It's an advanced material world
Useful sites
Sloan Career Cornerstone Centre (USA)
Materials science and engineering overview
Provides an overview of materials science and engineering including everyday examples.
Materials science and engineering: The field
Describes the various types of materials and the four elements of materials science and engineering.
Strange Matter (UK)
What is materials science?
The online accompaniment to the Strange Matter exhibition. Provides a definition of materials science and the general categories of materials.
Fun stuff!
Contains interactive activities ‘Zoom’, ‘Materials Smackdown’, ‘The Transformer’ and ‘Change the World Challenge’ to explain the role of structure, properties, processing and performance in material design.
How self-healing spacecraft will work (How Stuff Works, USA)
Describes how spacecraft will be able to mend cracks and faults without human input.
An education outreach manual on tissue engineering (Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative, USA)
Provides background information on tissue engineering
Nanomaterials: New business from innovation (University of Western Sydney, Australia)
Describes some nanomaterials, how they are made and some potential applications.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Is Teflon safe? (Health Matters, 23 February 2006)
Discusses safety concerns about Teflon and non-stick cookware.
Brave new world (Features, 4 November 2004)
Looks at devices created to restore lost function to those with disabilities.
Medical devices (The Health Report, 6 September 2004)
Tells a personal story about problems with medical devices and their regulation.
Innovation in tissue engineering (The Science Show, 5 June 2004)
Describes tissue engineering for skin grafts and other injuries.
Smart fabrics (Catapult)
Reports on some new smart fabrics.
Materials Monthly (Centre for Science & Engineering of Materials, Australian National University)
An online magazine that contains articles about Australian materials research.
Research Highlights (Australian National University)
Reports on the research highlights of the Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering.
Solve (CSIRO, Australia)
Contains articles on the latest CSIRO materials research, including:
Concrete cast in a new light
Describes a new product for the construction of houses which gives improved strength and insulation over conventional building materials.
Plastic fantastic
Describes fire-, blast- and acid-resistant geopolymers that have uses in the building and other industries.
Now that’s a smart suit
Describes a smart fabric that has electronic circuitry made from polymers incorporated into the fabric.
Joint effort proves promising
Describes a technique that combines a biodegradable polymer and cartilage cells to treat damaged knee joints with a single injection.
Page updated August 2008.