This issue of the MRS Bulletin provides an up-to-date look at ongoing research activities within the field of functionally gradient materials (FGM). The term FGM, now widely used by the materials community, originated in Japan in the late 1980s as a description for a class of engineering materials exhibiting spatially inhomogeneous microstructures and properties. Of course, gradient materials are not something new. It must be recognized that humans have extensively utilized materials containing microstructural gradients (either those found in nature or those created through processing) since the earliest days of craftsmanship and engineering construction. Indeed, there are examples of graded materials developed long ago, such as case-hardened steel, which are still in common use today. Contemporary examples of these materials serve in technologically significant applications, as, for example, in thermal-barrier coatings for gas turbines. Nevertheless, what is new and exciting about FGMs is the realization that gradients can be designed at the microstructural level to tailor a material for the specific functional and performance requirements of an intended application. In addition, recent advances in processing are opening the possibility for the extension of the gradient materials concept to new materials systems and engineering problems.

The recent resurgence of interest in gradient materials has been driven by the need for improved materials, capable of meeting the demanding performance requirements established by emerging technologies such as the aerospace plane, ceramic engines, and nuclear fusion.