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Materials and Man’s Needs Materials Science and Engineering: Volume II The Needs, Priorities, and Opportunities for Materials Research
CHAPTER 5
PRIORITIES IN MATERIALS RESEARCH*
*
This chapter, which is primarily the work of Kenneth A.Jackson and A.G. Chynoweth, is based entirely on the many hundreds of replies to a questionnaire which was devised by COSMAT Panel VI and sent out to a large selection of scientists and engineers representative of the field of materials science and engineering.
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Materials and Man’s Needs Materials Science and Engineering: Volume II The Needs, Priorities, and Opportunities for Materials Research
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Materials and Man’s Needs Materials Science and Engineering: Volume II The Needs, Priorities, and Opportunities for Materials Research
CHAPTER 5
PRIORITIES IN MATERIALS RESEARCH
COSMAT PRIORITY SURVEY
As part of the COSMAT study of the field of Materials Science and Engineering, a survey of various professionals in the field was conducted. The purpose of this survey was to gather information on areas of priority for basic and applied research. The breadth and scope of the responses was impressive. Materials are so diversely used in our society that no one person or indeed any small group of people could have information on the variety of materials and their uses which were present in the responses to the survey. The survey has succeeded admirably in obtaining a broad-based assessment of the current state-of-the-art for the wide range of materials, properties, processes and disciplines which make up Materials Science and Engineering.
This chapter is a detailed report on the responses to the Survey. The survey solicited some broad overall assessments but took into account the fact that few people have detailed knowledge of the whole spectrum of Materials Science activity. The Survey therefore asked for detailed responses only in a few areas selected by the respondee. The questionnaire was designed so that various cross correlations and sub-groupings of the responses could be selected for analysis.
The survey was divided into two main parts: One of these asked for an assessment of priorities for Basic Research; the other part, for Applied Research and Engineering. In this latter part, the priorities will depend on the area of intended application, which were grouped into nine major areas of impact. Each area of impact was in turn subdivided into various sub-areas of impact, and the respondees were asked to rate priorities in up to five of these. As will be seen from the responses below, priorities differ widely from one area of impact to another and even amongst the sub-areas.
In addition to providing a numerical rating of priorities, the respondees also provided comments on various areas of importance. These comments are also presented here to supplement the numerical ratings.
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Materials and Man’s Needs Materials Science and Engineering: Volume II The Needs, Priorities, and Opportunities for Materials Research
The Questionnaire
The questionnaire was accompanied by a cover letter, signed by M.Cohen and W.O.Baker, a copy of which is included in Appendix 5A. The instruction sheet for filling out the questionnaire, and the list of Areas and Sub-areas of Impact are also in Appendix 5A. The questionnaire (also included in Appendix 5A) began (page 1) by asking for a ranking on a 1 to 5 scale of the overall importance of Materials Science and Engineering to each area of impact. On page 2, the respondees were asked to select up to five sub-areas of impact, with which they were familiar, and to list materials problems which they judged of critical importance in each. These responses are summarized below.
The respondees were then asked to rate priorities for each of the subareas selected on page 2 according to Properties of Materials (page 3), Classes of Materials (page 4), Processes for Materials (page 5) and Disciplines and Sub-disciplines in the Field of Materials Science and Engineering (page 6). They were also asked to rate their familiarity with each Property, Material, Process and Discipline. A rating of level of priority for Basic Research for each Property, Material and Process was requested on the right hand side of pages 3, 4 and 5, along with a brief statement of the nature of the basic research. The last page of the questionnaire asked for personal information for statistical purposes.
Some 2800 copies of the questionnaire were mailed, using the names on the lists which are included in Appendix 5A. These lists were chosen in order to obtain a broad but in-depth coverage of Materials Science and Engineering. In all, 555 useful questionnaires were returned. Each respondee was asked to provide up to 451 answers or rankings, which would require an hour or more to do. Not all of these were completely filled in. The responses were computerized for analysis.
A rating scale was adopted to determine the average response to a question. The questionnaire asked for responses on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 indicated great importance and 5 indicated little importance. The responses of this type have been converted to a 0 to 100 scale, where 100 corresponds to all responses being “1” and 0 corresponds to all responses being “5”.
The rating number used to report these responses is given by:
where <1> is the number of “1” responses, <2> is the number of “2” responses and so on. Blank responses were not counted.
