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Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs (1987)

Chapter: 1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs

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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
×
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Page 26
Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
×
Page 27
Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
×
Page 28
Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
×
Page 29
Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
×
Page 30
Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Page 31
Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Page 32
Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Page 33
Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Page 34
Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Page 35
Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Page 36
Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Page 37
Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
×
Page 38
Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
×
Page 39
Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
×
Page 40
Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
×
Page 41
Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
×
Page 42
Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
×
Page 43
Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
×
Page 44
Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Page 45
Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Page 47
Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Page 48
Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Page 49
Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Page 50
Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Page 51
Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Page 52
Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Page 53
Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Page 54
Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Page 55
Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Page 59
Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Suggested Citation:"1. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs." National Research Council. 1987. Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1035.
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Directions in Engineering Research: An Assessment of Opportunities and Needs Executive Summed INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND Engineering research, the application of science in the creation of products and services, is an essential area of technical activity that is seriously undersupported in the United States. This re- search is essential because all creative technological development in an intensely competitive world rests on it; yet it is undersup- ported because its central role in the development of productive goods and services is not clearly understood and recognized. This report is an attempt to close the gap in understanding the na- ture of engineering research and to draw attention to the need for increased support in several key fields. THE NATURE OF ENGINEERING RESEARCH Engineering can no longer be described only in the context of its traditional disciplines: civil, mechanical, chemical, electrical, and so forth. Although these disciplines still form the core of cur- ricula in engineering education, the frontiers of engineering today concern systems the interactions among these core disciplines, 1

2 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH economics, social values, and the burgeoning of technical and sci- entific knowledge that is reordering world trade and the strategic balance among nations. In contrast to science research, which primarily seeks new knowledge about the natural world, engineering research concen- trates on the man-made world to expand the knowledge base and to identify and prove the physical principles on which advances in design ant! production can be based. This requires strong interac- tions between engineering research and science research, and the boundaries between them are often difficult to discern. Indeed, both require exactly the same types of intellectual activity basic research aimed at improving our understanding of the underlying phenomena, and applied research aimed at developing the practi- cal implications of the new understanding. In engineering, basic research provides the underlying competence on which applica- tions research is based. For example, the evolution of the modern computer from electron tubes to transistors and then to inte- grated circuits is the result of engineering research that converted newly understood physical principles into practical working sys- tems. Taken together, engineering and science research are crucial in a world in which competition through technology has assumed a commanding role in the interactions among nations. Engineering and engineering projects have been an integral part of the human experience since the beginning of civilization. Until quite recently, however, advances in engineering practice were gained by slow and laborious trial-and-error procedures. Then, at about the turn of the last century, modern methods of engineering research firmly based on scientific principles were brought to bear on a wide variety of problems. Engineering knowledge and the technological developments based on it have grown rapidly and continuously ever since. Structures of every kind—residential and commercial buildings, bridges, dams, and tunnels have become larger, stronger, safer, and easier to build through research into their design and construction. As a result of engineering research in materials, mechanics, electronics, and manufacturing processes, machines efficiently and reliably carry out functions once performed by humans and animals. Modern transportation systems automobiles, trucks, trains, ships, and aircraft—are outstanding examples of the contributions of engi- neering research to such technological advances. Conversion tech- nologies to utilize energy sources in their evolution from wood to

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 3 coal to of! and to nuclear power are based on knowledge provided by engineering research. Research in electrical and electronics en- gineering have made our telephone, radio, and television systems possible, and have led to today's worldwide communication net- works linked by satellite. Modern information and data processing systems are closely related developments. Thus, engineering research is simultaneously a generator, stimulator, assimilator, integrator, translator, and promoter of new scientific and technical knowledge, all with the primary objec- tive of making the production of goods and the provision of services easier and more efficient and their use and maintenance less costly. The broad scope of interests and activities encompassed by engi- neering research is illustrated by the following research areas of current opportunity identified in this report:* complex system software; advanced engineered materials; manufacturing systems integration; bioreactors; construction robotics; vehicle/guideway system integration; alternative fuel sources; low-grade mineral recovery; biomedical engineering; hazardous material control; the mechanics of slowly deteriorating systems; computer-aided design of structures; manufacturing modeling and simulation; and electronic device anal packaging technology. FUNDING OUTLOOK Adequate funding, both in terms of amounts and stability, is central to the success of engineering research. Approximately $3.8 billion, about 25 percent of the total federal research budget, was allocated for the support of engineering research in 1985. This rather modest percentage has remained essentially constant for *The Engineering Research Board attaches especially high priority to the first three research areas on the list. All 14 areas are briefly discussed in a later section of the executive summary, "Key Research Opportunities and Needs.

4 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH almost 20 years, a period during which our nation has experi- enced a steady clecTine in productivity and competitiveness. An overwhelmingly large portion (about 95 percent) of the total fed- eral engineering research budget is devoted to applied engineering research, leaving a mere 5 percent to support basic engineering research. Basic engineering research is largely carried out by aca- demic institutions, but with the financial support of the federal government. In recent years, the states and private industry have become increasingly active partners with the federal government and have significantly increased their support for academic engi- neering research, but federal funding still supports fully 70 percent of the basic science and engineering research now conducted in the United States. Engineering research depends on a continuity of effort in order to be productive. Thus, fluctuations in funding support that can occur when federal agencies must respond to short-term crises, and the interruptions in continuity that result, can create serious problems for both basic and applied research efforts, whether they are carried out in universities, industry, or federal and national laboratories. To the extent that the large, multidisciplinary engineering research centers, now being supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), indicate a trend toward stable funding, they are a timely and welcome development. Two caveats, however, must be recognized. First, the funding made available to the new research centers raises questions about the adequacy of funding support for interdisciplinary research at colleges and universities that do not have such centers. Second, research administrators must strike a balance between research by individuals and the collaborative research of the new engineering research centers. The latter caution introduces the issue of adequate funding for small-scale research projects involving a single investigator and perhaps one or two graduate students. This individual research can be highly effective because it is the ideal scale on which to first explore areas of high-risk engineering research. On the other hand, history suggests that individual researchers in academia have often been more highly and more frequently re- warded than their colleagues who engaged in collaborative research efforts such as those envisioned in the engineering research center concept. Thus, an important issue for university administrators is developing and maintaining balanced support and promotion

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 5 incentives among those investigators involved in smalI-scale, disci- plinary, individual research and those participating in large-scare, multidisciplinary, team research. HUMAN RESOURCES The second fundamental component of engineering research is people. Much evidence suggests that a long-range problem is developing at the baccalaureate level. The U.S. cohort of persons in the 18- to 2~year-old age group is shrinking. Because no decline in the demand for scientists and engineers in the work force including those who will be engaged in engineering research is projected, serious shortages could occur by the end of the century or shortly thereafter. At the graduate level the number of doctoral degrees in engineering granted by American universities seems to be increasing, but the estimated engineering Ph.D. output of 3,400 for 1985 is still substantially less than it was in the late 1960s. Moreover, in Japan, widely acknowledged as one of our strongest international competitors, the ratio of engineering Ph.D. Output to total Ph.D. output is almost twice as high as in the United States, although the absolute numbers are significantly lower. In addition, many Japanese earn their engineering Ph.D.s in the United States, providing evidence both of Japan's national commitment to engineering research and of the high quality of engineering education in the United States. The continuation of that quality, however, is uncertain. In many fields the U.S. industrial demand and attractions for baccalaureate engineers are depleting the ranks of our graduate students and threatening the production of well-trained teachers and researchers needed for the future. INSTITUTIONAL C O NS IDERATIONS The outlook for basic engineering research, especially in acade- mia, is clouded by several factors. First, there is a severe lack of ad- equate facilities and equipment for both instructional and research purposes. The average age of laboratory equipment in engineer- ing schools is about 25 years, and only 18 percent of it is up to state-of-the-art standards. Fully one-fourth of the equipment is totally obsolete. This problem has been temporarily alleviated in some schools for a few areas of research by sharing facilities and

6 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH by recent gifts from industry. In addition, a variety of academic restrictions and industrial practices have discouraged the conduct of industry-supported research on campus, so that much needed academic/industrial interaction has been limited on issues like cur- riculum development, equipment loans, and personnel exchanges. Beneficial modifications of these past policies and practices are already under way, spurred on by the emerging emphasis on large, multidisciplinary research efforts that often require active indus- trial participation. RECOMMENDATIONS The health and vigor of engineering research in the United States is directly affected by the complex interactions among the many factors discussed previously. Thus, in addition to its pri- mary thrust of identifying the engineering research areas of cur- rent opportunity, the Engineering Research Board has also made a number of recommendations to strengthen the nation's engineer- ing research enterprise that take these factors into account. Brief presentations of 11 major recommendations of the board follow. The first seven recommendations require government action for their implementation. The next two are addressed to university administrators, and these are followed by one directed to industry and one to the engineering research community at large. These recommendations are discussed more fully later in this chapter. Recommendation l: Recognition. Congress and the federal agencies concerned with technology development must recognize the importance of engineering research to the economic health of the nation. In so doing, national patterns of support for research and development should be carefully examined to identify points at which increased federal funding for engineering research would most effectively benefit the overall national research and devel- opment (R&D) effort. In particular, serious consideration should be given to an earlier recommendation made by the National Academy of Engineering that the budget of the NSF's Engineer- ing Directorate should be increased from its annual level of $150 million in 1985 to about $400 million by 1990. Recommendation 2: Stability. The short-term crises encoun- tered by many federal mission agencies frequently involve engineer- ing problems. The engineering research budgets of such agencies

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 7 are, therefore, especially vulnerable to the demands of the quick response initiatives undertaken to resolve them. Congress and the mission agencies should protect engineering research budgets from such demands. A reasonable and stable floor for the funding of core activities should be part of the agency's research budgets, and project managers should have the flexibility to tailor their resources to provide such a floor. Recommendation S: Equipment and Facilities. State and fed- eral legislatures must take steps to encourage gifts of laboratory equipment to engineering schools, for example, by the passage of appropriate tax legislation or the establishment of matching fund programs. Congress should consider an earlier proposal made by the National Academy of Engineering to add a minimum of $30 million per year for the next 5 years to the budget of the NSF's Engineering Directorate for the procurement of research equip- ment and instrumentation. Government contracting and granting agents should permit depreciation charges as normal operating expenses and allow them to accrue toward renovation and replace- ment costs of equipment and facilities. Recommendation 4: Coordination. The Office of Science and Technology Policy should take the lead in strengthening govern- mental coordinating activities in engineering research, which are needed to assist in setting integrated, national engineering research priorities and in monitoring the progress of engineering research programs. Recommendation 5: High-Risk, High-Return Research. Man- agers of agency R&D programs must provide adequate support for high-risk, long-range engineering research with high payoff poten- tials as a complement to their larger interest in research projects with more immediate and direct applications. Special budget cat- egories might be considered for such work. Recommendation 6: Single Investigator projects. The NSF should continue to devote a major share of its engineering research program to small-scale, single investigator projects, in balance with the current interest and activity in multidisciplinary research involving large research centers. Recommendation 7: Stimulation of Industry Research. Con- gress and the policymakers of the Executive Branch of the federal government should expand legislative measures and administrative

8 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH procedures to stimulate much needed increases in engineering re- search in industry both research conducted in-house by industry and that conducted in academia with industrial support. Recommendation 8: New Talent. University administrators with the assistance of government and industrial leaders must devise programs to attract and retain talented young Ph.D.s in academic engineering research and, where appropriate, to enable established senior faculty to develop new expertise in areas more relevant to current needs. The Presidential Young Investigator program and present acadern~c sabbatical leave policies are steps in the right direction, but much more must be done, especially along the lines of providing research initiation funds and selectively reduced teaching loads for highly qualified researchers. Recommendation 9: Multidisciplinary Research. University administrators must continue to accommodate and encourage mul- tidisciplinary engineering research. Specifically, university policies must support, encourage, and reward successful engineering re- searchers involved in the use of shared facilities and active colia~ oration with colleagues in academia as well as in industrial and government laboratories. Recommendation 10: Industry Support. Industry management at all levels should give greater attention to engineering research and provide more support for it both in-house and in academia. In-house support should particularly include programs of contin- uing professional development and education for the engineering research staff, and the encouragement of greater interactions be- tween these researchers and the rest of the engineering research community. Industry support for academic research could include, for example, joining with federal and state agencies in providing matching grants for engineering curriculum development and re- search initiation, donating laboratory equipment, and exchanging research personnel. Recommendation 11: Transfer of Research Results. Engi- neering researchers and practicing engineers must begin to work consciously and vigorously toward a mutual, sympathetic under- standing of each other's needs and goals so that the transfer of research results into practical engineering design tools and proce- dures can be accomplished effectively and efficiently. Enthusiastic collaborative interaction between researchers and practitioners,

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 9 especially at the interface between engineering research and in- dustrial design, is an important element in the transfer process and must be increased. KEY RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS The Engineering Research Board identified areas of engineer- ing research that, in its judgment, hold the greatest potential for contributing to the nation's economy, security, and social welI- being. To assist it in this endeavor, the board established panels in seven fields of multidisciplinary engineering research: 1. bioengineering systems; 2. construction and structural design systems; 3. energy, mineral, and environmental systems; 4. information, communications, computation, and control systems; 5. manufacturing systems; 6. materials systems; and 7. transportation systems. Each pane! identified those fields of engineering research that appeared to offer the greatest return on the research investment. The board ultimately selected 14 fields, and brief discussions of them follow. No significance is attached to the order in which they are discussed, except to note that the board assigns especially high priority to the first three areas. Complex System Software. The cost of producing and apply- ing software is holding back U.S. manufacturers as well as key defense initiatives. The opportunities for advances in this area are enormous. Yet first, additional research is needed on the efficient development of large software systems. Research on compatibil- ity, reuse, and standardization of key software modules is also important. Related research needs include (1) software reliability, testing, and verification; (2) distributed computer systems; (3) productivity aids; and (4) real-time processing of large volumes of data. Advanced Engineered Materials. Advanced engineered math rials, a designation that implies new methods of processing to obtain prespecified materials properties for specific applications, hold great promise for the creation of new products with new standards of performance in virtually every commercial field and

