Developing Successful Careers for Material Experts as Basic Sourcesfor a More Sustainable Society

It is necessary for educators to be able to anticipate the fundamental material requirements of tomorrow’s industrial and market needs. The expansion of professions involved in material development needs to be structured starting at the university level and continued as a life-long learning process. Serious students, apart from being mere supporters of materials development, would be able to become material experts capable of creating and driving change. In addition to playing an active role in the innovation process, material specialists have been looking at interesting new career opportunities. Specific traditional materials skills have to be presented with broader competencies in the assessment of both life cost cycle and economic impact. These key issues are necessary to fuel the innovative use of materials.