Developments in piezothermoelasticity having relevance to intelligent structures are discussed briefly. The equations governing the axisymmetric behavior of a piezoelastic body with hexagonal material symmetry of class 6 mm are reviewed. A general solution procedure based upon potential functions is presented for the analysis of transversely isotropic thermoelastic and piezothermoelastic bodies. The method is used to derive exact solutions to problems involving the response of a composite circular plate consisting of a piezoelectric material attached to a layer of structural material. Numerical results are presented for cases of: (i) a prescribed thermal loading; (ii) an inverse problem in which the thermal loading is determined from knowledge of induced electric potential; (iii) a control problem in which an electric potential is applied to control thermally induced deformation; and (iv) an intelligent plate problem, where the piezo electric layer serves both to sense the thermal loading and to suppress the deformation.