10 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH military system. There is almost unlimited potential for this new concept of materials design, but research is needed to capitalize on the opportunities that it affords. For example, better understand- ing of the forces between microparticles can lead to the creation of ceramics with hitherto unattainable strength/temperature charac- teristics. Knowledge of the factors controlling biocompatibility is needed to produce the biomaterials needed to construct new pros- thetic devices and to improve existing ones. Greater knowledge of how materials bind, deform, and rupture is clearly a key factor in satisfying the continuing demand for materials with improved service reliability. Manufacturing Systems Integration. The integration into a manufacturing system of its human and machine-based compo- nents will lead to great improvements in manufacturing efficiency and productivity. Achieving this goal, however, will require ma- jor advances in systematic, generic approaches to the design of computer-integrated manufacturing systems. Research must pro- vide the basis for the development of new hardware and software elements that are modular, compatible with other systems, adapt- able to new requirements, and user-friendly. More basic research should address expert system approaches for the design of complex manufacturing systems. Bioreactors. The annual world market for biotechnology prod- ucts is expected to be about $100 billion by the year 2000, if antic- ipated new bioprocessing technology is developed and successfully scaled up to meet industrial requirements. This expectation is reflected in the current flurry of related activity in Europe, Japan, and the United States. New techniques are needed! for the large- scale culture of plant and animal cells and engineered organisms. Fundamental knowledge of the effects of physical and environmen- tal factors on the biosynthetic pathways within cells is essential to the development of such techniques. In addition, parallel research is needed to develop methods for using various enzymes or cells as catalysts for biosynthesis. Construction Robotics. At about $200 billion per year, the construction industry is one of the largest segments of the national economy. Yet it is labor-intensive and has a low productivity rate. Humans still perform many lifting and installation operations, and consequently the size of many construction components is currently governed by human physical capacity. To extend present industrial robots and automatic material handling equipment to

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 11 construction applications will require research on incorporating such new functions as mobility, flexibility, and high payload-to- weight ratios. Further research will be needed to develop the new construction design concepts, materials, and methods that will have to be devised to exploit these robotic capabilities in the construction workplace. Vehicle/Guideway System Integration. The national trans- portation system should consist of a network in which all forms of transportation and their interconnections function with the great- est possible efficiency. This efficiency is greatly affected by external factors associated with the guideway on which the vehicle travels, such as weather and visibility conditions, traffic patterns, acci- dents, repair and construction activities, and so forth. Safety and economy can be significantly increased by improving the integra- tion between the vehicle and its guideway, taking advantage of the smaller size and reduced cost of current computer and electronic communications equipment. Such improvements might involve, for example, communications, radar braking, navigation aids, guided steering, remote vehicle sensing, and other innovations. Research is needed on techniques for sensing, processing, and displaying data on the condition of both the vehicle and the guideway. Re- search is also needed for the development of engineered safeguards and operator training procedures. Alternative Fuel Sources. Although energy supply is not cur- rently a critical issue, it will most probably reemerge as a major problem within the next few decades. Technology development on a variety of energy sources will minimize the nation's future dependence on imported oil and pave the way for the eventual smooth transition to the use of new sources. Research is needed to provide the engineering knowledge on which to base advances not only in the traditional energy areas, including nuclear power, but also in the newer, less well-developed technologies such as coal liquifaction/gasification, beneficiation, and utilization; oil shale extraction and processing; solar energy conversion; and the con- version of low-grade or low quality fuels. L`ow-Grade Mineral Recovery. U.S. national security and well- being demand that plentiful domestic sources of a broad spectrum of important minerals be maintained. However, many of the high- est quality domestic deposits have been greatly depleted, and those being exploited today are generally low grade and both difficult and expensive to process. New and more economical techniques

12 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH and technologies are required for exploration, mining, and pro- cessing. Included among the most important research needs are those involving sensors and instrumentation, computer-assisted design and systems analysis of mining and extraction processes, resource mapping and management tools, and the use of colloidal and biological processes in the concentration of minerals and the treatment of effluents. Research is also needed to provide fun- damental knowledge on the behavior of minerals during fracture, dissolution, and transport. Biomedical Engineering. Exciting developments are under way in biomedical engineering the application of engineering principles to the study of the human body in the context of health and fitness that hold enormous possibilities for the future. These include diagnosis without exploratory surgery, surgery-free treat- ment of arterial blockage, relief of deafness and possibly paralysis with neural prostheses, and the continued development and im- provement of artificial organs. However, to further advance the development of devices and procedures for delivering better health care at lower cost, research is needed in the following key areas: biomechanics, to determine the response of the body to physical stress; biosensors, to convert biological responses into electronic signals; and biomaterials, to replace, repair, and augment body components and functions. Additional research is also required to continue the development of advanced metabolic imaging tech- niques, of which nuclear magnetic resonance and positron emission tomography are two currently important examples. Hazardous Material control. The health of the environment has an increasing impact on the health and quality of life of its hu- man inhabitants. Of the many alarming environmental problems, most of which can be traced directly to growing industrialization and increasing population, the most pressing involves the treat- ment and management of hazardous materials especially toxic chemicals. Research is needed on: the movement, fate, and effects of chemicals in the environment to develop control and remedia- tion strategies and to assess the ability of the environment itself to deal safely with the contaminants; conversion techniques, such as combustion and microbial transformation, to eliminate hazardous materials from the environment rather than storing them in it; and sensors and measurement methods to permit efficient process control and accurate assessment of environmental contamination or the progress in preventing it.

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 13 Mechanics of Slowly Deteriorating Systems. The internal and invisible slow deterioration of a wide range of engineered systems, including, for example, older railroads, bridges, aircraft, ships, and pipelines, poses a serious threat to the safety of their users. Yet our ability to understand how deterioration occurs in transportation as well as other systems, and how far it has progressed, is ex- tremely lirn~ted. To improve our understanding of the mechanics of slow deterioration, research is urgently needed to develop new methods for nondestructively assessing conditions in the interiors of deteriorating structures or parts. Many of these nondestructive evaluation methods will also have direct applications as inspection techniques in a variety of production systems. Computer-Aided Design of Structures. Although still in its infancy, computer-aided design is becoming and will remain- a central part of the structural design process. It wild increase the integrity and versatility of structural designs and, in the end, greatly reduce the time and cost of their construction. To realize this potential, however, research must first be pursued on: nonlin- ear, three-dimensional analysis including the modeling of complex geometrical ejects; proportioning of structural elements, that is, the translation of structural behavior data into the physical dimen- sions of actual structural members; interactive computer graphics for structural design applications; and project-wide integration for carrying computer-aided design through the fabrication stage, which Is the structural equivalent of manufacturing. Manufacturing Modeling and Simulation. Currently available mathematical models of materials, physical objects, and manu- facturing processes are far from adequate for the requirements of computer-integrated manufacturing. Research is needed on the automatic derivation, definition, and verification of structured computer data bases for product modeling, with which product production and testing can be completely planned, controlled, and implemented. Continuing research is also needed on com- puter models for manufacturing processes that can predict the effects of process variables, including dynamic variations, on final results. Additionally, research is also needed on computational and algorithmic problems in robotic applications involving, for example, image processing, collision avoidance, and response to fault conditions. Electronic Device and Packaging Technology. Continued pro- gress in several categories of devices is vital to the future health of

14 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH the U.S. computer industry and, by implication, to our national security. With regard to integrated circuits for computers, contin- ued research is needed on chips using bipolar silicon logic circuits to obtain high switching speeds and on chips using very large-scale integration to obtain high circuit densities for both memory and logic functions. Of especial importance are the advances needed in fabrication methods for submicrometer-sized structures and in the development of three-dimensional devices and circuits. With regard to the packaging technology that provides the power and signal interconnections for the multitude of chips in large-scare gen- eral purpose and scientific computers, improvements are needed in signal delay, power dissipation, and parasitic coupling. In ad- dition, research is also needed on magnetic and optical storage devices to achieve increased storage densities. CONCLUSION It is essential that the nation, through its governmental, in- dustrial, and academic leaders, give greater attention and support to engineering research. In order to do this, funding must be in- creased and made more stable, and academic institutions must be strengthened to ensure an adequate supply of trained researchers. Finally, national emphasis on the program of research outlined here will pay large dividends in greater national security, produc- tivity, and international competitiveness. Introduction and Background WHAT IS ENGINEERING RESEARCH? Other than those who pursue it or who utilize its results di- rectly, few people have a clear understanding of the meaning of the term Engineering research." To some it sounds like a con- tradiction in terms: scientists perform research; engineers devise applications or at least this is the common perception. However, although there is a large community of research scientists, there is an even larger community of research engineers working in uni- versities, industry, and government. Their investigations cover a broad spectrum from the most basic (fundamental) to the most

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 15 highly applied. The engineering research they conduct plays an increasingly key role in the development of technology for com- mercial or defense purposes, or to improve the quality of life for all. The objective of science research is to discover new knowledge about the world of nature. Engineering researchers also discover new knowledge about the natural world, but primarily they seek new knowledge about the man-made world both the world of today and the projected world of tomorrow. They utilize advances in science, mathematics, and engineering to expand the useful knowledge base and to discover the engineering principles by which significant improvements in the processes of engineering design and production can be obtained. The end result is that engineering systems, products, and services can be produced more efficiently, more economically, and with higher quality. Figure 1 illustrates the interrelation among these activities. It is virtually impossible to formulate a single precise defini- tion that encompasses the full range of activities and objectives represented by engineering research. The boundaries with science research on the one side and development on the other are often hard to discern. Important advances in science often open up many new lines of engineering research designed first to explore and then to establish the connection between those advances and engineer- ing applications. In many instances, however, the fundamental engineering principles needed to form an appropriate knowledge base for engineering applications are derived not from scientific principles or discoveries, but from research into the functional characteristics of engineering systems. Indeed, product/process development efforts sometimes yield this generic type of engineer- ing knowledge (note the feedback loops in Figure 1~. Thus, the knowledge base in an area such as manufacturing will ultimately consist of engineering principles drawn from many different engi- neering disciplines and activities, with little direct reference to the laws of nature. The driving force for research can be either the need for ad- vances in engineering to meet society's demands or the desire to capitalize on new and promising technological opportunities to benefit humankind. In universities, the education and training of doctoral students and the need for an up-to-date curriculum are also important motivators; in industry the market is the main driver. In both cases, the emphasis on explicit societal demands is

16 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH am, Science Research Inquiring Mind 1 Knowledge of Natural and Man-Made Worlds Development and Design _ production 1 _ Societal Needs and Desires r 1 it_ Engineering Research IT FIGURE 1 Engineering researchers seek new knowledge about the world of nature and the man-made world. Their ultimate objective is to improve the processes of engineering design and production, so that products and services needed and desired by society can be produced more efficiently, more economically, and with improved quality.

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 17 one of the main differences between engineering research and sci- ence research. Alternately, whereas science may support decisions, engineering research supports actions. WHAT IS THE VALUE OF ENGINEERING RESEARCH TO SOCIETY? PAST ACCOMPLISHMENTS We in the industrialized world live in a technological soci- ety undreamed of even by the visionaries of a century ago. The technological miracles we take almost for granted offer us an ex- traordinary ease of living, security, enjoyment, and prosperity. This achievement has not been easy, however. It represents a con- tinuous effort on the part of engineering researchers to advance our understanding of how physical and mathematical laws can be used to benefit humankind. That effort began in ancient times; it entered its modern phase toward the end of the last century, when Thomas Edison experi- mented with ways of generating, channeling, and using electricity. It can be said that modern engineering research was born in his MenIo Park Laboratory. The ability to use electricity sparked the growth of modern communications. From the telephone to radio and TV, engineering researchers have been instrumental in mak- ing the breakthroughs that brought progress. There is no clearer symbol of the power of technology than today's instantaneous worldwide communication networks linked by satellite. As the energy sources that fuel the technological society have evolved from wood to coal, and then to fossil fuels and nuclear power, engineering researchers have provided the knowledge on which the energy conversion technologies were based. Effective, efficient transportation systems have also been de- veloped on the basis of engineering research into elements of the vehicles themselves (automobiles, trucks, trains, ships, and air- craft), including the principles underlying their design, composi- tion, propulsion, production, and control systems. The information an] data processing systems on which our economy increasingly relies are, collectively, a prime example of the power of science and technology to transform our lives. Com- puter hardware and software alike have required fundamental ad- vances in our ability to manipulate the man-made world down

18 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH to subatorn~c levels, advances to which engineering research has contributed heavily. The machines that perform virtually every function once per- formed by humans and animals and do so much more efficiently and reliably are a result of engineering research in materials mechanics, electronics, and manufacturing processes. Structures of every kind from commercial and residential buildings to bridges, dams, and tunnels have become larger, stronger, safer, and easier to build through research into their design and construction. Because the expansion of the man-made world often has major impacts on the natural world, engineering research has also made it possible for environmental systems to lessen the harmful effects of technology on human and other life forms. Through these systems we can strive to live in harmony with our environment. FUTURE POSSIBILITIES None of these lines of development in technology has reached its limit, nor is any likely to. Engineering research must continue its broad support of technology if it is to meet future demands. Such research is now on the verge of yielding enormous new benefits in a number of new areas. New biological products and synthetic materials will soon appear. New manufacturing methods based on engineering research will make the production of high-quality goods more efficient, more reliable, and less expensive, thus im- proving the competitiveness of U.S. industries. In addition, new breakthroughs, as yet undefined, may be expected in many other · · · · - eIl~lneerlIlg C lSClp lIleS. The future can bring large and rapid improvements in the quality and diversity of everyday life. For example: . With advances in optical communications and computer technology (e.g., speech understanding, natural language program- ming, and larger memory), the communication of voice, data, and video signals over an integrated national network could become routine. "Information utilities" could provide low-cost access, from home or office, to extensive information on virtually any subject. . Data collection and recor~keeping could become so system- atized and coordinated among institutions and consumers that

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 19 most ordering, billing, and banking transactions would be done instantaneously via electronics. Thinking machines based on artificial intelligence might control many functions and operations in the economy, including the design of more advanced computers and software. Urban automobile transportation, parking, and terminal connections to rail, air, and marine modes could all be carried out smoothly, efficiently, safely, and conveniently under network control regardless of weather conditions and peak demands. Much construction could be automated, as well as mining and exploration operations on land and in the oceans. . The physical environment of the United States and even of the Earth itself could be modeled in some detail, so that (for example) weather and the environmental impacts of certain large- scale events could be predicted with greater confidence. Data collection on environmental factors could become so thorough that the status of the environment could be monitored fairly accurately. . I~arge-scale production of engineered microorganisms and their chemical by-products could offer safe and inexpensive ways of controlling insects, neutralizing toxic wastes, and producing a variety of foods, drugs, and other products. . Medical technology could alleviate most common ailments and thus prolong the average life span while reducing the infir- mities of old age. Deafness, blindness, muteness, and paralysis are all examples of disabilities whose effects could be mitigated by biomedical devices. . . . "Molecular reactors" based on chern~cal catalytic processes might be able to selectively produce novel and complex chemical products such as drugs, fibers, and fuels on a large scale. ~ The availability of a wide range of inexpensive polymeric and ceramic composite materials would mean that equipment of all kinds could be much more durable, contain fewer parts, and require less lubrication and fuel. (Large structures in space are likely to be fabricated mainly from these materials.) WHY IS ENGINEERING RESEARCH ESSENTIAL? With the continuing explosion of scientific and technical knowl- edge that has characterized the years since World War II, engineer- ing research has become an ever more essential link in technology development. Each field of engineering relies on an expanding

