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Directions in Engineering Research:
An Assessment of
Opportunities and Needs
Executive Summed
INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
Engineering research, the application of science in the creation
of products and services, is an essential area of technical activity
that is seriously undersupported in the United States. This re-
search is essential because all creative technological development
in an intensely competitive world rests on it; yet it is undersup-
ported because its central role in the development of productive
goods and services is not clearly understood and recognized. This
report is an attempt to close the gap in understanding the na-
ture of engineering research and to draw attention to the need for
increased support in several key fields.
THE NATURE OF ENGINEERING RESEARCH
Engineering can no longer be described only in the context of
its traditional disciplines: civil, mechanical, chemical, electrical,
and so forth. Although these disciplines still form the core of cur-
ricula in engineering education, the frontiers of engineering today
concern systems the interactions among these core disciplines,
1
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DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH
economics, social values, and the burgeoning of technical and sci-
entific knowledge that is reordering world trade and the strategic
balance among nations.
In contrast to science research, which primarily seeks new
knowledge about the natural world, engineering research concen-
trates on the man-made world to expand the knowledge base and
to identify and prove the physical principles on which advances in
design ant! production can be based. This requires strong interac-
tions between engineering research and science research, and the
boundaries between them are often difficult to discern. Indeed,
both require exactly the same types of intellectual activity basic
research aimed at improving our understanding of the underlying
phenomena, and applied research aimed at developing the practi-
cal implications of the new understanding. In engineering, basic
research provides the underlying competence on which applica-
tions research is based. For example, the evolution of the modern
computer from electron tubes to transistors and then to inte-
grated circuits is the result of engineering research that converted
newly understood physical principles into practical working sys-
tems. Taken together, engineering and science research are crucial
in a world in which competition through technology has assumed
a commanding role in the interactions among nations.
Engineering and engineering projects have been an integral
part of the human experience since the beginning of civilization.
Until quite recently, however, advances in engineering practice
were gained by slow and laborious trial-and-error procedures.
Then, at about the turn of the last century, modern methods
of engineering research firmly based on scientific principles were
brought to bear on a wide variety of problems. Engineering
knowledge and the technological developments based on it have
grown rapidly and continuously ever since. Structures of every
kind—residential and commercial buildings, bridges, dams, and
tunnels have become larger, stronger, safer, and easier to build
through research into their design and construction. As a result
of engineering research in materials, mechanics, electronics, and
manufacturing processes, machines efficiently and reliably carry
out functions once performed by humans and animals. Modern
transportation systems automobiles, trucks, trains, ships, and
aircraft—are outstanding examples of the contributions of engi-
neering research to such technological advances. Conversion tech-
nologies to utilize energy sources in their evolution from wood to
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OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS
3
coal to of! and to nuclear power are based on knowledge provided
by engineering research. Research in electrical and electronics en-
gineering have made our telephone, radio, and television systems
possible, and have led to today's worldwide communication net-
works linked by satellite. Modern information and data processing
systems are closely related developments.
Thus, engineering research is simultaneously a generator,
stimulator, assimilator, integrator, translator, and promoter of
new scientific and technical knowledge, all with the primary objec-
tive of making the production of goods and the provision of services
easier and more efficient and their use and maintenance less costly.
The broad scope of interests and activities encompassed by engi-
neering research is illustrated by the following research areas of
current opportunity identified in this report:*
complex system software;
advanced engineered materials;
manufacturing systems integration;
bioreactors;
construction robotics;
vehicle/guideway system integration;
alternative fuel sources;
low-grade mineral recovery;
biomedical engineering;
hazardous material control;
the mechanics of slowly deteriorating systems;
computer-aided design of structures;
manufacturing modeling and simulation; and
electronic device anal packaging technology.
FUNDING OUTLOOK
Adequate funding, both in terms of amounts and stability, is
central to the success of engineering research. Approximately $3.8
billion, about 25 percent of the total federal research budget, was
allocated for the support of engineering research in 1985. This
rather modest percentage has remained essentially constant for
*The Engineering Research Board attaches especially high priority to
the first three research areas on the list. All 14 areas are briefly discussed in
a later section of the executive summary, "Key Research Opportunities and
Needs.
