National critical technologies report.

  • United States. Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Date:
1995
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: National critical technologies report. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    positioned in thin film deposition technologies. However, there are major challenges for the advancement of existing techniques as well as for the development of emerging manufacturing capabilities. The key technological challenge for new techniques is the transfer of laboratory successes into large scale production. The primary impediment is that growth rates are severely limited for many of these new technologies and materials. For example, molecular beam epitaxy has demonstrated the ability to fabricate unique structures but is primarily a research tool for this reason. The development of these technologies is also capital intensive. Diamond thin films are a dramatic example of a major investment without any, as yet, marked returns. Asa result, commercial activities often view ease of manufacture as the primary requirement for a technology. Consequently, research investment efforts often focus on manufacturability. Materials The federal government has long promoted the development of new materials. This effort started under the old Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering, and Technology as the Advanced Materials and Processing Program. As we note in a discussion of composite materials below, the interrelation of materials to material processing is still an important factor that should shape any program. The federal attention to materials is now continuing under the Civilian Industrial Technology Committee of the National Science and Technology Council. A coordinating mechanism for materials research has proved useful in the past, because of the spread of research on materials across agencies. The Departments of Commerce, Energy, Defense, the Interior, Transportation, Health and Human Services, and Agriculture all support important programs, as does the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Science Foundation. Avoiding duplication while assuring important leads are followed requires coordination. _ The diversity of supporting agencies is driven by the ubiquitous effects of materials. Each agency has important applications or classes of materials that are - uniquely theirs. Each agency also understands the demands of its applications very well, whether that is a low observable material for the Department of Defense or a new paving repair product for the Department of Transportation. | Keeping the material development connected to this understanding is important in quickly tapping new opportunities. As materials develop, though, new applications become interesting, such as the use of wood fiber to reinforce cement. Making the other interested agencies aware of such developments is the other major function and benefit of high-level coordination. The current coordination of materials development led by the NSTC has focused material developments on the priorities of the government. Among others,