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Materials and Man’s Needs Materials Science and Engineering: Volume II The Needs, Priorities, and Opportunities for Materials Research
The Respondees
On the last page of the questionnaire personal information about the respondees was requested for statistical purposes, to provide information about the background of those who responded to the questionnaire. A summary of the responses to the personal information is shown in Table 5.1a. Most of the respondees have Ph.D.’s and are over forty years old. The respondees are fairly uniformly distributed between academia, government laboratories and industrial laboratories with a much smaller fraction being in non-profit organizations and “other”. Most of the people are engaged in research or in technical management but there is also a good representation of teachers and those engaged in development or engineering work as well as a significant number in general management. The respondees could check more than one category in this section, so the totals exceed the total number of respondees. About half of the managers have between 10 and 100 people reporting to them with about a quarter of them having less than 10 and a quarter having more than 100 people reporting to them. The discipline in which the respondees obtained their highest degree are shown in Table 5.1b, according to the responses which they wrote in. These have been divided into four main groups, the largest of which can be called Metallurgy but includes Physical Metallurgy, Earth Sciences, Ceramics and the newer discipline of Materials Science. The next largest group is Physics followed by Chemistry and the fourth category is Engineering which includes a variety of engineers.
The average age and educational level of the respondees are as expected in view of the lists which were used for mailing the questionnaire. The respondees typically have advanced scientific training and have reached a fairly mature stage of their careers. They are fairly evenly divided amongst the disciplines of Physics, Chemistry, Metallurgy and Engineering. This seems to be a fairly typical distribution for those involved in Materials Science and Engineering. We believe this cross section and this group of people to be fairly optimal for assessing the current priorities in Materials Science and Engineering.
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Materials and Man’s Needs Materials Science and Engineering: Volume II The Needs, Priorities, and Opportunities for Materials Research
TABLE 5.1a Personal Information
Highest Degree:
None 0, Bachelor 62, Master 78, Ph.D. 379.
Age Bracket:
Under 30 5, 30–39 74, 40–49 214, 50 & up 262.
Employment:
a) Type of Institution:
Academic 187, Government 120, Industrial 215, Non-Profit 16, Other 17.
b) Type of Activity:
Teaching 181, Research 350, Development or Engineering 122, Technical Management 262, General Management 76, Other 52.
Number of Personnel reporting to you (if a management category were checked):
Less than 10 80, 10–100 163, over 100 81.
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Materials and Man’s Needs Materials Science and Engineering: Volume II The Needs, Priorities, and Opportunities for Materials Research
TABLE 5.1b Discipline of Highest Degree
Discipline
Number of Responses
Chemistry
43
95
Analytical Chemistry
1
Physical Chemistry
43
Inorganic Chemistry
2
Organic and Polymer Chemistry
3
Solid State Chemistry
1
Polymer Processing
2
Physics
129
153
Solid State Physics
14
Applied Physics
4
Chemical Physics
6
Metallurgy
60
172
Mining, Geology, Geochemistry, Mineralogy
10
Earth Sciences
1
Physical Metallurgy
14
Ceramics, Ceramics Engineering, Glass
44
Metallurgical Engineering
31
Materials Science
12
Engineering
2
71
Mechanical Engineering
20
Electrical, Electronic Engineering
12
Aerospace
3
Civil and Environmental Engineering
9
Wood Technology
4
Chemical Engineering
21
Physiology
1
8
Industrial Management
3
Political Science
1
Zoology
1
Economics
2
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Overall Importance of Materials Science and Engineering
The first page of the questionnaire asked for the “overall importance of Materials Science and Engineering” to each Area of Impact. The responses are summarized in Table 5.2a. The number of “1” (very high), “2” (high) responses etc. are indicated, as well as the corresponding rating on the 0–100 scale in the right-hand column.
TABLE 5.2a Overall Response
Number of Responses
Area of Impact
1
2
3
4
5
Rating
10
COMMUNICATIONS, COMPUTERS, AND CONTROL
298
185
68
14
2
84
20
CONSUMER GOODS
41
107
257
141
27
50
30
DEFENSE AND SPACE
366
165
41
3
2
89
40
ENERGY
329
187
53
4
4
1
50
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
84
157
214
91
22
58
60
HEALTH SERVICES
54
165
227
91
30
55
70
HOUSING AND OTHER CONSTRUCTION
54
110
227
145
38
50
80
PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT
30
110
259
141
28
49
90
TRANSPORTATION EQUIPMENT
65
202
216
72
16
60
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Materials and Man’s Needs Materials Science and Engineering: Volume II The Needs, Priorities, and Opportunities for Materials Research
The responses can be grouped as:
TABLE 5.2b Overall Importance of Materials Science and Engineering to Each Area of Impact
Very Important
Defense and Space
Energy
Communications, Computers, and Control
Moderate
Transportation Equipment
Environmental Quality
Health Services
Low
Housing and Other Construction
Consumer Goods
Production Equipment
In Tables 5.3a through 5.3f, the responses of various sub-groups (selected using the personal data on the last page of the questionnaire) are presented. The number in parentheses above each category indicates the number of people in the group.
