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4 A D V A N C E D M A T E R I A L S & P R O C E S S E S | O C T O B E R 2 0 1 7 ASM International 9639 Kinsman Road, Materials Park, OH 44073 Tel: 440.338.5151 • Fax: 440.338.4634 Frances Richards, Editor-in-Chief frances.richards@asminternational.org Joanne Miller, Editor joanne.miller@asminternational.org Ed Kubel, Larry Berardinis, and Erika Steinberg, Contributing Editors Jim Pallotta, Creative Director jim.pallotta@asminternational.org Jan Nejedlik, Layout and Design Kelly Sukol, Production Manager kelly.suko l@asminternational.org Press Release Editor magazines@asminternational.org EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Somuri Prasad, Chair, Sandia National Lab Adam Farrow, Vice Chair, Los Alamos National Lab Jaimie Tiley, Past Chair, U.S. Air Force Research Lab Ellen Cerreta, Board Liaison, Los Alamos National Lab Tomasz Chojnacki, Caterpillar Inc. Mario Epler, Carpenter Technology Corp. Yaakov Idell, NIST Hideyuki Kanematsu, Suzuka National College of Technology John Shingledecker, EPRI Kumar Sridharan, University of Wisconsin ASMBOARDOF TRUSTEES William E. Frazier, President Frederick E. Schmidt, Jr., Vice President Jon D. Tirpak, Immediate Past President Craig D. Clauser, Treasurer Ellen K. Cerreta Kathryn Dannemann Ryan M. Deacon Larry D. Hanke Roger A. Jones Sudipta Seal Tirumalai S. Sudarshan David B. Williams John D. Wolodko William T. Mahoney, Secretary and Managing Director STUDENT BOARDMEMBERS Swetha Barkam, Allison Fraser, Rachael Stewart Individual readers of Advanced Materials & Processes may, without charge, make single copies of pages therefrom for per- sonal or archival use, or may freely make such copies in such numbers as are deemed useful for educational or research purposes and are not for sale or resale. Permission is granted to cite or quote fromarticles herein, provided customary acknowledgment of the authors and source is made. The acceptance and publication of manuscripts in Advanced Materials & Processes does not imply that the reviewers, editors, or publisher accept, approve, or endorse the data, opinions, and conclusions of the authors. T hemost inspiring aspect of editing an engineering pub- lication is the forward-lookingnatureof thearticles and news item we have the privilege of working with. Over the past several weeks, two articles were especially timely and encouraging—and both are included in this issue. One involves preparedness for sea level rise (SLR), while the other looks at resistance to super bugs. The best part is that mate- rials scientists and engineers are actively engaged in finding solutions to some of themost urgent challenges of modern life. Increasing average temperatures around the world are on the rise, mostly due to the rapid increase in greenhouse gases including CO 2 and CH 4 . However, the SLR article does not explore possible causes such as volcanic eruptions, fos- sil fuel consumption, and long-range climate cycles. Rather, it takes a practical look at what can be done from a materials science perspective to deal with the problem. This is what I love about the approach to this article—looking for re- alistic solutions rather than assigning blame. Top of mind is protecting things like steel structures and reinforced concrete from corrosion by using specialized coating systems and ground improvement methods such as biocement. Part I of this article series (in this issue) explores these short-term tactics while Part II (appearing next issue) will cover long-term approaches to mitigating both cli- mate change and SLR. On the other end of the size spectrum—but perhaps even more deadly— are antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In our war against these destructive microor- ganisms, we find a time-tested ally—copper. It is well documented in writings as early as the “Edwin Smith Papyrus,” circa 1600 B.C., that the Egyptians used copper to sterilize wounds and preserve drinking water. Once antibiotics were invented around the 1930s, copper’s medicinal value went by the wayside. Now, with the emergence of MRSA bacteria and widespread hospital borne illnesses and infections, attention is once again turning to copper. Consider this, as re- ported in the copper article: According to a study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in the U.S. alone, more than 1.7 million hospital patients acquired a bacterial, viral, or fungal infection in 2002, resulting in nearly 99,000 deaths and additional treatment costs in the range of $40 billion. With an- timicrobial copper alloys able to kill more than 99% of bacteria on their surfaces within two hours, its use should be much more widespread in hospital settings than it currently is. We hope you find these articles—and the rest of this issue—as inspiring as we do. Materials scientists and engineers are truly doing good work in preparing the future for all of us, and we hope you feel proud to be part of this community. We also hope to see many of you in person at our fall events in Pittsburgh and Columbus later this month. frances.richards@asminternational.org MATERIALS SCIENTISTS SAVING THE WORLD