ABSTRACT
From the Stone Age to the present silicon-driven Information Age, materials have occupied the center stage in the development and advancement of civilization. This is evident from the fact that various ages have been named after materials—for example, the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age. The domain of materials science and engineering is a very exciting area directed toward understanding why metals and materials behave the way they do, how materials are made, and how new materials with unique properties can be created.