There are minor variations in these various Tables. These are indicated by “+” of “–” for a greater than 1σ deviation from the mean, and by “++” or “––” for a greater than 2σ deviation from the mean. Although few significant trends have been detected, some specific comments can be made. The responses from people with bachelors and masters degrees rate Communications lower than the larger group of Ph.D.’s and they also rate Production Equipment higher. This may reflect different interests of the two groups. In Table 5.3b, the Chemists are higher than average on Consumer Goods, Health Services, and low on Communications and Energy. The Physicists are high on Communications, low on Production and Transportation Equipment. Again these and other minor differences tend to reflect the interests of the group.
In Table 5.3c, the under-30 age group is small but the indicated differences from the other groups are statistically significant. The 30–39 age group rated Housing and Other Construction higher than average and gave a lower than average rating for Production Equipment. The 40–49 age group gave a low rating to Health Services, Housing and Other Construction and to Production Equipment. The over-50 age group gave a higher than average rating to Defense and Space, to Environmental Quality, to Production Equipment and to Transportation Equipment. Although there are significant deviations from the mean, no clearcut pattern emerges here.
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Materials and Man’s Needs Materials Science and Engineering: Volume II The Needs, Priorities, and Opportunities for Materials Research
TABLE 5.3a Assessment of the Overall Importance of Materials Science and Engineering to Each Area of Impact According to Highest Degree
Area of Impact
(62) Bachelors
(78) Masters
(379) Ph.D.
10
COMMUNICATIONS, COMPUTERS AND CONTROL
74––
78––
86+
20
CONSUMER GOODS
48
45–
51
30
DEFENSE AND SPACE
91
91
88
40
ENERGY
86
88
87
50
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
61
59
59
60
HEALTH SERVICES
57
54
56
70
HOUSING AND OTHER CONSTRUCTION
50
50
50
80
PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT
53+
53+
47–
90
TRANSPORTATION EQUIPMENT
61
61
60
TABLE 5.3b Assessment of the Overall Importance of Materials Science and Engineering to Each Area of Impact According to Discipline of Highest Degree
Area of Impact
(95) Chemistry
(153) Physics
(172) Metallurgy
(71) Engineering
(8) Other
10
COMMUNICATIONS, COMPUTERS AND CONTROL
81–
91++
82
79–
78–
20
CONSUMER GOODS
54+
48
48
49
58
30
DEFENSE AND SPACE
90
88
90
91
89
40
ENERGY
83–
87
88
88
89
50
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
59
58
60
57
67
60
HEALTH SERVICES
60+
55
52–
57
67+
70
HOUSING AND OTHER CONSTRUCTION
57++
43––
51
49
56
80
PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT
50
44––
51
51
44
90
TRANSPORTATION EQUIPMENT
62
56–
62
61
50
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Materials and Man’s Needs Materials Science and Engineering: Volume II The Needs, Priorities, and Opportunities for Materials Research
TABLE 5.3c Assessment of Overall Importance of Materials Science and Engineering to Each Area of Impact According to Age Bracket
Area of Impact
(5) <30
(74) 30–39
(214) 40–49
(262) >50
10
COMMUNICATIONS, COMPUTERS AND CONTROL
80
85
85
83
20
CONSUMER GOODS
45
52
49
50
30
DEFENSE AND SPACE
95
87
88
92+
40
ENERGY
75–
86
87
87
50
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
75+
61
56
61+
60
HEALTH SERVICES
70+
56
56–
55
70
HOUSING AND OTHER CONSTRUCTION
55
55+
47–
51
80
PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT
65+
44–
46–
51+
90
TRANSPORTATION EQUIPMENT
50
61
59
62+
TABLE 5.3d Assessment of the Overall Importance of Materials Science and Engineering to Each Area of Impact According to Type of Institution
Area of Impact
(187) Academic
(120) Government
(215) Industrial
(16) Non-Profit
(17) Other
10
COMMUNICATIONS, COMPUTERS AND CONTROL
90++
80–
80––
86
85
20
CONSUMER GOODS
56++
45––
47–
58+
42–
30
DEFENSE AND SPACE
89
89
90
97+
83–
40
ENERGY
86
90+
86
84
82
50
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
64++
56
57
56
52–
60
HEALTH SERVICES
63++
51––
52––
67+
40––
70
HOUSING AND OTHER CONSTRUCTION
52+
47–
50
56
48
80
PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT
52+
52+
46–
58+
38–
90
TRANSPORTATION EQUIPMENT
63+
61
58–
58
60
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Materials and Man’s Needs Materials Science and Engineering: Volume II The Needs, Priorities, and Opportunities for Materials Research
OMB No. 099S72003
Expires 8/31/72
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
The working definition of Materials Science and Engineering that has been tentatively adopted by the Survey Committee is:
Materials Science and Engineering is concerned with the generation and application of knowledge relating the composition, structure and processing of materials to their properties and beneficial use.