20 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH knowledge base for its continued growth. In addition, advances in basic knowledge in every field of science and engineering now must be Translated through research before they are accessible to application. Products in many fields electronics, biotechnol- ogy, and the aerospace industry, for exampIc are so complex and expensive to develop that supporting research is indispensable. Both the pace and complexity of discovery today are changing the nature of technology development. The flows of knowledge between science and engineering, and between academia and in- dustry, are increasingly two way. Technological advances such as the computer are providing the basis for new research methods and are opening up new fields of scientific inquiry. Finally, advances made in industry are, in many cases, beginning to drive academic research. These changes are a natural function of the speed and sophis- tication of technology development. It is a process to which some of our strongest industrial competitors are adapting more easily than we. In that increasingly two-way process, the role of engi- neering research becomes more important. As Dr. Roland Schmitt (1986) of General Electric puts it, Engineering research] the re- gion where the leading edge of research meets the cutting edge of application is becoming more than ever before the key battle- ground of international competition. Given the speed with which our advances in basic research are turned to commercial advantage by our international rivals, it is critical to the nation's economic future that we begin to capitalize faster and more effectively on our own breakthroughs in scien- tific and technological knowledge. There is a bottleneck in the technology development process. Engineering research can help break that bottleneck. Other factors also affect industrial com- petitiveness. Yet engineering research provides unusually strong leverage especially when that research is efficiently coupled to applications. Engineering research may hold the greatest poten- tial for improving the nation's competitiveness and security and achieving a higher quality of life for its citizens. WHAT IS THE CURRENT STATUS OF ENGINEERING RESEARCH? The majority of fundamental engineering research today is- carried on in university laboratories. However, industrial bad

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS /< DOE 12.4% \ \ NASA 26.236 j 21 NRC 4.4% ~ Dept. ot Interlor 2.0% / ~' Dept. of Transp. 1.5% NSF / / - / Dept. ot Agricul. 1.4% 5.3%/ // NIH 1j2% ///// Other 1.6% DOD 42.9% / FIGURE 2 Federal agency support for engineering research (FY85; total: $3.85 billion, estimated). (SOURCE: National Science Foundation, 1984c.) oratories, with their u~tmdate equipment and highly qualified personnel, account for an increasingly large proportion of the en- gineering research fundamental as well as applied- conducted in the United States.* Federal agencies provide direct funding sup- port for most of the university work, as well as for engineering research conducted at various federal laboratories. The agencies providing that support, and their relative levels of support, are depicted in Figure 2. The main areas of emphasis for each agency are listed in Table 1. Despite this range of support, the engineering research link suffers from neglect. The nation has a preeminent science base, well supported by government; in addition, both industry and government provide good support for engineering development. *Industry funding for all basic and applied research has risen substan- tially in recent years, both in dollar amounts and as a percentage of the national total (National Science Board, 1985~. However, no data differentiate science and engineering research in industry, so that this statement is based only on inference. For further discussion, see the section on Funding Issues.

22 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH TABLE 1 Engineering Research Emphases by Federal Agencies Agency Main Areas of Involvement DOD NASA DOE NSF NRCa Interior Transport ation Agriculture NIH EPA Microelectronics, computer architectures, information and communication systems systems engineering, manufacturing technology, aerohydrodynamic~, nuclear energy, high-energy systems Aerodynamics, aerothermodynamics, life support, human factors, materials, dynamics, propulsion Energy systems, power generation, alternative energy sources, nuclear fusion/fission Engineering fields: chemical, biochemical, thermal, mechanical, structures, materials, electrical, communications, systems, design, manufacturing, computer Nuclear systems engineering, power generation Mining and metallurgy; environmental, water, and soil resources engineering Systems engineering, safety/human factors, materials, communications Agricultural, biotechnology, water, and soil resources Biomedical, biochemical Chemical, biochemical, environmental aNuclear Regulatory Commission. Yet engineering research is generally accorded low priority by both sectors. Partly this is because engineering research is relatively long term, compared to development, whereas its natural support base is one in which time horizons are fairly short. Partly, too, it is because there have been few voices speaking on its behalf. This report is the first opportunity the engineering research community has had to present a broad-based, comprehensive overview of its needs and directions. It is adciressed primarily to government leaders, to industrial R&D managers, and to academic engineering researchers and administrators- the sponsors, shapers, and doers of our nation's engineering research effort.

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 23 To strengthen the engineering research link in the technology development process we will need, as a nation, to better under- stand the role of engineering research. We need to identify emerg- ing opportunities in research and be willing to focus the necessary resources on them. Finally, we need to harness the outputs of that research more effectively. This report identifies the opportunities and explores ways of addressing the needs of engineering research. Eey Engineering Researth Opportunities A primary task of the Engineering Research Board was to identify especially important arid/or emerging areas of engineer- ing research. Early in its deliberations, the board decided to ap- proach this daunting task by forming separate panels charged with examining selected are" of research. These panels were divided not along disciplinary or technological lines, but on the basis of engineering systems. The consensus was that such a classification would most accurately reflect the present and future ~topogra- phy" of research needs in engineering—particularly those most crucial to the nation's competitiveness.* The resulting coverage of engineering research, although very broad, would not try to be comprehensive. Thus, seven panels were defined and formed as follows: 1. Bioengineering Systems Research; 2. Construction and Structural Design Systems Research; 3. Energy, Mineral, and Environmental Systems Research; 4. Information, Communications, Computation, and Control Systems Research; 5. Manufacturing Systems Research; *An important category of engineering systems are those related to defense and national security objectives. The board decided not to in- clude defense needs as a separate category of research because they in- evitably cross-cut many of the other areas such as, materials, infor- mation/communications/computation, transportation, manufacturing, etc. However, the relevance of various research areas to national security is noted in the discussions.

24 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH 6. Materials Systems Research; and 7. Transportation Systems Research. The reports of these panels provided most of the substantive input on which the Engineering Research Board's report is based (see the individual panel reports also in this volume.) THE "SYSTEMS" CONTEXT Previous reports on engineering research have examined re- search needs in either a single discipline of engineering practice (e.g., civil or mechanical engineering) or a single field (e.g., ma- terials, manufacturing, or biotechnology). This is the first such report to adopt an organizing principle based on the ~systems" nature of engineering activity. Because this concept may be unfa- miliar to some, it merits discussion. The concept of engineering systems means different things to different people, depending on an individual's background and experience, and on the context in which the term is applied. It has a different meaning in the context of a manufactured product, such as an automobile or computer, than it does in the context of a network such as a transportation or communication system. Scale is one important factor: A composite material can be con- sidered a system on a microscale, whereas an aircraft frame con- structed of various metals and composites is a material system on a macroscale. The important characteristic shared by all systems regard- less of their scale is the integration of various components to op- timize certain desired features. Most industrial firms design and manufacture systems as their end product; indeed, most manu- facturing processes are in themselves systems. In the context of a product, the concept of engineering systems is very close to what is implied by Systems engineering" in which various components and subsystems are designed to interact in such a way that perfor- mance, weight, reliability, appearance, cost, and other important parameters can be optimized appropriately. In the context of a process, the concept closely resembles operations research or man- agement research directed at optimizing an overall endeavor or process. In this report, the use of the term "systems" includes both meanings. Products are regarded as integrated systems within a larger process that is itself a system. Research in the engineering

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 25 systems environment must therefore take into account not only the elegance of analysis but also the usefulness of potential products, the likely efficiency in the use of resources of all kinds, and the potential human, economic, and societal impacts. Feedback at all levels is an essential element of any true system. (It might be noted that the technology development process, as depicted in Figure 1, is itself a system, with multiple feedback loops.) Such research is by its nature cros~disciplinary. It is in this latter characteristic, in particular, that engineering systems re- search represents a change in the traditional culture of engineering research that developed after World War lI. However, the success of any system requires that both its component parts and its overall organization be functionally strong. Thus, support for the systems concept of engineering research and education in no way diminishes the need for strong traditional engineering disciplines, although it may refocus some of the emphases within those dis- ciplines. To give but one example, modern industrial engineering has an important role to play in systems design and organization. CRITERIA FOR SELECTING RESEARCH NEEDS The research needs described in the following section as be- ing particularly worthy of federal support were extracted directly from the seven pane} reports. Thus, the same criteria applied in those separate studies are applicable to the topics identified here, namely: . a strong potential to improve the industrial competitive- ness, quality of life, and/or national security of the United States; and . the technological opportunity adorned by recent advances · . . — In science or engmeerlng. Each of the pane! reports had identified a number of engineer- ing research areas within the purview of that pane} that appeared to clearly meet these criteria. In all, more than 80 topics were identified. From each panel's list, the panel's chairman selected the highest priority topics and presented them to the board for discussion. Fourteen topics were selected. The board then considered the possibility of further prioritiz- ing these areas. Clearly, each of the panels already represented an enormous scope of research, with each possibly equivalent to a field

26 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH like chemistry or physics. Indeed, certain panels encompass the entire engineering research role of more than one funding agency. The research needs that they had identified already represented a considerable effort in selection, and each is clearly important. For the board to have narrowed all of these high-priority research needs in all seven areas down to a handful of topics thus required an extreme effort in prioritization (comparable, for example, to assessing research needs in all of science). The board concluded that to rank-order the resulting 14 specific areas of research within the seven panels would be an arbitrary exercise that might dam- age the overall profile of engineering research that the nation must maintain. Nevertheless, a consensus did develop that three research areas in particular must be considered to be of extremely high priority. Those three areas are (1) increasing the power of complex software systems and the productivity of their development, (2) manufac- turing systems integration, and (3) advanced engineered materials. Descriptions of these three areas follow. Slj`T IT'S l~lj'C!lj, A =~1T A 1~¢ A C! ~1~ 1 IJ~ 1~]J~JlJl$~11 11 BIOENGINEERING SYSTEMS It is estimated that the market for bioengineered products, including both the products of biochemical engineering in the new field of biotechnology and the products of biomedical engineering, will be as large as $100 billion by the year 2000. Bioengineered products have enormous potential for improving human health and relieving suffering. Other nations are rapidly gaining momentum in these important areas. Bioreactors. Current fermentation technology is inadequate to meet the bioprocess~ng needs of industry. New techniques are needed for large-scale culture of plant and animal cells and engi- neered organisms. Fundamental knowledge of how physical and environmental factors influence biosynthetic pathways within cells is essential to the development of such techniques, and will re- quire an unusual degree of interdisciplinary scientific/engineering research. Parallel research is required to develop methods for using various enzymes or cells as catalysts for biosynthesis. The chal- lenge here is to translate the existing knowledge base for chemical

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 27 reactors into biosystems, in which the operating problems and requirements are very different. Advances in Biomedical Engineering. Americans are living longer and demanding more and better health care. Injuries are always a concern (for example, each year some 80,000 Ameri- cans sustain permanently disabling but nonfatal injuries to the brain and spinal column). At the same time, the cost of health care is increasing rapidly. Biomedical engineering is the applica- tion of engineering principles to the study of the human body to provide the knowledge needed to develop devices and procedures that can deliver better health care at lower cost. Some of its key elements are biomechanics (determining how the body responds to physical stresses), biosensors (which convert biological signals into electronic signals), and biomaterials (used to replace, repair, or augment body parts or functions). Development of advanced metabolic imaging technologies for research and diagnosis is an important area (two currently important examples are nuclear magnetic resonance and positron emission tomography). Benefits from biomedical engineering will include such things as: diagnosis without exploratory surgery; treatment of arterial blockage with- out surgery; relief of deafness and, possibly, paralysis with the use of neural prostheses; and development of effective artificial organs. CONSTRUCTION AND STRUCTURAL DESIGN SYSTEMS Construction has suffered from a chronic lack of research at- tention. Yet it is a $200 billion industry in the United States alone, and one in which foreign firms are making great competi- tive inroads in traditional U.S. markets. New materials and new technologies could potentially improve the effectiveness with which structures are designed and built. Construction Robotics. Because all constructed facilities are custom-designed and custom-built (largely on-site), the industry is labor-intensive and has a chronically low productivity rate. Be- cause operations such as lifting and installation are still done mainly by humans, the size of most components is governed by human physical capacity. Construction robotics could greatly aug- ment current capabilities by: extending the workplace into new

28 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH environments; extending vision capabilities into hidden areas; per- form~ng high-quality, repeatable work operations; reducing safety and health hazards; providing lifting and positioning capability for very large payloads; and affording mobility, dimensional control, and versatility over a range of project sites and sizes. Research is needed to proceed from current industrial robotics to construc- tion robotics and to incorporate a variety of unique functions (e.g., mobility, flexibility, and a high payload-to-weight ratio). New con- struction design concepts, materials, and methods will also need to be devised to exploit the capabilities provided by robotics. Computer-Aided Design (CAD). CAD is becoming a key tool of structural design; as yet, however, it is still in its infancy. Before it can yield the many benefits it promises, several areas of research must be pursued. These areas include nonlinear analysis of struc- tures; improving the coordination of analysis and experiment in the design process; use of supercomputers to improve behavior analysis of very large, three-dimensional structural systems (e.g., large buildings); advances in interactive computer graphics; and extending CAD from the design concept on through to the fabrica- tion of the actual structure by means of a project-wide integration of what have been separate, computerized operations. ENERGY, MINERAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS Mineral resources and energy are the basic input, and environ- mental impacts the output, of our technological society. They are fundamental to all other technological activities. Yet the first two are threatened by diminishing domestic supplies and dependency on foreign sources, whereas the third is beginning to affect not only our own nation's long-term well-being, but also our relations with neighboring countries. Engineering research can increase our options and give us greater control over these vital areas of con- cern. Control of Hazardous Materials. Protecting the environment becomes increasingly ~rnportant as industrialization, the popula- tion, and our national standards of living all continue to rise. Of many emerging environmental problems, the most pressing is that of hazardous materials especially toxic chemicals. Better tech- nology is essential to solving this difficult problem, as it can lead