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DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH
almost 20 years, a period during which our nation has experi-
enced a steady clecTine in productivity and competitiveness. An
overwhelmingly large portion (about 95 percent) of the total fed-
eral engineering research budget is devoted to applied engineering
research, leaving a mere 5 percent to support basic engineering
research. Basic engineering research is largely carried out by aca-
demic institutions, but with the financial support of the federal
government. In recent years, the states and private industry have
become increasingly active partners with the federal government
and have significantly increased their support for academic engi-
neering research, but federal funding still supports fully 70 percent
of the basic science and engineering research now conducted in the
United States.
Engineering research depends on a continuity of effort in order
to be productive. Thus, fluctuations in funding support that can
occur when federal agencies must respond to short-term crises,
and the interruptions in continuity that result, can create serious
problems for both basic and applied research efforts, whether they
are carried out in universities, industry, or federal and national
laboratories.
To the extent that the large, multidisciplinary engineering
research centers, now being supported by the National Science
Foundation (NSF), indicate a trend toward stable funding, they
are a timely and welcome development. Two caveats, however,
must be recognized. First, the funding made available to the new
research centers raises questions about the adequacy of funding
support for interdisciplinary research at colleges and universities
that do not have such centers. Second, research administrators
must strike a balance between research by individuals and the
collaborative research of the new engineering research centers.
The latter caution introduces the issue of adequate funding for
small-scale research projects involving a single investigator and
perhaps one or two graduate students. This individual research
can be highly effective because it is the ideal scale on which to first
explore areas of high-risk engineering research.
On the other hand, history suggests that individual researchers
in academia have often been more highly and more frequently re-
warded than their colleagues who engaged in collaborative research
efforts such as those envisioned in the engineering research center
concept. Thus, an important issue for university administrators
is developing and maintaining balanced support and promotion
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OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS
5
incentives among those investigators involved in smalI-scale, disci-
plinary, individual research and those participating in large-scare,
multidisciplinary, team research.
HUMAN RESOURCES
The second fundamental component of engineering research
is people. Much evidence suggests that a long-range problem is
developing at the baccalaureate level. The U.S. cohort of persons
in the 18- to 2~year-old age group is shrinking. Because no decline
in the demand for scientists and engineers in the work force
including those who will be engaged in engineering research is
projected, serious shortages could occur by the end of the century
or shortly thereafter. At the graduate level the number of doctoral
degrees in engineering granted by American universities seems
to be increasing, but the estimated engineering Ph.D. output of
3,400 for 1985 is still substantially less than it was in the late
1960s. Moreover, in Japan, widely acknowledged as one of our
strongest international competitors, the ratio of engineering Ph.D.
Output to total Ph.D. output is almost twice as high as in the
United States, although the absolute numbers are significantly
lower. In addition, many Japanese earn their engineering Ph.D.s
in the United States, providing evidence both of Japan's national
commitment to engineering research and of the high quality of
engineering education in the United States. The continuation
of that quality, however, is uncertain. In many fields the U.S.
industrial demand and attractions for baccalaureate engineers are
depleting the ranks of our graduate students and threatening the
production of well-trained teachers and researchers needed for the
future.
INSTITUTIONAL C O NS IDERATIONS
The outlook for basic engineering research, especially in acade-
mia, is clouded by several factors. First, there is a severe lack of ad-
equate facilities and equipment for both instructional and research
purposes. The average age of laboratory equipment in engineer-
ing schools is about 25 years, and only 18 percent of it is up to
state-of-the-art standards. Fully one-fourth of the equipment is
totally obsolete. This problem has been temporarily alleviated in
some schools for a few areas of research by sharing facilities and
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DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH
by recent gifts from industry. In addition, a variety of academic
restrictions and industrial practices have discouraged the conduct
of industry-supported research on campus, so that much needed
academic/industrial interaction has been limited on issues like cur-
riculum development, equipment loans, and personnel exchanges.
Beneficial modifications of these past policies and practices are
already under way, spurred on by the emerging emphasis on large,
multidisciplinary research efforts that often require active indus-
trial participation.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The health and vigor of engineering research in the United
States is directly affected by the complex interactions among the
many factors discussed previously. Thus, in addition to its pri-
mary thrust of identifying the engineering research areas of cur-
rent opportunity, the Engineering Research Board has also made a
number of recommendations to strengthen the nation's engineer-
ing research enterprise that take these factors into account. Brief
presentations of 11 major recommendations of the board follow.
The first seven recommendations require government action for
their implementation. The next two are addressed to university
administrators, and these are followed by one directed to industry
and one to the engineering research community at large. These
recommendations are discussed more fully later in this chapter.
