Materials science is getting more and important in electronics, because we probably have gotten all we can out of silicon, germanium, gallium, etc. We gotta find new ways and materials for designing transistors. Those advances will be made more though at the device physics / design level, which is pretty low level. I doubt a computer engineering designing computer architecture cares about whether his transistors are made of mercury or gummy bears, as long as he knows their capabilities. My desired ‘level’ of research is one level above the transistor level. I’m more interested in using transistors to design circuits rather than designing the transistors themselves. My good friend Greg though is definitely in the transistor level, and his team have been looking at ‘molecular’ electronics.

-Kevin