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 29 to alternative products and industrial processes that reduce the production of hazardous chemical wastes, as well as to safer and less expensive methods and processes for handling and disposing of these wastes. Conversion techniques have great promise for al- leviating these environmental hazards. One such approach is com- bustion; a much better fundamental understanding of the overall physics and chemistry of combustion technology is needed in order to apply it more effectively. In another approach, engineered or naturally occurring microorganisms can transform many harmful organic materials into inorganic products that are harmless, nat- ural constituents of the environment. However, more research is needed on the movement, fate, and effects of chern~cals in the envi- ronment in order to better understand and exploit these microbial transformation processes. Research on sensors and measurement methods is an important related area, as it would improve the de- tection and monitoring of hazardous materials and permit efficient process control. Clearly, a broad systems approach integrating the various factors noted previously will be needed to produce useful solutions to these environmental problems. Alternative Fuel Sources. A continuous, readily available sup- ply of energy is essential to the well-being of the nation's citizens, its industry, and its defense. Long-term investment in research is necessary to provide a diversity of energy sources that will minimize the nation's vulnerability to a loss of supply for any rea- son. In addition to traditional sources (including nuclear power), especially important newer technologies requiring continuous at- tention include coal (liquefaction, gasification, and treatment to improve its properties, as well as advanced concepts for its direct utilization), extraction and processing of of! shale, solar energy (especially photovoltaic devices), new and improved techniques for extracting petroleum, and techniques for converting low-grade or Tow-quality fuels economically into electricity or other energy forms. Recovery of Low-Grade Mineral. Minerals are the raw ma- terials of technological activity. However, existing high-quality U.S. mineral deposits have been greatly depleted. Those deposits now being exploited are lower in quality and more difficult and expensive to process than were those used in the past. Because existing exploration, mining, and processing techniques are not

30 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH fully adequate for exploiting low-quality reserves, new techniques are needed to improve efficiency. These techniques include im- proved sensors and instrumentation for exploration, mining, and processing; CAD and systems analysis of the mining and extrac- tion process; and the use of colloidal and biological processes (e.g., leaching using engineered microorganisms) to concentrate miner- als and treat effluents. In order to reduce minerals effectively to the small size range suitable for the latter processes, a fundamental data base must be developed on the behavior of minerals during fracture, dissolution, and transport. INFORMATION, COMMUNICATIONS, COMPUTATION . AND CONTROL SYSTEMS These areas, taken together, embody the revolution that is proceeding in electronics and computers. They are central to modern manufacturing and defense, and are increasingly impor- tant in many aspects of daily life. Staying at the leading edge in these areas will be basic to the future economic health and security of any nation. Productivity in Development of Complex System Software. Our ability to (resign, code, test, and modify large software systems has improved somewhat in recent years, but ~ still inadequate. U.S. manufacturing industries and defensive systems are being held back by the cost and difficulty of producing software. Fundamen- tal research is needed on methodologies for the efficient develop ment of large software systems (e.g., for communications systems and distributed computing). Also important is research on the compatibility, reuse, and standardization of key software modules. Related needs are for research on: software reliability, testing, and verification; distributed data bases; and real-time processing of data generated in large volumes (e.g., by spacecraft). Electronic Device and Packaging Technology. Several cate- gories of devices underlie progress in computation. One such category is integrated circuits. Very large-scale integration has received much attention for application to both memory and logic circuits. However, the continued improvement of bipolar silicon

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 31 logic is equally Import ant - especially for large-scale, general pur- pose and scientific computing- and is not receiving sufficient at- tention in university research. Another basic category is inter- connection structures. These structures provide the thousands or even millions of signal and power interconnections used within a chip. Improvements in reliability, signal delay, power efficiency, and parasitic coupling all require better technology than is now available. A third category is information storage media and de- vices. A number of new approaches in both magnetic and optical storage offer the promise of enormous increases in storage density. MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS The use of new technologies based on the computer presents an opportunity to vastly increase the efficiency of the manufacturing process, and thereby to regain our nation's competitive edge in manufacturing. Taken to their logical conclusion, robotics and other elements of factory automation can be integrated to permit flexible, "lights-out~ manufacturing around the clock. Systems Integration. Integrating all of the human and machine- based elements of manufacturing will yield great improvements in efficiency. However, our basic understanding of this area falls far short of meeting the needs for systematic, generic approaches to de- signing computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) systems. Major programs of cross-disciplinary research are needed to provide bet- ter engineering methods for systems integration. Research should be aimed at creating new software and hardware that is modular, compatible with other systems, adaptable to new requirements, and that can be easily understood by its users. A long-term goal is to develop the techniques of artificial intelligence to provide computer-based capabilities such as inference and intuition that can be applied to the design and "diagnoses" of manufacturing systems. Modeling and Simulation. There are still important areas in which available models of materials, physical objects, and manu- facturing processes are inadequate for the needs of CIM. Research is needed to define structured computer data bases for product modeling. Such data bases should provide all information neces-

32 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH sary for planning, controlling, and implementing the production and testing of a product. More research is also needed on computer models for manufacturing processes; many current models are unable to predict what effect process variables will have on final results. Computer simulation techniques are still evolving rapidly. High-quality computer graphics provided at relatively inexpensive workstations is one very desirable goal. MATERIALS SYSTEMS Advanced engineered materials of various kinds hold great promise for the creation of new products and new standards of performance in virtually every commercial field, as well as in mil- itary systems. The word "advanced" here implies new methods for the synthesis and processing of materials; ~engineered" refers to materials that have been created to meet property specifica- tions desired for some end use (rather than finding end uses for materials with a set of properties fixed by nature, as was for- merly done). This new approach to materials design applies to the entire range of materials from critical components of rn~cro- electronic devices to materials used in large structures, vehicles, and highways. There is enormous potential for such materials, but research is needed to capitalize on the opportunities they afford. For example, the current "ceramic fever" is fed by the expectation that new processing techniques will yield cerarn~cs meeting hitherto unattainable strength and temperature require- ments, if we can better understand the forces between particles only slightly larger than some molecules. Advances in computer architecture and processing speeds, and in lightwave technology, require renewed emphasis on a full range of electronic materials. For biomateriaLs, we need a better understanding of what deter- mines biocompatibility if we are to realize the full potential of many prosthetic devices. For commerce and defense the demand continues for structural materials combining higher strength and lower unit weight. We can meet this demand through proper en- gineering; but first we must gain a better understanding of how materials bind, deform, and rupture, through the use of modern analytical instrumentation.

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 33 TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS Although transportation systems and services account for some 20-25 percent of the U.S. gross national product, very little research is conducted on most modes of transportation. Yet the efficient and productive design, manufacture, operation, and con- tro! of transportation systems has a major impact on daily life, on commerce, and on our ability to respond quickly to a national emergency. Even a small increase in research effort, well placed, could yield large benefits in our ability to move people and goods in a fast and efficient manner. Without such research, the next 25 years could well bring a rapid deterioration of this vital nationwide system. Vehicle and Guidance System Integration. Increases in com- puting power and data storage (with smaller component size) and advances in electronic communications (all at Tower cost) have opened up new opportunities to better integrate vehicles with their guideways. In the case of cars and trucks, this might in- volve communications, radar braking, traction control on slippery pavement, navigation aids, guided steering, new traffic control systems, and other innovations. Similar advances are possible in other transportation modes and among modes. Research must include techniques for sensing and processing data about the con- dition of vehicles and guideways, algorithms for efficient logistics, and driver acceptance and training requirements. The goal is to create a network (or system) of transportation modes and mocial interfaces that is optimized for maximum productivity, defense effectiveness, reliability, and safety, and for minimum congestion, cost, environmental impact, and consumption of resources. Mechanics of Stowly Deteriorating Systems. The public is in- creasingly concerned with the reliability of products, machines, and structures. In both the commercial and defense arenas, we need better ways of predicting when and how such systems are likely to fail. Reliable means are needed for assessing the safety of older railroad and highway bridges as well as that of aircraft, ships, and pipelines. Yet our ability to understand how the slow process of deterioration occurs in transportation systems, to de- termine how far it has progressed, and to analyze existing systems (as well as to design new ones) is limited. Extensive fundamental

34 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH research is needed to better understand the mechanics of slowly deteriorating systems and to develop a basis for their nondestruc- tive evaluation. This research should include the identification of "almost-failed" systems and the mechanics of that phase of deterioration. An outstanding need is for new methods of assess- ing conditions in the interior of a deteriorated structure or part. Timely repair or replacement of existing systems or components- neither too early nor too late—is essential to ensure public safety at an affordable cost. CROSS-CUTTING RESEARCH NEEDS It is evident from the foregoing descriptions of priority research needs in each panel area and even more so from the full reports of the panels- that a number of technologies and research thrusts cut across much of contemporary engineering research. The board believes that it is worthwhile to highlight these common threads, because they indicate areas of research that may be "eating advances across a broad front of technology and in which the overall impact of focused research may thus be greater than the sum of the separate efforts in different fields. COMPUTERS The computer has revolutionized engineering and holds the prorn~se of allowing enormous advances in the future. Complex computations can now be performed rapidly and cheaply. Great quantities of information can be stored, organized, analyzed, and displayed efficiently and effectively for decision making. To take full advantage of this marvelous tool, new engineering concepts must be developed and many new fundamental engineering prin- ciples established. Before this revolution can continue, however, large gaps must be filled in our basic knowledge of both the physical phenomena and the most appropriate methods of computation. This need is obvious in applications such as computational mechanics for both solids and fluids, an area of research that underlies, for example, CAD of all structures, machines, and vehicles; welding and other fabrication techniques; and deformation processing of materials. It is no exaggeration to say that entirely new knowledge bases must

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 35 be created to utilize the computer in emerging areas of engineering such as integrated manufacturing systems. Powerful as today's computers and supercomputers are, they are still inadequate for some problems of engineering practice as well as for some problems that engineering researchers face. Therefore, continuing fundamental engineering research on the computer itself and its associated component devices and materials also is essential. There is an urgent need to develop new principles of computer science and engineering, and to refine and modify older principles that now have limited validity. MODELING AND SIMULATION Improvements in the power and availability of computers have led to enormous advances in modeling and simulation of products and processes in every field. Whether it be a new material, a building, an aircraft, a transportation network, a battlefield, or the movement of environmental contaminants, the ability to construct an accurate computer mode} can offer enormous dividends in cost, time, and understanding. However, improvements in computation have outdistanced improvements in our modeling capability. Current models for solid objects, for example, do not provide unambiguous geometric (three-dimensional) information, and they provide almost no in- formation on nongeometric characteristics and functions. Models of processes (e.g., manufacturing) are equally incomplete. Computer simulation techniques are being driven forward by advances in hardware, simulation software, and process models; but there is still far to go in this area as well. The use of simulation in engineering curricula is a particularly valuable application. SYSTEMS INTEGRATION The drive toward integration of large systems, including both product and process, may be the most fundamental change in the approach to manufacturing since Frederick W. Taylor's ideas on Scientific management" took hold in the 1920s. Again, the computer has made this trend possible, because it permits the rationalization of such a complex endeavor as modern manufac- turing.

36 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH The basic concept is that, in the manufacturing context, ef- ficiencies in design, materials, parts inventory, cost and process control, use of manpower, and nearly every other element can be achieved through optimizing choices and timing, and through sharing data. The concept also applies to nonmanufacturing sys- tems such as a transportation system. There, vehicle design would be coordinated with the communication-control system associated with the guideways (e.g., road or flight path), which would in turn be coordinated with economic and social factors such as peak- use times or the relative costs of different modes of commercial transport. Because the scope of potential application is so large and sys- tem conditions are generally so variable, it has proven difficult to formulate generic principles governing systems integration. How- ever, such a knowledge base is theoretically achievable, and much progress has been made for specific applications. The advent of supercomputers and, possibly, expert systems may permit the nec- essary algorithms to be developed; much more theoretical research is needed to establish the general rules by which these problems should be approached. P ROCESSES AND PROCESSING Because Americans have a talent for discovery, the nation has tended to emphasize development of the science base in many fields. Our achievements in materials science, computer science, and rn~crobiology, for example, are preeminent. However, we have not paid corresponding attention to the processes associated with the use or commercialization of related products. As a result, other nations reap many of the benefits of our basic scientific discoveries. For example, Japan, West Germany, and France all have government-funded programs directed at speeding up the com- merciaTization of biotechnology a field in which processing is currently the main bottleneck. The United States does not have such a program. Similarly, U.S. government programs fund ma- terials science much more heavily than they do materials pro- cessing, even though processing is currently the key to a new world of engineered materials that may soon assume enormous econorn~c importance. Japan is said to be producing large num- bers of materials-processing engineers—the United States is not (National Research Council, 1984~. Microelectronics is another

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 37 area in which process design and control is becorn~ng the crucial point for competitiveness. Engineering research can lead to substantial breakthroughs in the efficiency, economy, and versatility of processing techniques. This is one of the most important ways to break the bottleneck in the technology development process and take full advantage of the nation's strong science base. Issues that Determine the Health of Engineering Research In attempting to gain an overview of engineering research, the Engineering Research Board began by identifying seven subsets of engineering systems research, as described in the introduction. A cursory glance at the names of those seven pane! areas might suggest that they have little common ground. One is hard-pressed, for example, to find many obvious common threads between bio- engineering and transportation. Indeed, each of the panels has identified issues specific to its own nature and circumstances. Nevertheless, there is a remarkable degree of commonality in the problems, pressures, and needs that are central to the health of each of the areas represented by the panels. Some of these may vary over time in their impact on any one panel, but the factors affect all areas to some degree. We begin this assessment of the health of engineering research with a brief, specific summary of the health of each of the selected areas. We will then attempt an overview of the entire field from the standpoints of: funding issues; the adequacy of research facilities; and ~ the adequacy of personnel resources. It should be noted that there is a degree of inherent overlap be- tween these issues and those discussed in the section on "Policy Issues," because policy questions—whether federal, academic, or industrial have a substantial impact on the health of engineering research.

38 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH SUMMARIES: THE HEALTH OF THE SELECTED FIELDS BIOENGINEERING Bioengineering systems encompass both biochemical engineer- ing (the engineering aspects of biotechnology) and biomedical engi- neering (which is concerned with medical technology and devices). Although this field has received great attention in recent years and has potentially enormous economic significance in both of its components, it is presently underfunded, and the research support is scattered among various federal agencies. The primary support agency for bioengineering research is the National Institutes of Health (NTH), which devotes less than 2 percent of its overall budget to the entire field. NTH's support for bioengineering research is tiny compared with that for biological or medical sciences; yet engineering research is now the bottle- neck for further development of these technologies by the United States. Support by the NSF is stilIsmall (less than $12 million). Although the recent move to coordinate support for biotechnology within the foundation Is a hopeful sign (as is the new Biotech- nology Process Engineering Center), other nations (i.e., Japan, West Germany, and Great Britain) all have stronger and better coordinated government sponsorship of research in this field. Over the past decade, the proportion of bioengineering stu- dents in U.S. graduate schools relative to all engineering graduate students has remained roughly steady at about 2 percent. There is a shortage of biochemical engineers and faculty in particular. To carry out needed research in these economically competitive disciplines, more trained bioengineers will be needed. CONSTRUCTION AND STRUCTURAL DESIGN Federal support for research in this overall field has tradi- tionally been limited. Although modest amounts of research are being pursued in structural design, few universities have research programs in construction, and in general the field has had a hard time establishing and maintaining a respectable niche in academia. The primary reason for this situation is the considerable gap that exists between the theoretical orientation of universities and the practical values of the construction industry. In addition, the pub kc perception of the construction field as being highly pragmatic militates against public-sector support.

