This was the first Symposium on Energetic Materials held at a Materials Research Society Meeting. Energetic materials are substances that undergo exothermic chemical reaction in response to some stimulus and react in time scales leading to combustion, explosion, and/or detonation (millisec to femtosec). Energetic materials represent a multibillion dollar industry for both commercial and military uses. These are among the earliest of man-made classes of materials. Their historical role in the development of nations has been enormous. Land clearing, railroad and highway construction, and mining continue as important though not exclusive uses. The space program is enabled by energetic materials.