Recommendation l: Recognition. Congress and the federal
agencies concerned with technology development must recognize
the importance of engineering research to the economic health of
the nation. In so doing, national patterns of support for research
and development should be carefully examined to identify points
at which increased federal funding for engineering research would
most effectively benefit the overall national research and devel-
opment (R&D) effort. In particular, serious consideration should
be given to an earlier recommendation made by the National
Academy of Engineering that the budget of the NSF's Engineer-
ing Directorate should be increased from its annual level of $150
million in 1985 to about $400 million by 1990.
Recommendation 2: Stability. The short-term crises encoun-
tered by many federal mission agencies frequently involve engineer-
ing problems. The engineering research budgets of such agencies
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OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS
7
are, therefore, especially vulnerable to the demands of the quick
response initiatives undertaken to resolve them. Congress and the
mission agencies should protect engineering research budgets from
such demands. A reasonable and stable floor for the funding of
core activities should be part of the agency's research budgets,
and project managers should have the flexibility to tailor their
resources to provide such a floor.
Recommendation S: Equipment and Facilities. State and fed-
eral legislatures must take steps to encourage gifts of laboratory
equipment to engineering schools, for example, by the passage of
appropriate tax legislation or the establishment of matching fund
programs. Congress should consider an earlier proposal made by
the National Academy of Engineering to add a minimum of $30
million per year for the next 5 years to the budget of the NSF's
Engineering Directorate for the procurement of research equip-
ment and instrumentation. Government contracting and granting
agents should permit depreciation charges as normal operating
expenses and allow them to accrue toward renovation and replace-
ment costs of equipment and facilities.
Recommendation 4: Coordination. The Office of Science and
Technology Policy should take the lead in strengthening govern-
mental coordinating activities in engineering research, which are
needed to assist in setting integrated, national engineering research
priorities and in monitoring the progress of engineering research
programs.
Recommendation 5: High-Risk, High-Return Research. Man-
agers of agency R&D programs must provide adequate support for
high-risk, long-range engineering research with high payoff poten-
tials as a complement to their larger interest in research projects
with more immediate and direct applications. Special budget cat-
egories might be considered for such work.
Recommendation 6: Single Investigator projects. The NSF
should continue to devote a major share of its engineering research
program to small-scale, single investigator projects, in balance
with the current interest and activity in multidisciplinary research
involving large research centers.
Recommendation 7: Stimulation of Industry Research. Con-
gress and the policymakers of the Executive Branch of the federal
government should expand legislative measures and administrative
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DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH
procedures to stimulate much needed increases in engineering re-
search in industry both research conducted in-house by industry
and that conducted in academia with industrial support.
Recommendation 8: New Talent. University administrators
with the assistance of government and industrial leaders must
devise programs to attract and retain talented young Ph.D.s in
academic engineering research and, where appropriate, to enable
established senior faculty to develop new expertise in areas more
relevant to current needs. The Presidential Young Investigator
program and present acadern~c sabbatical leave policies are steps
in the right direction, but much more must be done, especially
along the lines of providing research initiation funds and selectively
reduced teaching loads for highly qualified researchers.
Recommendation 9: Multidisciplinary Research. University
administrators must continue to accommodate and encourage mul-
tidisciplinary engineering research. Specifically, university policies
must support, encourage, and reward successful engineering re-
searchers involved in the use of shared facilities and active colia~
oration with colleagues in academia as well as in industrial and
government laboratories.
Recommendation 10: Industry Support. Industry management
at all levels should give greater attention to engineering research
and provide more support for it both in-house and in academia.
In-house support should particularly include programs of contin-
uing professional development and education for the engineering
research staff, and the encouragement of greater interactions be-
tween these researchers and the rest of the engineering research
community. Industry support for academic research could include,
for example, joining with federal and state agencies in providing
matching grants for engineering curriculum development and re-
search initiation, donating laboratory equipment, and exchanging
research personnel.
Recommendation 11: Transfer of Research Results. Engi-
neering researchers and practicing engineers must begin to work
consciously and vigorously toward a mutual, sympathetic under-
standing of each other's needs and goals so that the transfer of
research results into practical engineering design tools and proce-
dures can be accomplished effectively and efficiently. Enthusiastic
collaborative interaction between researchers and practitioners,
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OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS
9
especially at the interface between engineering research and in-
dustrial design, is an important element in the transfer process
and must be increased.
