The interrelationships among composition, structure, property, process, and per formance of a material is the fundamental for materials research, development, manufacturing, and application. Materials characterization is the key to reveal these relationships throughout the entire circulation process of materials, from raw materials selection, through various process stages, final products, and applications, up to materials recycling and reuse. Characterization provides accurate and realistic information for in-depth understanding of a material, such as how the material fails, how to improve the performance, how to simulate a material, and what is the lifetime of the material.

Sponsored by the Materials Characterization Committee of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS), the symposium Characterization of Minerals, Metals, and Materials is focused on the advancements of characterization of various minerals, metals, and materials from the bulk down to the nanoscale, and on the applications of characterization results on the processing of these materials. The subjects of the symposium include extraction and processing of various minerals, and the process– structure–property relationship of metal alloys, glasses and ceramics, polymers, composites, and carbon used as functional and structural materials. All character ization methods and techniques and their applications are covered in this sympo sium. Advanced methodology and instrumentation for materials characterization are emphasized.