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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1998. International Benchmarking of US Materials Science and Engineering Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9443.
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INTERNATIONAL BENCHMARKING OF US MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING RESEARCH

Panel on International Benchmarking of US Materials Science and Engineering Research

Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING

INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE

PREPUBLICATION COPY

NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, DC
1998

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1998. International Benchmarking of US Materials Science and Engineering Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9443.
×

NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
2101 Constitution Ave., NW Washington, DC 20418

NOTICE: This volume was produced as part of a project approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. It is a result of work done by the Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy (COSEPUP) as augmented, which has authorized its release to the public.

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Under the authority of the charter granted to it by Congress in 1863, the Academy has a working mandate that calls on it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of NAS.

The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) was established in 1964, under the charter of NAS, as a parallel organization of distinguished engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of members, sharing with NAS its responsibilities for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. William A. Wulf is president of NAE.

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) was established in 1970 by NAS to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to NAS in its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, on its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of IOM.

The Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy (COSEPUP) is a joint committee of NAS, NAE, and IOM. It includes members of the councils of all 3 bodies.

Financial Support: The development of this report was supported by the National Research Council and the Sloan Foundation.

Internet Access: This report is available on COSEPUP's World Wide Web site at http://www2.nas.edu/cosepup.

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Copyright 1998 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. This document may be reproduced solely for educational purposes without the written permission of the National Academy of Sciences.

Printed in the United States of America

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1998. International Benchmarking of US Materials Science and Engineering Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9443.
×

International Benchmarking of US Materials Science and Engineering Research

Panel Members

ARDEN L. BEMENT, Jr. (Chair),

Purdue University, School of Materials and Electrical Engineering, West Lafayette, IN

PETER R. BRIDENBAUGH, Executive Vice President,

Automotive, Alcoa Technical Center, Alcoa Center, PA

LEROY L. CHANG,

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong

DANIEL S. CHEMLA,

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA

UMA CHOWDHRY, Business Planning and Technology Director,

DuPont Specialty Chemicals, Wilmington, DE

ANTHONY G. EVANS, Gordon McKay Professor of Materials Engineering,

Harvard University, Physics Department, Cambridge, MA

PAUL HAGENMULLER, Professor,

Université de Bordeaux I, Laboratoire de Chimie du Solide du CNRS, France

JAMES W. MITCHELL, Director,

Materials, Reliability and Ecology Research, Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, Murray Hill, NJ

DONALD R. PAUL, Melvin H. Gertz Regents Chair in Chemical Engineering, Director,

Center for Polymer Research, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX

BUDDY D. RATNER,

University of Washington, Center for Engineered Biomaterials - UWEB, Seattle, WA

KATHLEEN C. TAYLOR, Head,

Physics and Physical Chemistry Department, General Motors Corporation, GM Research and Development Center, Warren, MI

ROBERT M. WHITE, Professor & Head,

Department of Electrical & Computer Eng., Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA

MASAHARU YAMAGUCHI, Professor,

Kyoto University, Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Japan

Project Staff:

DEBORAH D. STINE, Study Director

PATRICK P. SEVCIK, Research Associate

KATE KELLY, Editor

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1998. International Benchmarking of US Materials Science and Engineering Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9443.
×

COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, AND PUBLIC POLICY

PHILLIP A. GRIFFITHS (Chair), Director,

Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ

BRUCE M. ALBERTS, * President,

National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC

WILLIAM F. BRINKMAN, Vice President,

Physical Sciences Research, Lucent Technologies, Murray Hill, NJ

PETER DIAMOND, Professor of Economics,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

GERALD P. DINNEEN, Retired Vice President,

Science and Technology, Honeywell, Inc., Edina, MN

MILDRED S. DRESSELHAUS, Institute Professor of Electrical Engineering and Physics,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

JAMES J. DUDERSTADT, President Emeritus and University Professor of Science and Engineering,

Millennium Project, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

MARYE ANNE FOX, Vice President for Research,

University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX

RALPH E. GOMORY, President,

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, New York, NY

RUBY P. HEARN, Vice President,

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Princeton, NJ

PHILIP W. MAJERUS, Professor of Medicine, Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics and Director,

Division of Hematology-Oncology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO

KENNETH I. SHINE, *

Institute of Medicine, Washington, DC

MORRIS TANENBAUM, Vice President,

National Academy of Engineering, Short Hills, NJ

WILLIAM JULIUS WILSON, Malcolm Wiener Professor,

Center for Social Policy, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

WILLIAM A. WULF, * President,

National Academy of Engineering, Washington, DC

LAWRENCE E. McCRAY, Executive Director

DEBORAH D. STINE, Associate Director

MARION RAMSEY, Administrative Associate

* Ex officio member.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1998. International Benchmarking of US Materials Science and Engineering Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9443.
×

COSEPUP GUIDANCE GROUP

MARYE ANNE FOX (Chair), Vice President for Research,

University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX

DAVID R. CHALLONER, Vice President for Health Affairs,

University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

ELLIS B. COWLING, University Distinguished Professor At-Large,

North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

MILDRED S. DRESSELHAUS, Institute Professor of Electrical Engineering and Physics,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

GERALD P. DINNEEN, Retired Vice President,

Science and Technology, Honeywell, Inc., Edina, MN

ALEXANDER H. FLAX, Consultant, Potomac, MD

PHILLIP A. GRIFFITHS, Director,

Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ

MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING BENCHMARKING GUIDANCE GROUP

