One of the major trends in new advanced materials making is the use of natural ingredients. For the last few decades many industrial areas are looking for alternatives to crude oil-based ingredients by developing their environmental friendly counterparts.

Coorganized by North Dakota State University (NDSU) and University of Georgia (UGA) Fifth International Symposium on Materials from Renewables (ISMR) focuses on aspects of fundamental and applied research related to renewable materials including their applications in all fields of science and engineering. It targets research efforts on making materials from renewable resources (natural polymers, plant/vegetable oils etc.) and further characterization, processing and application.