International Benchmarking of US Materials Science and Engineering Research (1998) / Chapter Skim
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4. Benchmarking Results
4. Benchmarking Results
Pages 51-64
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From page 51... ...
A scoring system, with 1 representing "forefront", 3 representing "among world leaders", and 5 representing "behind world leaders", was used. The second half of each table is an assessment of the likely future position of the United States relative to the world materials community.
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From page 52... ...
4.2.~. Biomaterials The subfield of biomatenals involves at least four classes: synthetic or modified natural materials used in medicine and biology; natural matenals or artificial materials that emulate natural materials; "smart" matenals, such as those that respond to a specific stimulus; and hybrid materials consisting of synthetic and living cellular components.
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From page 53... ...
The factors that influence US performance in biomaterials include a strong basic research organization that offers graduate and postdoctoral students opportunities to study, the ethnic diversity in our graduate and postdoctoral student populations, strong journals, a strong medical device industry, venture capital-commercialization potential, and the sheer number of researchers in the field. The current hot topics are in tissue engineenng, protein analogues, molecular architecture, biomimetics (bone-like matenal)
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From page 54... ...
~ ~ . Although US research in ceramics is in a world leadership position, the companies that capitalize on that research are Japanese-owned.
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From page 55... ...
The issues are addressed in the new National Materials Advisory Board report, Advanced Fibers for High Temperature Ceramic Composites MARC 1997~. Major shifts In emphasis are occulting in research on metal matrix composites because of new applications in the aerospace, communications, electronics, and automotive industnes.
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From page 56... ...
conductor. The application of spin valve heads requires a fundamental understanding of the magnetic interactions within and between the fihns.
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From page 57... ...
The research aims at quantitative explanations of the relationships between processing arid structure, between structure arid properties, arid between matenals properties arid product perfonnar~ce. Yet another way to describe this is the integration of dimensional scales Dom atomic clusters to Complex processing methods include net shape processes such as iso~ermal-supe~plstic forming and computeraided precision casting and machining, where laser and electron beams often are used as cutting tools.
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From page 58... ...
, and manufacturing processes. The current hot topics in this subfield are surface treatments, net shape processes, intennetallics and other high-temperature alloys, theory and modeling, magnetoresistance, hydrogen-absorbing materials, bulk amorphous materials, quasicrystalline materials, nano structured materials, and cellular metals.
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From page 59... ...
Just as past exploratory materials research uncovered soliton and other phenomena, the current basic research being devoted around the globe to the fabrication and theoretical modeling of photonic bandgap materials should yield exciting and unexpected results. Wavelength-selectable, blue-green, all-solid-state, and microlasers are internationally hot topics.
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From page 60... ...
Forefront topics include wide direct-gap and wide indirect-gap semiconductors, wafer bonding, oxide confinement in vertical cavity surface emitting lasers, interconnects (copper and low-K dielectrics) , engineered optical matenals (penodically poled nonlinear optical materials and engineered organic and polymeric materials for nonlinear optics)
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From page 61... ...
Industrial polymer research is still strong in the United States, but trends of downsizing and a shorter term focus are taking their toll on the rate of innovation, perhaps more so here than abroad. Among the hot topics is the revolution in the polyolefin industry with the advent of metallocene catalysts that permit unprecedented control of molecular structure and size.
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From page 62... ...
Catalysis work at industrial laboratories remains strong and significant, although somewhat reduced. The area most affected is basic catalysis research at corporate research centers.
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From page 63... ...
Links between universities and industrial laboratories outside the United States have become stronger than in past years. Forefront topics in catalysis are selective oxidation, solid acid-base catalysis, novel catalyst characterization techniques, environmental catalysis (for emissions control, waste minimization, reduction of by-products, and evaluation of alternative feedstocks)
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From page 64... ...
64 International Benchmarking of US Matenals Science and Engineenug Research
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