This proceedings contains 32 peer-reviewed papers (invited and contributed) from the following five symposia held during the 8th Pacific Rim Conference on Ceramic and Glass Technology (PACRIM 8), May 31-June 5, 2009 in Vancouver, Canada: Engineering Ceramics and Ceramic Matrix Composites: Design, Development, and Applications; Advanced Ceramic Coatings: Processing, Properties and Applications; Computational Approaches in Materials Research and Design; Geopolymers; and Advanced Thermal Management Materials and TechnologiesThe 8th Pacific Rim Conference on Ceramic and Glass Technology (PACRIM 8), was the eighth in a series of international conferences that provided a forum for presentations and information exchange on the latest emerging ceramic and glass technologies. The conference series began in 1993 and has been organized in USA, Korea, Japan, China, and Canada. PACRIM 8 was held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, May 31-June 5, 2009 and was organized and sponsored by The American Ceramic Society. Over the years, PACRIM conferences have established a strong reputation for the state-of-the-art presentations and information exchange on the latest emerging ceramic and glass technologies. They have facilitated global dialogue and discussion with leading world experts.The technical program of PACRIM 8 covered wide ranging topics and identified global challenges and opportunities for various ceramic technologies. The goal of the program was also to generate important discussion on where the particular field is heading on a global scale. It provided a forum for knowledge sharing and to make new contacts with peers from different continents.The program also consisted of meetings of International Commission on Glass (ICG), and the Glass and Optical Materials and Basic Science divisions of The American Ceramic Society. In addition, the International Fulrath Symposium on the role of new ceramic technologies for sustainable society was also held. The technical program consisted of more than 900 presentations from 41 different countries.