A smarter future

Smart materials have been around a long time; some have made it to market, but the real promise is still to come.

Smart materials-materials that respond to, or report on, their environment-have been researched at universities and technical think tanks for decades. But where are they in the real world?

It is tempting to say nowhere, but that characterization is unfair. For example, if you own a Cadillac or Corvette automobile made since 2003, the car's ride damping is controlled via a magnetorheological (MR) shock absorber system that includes fluid incorporating micrometer-sized iron spheres. Supplied by Lord Corp., the fluid's flow properties change dramatically depending on external magnetic forces.