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 39 Another impediment is the fact that civil engineering struc- tures are usually one-of-a-kind items, with no time or money allocated in the contract for research. Thus, practitioners rely on established practices and on-site experimentation. The small size of most firms in the industry, and its current economic difficulties, mean that industry supports little research. Overall, the supply of research-oriented graduates in civil engi- neering is adequate to meet present demands. However, although the construction field could benefit greatly from the application of advanced design and manufacturing technologies such as CAD and robotics, virtually no research specialists in these high-tech areas are interested in construction applications. If research fund- ing were to increase significantly, the increase should be gradual in order to avoid creating a shortage (or an eventual oversupply) of qualified Ph.D.s. ENERGY, MINERALS, AND THE ENVIRONMENT A present national complacency with regard to energy supply, mineral resources, and environmental protection has resulted in reduced research funding in these areas. Department of Energy (DOE) funding of energy R&D has decreased sharply. The Envi- ronmental Protection Agency's (EPA) research budget fell steeply between 1979 and 1983, and is now below that of 1977 in actual dollars. The EPA's program directed at long-term research in uni- versities has been cut by more than 60 percent since 1981. These declines are occurring despite an increase in the proportion of in- dustrial operating costs represented by environmental protection and growing public concern with the issue. As research funding has declined, both undergraduate and graduate engineering enrollments in the specialities that make up this area have dropped sharply especially in environmental and nuclear engineering. Interest in materials and metallurgy has held steady, but there is less emphasis on extraction and processing (the key engineering areas) than there is on research in materials science. Decreasing and less accessible domestic energy and mineral reserves, along with increasing hazardous materials contamination, pose future problems to national productivity and human welfare suggesting that the health of this area should not have been allowed to decline so far or so fast as it has.

40 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH INFORMATION, COMMUNICATIONS, COMPUTATION, AND CONTROL Although faculty shortages continue to be a problem in most areas of engineering, tremendous student interest in this field and a big demand for researchers in industry have led to an especially severe faculty shortage in this field. To limit the problem, many schools have set enrollment ceilings in electrical engineering and computer science departments. The quality of students is high, but many leave at the B.S. level. As a result, new Ph.D.s are in short supply especially in "hots areas such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and computers, where the demand is greatest and the faculty shortage is worst. Another major problem is the lack of up-to-date equipment for teaching and research. winding for research is adequate in most areas, although fairly uncoordinated across agencies and heavily oriented toward defense needs (so that restrictions on research publication are a recurrent problem). The field is in good health, broadly speaking. However, it is experiencing all of the difficulties as well as the advantages and excitement that accompany rapid progress. MANUFACTURING Given its implications for competitiveness, federal support for research on manufacturing systems has been very low (e.g., some $82 million was spent on programmable automation research in 1984, with the majority being defense-related). The NSF and National Bureau of Standards (NBS) programs in this field are good, but small. Emphasis on manufacturing systems research is growing, however, as evidenced by NSF's establishment of two En- gineering Research Centers focusing on aspects of manufacturing. The field lacks a strong professional tradition, a fact that ham- pers the movement toward research. There is only a limited science base. Professional communications for research in manufacturing have only recently been initiated. There are few educational pro- grams in manufacturing engineering, and these often go by other names or are "hiddenly within other programs. In comparison with Japanese and European manufacturing educational systems, the flow of new talent into U.S. manufacturing is inadequate in both quantity and quality.

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 41 MATERIAI,S Federal support for materials research has been roughly con- stant at about $1 billion per year, with the majority of this amount directed at the physical science aspects of materials. Additional funding for materials engineering is found within other engineering areas, especially at their interfaces, such as in the aerospace field and manufacturing. The research support is spread across several agencies, and mechanisms for setting research priorities are neither well estab- lished nor consistent. The ratio of federal to industry funding is approximately 1:4 considerably smaller than the ratio of about 2:5 prevailing in other technical fields. The best students are not entering the materials field, except in the area of electronic materials. Relatively few earn a Ph.D., even in high-demand areas such as ceramics (in which Ph.D. out- put is about 35 per year). Materials research is a highly interdis- ciplinary field, and one in which advanced research and teaching facilities such as clean rooms are relatively expensive and scarce. TRANSPORTATION Except in the aerospace field, which benefits from substantial public-sector funding, transportation systems operate with far too little research input. Mission agencies involved in transportation devote less than 0.5 percent of their budget to research, compared with about 1 percent for other nondefense mission agencies. High- way research funding is relatively small, and almost no research is now conducted on guided ground (rail) passenger systems and marine transportation. Although guideways and network control systems are seen as the government's responsibility, most of the vehicular components of transportation systems are traditionally viewed as a private- sector concern. Industry does conduct a substantial amount of applied research on certain vehicles (i.e., automobiles, trucks, and aircraft) and associated systems, but it is reluctant to support the intermodal and mid- and long-range engineering research that is needed to improve existing transportation systems and to create new ones.

42 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH TABLE 2 Relative Percentage of Expenditures, by Performer, on all R&D, Research, and Basic Research Performer Basic R&D Research Research Industry 73 50 20 Federal government 13 16 13 Universities 8 25 50 Othersa 6 9 17 aIncludes state and local governments and nonprofit foundations. SOURCE: National Science Foundation. National Patterns of Science and Technology Resources, 1984 (NSF 84-311~. FUNDING ISSUES SUPPORT FOR R&D It is appropriate to begin a discussion of funding for engi- neering research by examining the scope of funding for all R&D. The 1985 total national investment in R&D is estimated at $106.6 billion. Total federal support for R&D carried out in universities, federal laboratories, and by industry currently amounts to about $50 billion per year, or roughly 47 percent of the total. Industrial R&D expenditures surpassed those of the federal government in 1980, and now amount to about $52 billion (49 percent) (National Science Board, 1985~. Table 2 shows the relative breakdown of funding, by performer, for R&D, all research, and basic research. Most (i.e., about two-thirds) of the research performed by univer- sities Is sponsored by the federal government. Companies pay for roughly two-thirds of all R&D conducted in industrial laboratories; the federal government sponsors nearly all of the rest (National Science Board, 1985~. Some 66 percent of the total national R&D outlay is spent for development. (In industry, 77 percent of R&D is spent on development.) Industry funding for basic research has increased in recent years, but still is only about 5 percent of the total industrial R&D expenditure (or about $2.7 billion in 1985~. Industrial funding for applied research has risen sharply in amount and as a percentage of the national total, surpassing the federal outlay in 1980 and rising to 58

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 43 percent in 1985 (National Science Board, 1985~. This shift reflects the administration's efforts to Reemphasize near-term research not considered appropriate for federal investment. SUPPORT FOR ENGINEERING RESEARCH In contrast to R&D funding, the Engineering Research Board found that it is extremely difficult to assemble consistent and comprehensive data on expenditures for engineering research per se. Most federal agencies and industrial researchers do not distin- guish engineering research from other scientific research indeed, in industry there are few data available to permit a distinction between funding for research and funding for development. Where such distinctions are made, they are not made consistently across or even within organizations. At the level of individual subsets of the field, the highly interdisciplinary nature of the research greatly complicates the picture. The best available data are compiled by the NSF, which tab- ulates data on federal funding for various areas of science and engineering. Those data indicate that 1985 federal expenditures on engineering research were about $3.85 billion (National Science Foundation, 1984c). As Figure 3 shows, the total has remained nearly constant in recent years (the amounts have not been ad- justed for inflation). Calculations by the board also demonstrate that funding for engineering research has kept pace closely with overall federal funding for research since the m~-1970s (Figure 4~. Table 3 shows the levels of support provided by various federal agencies, and Table 4 shows the federal support for engineering research (both fundamental and applied) at universities and col- leges. As Figures 3 and 4 indicate, engineering research in general receives a relatively small proportion (about 25 percent) of federal research funds, compared with science research. Fundamental engineering research fares much worse, averaging around 5 percent of all research expenditures. Part of this disparity results from the fact that science research is seen as clearly within the purview of government, whereas en- gineering research including even that which is fundamental in nature- is viewed as bordering on development, and thus as a private-sector responsibility. Partly, too, the limited awareness among nonparticipants of the existence and role of engineering research, as described in the introduction, impedes support.

44 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH 20 - o o = I_ 8 - cn By O 10 m o ~ I C] IL o Fundamental Research (Engineering) Appiled Research (Engineering) Total Research (Science & Engineerlng) 15.108 14.254 0.690 ................ .................. ................................. .......... .................. ..... ...................... .......... ............................... . .: ... .: . ........ ......... ,............................... .... .. .. .... ...... ... . ....................... .... .......... ......... . :..................... ...... . ....................... ........ . ...................... ... :.:............ ~ 2 4 . 7'6 J , . . . . 3.517 : ///// ..................................... r////// ,......................... ~ ~ -^ ~ : , ~.0~, '///// ....... .. '///// , ....................... ,,,,,, . ... ~ : ,,.,,,: ,,, 0.785 . . . ..... ... . . ...... . . ........................... .. .. . . .: . ~ . , i, . ........ ... ..... , : . ........................... ...... .. ..... : ~ .: i::: :::::::::::::::::: ..:: . I: ::: :::::::::::::::::: ~! : ~ :. :::::::::::::::: ~ ~ . .: l: :::::::::::::::::: '::: ::: i::: : : :::::::::::::::: :: .: ~ :::::::::::::::::: .:~: : :::::::::::::::: (23.5%) ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 3.552 ::::::::::::::::: ////// ............................... And/// .... .:.. , , : : , : , 2.767 , ,,,,,, ............................... ,, , , ,, . . ..: .. ..... a,,,,, : ....... it.. . ~ i. : . 16.034 (24.0%) 3.846 0.8671 air//// ~ 2.979' 1983 1984 (est.) 1985 (OSt.) YEAR FIGURE 3 Engineering research funding (fundamental and applied) by the federal government has remained nearly constant in recent years, both in amount and as a percentage of total federal funding for research. (SOURCE: National Science Foundation, 1984c.) It is imperative that the importance of engineering research in the exploitation of our national innovative capacity be recognized by the Congress and by the mission agencies concerned with technol- ogy development. Funding for RED should be examined carefully to identify those points at which increased effort in engineering re- search can be applied to strengthen the knowledge base and leverage the overall federal effort in ROD.

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 16 In o t2 - Q In ID I_ ID - ~ 8 - I Cal in O 4 o 4 In o - ~ 3 I_ - - - I _ Ct in Ct z Z 1 - z L 45 _ _~ Total Engineerlng Research (all agencies) Total Research (all agencies) // o L 1967 1970 1975 FISCAL YEAR /~ 1 1 1 1980 1985 FIGURE 4 Federal funding for engineering research has accounted for about one-fourth of federal funding for all research over a period of many years. (SOURCE: National Science Foundation, 1984d.) The nearly complete lack of data on industrial support of engineering research is troubling. It makes it difficult to ascer- ta~n whether adjustments might be needed in the philosophy that guides federal investment decisions. Traditionally, the federal gov- ernment has restricted its involvement to "precompetitive" re- search, or to R&D in areas of essential public interest. However, questions of policy in the context of industrial competitiveness

46 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH TABLE 3 Federal Agency Funding (Smillions) for Engineering Research (FY85, estimated) Agency Percentage Funding of Funding DODa NASA DOE NSF b NRC— Interior Transportation Agriculture NIH EPA Commerce Other Total 1,650.9 42.9 1,006.3 26.2 479.5 203.6 168.4 78.1 57.5 55.0 45.4 41.7 29.8 29.3 12.4 5.3 4.4 2.0 1.5 1.4 1.2 1.1 0.8 0.8 3,845.4 100.0 aThis funding includes research that is strongly defense- griented and applied in nature. ~Nuclear Regulatory Commission. SOURCE: National Science Foundation (1984c). TABLE 4 Federal Funding ($millione) for all Engineering Research at Universities and Colleges Agency Percentage Funding of Total D OD 169.0 39.3 NSF 121.8 28.3 NASA 43.8 10.2 DOE 37.1 8.6 NIH 27.0 6.3 Agricaulture 9.8 2.3 NRC- 5.1 1.2 Other 16.4 3.8 Total 430.0 100.0 aNational Research Council. SOURCE: National Science Foundation (1984c).

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 47 require that information be available regarding the extent of in- dustrial support for engineering research and for basic science research. For example, it might be possible to partly coordinate the programs of research in universities and federal laboratories with those in industry. As another example, the federal govern- ment might wish to consider supporting industrial cooperative research activities. Such information would also help us to better understand the impact of various kinds of research on innovation and on the effective commercialization of technology. The board recommends that a study be made of U.S. ~ndus- trial support for research especially engineering research to de- termine the amounts, the mechanisms, and the effectiveness of such research on an industry-iny-indfustry basis. THE NSF'S ROLE The NSF is the federal agency responsible for supporting nondefense-oriented basic research. Support for engineering re- search is explicitly part of the NSF's charter, and as Figure 5 shows, it has carried out that responsibility well particularly in its support of fundamental engineering research at universities in areas not covered by the mission agencies. However, the NSF's funding for engineering research has been much smaller, relative to all federal obligations for engineering research (NSF spent 4.7 percent of the total in 1984) than its relative funding for aca- demic research in general (19.6 percent of the 1984 federal total) (National Science Foundation, 1984c). That disparity appears to be changing. The NSF is giving much greater recognition to the role of engineering research. The budget of its Directorate for Engineering is expected to increase from $150 million in FY85 to $163 million in FY86. Still, the FY85 figure represents only about 0.3 percent of the total federal R&D obligation of $50 billion. Given the fact that the NSF is the primary sponsor of the long-range engineering research and (indi- rectly) the graduate education in engineering that are necessary to keep the United States ahead of its technological competitors, this is a miniscule amount. It is a role that is not fulfilled broadly enough or deliberately enough by the mission agencies. A National Academy of Engineering committee estimates that, to meet pressing national needs for engineering research and

48 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH i< DOD 39.2% NSF 37.4% \ \ I \ NASA 9.4% \ NIH \ / DOE \5.3% Y 7.8% \ / a, ~ DOA9 0.9% FIGURE 5 Federal support for fundamental engineering research at univer- sities and colleges, by federal agency (total funding: $340.3 million, FY94, est.~. (SOURCE: National Science Foundation, 1984c.) human resources, the budget of the NSF's Directorate for Engi- neering should increase to around $400 million by FY90 (National Academy of Engineering, 1985~. The board concurs generally with the assumptions on which this estimate is based, and applauds the NSF's effort to strengthen its commitment to engineering research. FACTORS AFFECTING SUPPORT As Figure 6 attests, the degree of support for engineering research varies greatly across the subsets of engineering defined by the board. For example, the information, communications, computation, and control (}C3) area (partly represented in the figure by electrical engineering) is relatively well funded, whereas funding for construction research (a subset of civil engineering) is extremely limited. I,ow funding in the biochemical engineer- ing (biotechnology) area of bioengineering is reflected in the low funding for chemical engineering. The ratio of federal to industry funding of engineering research also varies across fields. The Materials Systems Research Pane! estimated that about 80 percent of materials research, for example, is funded by industry, compared with less than 60 percent in other