As will be realized, this fairly broad definition embraces several scientific and engineering disciplines, and segments of disciplines. It embraces basic research, applied research and engineering, and it embraces a variety of classes of materials, particularly ceramics, electronic materials, glass, metals and plastics.* However, the Committee has chosen not to include certain classes such as food, drugs, pesticides and fuels used in essentially their natural state. The focus is on materials which are useful in machines, devices, structures or products.
On the following pages of this Priority Survey you will find the headings:
I
—
The Overall Importance of Materials Science and Engineering to Each Area of Impact
II
—
Statements of Materials Problems in Selected Sub-Areas of Impact
III
—
A.
Priority Information Relating to Properties of Materials
B.
Priority Information Relating to Classes of Materials
C.
Priority Information Relating to Processes for Materials
D.
Priority Information Relating to Disciplines and Sub-Disciplines in the Field of Materials Science and Engineering
IV
—
Personal Information
*
A more complete list of materials appears in Table IIIB.
SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS
Specific instructions are given on each page. Please read and follow these carefully. In several parts of this questionnaire you are asked to respond using a rating scale of from 1 (for Very High Importance or Priority) to 5 (for Very Low Importance or Priority). The following definitions might help you in using this rating scale:
Very High
Advances in the field or specialty of Materials Science and Engineering are essential for substantial further progress in the Area or Sub-Area being considered; achievements of the future goals or objectives in the area probably cannot be attained at reasonable cost unless advances are made in Materials Science and Engineering.
High
Somewhere between Very High and Moderate.
Moderate
Advances in the field or specialty of Materials Science and Engineering will contribute importantly to further progress in the Area or Sub-Area being considered; achievement of the future goals or objectives in the area will be helped considerably by advances in Materials Science and Engineering although some progress can be achieved without notable contributions from Materials Science and Engineering.
Low
Somewhere between Moderate and Very Low.
Very Low
Advances in the field or specialty of Materials Science and Engineering, although helpful, are not of great importance to further progress in the Area or Sub-Area being considered; achievement of the future goals or objectives in the area is possible with little or no contribution from Materials Science and Engineering.
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LIST OF AREAS AND SUB-AREAS OF IMPACT
Code Number
10
COMMUNICATIONS, COMPUTERS AND CONTROL
11
Commercial Radio and TV Equipment
12
Computers
13
Electronic Components
14
Equipment for Guidance and Control of Transportation
15
Teaching Equipment
16
Telephone and Data Networks and Equipment
20
CONSUMER GOODS
21
Apparel and Textiles
22
Furniture
23
Household Appliances—Electronic (TV, radio, hi-fi, etc.)
24
Household Appliances—Non-Electronic (refrigerators, ranges, air conditioners, vacuum cleaners, etc.)
