Letters to the Editor
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Dear Dr. Kaufmann: If any agency of the government is going to work efficiently, it must receive information and advice from the experts. That is why I hope that you and your colleagues will reply as you wish to my remarks. Without your expertise, any action of the National Critical Materials Council will fall short of what it could become. Despite the Council's involvement in many issues, such as the mineral policy area and the South African sanction situation, I will limit my remarks to our activities concerning advanced materials. Specifically, I would like to address our progress in devising an Advanced Materials Program Plan. Recently, my efforts have concentrated on fulfilling this obligation. Basically, the goal of the National Critical Materials Council is to make sure that government pursues policies which will lead to the establishment and maintenance of an advanced materials industry which can compete with that anywhere else. The members, myself and my staff all recognize the importance of advanced materials. Our efforts so far have been to collect the opinions of the persons in industry, academia and government who are the technical experts on these materials. That is why we have jointly sponsored with the Federation of Materials Societies two one-day workshops which have focused on the problems these emerging industries are
facing, both technically and economically. In addition, the Council held a hearing in late February, where representatives of industry and academia presented their thoughts on the contents of our report. In addition to the attendance of the full Council that day, we were also honored to have Dr. William Graham, the President's Science Adviser, as a key participant. Dr. William Owczarski, Chairman of COMAT [Committee on Materials], also attended. While I would like to delay commenting on all of the recommendations of the plan until they are approved by the members of the White House in general, I will briefly describe the major issues. We will be discussing mechanisms to help ensure better coordination and communication among government agencies and also between industry and the government. In addition, we are looking into possible revisions of the antitrust, patent, and tort laws that might enable our industries to better compete in the international marketplace. Ultimately, the solutions depend on the quality of advice we receive from the private sector. That is why I urge all of your associates to keep abreast of our activities and feel free to comment on where you think the Council can better direct its attention. Robert Dale Wilson Executive Director National Critical Materials Council
UPCOMING CONFERENCES
1989 Industry-University Advanced Materials Conference Planned for Denver Colorado's Advanced Materials Institute (AMI) will host its second national conference at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Denver, Colorado, March 6-9, 1989. Cosponsored by the Materials Research Society, the conference will feature an interdisciplinary program designed to address intersections of ongoing
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