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MS&E Agenda Made Public at SSSC Forum Another milestone for the materials community was passed on February 27, 1991. At the annual forum of the Solid State Sciences Committee (SSSC) of the National Research Council (NRC), a report titled A National Agenda in Materials Science and Engineering: Implementing the MS&E Re-
port was unveiled to the public. A month earlier the report was presented to the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the fédéral agencies. This document cornes one and a half years after the comprehensive study of the MS&E field was released by the NRC in October 1989. * In a scant 52 pages, the new report collâtes the conclusions of four régional meetings held in the east, southeast, midwest, and west from March through September around the U.S. in 1990 to plan implementation of the earlier study's recommendations.**
D. Allan Bmmley, assistant to the président for science and technology and director of OSTP, addresses theattendees ofthe SSSC Forum.
A National Agenda in Materials Science and
Engineering identifies the need for a better stratégie planning mechanism for MS&E, emphasizes the need for more effective collaboration among govemment laboratories, universities, and industry, and notes that MS&E éducation needs more attention. Six spécifie technical areas are given highest priority for early and strong support. Thèse areas are (1) information and communications, (2) transportation, (3) energy, (4) health, (5) environment, and (6) the MS&E field itself. The last in the list refers to the need to sustain a leadership position so that the new complex materials of the future for introduction into the other rive areas will be ready when the rime cornes. The report describes each area and estimâtes the necessary annual funding incréments to achieve the desired goals. The total cost amounts to $1.25B annually over what is now spent on materials R&D. Copies of this report are available through the Materials Research Society. Two hours of the morning session on
February 27 were devoted to a description of the report by B.R. Appleton, chairman of the SSSC and principal coordinator of the report, followed by a panel discussion with chairpersons of the Régional Meeting steering committees and the earlier NRC Study, as well as associate director for industrial technology in the OSTP, William O. Phillips. Before the report itself was presented in the main auditorium of the National Academy building in Washington, DC, where the Forum was held, présentations were given by Senator Albert Gore (D-TN) and by D. Allan Bromley, assistant to the président for science and technology and director of OSTP. Gore showed his appréciation for the importance and status of the field of materials science saying, "We hâve built our industrialized civilization by exploiting the properties of matter.. .the âge of serendipity.. .is
giving way to the âge of massive organized search." He placed his remarks in the context of growing compétition from overseas and a décline in technical éducation in the United Sta
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