25
Leisure and Sports Equipment
26
Packaging and Containers
27
Printing and Photography
30
DEFENSE AND SPACE
31
Military Aircraft
32
Missiles
33
Naval Vessels
34
Ordnance and Weapons
35
Radar and Military Communications
36
Spacecraft
37
Undersea Equipment
40
ENERGY
41
Batteries and Fuel Cells
42
Direct Conversion
43
Electric Transmission and Distribution
44
Fuel Transmission and Distribution
45
Nuclear Reactors
46
Thermonuclear Fusion
47
Turbines and Generators
50
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
51
Mining and Raw Material Extraction
52
Pollution
53
Recycling and Solid Wsste Disposal
54
Reliability, Safety, Maintainability
55
Substitution Opportunities
56
Working Conditions
60
HEALTH SERVICES
61
Artificial Organs
62
Medical Electronics
63
Medical Equipment (including dental)
64
Prosthetic Devices (including dental)
70
HOUSING AND OTHER CONSTRUCTION
71
Construction Machinery
72
Highways, Bridges, Airports, etc.
73
Individual and Multiple Unit Dwellings
74
Industrial and Commercial Structures
75
Mobile Homes
76
Plumbing, Heating, Electrical, etc.
80
PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT
81
Farm and Construction Machinery
82
Industrial Drives, Motors, and Control
83
Industrial Instrumentation
84
Machine Tools
85
Process Equipment
90
TRANSPORTATION EQUIPMENT
91
Aircraft
92
Automotive
93
Guided Ground Transportation (rail, non-rail)
94
Water
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Materials and Man’s Needs Materials Science and Engineering: Volume II The Needs, Priorities, and Opportunities for Materials Research
NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
COMMITTEE ON THE SURVEY OF MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
2101 CONSTITUTION AVENUE, N.W.
WASHINGTON, D. C. 20418
QUESTIONNAIRE ON PRIORITIES IN THE FIELD OF MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
JUNE 1972
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Materials and Man’s Needs Materials Science and Engineering: Volume II The Needs, Priorities, and Opportunities for Materials Research
I. THE OVERALL IMPORTANCE OF MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING TO EACH AREA OF IMPACT
On this page please circle the appropriate number against each Area of Impact in answer to the question, “What is the Overall Importance of Materials Science and Engineering?”
Area of Impact
Very High
High
Moderate
Low
Very Low
10
COMMUNICATIONS, COMPUTERS AND CONTROL
1
2
3
4
5
20
CONSUMER GOODS
1
2
3
4
5
30
DEFENSE AND SPACE
1
2
3
4
5
40
ENERGY
1
2
3
4
5
50
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
1
2
3
4
5
60
HEALTH SERVICES
1
2
3
4
5
70
HOUSING AND OTHER CONSTRUCTION
1
2
3
4
5
80
PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT
1
2
3
4
5
90
TRANSPORTATION EQUIPMENT
1
2
3
4
5
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Materials and Man’s Needs Materials Science and Engineering: Volume II The Needs, Priorities, and Opportunities for Materials Research
II. STATEMENTS OF MATERIALS PROBLEMS IN SELECTED SUB-AREAS OF IMPACT
From the List of Areas and Sub-Areas select up to 5 Sub-Areas in which you feel you are knowledgeable or to which your experience relates. Refer to these Sub-Areas by entering the appropriate Code Numbers below in the spaces marked A to E. For each Sub-Area you select please give brief statements of 3 materials problems that you judge are of critical importance for progress in the Sub-Area to occur. (Note: The letters A to E are not meant to imply any relative rankings among the Sub-Areas.)
MATERIALS PROBLEMS
Sub-Area Code Number
A___
1
2
3
Sub-Area Code Number
B___
1
2
3
Sub-Area Code Number
C___
1
2
3
Sub-Area Code Number
D___
1
2
3
Sub-Area Code Number
E___
1
2
3
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Materials and Man’s Needs Materials Science and Engineering: Volume II The Needs, Priorities, and Opportunities for Materials Research
IV. PERSONAL INFORMATION
After completing the previous sheets would you kindly give us the following information:
Your Highest Degree:
None____, Bachelor____, Master____, Doctor____.
Discipline of Highest Degree____________________.
Your Age Bracket:
Under 30____, 30 to 30____, 40 to 49____, 50 and over____.
Employment:
Type of Institution:
Academic____, Government____, Industrial____, Non-Profit____, Other (specify)________________________________________.
Types of Activity:
Teaching____, Research____, Development or Engineering____, Technical Management____, General Management____, Other (specify)________________________________________.
If you checked a Management Category, the number of personnel reporting to you is:
less than 10____, 10 to 100____, over 100____.
OPTIONAL:
Name:
Title:
Employment Address:
DATA ANALYSIS: Do you wish to receive a copy of the data analysis?
Yes____ No____
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
solid state
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