A comprehensive approach designed to introduce the beginning student of engineering to the basic concepts of the industrial materials and manufacturing processes. The reader is lead through a logical scheme that illustrates how materials are harvested and converted from their primary form to usable parts and products. The student is encouraged to identify the positive and negative aspects of using natural resources to satisfy consumer needs and demands. This book shows how the natural ecological cycle begins with raw materials and ends with recycling. Properties, characteristics and structure of materials including metals, polymers, ceramics and composites are examined throughout this comprehensive introduction. Modern machine control technology is discussed as it relates to CAD/CAM/CIM processing techniques. The section on design focuses on quality, reliability and producibility. Questions and activities follow each chapter and a glossary of terms with definitions is provided.