Materials Science and Engineering for the 1990s Maintaining Competitiveness in the Age of Materials (1989) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
7. Comparisons of Efforts in Materials Science and Engineering of Selected Nations
7. Comparisons of Efforts in Materials Science and Engineering of Selected Nations
Pages 186-206
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 186... ...
To assess international cooperation and competition in materials science and engineering, one of the committee's panels gathered information through a questionnaire sent to materials science and engineering leaders in competitor countries and obtained additional data from the science attaches of foreign embassies, from case studies on representative industrial sectors, and from the open literature. The panel then compared the activities of other countries with practices in the United States.
|
From page 187... ...
In the United States, cooperation among industries is accomplished through industry-sponsored research-granting organizations, R&D laboratories sponsored by industrial consortia, and various industry-university centers. Noticeably lacking in the United States, and found to a greater degree in all of the countries studied, is a national agency charged with stimulating and assisting industry and, when appropriate, with ensuring that cooperative activities are coordinated and their impact on industrial development optimized.
|
From page 188... ...
Inattention to and lack of funding for education in materials science and engineering appear to be major oversights in all of the nations surveyed. · Techniques for implementing national goals for materials science and engineering are similar throughout the world, with centralized planning and implementation, establishment of science and technology programs with definite objectives, and cooperative mechanisms being the favored tools of many countries.
|
From page 189... ...
West Germany The distinctive feature of West German industrial and economic policy, planning, and programs is their broad-based consensus-building process. This democratic process combines elements of decentralized decision making and regional implementation, with sectoral autonomy a key concept and representation by major interest groups a guiding premise.
|
From page 190... ...
About 30 institutes, representing the Fraunhofer Society for Applied Research, the Max Planck Society, and West Germany's large research centers, cooperatively participate with numerous industrial companies in this program. France France has developed a modern and highly diversified industrial enterprise that generates about one-third of its gross national product and employs about one-third of its work force.
|
From page 191... ...
As a complement to their internal research efforts, the French have sought to extend their technology base through international cooperative programs. For the most part these are geared toward industrial development and involve multination participation under the auspices of the European Communities.
|
From page 192... ...
Today, there is a general redirection of the United Kingdom's national research establishments to R&D more related to market-oriented needs. Research organizations such as the National Engineering Laboratory, the National Physical Laboratory, and Harwell Laboratory work with industry on a contract basis.
|
From page 193... ...
The Ministry of Trade and Industry is the central government organization with industrial development as its primary charter. It receives only about 13 percent of government R&D funds and relies on cooperative mechanisms with industry to leverage considerably more R&D.
|
From page 194... ...
A sister agency, the Japan Industrial Technology Association, functions as the licensing agency of AIST and provides regular information on foreign technology developments. Typical of MITI's procedural mode is its program on advanced materials, the R&D Project on Basic Technology for Future Industries.
|
From page 195... ...
Higher science education is handled by both the academy and the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Education. The academy and other educational institutions, as well as all the ministries, operate an array of research establishments of varying size and sophistication, involving well over 1 million workers.
|
From page 196... ...
Major independent sources of advice to the government include the National Research Council. Important legislation affecting materials science and engineering includes the 1980 National Materials and Minerals Policy, Research and Development Act, which required coordination by the President of the government's min
|
From page 197... ...
Government provides slightly more than one-half of the more than $120 billion currently devoted to all types of R&D in the United States; industry provides the balance. Definitive statistics are not available on industrial funding of R&D in materials science and engineering, but industrial funding is believed to be greater than the $1 billion spent by government.
|
From page 198... ...
Whatever the reasons, cooperative industrial R&D plays a more active and pivotal role in national affairs overseas than it does in the United States. Increasing numbers of nations rely heavily on governmentorchestrated technology development programs in which collaborative arrangements between government, universities, and industry are integral to their strategic approach.
|
From page 199... ...
Materials science and engineering in Canada and in some newly industrialized countries is typical of that carried out in nations covered in Table 7.1 (France, West Germany, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom) and therefore is not separately assessed.
|
From page 200... ...
Competitive Disadvantageous Advantageous Factors Positiona Major Minor At Parity Minor Major Industry Factors Comparative advantage in major markets Aerospace dec. F G,J,K Motor vehicles dec.
|
From page 201... ...
Competitive Positionb Trend ~n U.S. Competitive Disadvantageous Positiona Major Minor At Parity Minor Major Advantageous Technology Factors Materials sciences and engineering R&D emphasis by task Basic n.c.
|
From page 202... ...
Competitive Positionb 1 Lilly 111 V A Competitive Disadvantageous Advantageous Factors Positiona Major Minor At Parity Minor Major Government Factors National industrial policy Structure/organization dec.
|
From page 203... ...
national industrial policy, (2) industrial development, and (3)
|
From page 204... ...
economic well-being will be lost. Foremost among the observations discussed in this study is the strong commitment to industrial growth by all major competitor nations, stimulated by coordinated R&D in which materials science and engineering is a featured element.
|
From page 205... ...
Noticeably lacking in the United States, and found to a greater degree in all the other countries studied for this report, is a national agency charged with stimulating and assisting industry and, when appropriate, with ensuring that cooperative activities are coordinated and that their impact on industrial development is optimized. The recognition of materials science and engineering as a subject for focused national support is common to all the nations surveyed, but the organizational structure and funding mechanisms are as varied as the cultures and governments of those nations.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.