Semiconductor-based devices such, as transistors and diodes enabled technologies that have ushered in the information age. Computation, communication, storage, and display have all been impacted by semiconductors. The importance of semiconductors is recognized if we examine the number of undergraduate and graduate courses that cater to the physics and devices based on these materials. In nearly all electrical engineering departments there are one to two undergraduate courses on the general topic of “physics of semiconductor devices.” There are similarly two to three courses in graduate programs on semiconductor physics and devices. In many materials science departments and in physics (or applied physics) departments there are one or two courses where the focus is on semiconductors.

Semiconductors have achieved dominance in information technology because it is possible to rapidly alter their conductivity and optical properties. However, there are other materials that can also rightfully claim to be “smart.” New applications and needs are now making these other materials increasingly important. Devices that are usually called sensors or actuators are based on ceramics or insulators which have some properties that traditional semiconductors cannot match. Similarly, organic polymers can provide low-cost alternatives to traditional semiconductors in areas like image display, solar energy conversion, etc.

Increasingly we have to view intelligent devices as being made from a wide variety of materials – semiconductors, piezoelectric materials, pyroelectric materials, ferroelectrics, ferromagnetics, organic semiconductors, etc. Currently some electrical engineering departments and some materials science departments offer courses on “sensors and actuators” or “ceramics.” Some physics departments also offer courses on general “solid state physics,” which cover some aspects of ceramics.