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50 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH engineering fields. Whether a field is perceived as a private- or public-sector concern greatly affects its support, as does its current level of "fashionability." Support can also vary within a field for a number of reasons, including those just mentioned. In the area of transportation, for example, engineering research in the aerospace field is consistently well funded; research on railroads, however, is very limited. As another example, structural design receives far better support than related areas of construction. Materials processing research is underfunded compared to materials characterization research. One factor that undoubtedly affects funding for engineering research and graduate study is the relative lack of awareness on the part of the general public about the role and importance of engineering research. The public is generally aware of advances that occur in science; much of science appeals to the imagination in a direct way. Engineering research is more difficult to explain and present in a dramatic way, but it can be done. Recommenda- tions for increased funding of engineering research would be greatly strengthened if they rested on a base of broad national acceptance. Organizations such as the NSF or the National Academy of Engi- neering, which have the resources to stimulate media interaction, should consider how this Blight best be accomplished. RESEARCH FACILITIES Engineering research is rapidly becoming far more complex. In some cases it ~ more specialized and in others it is larger in overall scope and scale than in the past. These changes have brought with them a corresponding increase in the sophistication of the equips ment needed for modern research. For the most part, however, the nation's primary infrastructure for research universities does not reflect this new reality. It is now widely recognized that university laboratory re- sources for engineering education and research are perilously inad- equate. Simply put, these labs are too old, too small, and in some cases too dangerous. The useful life span of engineering laboratory equipment is currently said to be about 10 years (and decreasing). Yet the average age of lab equipment in engineering schools is estimated to be 2~30 years (National Research Council, 1985a). Only 18 percent of that equipment is said to be "state of the art";

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 51 25 percent of it is so obsolete it is not even used (National Science Foundation, 1984a). Two factors are involved: First, we are now paying for the fact that buildings and equipment have not received adequate attention from university adrn~nistrators or government funding agencies during the past two decades. Second, the explosion of knowledge in some engineering fields during the past decade has caused an accelerated obsolescence that was not anticipated. The enormous advance in sophistication of modern testing and mea- surement devices and instruments is accompanied by extraordi- nary increases in equipment costs. The cost of even small-scare, specialized facilities for engineering research quickly runs into the millions of dollars. The cost and the urgency of the need are both greater in the fast-moving, high-tech areas of engineering such as comput- ers, communications, electronic materials, materials processing, computer-assisted design/manufacturing, and robotics. Semicon- ductor processing research facilities, for example, cost $7-$8 mil- lion each; a composite processing laboratory for metals, ceramics, or polymers costs about $5 million. (It should be noted, however, that the costs of larger scale research facilities tend to be quite small in comparison to major facilities for science research. A synchrotron radiation facility, for example, costs between $70 and $160 million, depending on its size.) Because adequate facilities are essential to both research and teaching, the lack of this equipment harms the knowledge base as well as the production of highly qualified new researchers. It also impedes the training of engineers who are familiar with cutting- edge research and with the use of modern industrial tools. The movement toward sharing facilities, either on a national/regional or local bash, is a positive one. The trend toward cluster facilities, whether they are supercomputers or surface science laboratories, ought to continue. Recent gifts from industry to universities for use in upgrading equipment have also made significant inroads on the problem. Yet the problem is still very serious, and more needs to be done. Gifts of laboratory equipment to engineering school can be facilitated through legislation affecting taxes at the state andlederat levels. It may require a concerted effort on the part of industry, schools, and professional societies to bring about such changes in the tax laws. In addition, funds are sorely needed to operate

52 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH and maintain the donated equipment. In the case of buildings, federal and industry funds, matching state funds, and private gifts could all be applied. Finally, we concur with the finding of the National Academy of Engineering that it would be appropriate for the NSF's Directorate for Engineering to include in its budget substantially greater funding (i.e., at least $80 million per year) for research equipment and instrumentation (National Academy of Engineering, 19859. ADEQUACY OF PERSONNEL RESOURCES Perhaps the single most critical factor in the health of engi- neering research is the availability of qualified and highly moti- vated researchers. From the standpoint of U.S. industrial competi- tiveness, the availability of practicing engineers able to "translate" research advances into innovative applications is equally impor- tant. Graduate education is essential for both of these resources. The output of new Ph.D.s, the availability of faculty to train them, and the quality of existing research talent in these fast-changing fields of engineering are all important elements in determining whether a subset of the field is able to progress rapidly and to retain a strong competitiveness with respect to the engineering efforts of other nations. PH. D . PRODUCTION As Figure 7 shows, the output of doctoral degrees in engi- neering, which had decreased sharply beginning in 1973, began to increase again in 1979. By 1983 it had passed 3,000, and in 1985 it reached an estimated 3,400 (National Research Council, 1985 b). This ~ substantially fewer Ph.D.s than were graduating annually at the end of the 1960s. Although it IS more than twice the number of engineering Ph.D.s granted in Japan (1,290 in 1984), it is never- theless a far smaller proportion of all doctoral degrees granted (9.3 percent of all U.S. Ph.D.s in 1984, compared with 17.8 percent in Japan) (National Science Foundation, 1986~. Given the emergence of new fields and the general increase in the research-intensiveness of engineering since that time, the current output of doctoral-level engineers in the United States probably represents an overall shortage of new researchers and engineering faculty, as well as of highly educated practitioners

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 4,000 Oh a: 3,000 C) a: 2,000 z z 1 ,000 - He o 0 1970 1975 53 1 1 ESTIMATED '' ~ ACTUAL ~ / 1980 1985 1990 YEAR FIGURE 7 Actual and estimated engineering doctoral degrees per year. (SOURCE: National Research Council, 1985b.) who are well equipped to carry the results of engineering research into practice. In the case of funding, however, the picture varies from field to field. Indeed, funding for research is a major factor in deter- mining the number of doctoral candidates. High funding tends to be associated with rapid growth in the corresponding industry, sparking interest among undergraduates and a large output of B.S. graduates into lucrative industry jobs. Paradoxically, the supply of Ph.D.s may be particularly inadequate in such areas; although there are higher absolute numbers, the demand is proportionately even greater. The IC3 area and the currently "hots areas of ma- terials (electronic materials and ceramics) are examples. By the same token, the supply of Ph.D.s in underfunded fields may exceed the demand. For example, in construction there am pear to be adequate numbers of doctoral candidates at present,

54 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH due to the shortage of jobs in civil engineering and limited fund- ing for research. Doctoral study may become a "holding pattern" under such circumstances. Limited research funding probably has a more straightfor- ward effect in fields such as biotechnology and manufacturing, where there are severe shortages of Ph.D. researchers. About one- third of the biotechnology firms surveyed in 1984 by the Office of Technology Assessment reported shortages of Ph.D.s. Some 20 departments of chemical engineering that have biotechnology programs graduate fewer than 60 M.S.s and Ph.D.s combined; the annual need nationally is estimated to be 2-3 times that large. Ph.D. production is also declining in the areas of energy, mineral resources, and the environment as overall funding drops. Newly trained researchers are the lifeblood of contemporary American technology. It is essential that we encourage more of the best engineering students to continue into doctoral study. This is just as important in areas that are presently little emphasized as it is in the growing high-tech fields. Without a strong capability to conduct energy research, for example, the nation will be much more vulnerable to a future energy crisis. Doctoral study must first be made more attractive. The board endorses the recommendation that is now frequently made, that doctoral stipends should be increased to at least one-half the start- ing salary of a B.S. engineer in the relevant industry. Progress toward this goal is already occurring in the form of industry fel- lowships for engineering doctoral candidates as many as 200 per year- that carry stipends of $14,000 plus a departmental grant, with no repayment requirement. In addition, the use of "forgive- able locust from industry is an excellent idea. An example is the General Electric Company's program, in which loans of up to $5,000 are made to Ph.D. candidates and are forgiven if on graduation the student pursues an acadern~c career for at least 4 years. One factor that is frequently cited as a problem relating to graduate study is the growing prevalence of foreign-born students on temporary vis=. Such students now account for well over 40 percent of all engineering Ph.D. candidates at American uni- versities (National Research Council, 1985a). (The proportion is even higher in certain high-demand areas, such as manufacturing [59 percent] and microelectronics [52 percent; Holmstrom and Petrovich, 1985.) However, these individuals have been extremely

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 55 valuable both on engineering faculties and in industry. They now represent some 25 percent of all junior faculty in engineering, and they contribute their substantial talents toward the competitive- ness of U.S. industries especially in the most advanced areas of R&D. To discourage them from staying in this country (or, even more so, from coming in) would work to the disadvantage of the United States. Nevertheless, the greatest emphasis must be placed on attracting a far larger fraction of our best domestic engineering students into Ph.D. programs. FACULTY With record high enrollments in most engineering disciplines over the past decade, the "faculty shortages has been a continuing problem. The board finds that it is an especially severe problem in IC3, because of very high enrollments and high industry demand for researchers. In bioengineering, manufacturing, and some areas of materials research, faculty are also in short supply and will remain so for some time, even with appropriate incentives, be- cause these fields (or their advanced applications) are fairly new. Figure 8 depicts the results of one recent survey of recruitment in these fields; one-half of the respondents reported unfilled fac- ulty positions. Yet in fields that are presently feeling the pinch of reduced funding (e.g., transportation and environmental engi- neering), some faculty members are shifting their research and teaching to other fields. In fast-changing fields obsolescence is also a problem. A high- level official of the NSF told the board that as many as 3~40 percent of all engineering professors nationwide are not up to date; yet these are the faculty who teach most of the undergraduate engineering students. Policy Issues Regarding Support of Engineering Research The Engineering Research Board believes that strong, interna- tionally competitive engineering research capabilities are essential to the United States' domestic and international strength. In our juclgment, U.S. engineering research in most fields is still at or

56 90 80 70 ~ 60 Cal C, O 50 o a: 40 m 30 20 10 o DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH - Some positlons positions filled ~T ,............. ............................ ............. ......................... ................ ........... .~.............. . ~ O0 ~0 Aft 4 ~0 _~ * _. ICE O~0 con `,0 .0 Robot FIGURE 8 Of programs in emerging engineering areas recruiting faculty in 1983-1984, roughly half of those surveyed were able to fill all available positions. (SOURCE: Holmstrom and Petrovich, 1985.) near the forefront by worldwide standards, but is not nearly the dominant force it was from after World War IT to about 1970. Capable foreign competitors now are challenging U.S. strength in many engineering fields, notably in bioengineering, materials

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 57 engineering, manufacturing engineering, transportation systems, construction, and many areas of communications, computation, and control systems engineering. Most daunting is the growing speed and success with which Japanese industry translates engi- neering research advances (from their own laboratories or those of others) into high-quality manufactured products. Policy changes and other actions by the U.S. government, industry, and universities are needed to strengthen engineering research, particularly in emerging and interdisciplinary fields, and to improve our record in transferring the fruits of research to our own industries. We sense that there is now a consensus in government, in- dustry, and universities that the challenges described previously can be better met by expanding the scope of cooperative activity among these three parties and by improving the linkage between engineering research and practice. Accordingly, we also discuss this topic and make a number of recommendations aimed at fos- tering greater interactions among these sectors. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT POLICIES BASIS FOR FEDERAL SUPPORT OF RESEARCH Over the past three decades the nation's commitment to the support of scientific and engineering research has provided ex- traordinary benefits to society and, in the process, has established the United States as a world leader in science and technology. The government's involvement in research derives from its responsibil- ity for national security and from its obligation to provide for the general health and welfare of its citizens. Government has assumed its active role because the scale of research in emerging scientific ant! technological fields Is often too large for private companies to undertake; and in general there is too little incentive for industry to support long-range research. Therefore, the great majority about two thirds of the nation's basic or fundamental ("precompetitive") research is supported by the federal government. In addition, areas of general public health and welfare such as safety, medicine, defense, public transporta- tion, and environmental quality are not natural targets of research by industry. Thus, the government has also become strongly iden- tified with support of these types of research at all levels.

58 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH Most of this federal support is directed at universities. Al- though universities perform only some 25 percent of all research in the United States, they perform about half of the basic research (see Table 2) (National Science Foundation, 1984b). This research is generally long term, innovative, diverse, relatively inexpensive, and open to all. A very valuable by-product of university research is the training of graduate students for research and teaching, as well as for applying research results to practice within industry. Furthermore, universities foster a much closer interaction between science and engineering than is likely to occur in industry, with its lesser emphasis on fundamental research. This interaction mu- tually stimulates science and engineering, and is beneficial for the nation as a whole. Thus, there are compelling reasons why the federal govern- ment must continue to support research at universities and else- where. Earlier sections of the report have given reasons why engi- neering research must be an important and growing component of this support. The following discussion points out several specific areas in which changes in policies, practices, and attitudes will make federal support of engineering research more effective and successful. NEED FOR STABILITY This issue of stability is raised first for a reason: Nearly ev- ery pane] report submitted to the board identified it as among the most serious if not the most serious—difficulties that engineering research faces. The problem is that the federal government's sum port of engineering research often varies greatly within a given field across relatively short periods of tone. New issues, sudden crises, and changing expectations alter the research priorities of federal agencies and bring about erratic changes in emphasis. Mission agencies are the most subject to the shifting political winds. Although the engineering research community has long rec- ognized the magnitude of this problem, it has tended to believe that it was simply unsolvable that political realities would in- evitably dominate and to hope that things would somehow work out. Yet the lack of continuity in programs continues to result in an enormous waste of national resources, energy, and produc- tivity. University research programs and planning are regularly devastated by the On-of control that has been applied to their

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 59 funding in specific areas. The board believes that we must some- how find a way to graduate from the crisis management that has characterized so many of the decisions regarding support of uni- versity engineering research. The crises that frequently stimulate research may be so com- pelling that they cannot be ignored. Indeed, agencies should be alert and ready to accommodate new thrusts. However, such Quick-response initiatives should be undertaken as ad;~-ons to continuing and stable support of both basic and applied research. One possible mechanism would be to have a set-aside reserved for this purpose. Long-term research needs in these areas might be better served if the NSF were to take a greater role in those basic and exploratory research programs that the rn~ssion agencies do not see as part of their objectives. The mission agencies, for their part, need to recognize that the training of researchers over the long term is not exclusively the province of the NSF; each agency also has a responsibility here. Therefore, another very useful step would be for mission agencies to allocate, on a multiyear basis, a fixed percentage of their budge! to university engineering research in fields appropriate to their mission. These measures should not be construed as preventing the termination of lines of research that ult~rnately prove unfruitful. However, such shifts should be effected on a gradual and deliber- ate schedule to permit an orderly redeployment of the researcher population affected. NEED FOR BETTER COORDINATION Engineering research is highly interdisciplinary. In addition, because it is linked to economic markets, public demand, and political pressures, the nature and objectives of research change fairly rapidly many fields are quite new. In addition, federal mission agencies tend to operate independent of one another, with a focus on their own near-term development objectives. For these and other reasons, there is a prevailing lack of coordination with regard to federal spending in many areas of engineering research. Support for research is often spread across several federal agencies and within otherwise-unrelated programs within each of those agencies. Given the differing mission perspectives on that

