The symposium on “Coatings for Structural, Biological, and Electronic Applications” was held in Seattle, Washington in February 2010. This symposium was sponsored by the The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS); TMS Electronic, Magnetic, and Photonic Materials Division (EMPMD); TMS Structural Materials Division; TMS: Biomaterials Committee; and TMS: Thin Films and Interfaces Committee.

A total of 30 talks were presented at this symposium. Selected peer-reviewed articles appear in this special issue of the Journal. A broad range of topics relating to synthesis, morphology, microstructure, and characterization of coatings for a variety of applications were presented in the symposium. These included results and discussion on coatings of amorphous materials, composites, polymers, metals, semiconductors, superconductors, and biomaterials. Several articles focus on process-property-performance correlations.

The organizing committee is thankful to the speakers, session chairs, authors, and reviewers for their participation and support. The Program Organizers were Nuggehalli M. Ravindra (Ravi), New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT); Choong-Un Kim and Nancy Michael, University of Texas at Arlington (UTexas–Arlington); Roger Narayan, University of North Carolina (UNC) and North Carolina State University (NCSU); and Gregory Krumdick, Argonne National Laboratory (ANL).

We are thankful to Professor David E. Laughlin, Principal Editor; Dora Moscatello, Production Editor; and Mary Lynn Brown of Metallurgical and Materials Transactions for making this special section of the Journal possible.