterization of Ceramics and Composites sought to optimize behavior and facilitate the design of new ceramics and composites with customizable properties.
• Advanced (Ceramic) Materials and Processing for Photonics and Energy was dedicated to the synthesis and the structural and functional characterization of self-organized materials and nanostructures of ceramic materials, emphasizing their applications as functional materials.
• Thermal Management Materials and Technologies explored a variety of new and emerging materials and technologies, including measurement of thermal conductivity of graphitic foams.

This issue represents one of nine CESP issues published from the 36th ICACC meeting. ICACC is the world's most prominent international meeting dedicated to advanced structural, functional, and nanoscopic ceramics, composites, and other emerging ceramic materials and technologies. ICACC has been organized each year by The American Ceramic Society and The American Ceramic Society's Engineering Ceramics Division since 1977.

Waltraud M. Kriven is Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Professor Kriven received her Ph.D. in 1976 in Solid State Chemistry from the University of Adelaide in South Auatralia and her B.Sc. (Honors) and Baccalaureate degrees in Physical Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, and Biochemistry from the same institute. She is an internationally recognized expert in the areas of phase transformations in inorganic compounds and their applications in structural ceramic composites. She has authored or co-authored over 240 research publications, and fourteen books to date.