Here's how you can adapt to industry trends in Materials Science.

With rapid industrial growth, deforestation & unprecedented rise in global warming has become a pondering topic for life survival and protecting ecosystem. 4 P concept (People, profit, product & planet) is now trending for sustainaibility. With stringent regulations across the world, industries are now adopting waste managementusing 4R concept. Converting waste to wealth is trending in the industries for sustainable development. Reducing carbon footprint in prodct is a way forward to minimize global warming potential during use, manufacturing & end of life assessment. Use of recyclable and renewbale material in packaging and product also provide addtional support to sustainability

I suggest: 1) Stay curious about other fields. Look at cutting edge developments in what on the surface may appear as a stretch as a related discipline - you may find yourself in a position to radically transform a specific field. 2) Continue to communicate your results via traditional platforms (journal articles & Conference presentations) but also take advantage of web-based social media and related venues.

This is what I do... 1. An open attitude for anything new in materials science. 2. Talk to as many vendors and suppliers as possible. you will have different prospective and latest information and availability of latest technology...For ex.if you want to buy any analytical instruments, talk with all...you will come to know so many things. 3. Attend expo..this will give you a leverage to know the real and latest application of your materials and real use. Talk to most of people and visit stalls . 4. Talk with your peers over tea break. Remember when you give info then only you can expect info. 5. Attend conference and intouch with academic professors ...This will keep your fundamentals in check and the one which is still a science.

Stay updated with the new product, process or technology development as well as the industry demand. Market is changing fast and hence we need to be alert to maintain the sustainability.

For me, a key point to be informed is to seek the scientific literature often. If working in R & D, attend high-level international conferences, and try to interact with prominent actors.

Currently, universities can be seen as an effective factor in the growth of industrial innovation. In my opinion, creating joint ventures between universities and industries with the aim of training specialists for industry (and not just providing training programs) can be useful. Currently, despite the interdisciplinary fields such as nanobiosensors or photovoltaic technologies, it seems that universities should organize their educational groups based on a technology (such as catalysts) and not only educational fields (such as organic chemistry or analytical).

In my opinion, the material application field is a result of interfacing multiple scientific disciplines. There are of course benefits in educating ourselves around each field so we can mindfully drive invention and development, but you get best results when you bring deep expertises from individuals who spent majority of their efforts and time in developing their own areas. Collaboration can bring new perspectives, save efforts, lead to faster and better developments, and more importantly allows each of the collaborators to learn from each others, so they can be head on dealing with key issues in more productive way.

Embracing complexity is general is the theme of modern scientific arenas. It is not easy but more and more it is becoming a necessity, not just a nice trend to have. Some of the key high tech tools can be learnt, some others are too heavy to handle individually. That is where collaboration become handy: bringing the right expertises who can execute a research vision can reshape the research and development of certain landscape. Maintaining the right talents and extend their activities across the board can vitalize projects and open the door for better and precise use of new technologies and tools.

One more dimension of handling risk is to include the "seek opportunities" dimension: newly emerged materials may not meet the design expectations, but they can provide an opportunity for either learning/improvement pathway OR new applications on its own. For example, if a biomaterial was meant for implant has higher degradation and diffusional rate than intended, it could better serve as drug release vehicle. Systematic and non biased evaluation of the developed materials can provide better opportunities to direct the developmental pathway toward new application field, and If necessary, bringing other partners who specialize in that area could materialize new opportunities so the foreseen risky loss turned into solid gains.