60 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH research, this decentralization is appropriate and necessary. How- ever, needed areas of research are missed; there is inevitably also some wasteful duplication of effort, coupled with a Toss of opportu- nities to achieve greater progress through the synergy of combined strategies. The net effect is that findings are often not efficiently assembled, analyzed, or put into practice. The bioengineering and materials fields in particular are strongly affected by this lack of priorities and cooperation. More coordination ?voutd benefit all the engineering research fields, and thus the nation's overall technology development effort. Mechanisms for setting priorities should be established on both the interagency level and within agencies. This will require the es- tablishment of interagency coordinating committees, perhaps at the Office of Science and Technology Policy. The Comrn~ttee on Materials of the Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engi- neering and Technology is one example of the kind of interagency coordinating group that can be helpful, although this group has not had enough overall impact. NSF's recently formed Office of Biotechnology Coordination is an example of the kind of activity that other agencies could initiate internally to address crosscutting new areas within their purview. MISSION ORIENTATION AND OVERMANAGEMENT Because of the increased competition for limited research re- sources nationally, government agencies involved in supporting engineering research have begun to shift from a philosophy in which research grants are seen as instruments for investing in future needs and research talent, to one in which grants are a means of procuring an identified product or of solving an imme- diate problem. As a result, well-defined, "theme-oriented~ basic research projects (perhaps more properly termed engineering de- velopment) are beginning to crowd out unsolicited basic research of broad applicability. Lost in this change in orientation are many of the imaginative ideas that can solve tomorrow's problems; thus, the real loser IS the long-term health of R&D itself. The board agrees with the need to focus on practical results. The needs of the domestic economy and our international com- petitiveness demand this emphasis. Nevertheless, there is a clear need for fundamental engineering research to add to the knowledge base In every field of engineering. Within agency research budgets,

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 61 there must be ample room for high-risk, tong-range research as well as the more immediate, product-oriented research. Ways to ensure this balance might include . earmarking and protecting a sufficient pool of funds for fundamental research from which no immediate products are ex- pected; and . setting aside awards, based mainly on a junior or senior investigator's past performance, that provide opportunities for more speculative research on an adequate scale. Related to the increasingly product-oriented, near-term na- ture of agency-sponsored research, but on a more individual level, is the growing tendency of mission sponsors to "m~cromanage" engineering research projects. The problem is most noticeable at universities, but industry researchers also report having encoun- tered it in large government-funded development projects. This practice of overdirection reduces the chance of success and should be avoided. The board believes in accountability. In general' the direction and methods of a particular research project are better Reined by the researchers involved, rather than toy detailed planning at the funding agency. Changes in direction should be allowed at the discretion of the researcher. If overall reviews after a reasonable period of time (often 3 years or more) indicate a lack of progress or loss of focus, then funding should be gradually phased out while allowing graduate students to finish their thesis work. University research that has researcher training as a major goal is not equipped to deal with sudden major shifts in direction. A Year project supporting 2 students can be much more cost effective in educational terms than a 1-year project supporting 10. IMPORTANCE OF THE INDIVIDUAL PROJECT GRANT Over the past few years the NSF has begun to emphasize the sponsorship of projects that feature partnerships between univer- sities and industry. This trend is evident in, for example, the Engineering Research Centers (ERC) program. Because such cen- ters provide a solid basis for the type of systems-oriented research recommended in this report, the ERC concept merits the board's strong approval.

62 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH Nevertheless, the board is concerned about the continuity of funding for new, innovative research investigations in the tradi- tional disciplines, whose scale is modest by ERC standards and that generally involve the efforts of individual investigators and just one or only a few graduate students. The very nature of engineering research is such that many long-range advances have been made only through the vision of individuals who are not allied with the mainstream of the industrial process or the cur- rent conventional wisdom. This type of research is a key to the health of the overall engineering research environment, and it is not likely to be sustained by "trickle-down" support filtering through the large, heavily funded activities. Consequently, the board urges that the general scheme of NSF sponsorship should continue to provide a major explicit emphasis on encouraging the individual engineering researcher, in balance with the new thrusts emphasizing cross-disciplinary research. ROLE OF THE FEDERAL AND NATIONAL LABORATORIES About one-third of all federal R&D expenditures are made ei- ther in government or in government-supported laboratories (NSF, 1984c). These facilities include the federal (in-house) laboratories, such as those operated by NASA, DOE, and DOD; and the na- tional (federally funded) laboratories, such as the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Sandia National Laboratories, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Lincoln Laboratory. Not only is much valuable work done by the labs themselves, but universi- ties and (lately) industry have benefited considerably from access to the state-of-the-art equipment and expertise resident within them. The federal and national labs have unique expertise in the development of sophisticated instrumentation. The role of the federal and national labs in carrying out part of the nation's R&D effort is an important one, and one that has generated controversy in recent years (see, for example, Office of Science and Technology Policy, 1983~. The board did not at- tempt to address this subject in any detail, because of its scope and complexity. However, the board believes that the government needs to clarify the relative research roles of the universities and the federal and national laboratories to ensure that the division of effort between them is reasonable. The issue does require further study, and guidelines to this end should be developed. Universities,

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 63 in addition to producing fundamental research ideas and results, also produce the new research engineers and scientists needed to maintain a strong national research establishment and national economy. Thus, their role is unique and indispensable. For this reason, the board would urge Congress to avoid protecting the fed- eral and national laboratories at the expense of university research during budget reductions in a given area. University research has little defense against the political pressure that a concentrated, la~ge-scale research effort in a single national laboratory can bring to bear. THE DOD: POLICIES TOWARDRESEARCH The DOD has been a dominant source of support for basic and applied research since World War Il. Through offices of research at the departmental level and in each service, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and other service laboratories, the DOD has pursued advances in many of the most exciting technologies of our time. Electronics, communications, manufacturing, materials, and aerospace systems could not have come to their present levels of development without this support. In recent years, short-term defense requirements had begun to dominate the defense research agenda. However, the most re- cent budgetary allocations indicate a renewed realization (on the part of Congress as well as the DOD) of the need to enhance fundamentalengineering research as an essential element of our national security. Between 1980 and 1985,DOD support for fun- damental research In universities grew at an average annual rate of 10.5 percent. University performance of basic research accounted for half of all DOD'S basic research in 1985,UP from 34 per- cent in 1976 (National Science Board, 1985~. Current DOD plans call for further substantial support of high-risk basic research, multidisciplinary centers, research equipment, and research fel- lowships. The trend toward greater involvement by DOD in basic research particularly on university campuses has been contro- versial. However, the board welcomes this enlightened outlook and support, and hopes it will continue. There is concern that attempts within DOD to restrict the dissemination of unclassified research might not only impede com- munication among U.S. researchers, but would in effect exclude universities from participating in research. This would seriously

64 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH harm both engineering research as well as the relationship between DOD and the universities. Clearly understood and implementable guidelines must be established and adhered; to by at' concerned if we are to ensure that research expenditures benefit from broad in- tellectual input and produce trained researchers while satisfying the legitimate needs of national security. ENCOURAGEMENT OF RESEARCH IN INDUSTRY Although universities have the intellectual resources, the en- vironment, and the incentives to lead in fundamental engineering research, a great many of today's breakthroughs in that research are occurring in industrial laboratories. Abundant equipment and other resources are part of the reason; federal policies have also played a major role in facilitating industry research. For example: . Most of the major DOD contractors use Independent Re- search and Development funds to pursue high-risk research on their own initiative. . The congressional tax acts have provided a number of tax incentives to promote industry R&D. Perhaps 10 percent of the increased industrial R&D funds are used to conduct fundamental · · ~ engineering researcn. ~ Antitrust restrictions have been eased, permitting compa- nies to form cooperative research consortia in different fields. Direct contractual support has been increasingly extended. . The federal government is Cole to leverage its fiscal resources very effectively toy means such as these, and should continue to do so. The current congressional tax acts should be extended, and should encourage gifts of cash and equipment to universities even more vigorously than in the past. Because industrial development in certain fields (especially electronics en cl biotechnology) is producing and will continue to produce a vast array of new products and techniques, attention is needed to the question of patent and property rights. Innova- tions in software, for instance, are already giving rise to major alterations in the concept of intellectual property. The lack of acl- equate policy in this area may retard industrial research in some fields.

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 65 UNIVERSITY POLICIES The foregoing discussion makes it clear that universities play a crucial role both in performing engineering research and in edu- cating new generations of researchers as well as practitioners able to apply the results of that research. For that reason, university policies and practices can have a great impact positive as well as negative on the health of engineering research and graduate education. Four areas of special importance are 1. encouraging faculty flexibility; 2. removing impediments to cross-disciplinary research and education; 3. maximizing the use of available research facilities; and 4. establishing policies on graduate study. ENCOURAGING FACULTY F LEXIBILITY Junior Faculty Universities have had difficulty filling vacant engineering fac- ulty positions, particularly when they have sought specialists in emerging new areas or with particular interdisciplinary compe- tences. Though industrial research laboratories frequently and successfully employ new Ph.D. graduates for work quite far from their thesis topic, the common pattern at universities for new faculty appointed shortly after completing their Ph.D. work is to continue along the same path they pursued in their thesis research. Otherwise they find it very difficult to secure outside research fund- ing. Some campuses have successfully alleviated this problem by providing new assistant professors with the resources and encour- agement necessary for them to develop specific new areas for their research. To succeed: in such redirection, universities (with the help of government and industry) must And a way to provide support for research initiation. This must include research funds, a reduced teaching load, aid in developing needed personal interactions with researchers in the new field, and a fair and clear standard for advancement and promotion to tenure. Federal programs for re- search support award funds based on demonstrated competence in the proposed research area, as evaluated by peer review. New fac- ulty need a few years to develop a new research area before they

66 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH can expect to receive research support in that area from these traditional sources. Senior Faculty Universities should also do more to encourage senior faculty to develop new areas of research expertise as their established lines of research become less relevant to current needs. A faculty member well established in research is strongly tempted to continue work- ing in one area through a full 3(> to Midyear career, if possible. Given the rapid rate of change in engineering technologies, this is not a workable approach. Changes in a university professor's research emphasis should occur on a much shorter time scale. In- dustrial leaves, permitting senior faculty members to spend a year or two in industry to get started in a new research area, can be very effective. A full-year sabbatical leave at another, carefully chosen university also can be effective. A program of fellowships for senior faculty specifically aimed at research redirection could be an effective complement to industrial and university sabbati- cal leaves. Faculty salary policies can offer an effective incentive if significant rewards are permitted to accrue to those who are successful in developing productive research and teaching in new technical areas. CROSS-DISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AND EDUCATION Every pane} represented within the Engineering Research Board's scope of study is profoundly cros~disciplinary in nature. Indeed, engineering systems research in all areas with economic and technological importance cuts across the established disci- plinary boundaries. Industry must and does operate in a cross- disciplinary systems mode, from applied research to development to design and production. Engineering students therefore should be educated to perform well in the cross-disciplinary mode within a systems environment. This requirement in turn calls for those who teach them to understand and (on occasion, at least) to par- ticipate In group efforts that cut across disciplinary lines. Universities have been criticized for resisting integration of their engineering specialities into a whole that should serve both themselves and their clients (government as well as industry) better than current alignments do. Part of the problem is that

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 67 cross-disciplinary research is not easily encompassed within the traditional reward system for university faculty, or within the academic department structure. Faculty who affiliate with a cross-disciplinary activity outside the departments have no nat- ural constituency within the departmental structure that controls promotion and tenure. When young faculty members participate in research activities that are viewed as not being "intellectually tough, their publication record in these areas is frequently dis- counted. Thus, it is important for them to have another major suit. One solution is for untenured faculty to have joint appoint- ments in the traditional discipline and the new activity. There are limitations to this approach, however, because the individual has to do Trouble duty in terms of departmental citizenship; and there is a constant risk of diluting faculty research output by dividing it between the two activities. Probably the best solution is to maintain such high standards in the interdisciplinary programs that they are above reasonable criticism by the faculty. At the same time, the program partici- pants should strive to create a better sense of understanding among the nonparticipating faculty regarding the mission and goals of the activity. Fellowships specificltly targeted to encourage Ph.D. grad- uates in one discipline to do postdoctoral research in another would facilitate communication among disciplines and reseeds the faculty with individual who are experienced in the cross-disciplinary ap- proach. Such fellowships, extended by industry and government, should carry stipends equal to those of beginning assistant pro- fessors of engineering. Normal postdoctoral appointments, with their modest stipends, attract ample numbers of science Ph.D.s but almost no domestic engineering Ph.D.s. The problems associated with cross-disciplinary research and education must not be downplayed. Optimal tuning of what might be called the specialist/generaTist axis Is still especially in the university a highly nonlinear endeavor. The integration of talent that has often worked so weD in industry task forces has worked because there was something to integrate in the first place. In university research the correct balance is equally ~rnportant, but perhaps harder to discern. It must in any case ensure that stu- dents receive a thorough grounding in the fundamentals of specific disciplines.

