Advanced Materials for Sustainable Developments

Contributions from three symposia that were part of the 34th International Conference on Advanced Ceramics and Composites (ICACC), inDaytona Beach,FL, January 24-29, 2010 are presented in this volume. The broad range of topics is captured by the symposia titles, which are listed as follows: International Symposium on Ceramics for Electric Energy Generation, Storage, and Distribution (debuted in 2010); Thermal Management Materials and Technologies (debuted in 2010); and lastly, and Advanced Sensor Technology, Developments and Applications (debuted in 2010). These new symposia emerged during this ICACC meeting due to community growth and interest, and thus each of these subject areas were established as stand-alone symposia.

The current volume represents 15 contributions from the above listed symposia that embody the latest developments in engineering ceramics for energy technologies, thermal management utilizing either highly conductive or insulating materials, as well as advances regarding the utilization of ceramics for sensors.

Dr. Hua-Tay Lin, Distinguished R&D staff member, Group Lead of Ceramic Science and Technology Group, Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is currently focusing researches on mechanical reliability of ceramic components and electronic devices, high-temperature mechanical performance of ceramics and composites, high-temperature steam effects on mechanical reliability of ceramics and environmental barrier coating systems, and engineering of microstructure and properties of ceramics and composites, and coatings. He has served as a PI on numerous programs sponsored by DOE's Office of Distributed Energy, Office of Electricity Distribution Reliability and Transmission, Office of Transportation Technologies, Office of Industrial Technologies, and Office of Power Technologies with frequent collaborations with researchers at institution in the U. S., Japan, Korea, and Europe. Dr. Lin is the pass Chair of the Engineering Ceramics Division of the American Ceramic Society. He currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Applied Ceramic Technology. He is a Fellow of The American Ceramic Society. Dr. Lin holds a M.S. and a Ph.D. in Materials Engineering from Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, and a B.S. in Physics from National Central University, Taiwan.