New and Emerging Technologies and Smart Materials

New tools and materials that think

Design and technology keeps changing because two things keep advancing: the TOOLS used to design and make products, and the MATERIALS products are made from. Understand both and you can talk about almost any modern product. ⭐⭐ On the making side, designers now model products on a computer using CAD, computer aided design, and computer-controlled machines then cut and build them using CAM, computer aided manufacture. CAD can include augmented reality, virtual reality and AI; CAM can include laser cutting and 3D and even 4D printing. ⭐ New technology is driven in two ways. MARKET PULL is when customers want something and industry develops it to meet the demand. TECHNOLOGY PUSH is when a new invention appears first and then a use for it is found. ⭐⭐ On the material side, SMART MATERIALS respond to their surroundings ON THEIR OWN. A change in heat, light or stress makes the material change, doing a job that used to need a mechanism or a person. This module is new technologies and smart materials. Sustainability, energy and design history each have their own module. ⚠️ Carry one question the whole way through: is this about how a product is designed and made, or about a material that reacts by itself?

Making, driving and reacting

Three things to hold apart. Read across what each one is.

Tap the two smart materials

Tap the TWO descriptions that are SMART MATERIALS, materials that react to their surroundings by themselves.

• A material that changes colour when it gets warmer or cooler.
• A metal that springs back to a remembered shape when it is heated.
• A plank of ordinary timber cut to length in a workshop.
• A laser cutter following a pattern sent from a computer.

What drove this product

A company invents a brand new type of flexible screen with no particular product in mind, then spends a year working out what to build with it. Which best describes this?

• Technology push, because the new invention came first and a use was found afterwards
• Market pull, because customers were demanding this exact screen
• Computer aided design, because a computer was involved
• A smart material, because it is new

The words the topic uses

Six terms this topic turns on. Learn them and modern products read clearly.

Pair each material with what it does

Two true things about new tech

Select the TWO statements that are true.

• CAD is for designing on a computer and CAM is for making with computer-controlled machines
• A smart material can change in response to heat, light or stress by itself
• Market pull and technology push mean the same thing
• Ordinary timber is a smart material

Answering a technology question

Strong answers name the right idea and say what it does or why it matters. ⭐⭐ KEEP CAD AND CAM SEPARATE. CAD is designing and modelling on a computer; CAM is making with computer-controlled machines. Muddling them loses easy marks; naming the stage correctly gains them. ⭐ DECIDE PULL OR PUSH FROM WHAT CAME FIRST. If customer demand came first, it is market pull; if the invention came first and a use was found later, it is technology push. Point to the evidence in the example. ⭐⭐ FOR A SMART MATERIAL, NAME THE TRIGGER AND THE RESPONSE. Not just thermochromic, but: it changes colour WHEN the temperature changes. The trigger and the change together earn the mark, and show you understand it reacts by itself. DO NOT DRIFT INTO SUSTAINABILITY OR ENERGY. The 6 Rs, the product life cycle and energy sources each have their own module; here, keep the focus on new technologies and smart materials. ⚠️ A note on scope. Describe technologies and materials generically; do not name a living designer, a company or a brand. Keep the one question to hand: is this about how a product is designed and made, or about a material that reacts by itself?

From idea to prototype

Put the stages of designing and making a product with CAD and CAM into a sensible order.

• The designer has an idea for a product
• It is modelled on a computer using CAD
• The model is tested and refined on screen
• The finished design is sent to a CAM machine
• The machine cuts or prints the prototype

Build a point about modern making

Assemble one sentence that uses the vocabulary correctly.

The technology run

Five quick decisions about new technologies and smart materials. Three lives.

A house that looks after itself

Leave design and technology aside for a moment. Picture a home fitted so that it responds to what is happening around it, with nobody lifting a finger. ⭐ When the rooms grow cold, the heating clicks on by itself; when they warm up again, it switches off. Nobody watches a thermometer; the change in the room is what triggers it. ⭐⭐ As dusk falls, the outdoor lights come on because the daylight has faded; at dawn they go off again. And on a bright afternoon the blinds lower on their own to keep the glare out, then rise when a cloud passes. Each response is set off by a change in the surroundings, not by a person deciding. The clever part is that the house does the reacting. The trigger is a change in the world outside or inside, and the response follows automatically. A colder room, a darker sky, a brighter window; each brings its own built-in answer. ⚠️ Hold that picture. Some materials work exactly like that house: a change in heat, light or stress is the trigger, and the material answers by itself.

Finish each technology line

Designing and modelling a product on a computer is called _____. Making a product with computer-controlled machines is called _____. A material that changes colour when the temperature changes is _____. A material that changes colour when the light level changes is _____. A material that responds to its surroundings on its own is called a _____ material.

Three products to read

Three products are described. For each, choose the reading the topic best supports.

• A kettle has a strip on the side that turns from black to bright orange as the water heats up.
• A studio designs a chair entirely on screen, tests how it takes weight in the software, then sends the file to a machine that carves it.
• A firm invents a new lightweight foam with no product in mind, then later decides to use it in trainers.

Explain the new tools and materials

Explain how new technologies and smart materials are changing products: the difference between CAD and CAM, the difference between market pull and technology push, and what makes a material a smart material. Use general examples, not a named designer or brand.

• Explain what CAD is and what CAM is, and how they differ
• Explain the difference between market pull and technology push
• Explain what makes a material a smart material
• Give an example of a smart material and name its trigger and response
• Explain one advantage a new technology brings to designing or making