68 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH The basic exposure now offered in rigorous undergraduate engineering curricula will continue to serve the nation's needs in the future. Indeed, if we omit these basic studies we will soon encounter a new kind of crisis in engineering education. What is needed is more exposure in the curriculum to the ap- plication of these skills to compound and cross-disciplinary prom lems. This will happen only if the members of the faculty acquaint each other with problems requiring multidisciplinary approaches. Then, as students progress through their necessarily somewhat specialized curricula, they can be exposed to more comprehensive problems and issues. A valuable by-product of that exposure will be a more flexible national pool of engineering researchers and practitioners who are able to move within and across fields to meet the nation's changing technological needs. The board believes that it is much too early to tell whether the results of disciplinary engineering research or of cross-disciplinary research will have the greater impact on future engineering prac- tice. Moreover, we believe that there is no need to resolve the question if indeed resolution in the abstract is possible. Both modes are likely to contribute substantially to the future eco- nomic well-being and industrial competitiveness of our nation. In addition, both modes are investments in the future with a guar- antee of substantial economic return in the aggregate, despite the uncertainty of success of any single engineering research program. It is for this reason that we urge more cross-disciplinary re- search with a systems orientation, through such vehicles as NSF's ERCs, because so little fundamental engineering research at uni- versities is now done in that way. We also urge continued atten- tion to and support of those engineering researchers who prefer to pursue high-quality work in a single discipline as individual investigators or in very small groups. They have in the past and will in the future make significant contributions to the knowledge base on which industry will build. MAXIMIZING THE USE OF FACILITIES Meaningful engineering research and effective education of doctoral-level students require progressively more sophisticated and expensive equipment, facilities, and support staff. The need to expose a large number of graduate engineering students to the advanced technology they will encounter in industry means that

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 69 first-rate facilities should be available at many schools across the nation. A handful of the largest engineering colleges have kept current in selected research areas, but at the cost of substantial fund-raising efforts by faculty and alumni. However, as described in the section "Issues that Determine the Health of Engineering Research, most engineering colleges have been unable to remain up to date in research facilities and instrumentation, or in providing the support staff to maintain and operate costly experimental facilities. Costs are so high that a majority of engineering colleges with graduate programs will have to rely on shared facilities and equipment for a portion of their experimental research. Examples are already evident: the Na- tional Research and Resource Facility for Su~micron Structures at Cornell University, NSF's newly established ERCs, and the four new supercomputer centers encourage participation by researchers from many institutions. Collaborations between universities and industry, and universities and government laboratories, are also very useful means of sharing access to costly research facilities, and should be actively pursued. We welcome the trend toward broader access to these scarce resources. However, successful conduct of research in an environ- ment of shared facilities will require more collaboration between senior researchers than has been common in engineering in the past. University policies must be modified to support, evaluate, and reward success in collaborative research. The fact that other successful fields of university research, such as high-energy physics and astronomy, have out of necessity operated with shared facili- ties for years gives hope that engineering research also can succeed in this mode. Graduate programs in engineering are expensive to operate. Because of the need to educate future practitioners in research methodologies, these programs should be considered more akin to medical science programs (as contrasted to programs in the phys- ical and natural sciences) in terms of their need for equipment and facilities. To provide more funds, university equipment and facilities should be formally depreciated over lifetimes comparable to those used by industry. Contrary to widespread university prac- tice, depreciation charges should be allowed as a normal operating expense and should accrue toward renovation and replacement of equipment and facilities. Of course, in most cases this will require the approval of the sponsor.

70 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH POLICIES TOWARD GRADUATE STUDY Attracting Nigh- Quality Students University policies and practices concerning graduate students must be modified to induce more of the nation's most able engi- neering undergraduates to continue into M.S. and Ph.D. programs. As we recommended in the section "Issues that Determine the Health of Engineering Research, supporting stipends for gradu- ate students need to be at least half the engineering salary offered by industry to graduates with B.S. degrees. Some fields, such as materials and manufacturing, may need to offer especially attrac- tive fellowships or assistantships in order to attract the numbers of high-quality students they seek. Students are also strongly dis- couraged from pursuing doctoral studies if facilities and equipment available for their use are below industry standards. New Programs Given the changing nature of technology and of industry's de- mand for engineering researchers, it is difficult for academia to keep up. The development of high-quality graduate research programs takes considerable time and effort. The relative scarcity of pro- grams in biotechnology and manufacturing, for example, has been noted. Universities are of necessity conservative institutions- they cannot afford imprudent change. Having seen the decline of student interest in programs that were once fashionable (recent examples would include environmental and nuclear engineering), they are reluctant to innovate quickly. This conservatism is much assuaged, however, by tangible sup- port. Industry offers to support the establishment of needed new programs would be a strong inducement to universities. One sug- gested mechanism would be the use of matching-grant programs at either the state or federal level, with the government matching industry funds provided for this purpose. The board believes that, for new programs to be most effective, they should generally foe targeted at particular fiends. Given the time and resources required to establish high-quality, broad-based programs, it is unlikely that such programs will be able to com- pete with established programs for full-time graduate students. Without an adequate supply of full-time students it is difficult to develop a strong, broad-based research program.

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 71 Universities often fee] pressure from industry to offer part-time graduate study programs. However, the university community be- lieves that whereas part-time programs for the master's degree may be acceptable, part-time doctoral study is in no way equiv- alent to a high-quaTity, full-time Ph.D. program and cannot be relied on to produce first-cIass research personnel. Full-time co- operative programs with industry SILO have promise and should be developed further. POLICY ISSUES FOR INDUSTRY INCREASED SUPPORT OF FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH Industry performs about half of all science and engineering research carried out in the United States, but only about 15-20 percent of the basic research (National Science Foundation, 1984a). Basic research accounts for just 5 percent of all industry R&D expenditures (National Science Board, 1985~. It is appropriate that industry should devote most of its effort to relatively near- term research and product development; this is to be expected. However, in the interest of its [ong-term health and competitiveness, particularly on the international scene, industry should give greater attention to f?`ndamental engineering research, both in-house and at universities. In the manufacturing industries, the trend toward moving "offshore with production may tend to deflect attention away from fundamental engineering research that could improve com- petitiveness over the long term. In other industries (e g., con- struction, shipping, and railroads) there is little support for near- term research and virtually no long-term research. It is obvious that research must compete with other priorities, only beginning with short-term pressures on the bottom line. However, enlight- ened managers must come to realize that an appropriate emphasis on engineering research is in the long-term best interest of any technology-based company. In the dual interest of increasing fundamental engineering research and improving the supply of engineering talent, indus- try should substantially increase its interactions with universities. These interactions can take several forms: . contracting for basic research L'

72 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH increasing equipment donations (including funds for its operation and maintenance); providing matching funds for "bricks and mortar"; offering consulting contracts to faculty and summer jobs to students; and arranging personnel exchanges and encouraging joint re- search. More of this kind of interaction would be highly beneficial, as it would help to close the existing gap between engineering research and practice. It is not only support in the form of funds and equipment that is important; the personal involvement of gradu- ate students and faculty with their industry counterparts is also extremely valuable. Management support for such interactions is essential. Responsibility for graduate research education rests largely with those universities having strong research programs. The in- teraction of graduate students with research faculty is essential and provides the best possible training environment. NSF and the federal mission agencies have heretofore been the primary sup- porters of graduate education. Now, industry is being increasingly drawn in. In addition to the measures noted previously, inno- vative programs such as the ERCs and the Presidential Young Investigator Awards are attracting industry sponsorship. Faculty fellowships of various kinds, sponsorship of doctoral students, and other such activities also deserve the full support of industry. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT In addition to academic researchers, the national pool of research talent also includes large numbers of experienced re- searchers in industry. These individuals are a valuable resource that must be conserved and nurtured. There are two primary mechanisms by which this resource can be efficiently used. First, industry managers should ensure that the company is making optimum use of its engineering re- search talent. For example, it ~ important to subject the research program to periodic review so that unproductive lines of research can be weeded out. JLn addition, opportunities should be provided for continuing growth of responsibilities and salary in the context

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 73 of technical activities, through "dual-ladder" structures (i.e., tech- nical management paralleling corporate management) and other means. Second, the effective lifetime of researchers can toe extended through continuing professional development and education. Japa- nese engineers, for example, are said to receive very effective continuing training after being employed in industry. They ap- pear to obtain an excellent theoretical education in the univer- sity, which is then augmented by rigorous and substantive prac- tical training on the job. U.S. industry should support atten- dance at technical meetings, short courses, and sabbaticals at academic centers. Universities can organize part-time, weekend, and evening courses in cooperation with local industries. In ad- dition, industrial researchers can be brought into closer contact with academic research through joint university-industry research contracts awarded by government agencies. Finally, industry research engineers could also contribute sig- nificantly to the nation by advising the government on research planning. Such advice would help to stabilize fields of engineer- ing research and coordinate advances in technology across related fields. COOPERATION In the interest of the overall health and competitiveness of industry, companies could aEord to be much more open with their more fundamental engineering research data (e.g., in manufactur- ing), by making it available to the technical community at large. Companies should also take the initiative to form new cooperative consortia along the lines of the Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation to advance the state of the art in lag- ging industries. Such joint research ventures can provide excellent mechanisms for industrial investment In needed fundamental and applied research. IMPROVING INTERACTION AMONG THE SECTORS Each of the sectors contributing to the technology develop ment process government, industry, and universities focuses primarily on its own role and its own goals. This "three-legged" approach has worked well, and has been the basis for our nation's

74 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH past technological successes. Cooperation among the sectors has always been a feature of that process. However, closer coordina- tion and stronger links are now greatly needed. If, as was urged in the introduction to this report, we are to Begin to capital- ize faster and more electively on our breakthroughs in scientific and technological knowledge, we must deliberately strengthen the interactions among the sectors. An important step will be to improve the linkage between engineering researchers and practitioners. This~will require funda- mental changes in attitudes and orientations. Traditionally, many university researchers have been reluctant to interact closely with their industry counterparts and to attend in a direct way to long- range industry needs. Many practicing engineers in industry, for their part, have been poorly equipped to understand the content and implications of university research findings; after entering the work force, they have had little opportunity to learn how to do so. It is imperative that engineering researchers and practitioners alike begin to work consciously toward a mutual understanding of each other's work, needs, and goals, so that the transfer of technology from research to practice can become more effective and efficient. To this end, a crucial step will be to increase the numbers of engineers in industry who are able to understand and utilize the results of research. Exposure to research beyond what is possible at the undergraduate level is essential. The M.S. degree clearly will come to be a requirement in many areas of engineering practice. Some practicing engineers will also hold the Ph.D. These highly educated practitioners could do much to bridge the gap between engineering research and practice. Cooperative research activities have recently been the center of much attention in engineering, and have been a good step in the direction of improving the linkages among sectors. With the help of government, industry and the universities have developed a number of new approaches to research collaboration. For exam- ple, the NSF has established 20 university-industry cooperative research centers, and its ERC program has had high visibility. DOD is establishing a parallel program, and other federal agencies are considering similar actions. The Semiconductor Research Cor- poration, founded in 1982 with a long roster of corporate members, has already organized centers of excellence with long-term thrusts at three universities. In addition, a number of states have initiated successful programs involving joint state, university, and industrial

OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS 75 participation in technology centers of excellence. Individual en- gineering schools have also begun to stress improved interaction with industry through joint research and other programs. Cooperative research programs involving university personnel with their counterparts in industry (and in government laborato- ries) can be fruitful in many ways. They can broaden the base of support for university teaching and research, give (two-way) ac- cess to research skills and equipment not otherwise available, and develop in students and faculty as well as those outside academia an awareness of opportunities and constraints as seen from various perspectives. We have emphasized the importance of instilling in students a sense of the flavor, attitudes, and approaches of engi- neering in the real world. Early contact with the engineering world is the best way to impart that awareness. A tradition must develop in which university people faculty and students alike participate on a long-term and continual basis in both the research and facilities of industry and government. Mutual expectations should be reconciled at the outset of such cooperative research ventures. Each party must try to understand the other's objectives and needs. For example, the conflict be- tween short-term pressures and long-term goad sometimes causes problems in industry-supported university research. Milestones for evaluating progress are one potential solution. Two-way ex- changes of personnel for varying periods are a feature of many successful cooperative research programs. Conflicts over rights to inventions and other intellectual prop- erty sometimes have blocked otherwise promising research rela- tionships between industry and universities. In reality, only a tiny fraction of university research projects result in economically sig- nificant patents or other intellectual property. It is questionable whether, in the aggregate, the realizable value from secured in- tellectual property exceeds the costs incurred In the prospective attempts to cover all contingencies. Worse, the atmosphere of open exchange that IS an essential aspect of university research programs is poisoned when students and faculty become highly sensitized on matters of rights to intellectual property. Thus, we favor university and industry policies that seek research payoffs in the form of new knowledge (avaitable in the public domain) and u)ell-educated graduates, rather than emphasizing patent rights and royalty payments.

76 DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH References Holmstrom, E. I., and J. Petrovich. Engineering Programs in Emerging Areas, 1983-1984 (Higher Education Panel Rep. No. 64~. Washington, DC: American Council on Education, November 1985. National Academy of Engineering. New Directions for Engineering in the National Science Foundation. Report of the Committee to Evaluate the Programs of the National Science Foundation Directorate for Engineer- ing. Washington, DC: National Academy of Engineering, 1985. National Research Council. High Technology Ceramics in Japan. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1984. National Research Council. Engineering Education and Practice in the United States: Foundations of Our Techno-Economic Future. Report of the Committee on the Education and Utilization of the Engineer. Washington, DC: National Research Council, 1985a. National Research Council. Engineering Graduate Education and Research. Report of the Panel on Engineering Graduate Education and Research, Committee on the Education and Utilization of the Engineer. Washing- ton, DC: National Research Council, 1985b. National Science Board. Scicnec Inculcators: The 1985 Report. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1985. National Science Foundation. Academic Research Equip merit in the Physical and Computer Scicncca and Enginecring. Washington, DC: National Science Foundation, 1984a. National Science Foundation. National Patterns of Scicnec and Technology Rcsourcce (NSF 84-311~. Washington, DC: National Science Foundation, 1984b. National Science Foundation. Federal funds for research and development: Fiscal years 1983, 1984, and 1985 (NSF 84-336~. In: Surveys of Sci- cnec Rceourec~ Scrice (Vol. xxxiii). Washington, DC: National Science Foundation, 1984c. National Science Foundation. Federal funds for resources and development: Federal obligations for research, by agency and detailed field of science, Fiscal Years 1967-85. Washington, DC: National Science Foundation, 1984d. National Science Foundation. International Science and Technology Data Update 1986 (NSF 86-307~. Washington, DC: National Science Foun- dation, 1986. Office of Science and Technology Policy. Report of the White House Science Council, Federal Laboratory Review Panel. Washington, DC: Office of Science and Technology Policy, 1983. Office of Technology Assessment. Commercial Biotechnology: An Intcrnahonal Analyeu (OTA-BA-218~. Washington, DC: U.S. Congress, Once of Technology Assessment, 1984. Schmitt, R. W. Engineering research and international competitiveness. In: The New En~necring Research Centers: Purposes, Goad, and Excitations (pp. 19-27~. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1986.

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Surveying the dynamic field of engineering research, Directions in Engineering Research first presents an overview of the status of engineering research today. It then examines research and needs in a variety of areas: bioengineering; construction and structural design; energy, mineralogy, and the environment; information science and computers; manufacturing; materials; and transportation.

Specific areas of current research opportunity are discussed in detail, including complex system software, advanced engineered materials, manufacturing systems integration, bioreactors, construction robotics, biomedical engineering, hazardous material control, computer-aided design, and manufacturing modeling and simulation.

The authors' recommendations call for funding stability for engineering research programs; modern equipment and facilities; adequate coordination between researchers; increased support for high-risk, high-return, single-investor projects; recruiting of new talent and fostering of multidisciplinary research; and enhanced industry support. Innovative ways to improve the transfer of discoveries from the laboratory to the factory are also presented.

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