"Hot" items on design boards because they can be customized to meet tough new requirements-and because oft he way they stimulate designers＇ imaginations-engineering resins are works in progress. Now at a world consumption, as of 1997, of about 20 billion Ibs, they have long battled with metals, and among themselves, for many new applications. And they are right in the middle of the growing trends for precision tailorability, speed to market, and global networks of supply.