The Materials Career: A Shared Responsibility
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Letter from the President
The Materials Career: A Shared Responsibility September is the peak of the season of “back-to-school.” One comforting aspect of school is its relative predictability. Students almost always know in advance what they will be studying and with whom, and they are offered more and more control over their study program as time goes on. At the same time, they become increasingly aware of the possible consequences, risks, and rewards of their choices. Why should the choice be materials? For many, the prospect of a career that can include investigation, discovery, physical sensation, construction, debate, creativity, entrepreneurship, and camaraderie would be most attractive. Some students are able to match their natural affinities with materials-related career plans. For many others, however, the nature and visibility of the potential rewards provide insufficient motivation for students to pursue materials sciencerelated degrees. Extensive discussion is under way among some members of the U.S. government, within the National Science Board,1 and in professional societies about the need for an expanded technological workforce in order to maintain economic competitiveness in the global market. Part of the discussion is motivated by an anticipated lack of competitiveness with nations that are more proactively developing their scientific human capital. Even in view of the goal of absolute, rather than relative, economic development that transcends national borders, the case for investment in scientifically capable people—especially in the physical sciences—is compelling. However, in order to enable the development of this needed technological workforce, much more has to be done by stakeholders to motivate students. Academic materials departments and other departments where materials research takes place definitely have a role to play. Materials science and engineering is at the intersection of many fields where there is a stated need for higher performance materials and a more highly trained materials-conscious workforce. This need should be enthusiastically and cordially articulated in a broad range of classroom settings and demonstrated in less formal situations. Coursework and research programs need to be relevant to the emerging drivers of materials technology, and not just based on a tried-andtrue syllabus.
MRS BULLETIN/SEPTEMBER 2004
“Are industry leaders truly concerned about the future .scientific pipeline?”
The need for the business community to do its share is a surprisingly overlooked aspect of this problem. The industrial sector has, at least passively if not actively, shirked its responsibility to develop the next generation of materials and physical scientists. This is reflected in the reorganization of companies that once championed monumental research programs, and also in the shorter-term focus of organizationally stable companies that are nevertheless driven by decreasing product cycle and investment recovery times. In some respects, companies have been given a pass on this issue
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