MILDRED S. DRESSELHAUS (Chair), Institute Professor of Electrical Engineering and Physics,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

L. E. (SKIP) SCRIVEN, Regent's Professor,

Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

WILLIAM F. BRINKMAN, Vice President,

Physical Sciences Research, Lucent Technologies, Murray Hill, NJ

GABOR A. SOMORJAI, Professor of Chemistry,

Department of Chemistry, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA

ROBERT A. LAUDISE, Adjunct Chemical Director,

Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, Murray Hill, NJ

JAMES C. WILLIAMS, General Manager,

Engineering Materials Technology Laboratories, GE Aircraft Engines, Cincinnati, OH

ALBERT NARATH, President,

Energy and Environment Sector, Lockheed-Martin Corporation, Albuquerque, NM

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1998. International Benchmarking of US Materials Science and Engineering Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9443.
×

Preface

In 1993, the Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy (COSEPUP) of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine issued the report Science, Technology, and the Federal Government: National Goals for a New Era. In that report, COSEPUP suggested that the United States adopt the principle of being among the world leaders in all major fields of science so that it can quickly apply and extend advances in science wherever they occur. In addition, the report recommended that the United States maintain clear leadership in fields that are tired to national objectives, that capture the imagination of society, or that have multiplicative effect on other scientific advances. These recommendations were reiterated in another Academy report, Allocating Federal Funds for Science and Technology, by a committee chaired by Frank Press.

To measure international leadership, the reports recommended the establishment of independent panels that would conduct comparative international assessments of scientific accomplishments of particular research fields. COSEPUP indicated that these panels should consist of researchers who work in the specific fields under review (both from the United States and abroad), people who work in closely related fields, and research users who follow the fields closely.

To test the feasibility of that recommendation, COSEPUP is conducting experimental evaluations of three fields: mathematics, materials science, and engineering, and immunology. The panel for each field has been asked to address the following three questions:

  • What is the position of the United States in research in the field relative to that in other regions or countries?

  • What key factors influence relative US performance in the field?

  • On the basis of current trends in the United States and abroad, what will be the relative US position in the near term and the longer term?

Panels were asked to develop findings and conclusions, not recommendations.

This document provides the second of these assessments--that of the field of materials science and engineering. The panel found that it is critical that the United States lead the world in materials science and engineering innovations; however, the United States is not the leader in the field as a whole. Rather, it is among the world leaders in all subfields of materials science and engineering research and is the leader in some fields.

The panel found that the key to the nation's leadership is the flexibility of the materials science and engineering research enterprise, its innovation system, and its intellectual diversity. But, the ability of the United States to capitalize on its leadership opportunities could be curtailed because of shifting federal and industry priorities, a potential reduction in access to foreign talent, and deteriorating facilities of natural materials characterization. Of particular concern is the lack of adequate funding to modernize major research facilities in the United States when facilities here are much older than in other countries.

Once all the assessments are completed, COSEPUP will discuss the feasibility and utility of the benchmarking process and make whatever recommendations it deems necessary.

The committee thanks the panel for its hard work. We would also like to acknowledge those who made presentations at the panel meeting:

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1998. International Benchmarking of US Materials Science and Engineering Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9443.
×

Steven Wax, Asst. Director for Materials and Processing, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

John J. Rush, NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institutes of Science and Technology

Andrew J. Lovinger, Program Director, Polymers and NSF-wide Coordinator, Advanced Materials & Processing, National Science Foundation

This report has been reviewed by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC's Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the authors and COSEPUP in making the published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The content of the review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their participation in the review of this report:

John Armor, Principal Research Associate and Group Head/catalysis, Corporate Science Center, Air Products and Chemicals Dan Drucker, Graduate Research Professor or Engineering Sciences, Emeritus University of Florida

Merton Flemings, Toyota Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Lambert Ben Freund Henry Ledyard Goddard University Professor, Division of Engineering, Brown University

Elsa Garmire, Dean, Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College

William G. Howard, Independent consultant, Scottsdale, AZ

Venkatesh Narayanamurti, Richard A. Auhll Professor and Dean of Engineering University of Californa-Santa Barbara

William Nix, Lee Osterson Professor of Engineering and Professor of Materals Science and Engineering, Stanford University

William Spencer, CEO and Chairman, SEMATECH

Matthew Tirrell, Professor and Head, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and Director, Biomedical Engineering Institute, University of Minnesota

Jerry Woodall, Charles William Harrison Distinguished Professor of Microelectronics Purdue University

While the individuals listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, responsibility for the final content of this report rests solely with the authoring committee and COSEPUP.

Finally, the project was aided by the invaluable help of COSEPUP professional staff—Deborah D. Stine, study director, and Patrick P. Sevcik, research associate.

Phillip A. Griffiths

Chair

Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1998. International Benchmarking of US Materials Science and Engineering Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9443.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1998. International Benchmarking of US Materials Science and Engineering Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9443.
×
Page 1
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1998. International Benchmarking of US Materials Science and Engineering Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9443.
×
Page 2
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1998. International Benchmarking of US Materials Science and Engineering Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9443.
×
Page 3
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1998. International Benchmarking of US Materials Science and Engineering Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9443.
×
Page 4
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1998. International Benchmarking of US Materials Science and Engineering Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9443.
×
Page 5
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1998. International Benchmarking of US Materials Science and Engineering Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9443.
×
Page 6
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1998. International Benchmarking of US Materials Science and Engineering Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9443.
×
Page 7
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1998. International Benchmarking of US Materials Science and Engineering Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9443.
×
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