Editorial for Special Issue: Applied Materials and Interfaces Research at the United States Military Academy in Celebration of the 250th Birthday of US Army

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) innovation remains ever important to the future of the Army and Nation.Novel materials have consistently transformed society and warfare since the Army's birth, and the development of advanced systems promotes operational effectiveness and soldier survivability.Such technologies span numerous academic disciplines and prepare the Army for the future of warfare on an evolving battlefield, promoting priorities such as soldier lethality, resilient communication networks, autonomous sensing, long-range precision fires, next generation combat vehicles, air and missile defense, and more.Army research has a long history of directly improving global technologies, such as developments in radar technology during World War II that laid the foundation for modern air traffic control, meteorology, and automotive safety systems, vaccine development, advances in rocket propulsion that enabled space exploration and modern satellite networks, systems and technologies for trauma care that have improved outcomes in emergency medicine, advancements in satellite and GPS, and the advent of nuclear power for commercial energy following the Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb.Building on this long legacy of Army-driven scientific and technological innovation, the United States Military Academy (USMA) plays an important role in preparing future leaders to continue this progress.The mission of the USMA is "to build, educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets to be commissioned leaders of character committed to the Army Values and ready for a lifetime of service to the Army and Nation".USMA was the nation's first military academy, created to prepare young men and women to become officers in the U.S. Army.Furthermore, USMA was the first academic institution in the United States offering formal education in engineering, making it the oldest engineering school in the country.For two and a half centuries, the Army has depended on advances in engineering and materials science to maintain readiness and operational superiority.That tradition continues today through advanced research at USMA, where faculty and cadets work to address challenges relevant to the Department of War at the intersection of chemistry, biology, and engineering.This ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces Special