Dear Colleagues,

The 8th International Conference on Key Engineering Materials (ICKEM 2018) (http://www.ickem.org/) will be held, 16–18 March, 2018, at the Osaka International Convention Center, Osaka, Japan. This meeting will be organized by the International Association of Computer Science & Information Technology (IACSIT), and co-organized by the University [DM1] of the Ryukyus, Kyushu, and the Branch of the Society of Materials Science, Japan.

Previous ICKEM meetings were held in Sanya (China), Singapore, Kota Kinabalu (Malaysia), Bali (Indonesia), Singapore[DM2] , Hong Kong, and Penang (Malaysia), from 2011 to 2017. With the experience of running successful events in the ICKEM series over the past seven years, we are confident that 2018 will be an even greater success.

The purpose of the 8th International Conference on Key Engineering Materials is to bring together researchers, engineers and practitioners interested in the whole range of fields related to the materials that underpin modern technologies. Papers presenting original works are invited on the topics listed below.

1. Biomaterials in Different Applications
2. Novel Composite Materials in Vivid Applications
3. Application of Novel Materials in Civil Engineering
4. Advances in Materials and Manufacturing Technology
5. Materials and Technologies in Environmental Engineering
6. Studies on Corrosion, Coating, and Aspects of Chemical Engineering
7. Electrical, Electronic, and Optoelectronic Materials: Synthesis and Applications
8. Trends in the Development of Nanomaterials, Nanocomposites and Nanotechnology

For this edition of the ICKEM meeting, the conference chair, Professor Alexander M. Korsunsky from the University of Oxford, UK, proposed the topic of Hierarchically-Structured Materials (HSM) as the focal theme.

Natural and engineered materials that enjoy widespread successful use in highly-demanding applications are distinguished by multi-level hierarchical structuring across scales. Beginning with the chemical elements and molecular building blocks that form a material, inherent properties are determined using the intricate composite architectures found at the nano- and micro-scales, which govern macroscopic properties and performance.

A number of simulation frameworks have been put forward in order to model the material structure and behavior at each length scale under consideration. Similarly, a variety of techniques have been elaborated for experimental characterization and testing, with sensitivity and resolution appropriate for each length scale involved. While this view of multi-scale materials modelling and characterization is widely accepted and used, there are a number of conceptual, theoretical, and applied challenges that remain unresolved, e.g., rigorous definition of distinct structural scale, robust approach to the validation of multi-scale modelling frameworks, etc. In an attempt to advance our understanding in these areas, the conference chair has organized a workshop devoted to Hierarchically-Structured Materials (HSM), in which specific research results by conference participants will be presented and examined in the light of the framework outlined above. This volume will include contributions to this overarching theme from the conference chair, Professor Alexander M. Korsunsky, and his collaborators.

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Biomaterials in Different Applications
• Novel Composite Materials in Vivid Applications
• Application of Novel Materials in Civil Engineering
• Advances in Materials and Manufacturing Technology
• Materials and Technologies in Environmental Engineering
• Studies on Corrosion, Coating, and Aspects of Chemical Engineering
• Electrical, Electronic, and Optoelectronic Materials: Synthesis and Applications
• Trends in the Development of Nanomaterials, Nanocomposites and Nanotechnology