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Report On Federal Materials R&D; Programs Now Available Online

The federal government has invested in materials research and development for nearly a century, providing a foundation for many of today's commercial and military technologies in industries that support hundreds of thousands of jobs.

The materials research and development programs of nine federal departments and agencies are described in a new report, 1995 The Federal Research and Development Program in Materials Science and Technology. This comprehensive look at the current federal materials R&D; effort is available on-line through the World Wide Web.

The report is a comprehensive guide for materials researchers in industry, government and universities to the programs, people and resources that make up the more than $2 billion-a-year materials R&D; effort. The emphasis in the report is on R&D; directly linked to industrial applications, particularly in the national priority areas of aeronautics, automotive technology, electronics, environmental technology and infrastructure.

The organizations listed in the report's directory are the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, Interior and Transportation, along with two independent agencies, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Science Foundation. Information is provided on each organization's objectives in materials research, R&D; expenditures, collaborative programs related to national priorities, key technical contacts, major laboratories and centers of excellence.

The report also lists National User Facilities operated by the departments of Commerce and Energy, and the NSF. These facilities are located in laboratories across the country and are open to qualified industrial and academic scientists and engineers. They contain highly specialized instruments and equipment for cutting-edge materials research.

The new report will serve as a valuable tool for policy analysts, industrial planners and researchers alike in the materials science community. The nation's economic prosperity and military security depend heavily on the development and commercialization of advanced materials. Materials are a key facet of many technologies, providing the primary tool for entire industries and tens of millions of jobs.

The report was prepared under the sponsorship of the National Science and Technology Council by the Materials Technology Subcommittee (known as MatTec) of the Committee on Civilian Industrial Technology. The MatTec Subcommittee is chaired by Lyle H. Schwartz, director of the Materials Science and Engineering Laboratory at the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology. Samuel J. Schneider of NIST is the executive secretary of the MatTec Subcommittee.

The entire document, 1995 The Federal Research and Development Program in Materials Science and Technology, can be accessed via the WWW on the NIST Materials Science and Engineering Laboratory's homepage, http://www.msel.nist.gov, by clicking on the report title in the "Technology Policy and Assessment Reports" section.

The following government agencies will soon link to this document from their WWW homepages:

For those without access to the Internet, the report also is available on CD-ROM and in a printed form. For information, contact Samuel J. Schneider, MatTec Secretariat, B309 Materials Building, NIST, Gaithersburg, Md. 20899-0001, (301) 975-5655, fax: (301) 926-8349, e-mail: samuel.schneider [at] nist.gov (samuel[dot]schneider[at]nist[dot]gov).

As an agency of the Commerce Department's Technology Administration, NIST promotes economic growth by working with industry to develop and apply technology, measurements and standards.

Released August 1, 1996, Updated November 27, 2017