Smart Materials

Catalog description

Description: Advances in new technologies rely on the availability of "smart" materials that adapt to environment. Examples include sun-sensor glasses that become dark in sunlight and clear-out when indoors, and shape-memory materials used as stents in human body. In this course, the definition of a smart material and to understand principles of using electrical and other functional properties of materials to create smart systems is covered. Students are also taught to search literature on a suitable topic and work as a group to write a term paper and make a presentation to the class.