In the 1800's, Sir Henry Bessemer of England invented a process to mass-produce steel inexpensively. Cheaper steel was crucial to the modern industrial revolution. Factories, automobiles, railroads, bridges and high-rise buildings were all made possible by the availability of steel.

During the 1900's, chemists invented THERMO-PLASTICS, which dramatically reduced the cost of manufacturing by using one mold for thousands of parts. In contrast, steel and titanium require one disposable mold for every cast part. Using a permanent mold can reduce the cost of casting by more than 10 times.

In the 21st Century, scientists at Caltech and Liquidmetal^® Technologies develop a technology where metals behave similar to plastics. This new class of alloys is called Liquidmetal, due to its amorphous or liquid atomic structure. Rather than changing the atomic structure from a liquid state to a crystalline state, Liquidmetal^® alloys gradually increase their viscosity as the temperature decreases. All other metals are either in a solid or liquid state depending on the temperature.

The Bessemer Process and plastics technology dramatically improved the cost paradigm of their day, but only Liquidmetal alloys redefine the cost and strength paradigm simultaneously.