Ceramic Engineering and Science Proceedings Volume 34 Issue 2 Mechanical Properties and Performance of Engineering Ceramics and Composites VIII A collection of 21 papers from The American Ceramic Societys 37th International Conference on Advanced Ceramics and Composites held in Daytona Beach Florida January 27February 1 2013. This issue includes papers presented in Symposium 1 Mechanical Behavior and Performance of Ceramics and Composites.