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Article: Best laid plans: an explosion of new materials has a good chance of catching you unprepared.(Final Thought)
- Article from:
- Product Design & Development
- Article date:
- November 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Advantage Business Media. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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If you think about it, much of the innovation on this planet stems from new applications enabled by new materials. From organic LEDs, composites, metal/metal matrices, titanium, super alloys, shape memory alloys, glassy metals, buckyballs and nanotubes; we cannot underestimate the importance of materials in the pursuit of spectacular new products. We must consider how, too often, we adopt new materials and processes without completely understanding the implications.
Let's set the stage by discussing the theory of unintended consequence, which we routinely think of as a more elegant and academically-correct way of talking about Murphy's Law. Unintended consequence ...