Material properties change in an irreversible manner as a result of modifications to their physical, chemical or biological environments. Confronted by such a phenomenon, such as thermal dilatation, the engineer may regard it as a problem (elongation of a bridge due to the effect of summer heat), or use it to his advantage (thermal circuit breakers). Research into intelligent materials is aimed at inventing materials or structures with new properties which respond to external stimulae.
The innovation potential for intelligent materials is huge. Mastering of such new materials is a guarantee of competitiveness for Swiss industry, especially in the watch, machine, med-tech, pharmaceutical, energy and building technology sectors.
As a cooperation programme between the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and the Innovation Promotion Agency (CTI), the National Research Programme "Smart Materials" (NRP 62) is committed to the development of new intelligent materials and advancing promising projects to the R&D stage.
NRP 62 will operate with CHF 11 million for a research duration of five years.