The 1999 Solid State Sciences Committee Forum, entitled Materials in a New Era, was held at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., on February 16-17, 1999. The forum was designed to launch the report entitled Condensed-Matter and Materials Physics: Basic Research for Tomorrow ‘s Technology. That report, part of the decadal survey series, Physics in a New Era, reviews some of the outstanding accomplishments in materials research over the last decade. It indicates some emerging areas and conveys the true excitement in the field from a perspective of basic science and potential societal impact.