Materials science and engineering is a discipline that extends from the microscopic structure and properties of materials to the design and evaluation of materials in engineering systems. Achievements in materials science underpin the revolutionary advances in technology that define the modern standard of living. The role of a materials engineer is to understand why materials behave as they do under various conditions, to recognize the limits of performance that particular materials can attain, and to know what can be done during the manufacture of materials to meet the demands of a given application.