This phenomenon was observed in 1959 by military materials scientists when they stumbled upon an alloy that was capable of changing its shape and restoring its original form through heat treatment. This alloy went on to be called Nitinol – a name that referred to the fact that the material consisted of nickel and titanium and that it had been observed at the Naval Ordnance Laboratory as part of a military research initiative.
It was the discovery of an alloy like this one which went on to revolutionize engineering science and lead to the concept of shape-memory alloys. According to NASA, Nitinol stands for nickel, titanium, and Naval Ordnance Laboratory.
