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Ceramic engineering is the technology of manufacturing and usage of ceramic materials. Many engineering applications benefit from ceramics characteristics as a material. The characteristics of ceramics have garnered attention from engineers across the world, including those in the fields: Electrical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and many others. Highly regarded for being resistant to heat, ceramics can be used for many demanding tasks that other materials like Metal and Polymers can't.

Ceramics Applications in Engineering

Ceramics can be used in many technological industries. The most noticeable application may be the ceramic tiles on NASA's Space Shuttle, used to protect it and the future supersonic space planes from the searing heat of reentry into the earth's atmosphere. They are also used widely in electronics and optics. In addition to the applications listed here, ceramics are also used as a coating in various engineering cases. An example would be a ceramic bearing coating over a titanium frame used for an airplane. Recently the field has come to include the studies of single crystals or glass fibers, in addition to traditional Polycrystalline materials, and the applications of these have been overlapping and changing rapidly.

Aerospace:

Engines; Shielding a hot running airplane engine from damaging other components.
Airframes; Used as a high-stress, high-temp and lightweight bearing and structural component.
Missile nose-cones; Shielding the missile internals from heat.
Space Shuttle tiles
Rocket Nozzles; Withstands and focuses the exhaust of the rocket booster.

Automotive:

Sensors; Insulator for internal sensors.
High-temperature components

Biomedical:

Artificial bone; Dentistry applications, teeth.
Biodegradable splints; Reinforcing bones recovering from osteoperosis
Implant material

Electronics:

Optical/Photonic:

Optical fibers; Glass fibers for super fast data transmission.
Switches
Laser amplifiers
Lenses

History of Ceramics in Engineering

Ceramics Engineering, like many sciences, evolved from a different discipline by todays standards. Materials Engineering is grouped with Ceramics Engineering to this day. Universities with Ceramics programs include a curriculum saturated with materials engineering classes.

First applications were spurred on by the military requirements of World War II (1939-1945), which created a need for high-performance materials and helped speed the development of ceramic science and engineering. Throughout the 1960's and 1970's, new types of ceramics were developed in response to advances in atomic energy, electronics, communications, and space travel. The discovery of ceramic superconductors in 1986 has spurred intense worldwide research to develop superconducting ceramic parts for electronic devices, electric motors, and transportation equipment.

Preceding the spark of the ceramic industry in the late 19th century, there was the study of materials closely associated with chemistry. Since Ceramics are comprised of a crystalline structure, the knowledge of how crystals are formed and the strengths involved was important in the development of ceramics as a standalone scientific field.

Present Day Ceramics Engineering

Now a multi-billion dollar a year industry, ceramics engineering and research has established itself as an important field of science. Applications continue to expand as researchers develop new kinds of ceramics to serve different purposes. An incredible number of ceramics engineering products have made their way into the average American's life.

The American Ceramics Society states the following about the history of their organization:

"In May 1894, two rooms in the basement of The Ohio State University’s College of Engineering were set aside to create a new department: Clay-Working and Ceramics. Founded with a $10,000 grant from the State of Ohio, the department was the first of its kind anywhere in the nation.
The course of study was the idea and personal project of Edward Orton Jr., a young mining engineer. Orton had gathered his ceramic knowledge, piece by piece, from various jobs in coalmines, glass factories and steel plants.
In 1893 he was the superintendent for a factory that made paving bricks. Orton’s factory, hit by an “acute crisis,” closed, leaving him with some unexpected extra time. He used the opportunity to lobby for the passage of what some people dubbed the “Mud Pie Bill” – legislated funding to establish a school to train professionals in the growing industrial ceramic industry. Four months later Edward Orton, Jr. taught his first class in ceramic engineering. Five years later he led the way to founding The American Ceramic Society – initially with two of his own students." ^[1]

Education

Many educational institutions in the United States offer degrees in this field, examples being the New York State College of Ceramics (SUNY) located at Alfred University, and Rutgers University, and there are several in other countries. Some of these institutions are planning to change the names of their disciplines to "Materials science" or "Materials engineering." Clemson University and the University of Missouri–Rolla offer Ceramic & Materials Engineering which offers a wider spectrum of materials such as polymers, glasses, and composites in addition to ceramics.

References

^ "ACerS History: Ceramic Education". October 1976. Retrieved 2007-10-06. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

Brow, Richard K. "Ceramic Engineering at the" (PDF) (PDF). Retrieved 2007-10-07. {{cite web}}: Check |archiveurl= value (help)
"Ceramic Engineers: California Occupational Guide Number 329". 1995. Retrieved 2007-10-06.

[1] "ACerS History: Ceramic Education". October 1976. Retrieved 2007-10-06. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

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