Paul Dawson and Matt Miller, professors in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, have built a software environment for engineering materials that describes materials’ microstructures over a wide range of length scales, starting from the atomic level and building to the continuum level. The system has two important features: It integrates the statistical variability inherent in microstructures naturally into the environment, and it facilitates combining computer simulation tools with experimental characterization methods. The goal is to achieve more accurate and more rapid determination of mechanical properties by effectively using our knowledge of the link between structure and properties.