will benefit from reviewing these chapters as a way of understanding what material characteristics are needed and considered useful
by the design community. Some of the basic ways designers conceptualize the use of materials in products and buildings are also
introduced in Chapter 3, which is useful reading for anyone who
does not have a design background.
Architects and product designers range widely in their interests and
need to understand material properties in depth. For typical architects in firms or students who have had basic courses in materials
and who have a general curiosity about nanomaterials and how
they might ultimately impact design, quantitative treatments are
rarely needed. Chapters 1, 2, and 3 provide an insight into what
nanomaterials are all about and are useful here. Chapter 5 on material selection processes is highly relevant to designers. Chapters 9,
10, 11, and 12 contain discussions on nanomaterials that are particularly appropriate for the design community. These chapters
contain only qualitative technical descriptions and should be generally accessible to all interested readers. Many designers, however,
are indeed quite technically inclined and have focused interests on
materials and on technologically based innovations and are willing
to put in the time necessary to understand them in some depth.
This group would indeed find it useful to review the chapters on
basic nanomaterial types and processing methods mentioned previously. Indeed, it is to this group that the design focus in this book
is largely oriented, not to the casual reader.
We hope that you enjoy the book!
Mike Ashby
Engineering Design Centre
Engineering Department
Cambridge University
Paulo Ferreira
Materials Science and Engineering Program
University of Texas at Austin
Daniel Schodek
Graduate School of Design
Harvard University
Preface
xviii
by the design community. Some of the basic ways designers conceptualize the use of materials in products and buildings are also
introduced in Chapter 3, which is useful reading for anyone who
does not have a design background.
Architects and product designers range widely in their interests and
need to understand material properties in depth. For typical architects in firms or students who have had basic courses in materials
and who have a general curiosity about nanomaterials and how
they might ultimately impact design, quantitative treatments are
rarely needed. Chapters 1, 2, and 3 provide an insight into what
nanomaterials are all about and are useful here. Chapter 5 on material selection processes is highly relevant to designers. Chapters 9,
10, 11, and 12 contain discussions on nanomaterials that are particularly appropriate for the design community. These chapters
contain only qualitative technical descriptions and should be generally accessible to all interested readers. Many designers, however,
are indeed quite technically inclined and have focused interests on
materials and on technologically based innovations and are willing
to put in the time necessary to understand them in some depth.
This group would indeed find it useful to review the chapters on
basic nanomaterial types and processing methods mentioned previously. Indeed, it is to this group that the design focus in this book
is largely oriented, not to the casual reader.
We hope that you enjoy the book!
Mike Ashby
Engineering Design Centre
Engineering Department
Cambridge University
Paulo Ferreira
Materials Science and Engineering Program
University of Texas at Austin
Daniel Schodek
Graduate School of Design
Harvard University
Preface
xviii