Materials Researchers Must Work with Policymakers and the Public to Garner Support for Nanotechnology
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PUBLIC AFFAIRS FORUM An analysis of public policy issues and how they affect MRS members and the materials community...
Materials Researchers Must Work with Policymakers and the Public to Garner Support for Nanotechnology As I write this article, the United States House of Representatives has just passed the Nanotechnology Research and Development Act of 2003, legislation I authored with House Science Committee Chair Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.), by an overwhelming vote of 405–19. Thanks to my interactions with members of the Materials Research Society (MRS), I am well aware of the impact that nanotechnology is having and will continue to have on the field of materials science and engineering. The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) was formally created with President Bill Clinton’s fiscal year 2001 budget request, and President George Bush has continued to support it. The NNI provides loose coordination of the nanotechnology research and development (R&D) efforts of 13 federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). One of my first experiences with nanotechnology came in early 2002 when I visited the nanotechnology center at NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley. When I returned to Washington D.C., I began developing nanotechnology legislation with the 2001–2002 MRS/ Optical Society of America Congressional Fellow, Eric Werwa, who was working in my office. Werwa encouraged me to attend the 2002 MRS Spring Meeting, where I had the chance to meet MRS members who are actively participating in cutting-edge nanotechnology work. The conversations we had were invaluable in helping me to understand the potential of nanotechnology and the need to help advance the field for the wellbeing of our society, as well as for that of my Silicon Valley congressional district. In June 2002, the National Research Council published the report, “Small Wonders, Endless Frontiers: A Review of the National Nanotechnology Initiative.” This report cited the value of interagency collaboration on nanotechnology, but also made several recommendations on how this coordination could be improved. One observation in the report was that academic and industrial researchers from outside the agencies participating in the NNI are not involved in the policymaking process. To address this, it was proposed in the report that an independent advisory board consisting of industrial and academic members provide advice to the MRS BULLETIN/JULY 2003
Rep. Michael M. Honda (D-Calif.) at the 2002 Materials Research Society Spring Meeting in San Francisco.
president and the agencies. The report also recommended that greater attention be paid to the societal implications of nanotechnology. In October 2002, I introduced H.R. 5669, the Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Advisory Board Act, to implement the recommendation of the NRC panel. This bill, which expired at the end of 2002, was only the first step toward addressing the country
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