• To be able to select a material for a given use based on considerations of cost and performance.
• To understand the limits of materials and the change of their properties with use.
• To be able to create a new material that will have some desirable properties.
All engineering disciplines need to know about materials. Even the most immaterial like software or system engineering depend on the development of new materials, which in turn alter the economics, like software-hardware trade-offs. Increasing applications of system engineering are in materials manufacturing (industrial engineering) and complex environmental systems.
