The 33rd International Conference on Advanced Ceramics and Composites (ICACC) was held January 18-23, 2009 inDaytona Beach, Florida with over 1000 attendees from 39 countries. The 2009 meeting was organized by The American Ceramic Society (ACerS) and ACerS Engineering Ceramics Division. In addition, ACerS Electronics Division and Nuclear and Environmental Technology Division contributed to the technical program. Energy related themes were a mainstay, with symposia on nuclear energy, solid oxide fuel cells, materials for thermal-to-electric energy conversion, and thermal barrier coatings participating along with the traditional themes of armor, mechanical properties, and porous ceramics. Newer themes included nano-structured materials, advanced manufacturing, and bioceramics. Once again the conference included topics ranging from ceramic nanomaterials to structural reliability of ceramic components, demonstrating the linkage between materials science developments at the atomic level and macro-level structural applications.