recent advances in coating development, processing, microstructure and property characterization, and life prediction are included in this book, which came from the proceedings of the 30th international conference on advanced ceramics and composites, january 22-27, 2006, cocoa beach, florida. organized and sponsored by the american ceramic society and the american ceramic societys engineering ceramics division in conjunction with the nuclear and environmental technology division.. integrated structural, environmental properties and functionality through advanced coating processing and structural design are emphasized in this book.