When is nitinol the right choice — and when is it not?

My take: nitinol isn’t “magic,” but it does expand the design space beyond what conventional alloys can comfortably do. The real value shows up when you stop comparing material-to-material and start comparing architecture-to-architecture.

Success in nitinol isn’t a single “good sample.” It’s a controlled relationship between material, process, and proof—plus enough slack to discover what you didn’t know on Day 1.