This book is based on selected lectures describing current research activities of experts who are skilled communicators capable of presenting complex subjects in a clear and concise manner.

The subtitle of the book “Composite Materials and their Applications” distinguishes it from its predecessor published 10 years ago (2015) and reflects the progress achieved in Materials Science during this period. Predicted and expected changes in the future modus operandi of research activities are outlined in the chapter entitled “The Future of Materials Science with Artificial Intelligence” (Ch1). The chapter “Interfacial Nanoarchitectonics for Functional Materials and Applications” (Ch2) describes Nanoarchitectonics as an emerging post-Nanotechnology concept, which builds on nanotechnological knowledge and aims to create Functional Materials from Nanostructures. Four chapters (Ch3) - (Ch6) describe creation of materials with novel functionalities and discuss their properties.

Ideally, the results gained from research studies can be used in real-world settings. Two chapters of the book (Ch7) - (Ch8) are linked to environmental issues, four chapters (Ch9) –(Ch12) describe applications of research findings in practice with the goal to improve outcomes in healthcare field and (Ch13) presents brief concise outlines of the past research activities in chalcogenides and their thin films and fibers and their applications ranging from data storage to lasers and surgical instruments.

The last 2 chapters, “Artificial Intelligence - Perils and Promises” (Ch14) and “Research Outputs - What Matters Most (Ch15)” cover the most interesting opinions expressed during the Round-Table Discussions.

This book will be of interest to graduate students, researchers and practitioners alike.

Dr Maria Bardosova completed a 5-years university course in Physics. Her academic education includes also MSc. degrees  in Patent Law from Slovak Technical University Bratislava (1986) and in Science and Technology Policy from Manchester University (2002).  After  receiving her PhD degree in Electronics from Slovak Academy of Sciences (1983),  she worked for Tesla Research Institute in Bratislava (1983-1988) and lead the group which developed a CD player based on a licence held from the Philips/Sony consortium. When the prototype was handed over to the producer she returned to Slovak Academy of Sciences as the Head of Department (1989-2005). For next 16 years, till 2021  she was with Tyndall National Institute UCC Cork holding the position of Staff Researcher while she coordinated 2 successful EU projects. Since 2022 she works for Institute of Informatics SAS as the Senior Scientist and a Horizon 2020 project coordinator. She was a Royal Society Research Fellow with Professor Richard H. Tredgold at Department of Chemistry University of Manchester (1992-1993), a Canon Fellow (1997-1998) and a JSPS Fellow (short-term) at National Institute of Materials and Chemistry Research, Tsukuba (1999).

Dr Bardosova published over 70 papers that garned more than 1200 citations, wrote 4 book chapters and co-edited 2 books.

Dr Hiroshi Fudouzi received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Engineering, Applied Chemistry from Kyushu Institute of Technology in 1991 and 1993, respectively.  He started to work on colloidal photonic crystals and smart optical materials during his stay as a visiting scholar with Professor Younan Xia at the Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, USA (2002 – 2003). In 2004 he received a PhD degree from Kyushu University. He has been working at NIMS since 2001 and was promoted to senior researcher (2003) and to principal researcher (2007) and became chief researcher in 2015. From 2008 to 2009, he served as a staff member of Nanotechnology and Materials Science, Japan Cabinet Office of Science and Technology Policy. He was the group leader of the Colloidal Crystal Materials group from 2016 to 2023 and an executive member of NIMS venture company (2015-2021). The company devised an original smart material, photonic rubber with tunable structural color function from laboratory to industrial scale. He has held two visiting professorships at Nagoya Institute of Technology (since 2018) and at Chiba University (since 2024).

He was awarded Encouragement Prize by Japan Institute of Metals (1999) and HOSOKAWA Encouragement Award (2008).

Dr Fudouzi published over 80 papers that garned more than 2350 citations.