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FMS Conference Considers National Materials Policy and Technical Partnerships
Conference on Technical Partnerships: A Road to Commercialization INVITED SPEAKERS:
Approximately 95 people attended the Federation of Materials Societies' Biennial Conference on "Technical Partnerships: A Road to Commercialization." Chaired by Klaus Zwilsky, former director of the National Materials Advisory Board, the conference aimed at gaining a better understanding of current experiences with partnerships in the United States and at identifying materials policies for consideration. The highlight of this meeting was the quality of the presentations given by speakers who described their personal experiences with partnerships and policies. Workshop groups addressed specific policy concerns in three broad categories: priority setting, partnerships, and commercialization. The conclusions of each workshop were shared with the larger group on the final day. The conference conclusions and recommendations will be summarized and forwarded to key members of the Administration and Congress within the next few months. While the majority of speakers and workshop discussions centered on the application of new technology rather than on basic research, frequent mention was made of the United States' strengths and its unique position as a generator of basic research. Mary Good emphasized that the United States also has the most diverse production and manufacturing base in the world, coupled with the strongest entrepreneurial climate. Programs like the Advanced Research Project Agency's Technology Reinvestment Program (TRP) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Advanced Technology Program (ATP) were designed by the current Administration and the Congress to assist in the development of cooperative, collaborative R&D programs that can stimulate the current economy, said Good. Approximately one billion dollars in the current budget plan is devoted just to these two partnership programs.
onstrate effective, environmentally responsive and recyclable solutions to current high-volume production-ready plastics, composites, and alloys. The Clinton Administration, it was reported, is planning several new partnerships similar to the PNGV (or CleanCar) initiative, and economic underpinning for the semiconductor industry will be maintained through continued support of SEMATECH. New ventures in electronic packaging and flat panel displays, both requiring new materials and processes for success were described. These new initiatives and others like them are being planned and coordinated through the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC). (See the January 1994 MRS Bulletin, p. 9.) Most of the incentives, it was noted, will be directed at shortening the cycle time for new products and at funding development and demonstrations along with the manufacturing science necessary to accomplish these national industrial initiatives.
Vertically structured partnerships among materials companies, universities, and government laboratories pose a parti
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