In this presentation, an overview will be presented of research into the rational design of materials, particularly in three areas: (1) An emerging area of research is that of stimuli-responsive materials.  While typically surfaces show a single surface energy, molecular design can produce surfaces where dynamics dictate that a surface will show high energies in contact with such fluids as water, but low energies upon wetting with hydrophobic fluids.  It will be shown that proper design can lead to interesting new properties such as anti-fogging, oil repellency, self-cleaning, and selective separation.   (2) There is great need for new anti-microbials owing to the damage infections cause worldwide.  We present on the design and synthesis of macromolecules possessing such bactericidal properties, while improving the traits such as water-solubility and biocompatibility needed to impact a variety of fields, including biomaterials, consumer products, and defense.  (3) Much research has been devoted lately to the effects of reducing the size scale of composite materials.  We present efforts to form and utilize nanofillers for composite materials with better properties.  Specifically we are interested in nano-celulosics.  Cellulose nanocrystals and nanofibers have shown strength similar to Kevlar, yet renewable, biodegradable, non-toxic, cheap, and optically transparent.  We will detail efforts to utilize these materials in composites.