Future insights on high temperature ceramics and composites for extreme environments

This document summarizes key research directions as they emerged during the proceedings of the Inaugural Orton Workshop that aimed to define scientific areas of current interest to the ceramics community around the theme of: "High Temperature Ceramics and Composites for Extreme Environments." The topic was selected due to the timely interest in such materials to meet the needs of hypersonic aviation and space exploration and habitation. Experts from funding agencies supporting ceramics research, thought-leaders from academia with expertise spanning materials processing, characterization, and modeling, as well as research and development leaders from key (aviation-related) industries, gathered to evaluate the state-of-the-art in this field and to address key questions with the intent of accelerating research and development efforts on all fronts. Highlights of the work presented and of the discussion and brainstorming sessions are provided here. It was the purpose of the organizers (The Orton Ceramic Foundation and the Orton Chair in Ceramic Engineering at OSU) to establish this event as a service to the Ceramics community in the spirit the founder of the field of Ceramic Engineering, Dr. Edward Orton Jr.