KEY RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS
The Engineering Research Board identified areas of engineer-
ing research that, in its judgment, hold the greatest potential for
contributing to the nation's economy, security, and social welI-
being. To assist it in this endeavor, the board established panels
in seven fields of multidisciplinary engineering research:
1. bioengineering systems;
2. construction and structural design systems;
3. energy, mineral, and environmental systems;
4. information, communications, computation, and control
systems;
5. manufacturing systems;
6. materials systems; and
7. transportation systems.
Each pane! identified those fields of engineering research that
appeared to offer the greatest return on the research investment.
The board ultimately selected 14 fields, and brief discussions of
them follow. No significance is attached to the order in which they
are discussed, except to note that the board assigns especially high
priority to the first three areas.
Complex System Software. The cost of producing and apply-
ing software is holding back U.S. manufacturers as well as key
defense initiatives. The opportunities for advances in this area are
enormous. Yet first, additional research is needed on the efficient
development of large software systems. Research on compatibil-
ity, reuse, and standardization of key software modules is also
important. Related research needs include (1) software reliability,
testing, and verification; (2) distributed computer systems; (3)
productivity aids; and (4) real-time processing of large volumes of
data.
Advanced Engineered Materials. Advanced engineered math
rials, a designation that implies new methods of processing to
obtain prespecified materials properties for specific applications,
hold great promise for the creation of new products with new
standards of performance in virtually every commercial field and
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DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH
military system. There is almost unlimited potential for this new
concept of materials design, but research is needed to capitalize on
the opportunities that it affords. For example, better understand-
ing of the forces between microparticles can lead to the creation of
ceramics with hitherto unattainable strength/temperature charac-
teristics. Knowledge of the factors controlling biocompatibility is
needed to produce the biomaterials needed to construct new pros-
thetic devices and to improve existing ones. Greater knowledge
of how materials bind, deform, and rupture is clearly a key factor
in satisfying the continuing demand for materials with improved
service reliability.
Manufacturing Systems Integration. The integration into a
manufacturing system of its human and machine-based compo-
nents will lead to great improvements in manufacturing efficiency
and productivity. Achieving this goal, however, will require ma-
jor advances in systematic, generic approaches to the design of
computer-integrated manufacturing systems. Research must pro-
vide the basis for the development of new hardware and software
elements that are modular, compatible with other systems, adapt-
able to new requirements, and user-friendly. More basic research
should address expert system approaches for the design of complex
manufacturing systems.
Bioreactors. The annual world market for biotechnology prod-
ucts is expected to be about $100 billion by the year 2000, if antic-
ipated new bioprocessing technology is developed and successfully
scaled up to meet industrial requirements. This expectation is
reflected in the current flurry of related activity in Europe, Japan,
and the United States. New techniques are needed! for the large-
scale culture of plant and animal cells and engineered organisms.
Fundamental knowledge of the effects of physical and environmen-
tal factors on the biosynthetic pathways within cells is essential to
the development of such techniques. In addition, parallel research
is needed to develop methods for using various enzymes or cells as
catalysts for biosynthesis.
Construction Robotics. At about $200 billion per year, the
construction industry is one of the largest segments of the national
economy. Yet it is labor-intensive and has a low productivity rate.
Humans still perform many lifting and installation operations,
and consequently the size of many construction components is
currently governed by human physical capacity. To extend present
industrial robots and automatic material handling equipment to
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OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS
11
construction applications will require research on incorporating
such new functions as mobility, flexibility, and high payload-to-
weight ratios. Further research will be needed to develop the
new construction design concepts, materials, and methods that
will have to be devised to exploit these robotic capabilities in the
construction workplace.
Vehicle/Guideway System Integration. The national trans-
portation system should consist of a network in which all forms of
transportation and their interconnections function with the great-
est possible efficiency. This efficiency is greatly affected by external
factors associated with the guideway on which the vehicle travels,
such as weather and visibility conditions, traffic patterns, acci-
dents, repair and construction activities, and so forth. Safety and
economy can be significantly increased by improving the integra-
tion between the vehicle and its guideway, taking advantage of the
smaller size and reduced cost of current computer and electronic
communications equipment. Such improvements might involve, for
example, communications, radar braking, navigation aids, guided
steering, remote vehicle sensing, and other innovations. Research
is needed on techniques for sensing, processing, and displaying
data on the condition of both the vehicle and the guideway. Re-
search is also needed for the development of engineered safeguards
and operator training procedures.
Alternative Fuel Sources. Although energy supply is not cur-
rently a critical issue, it will most probably reemerge as a major
problem within the next few decades. Technology development
on a variety of energy sources will minimize the nation's future
dependence on imported oil and pave the way for the eventual
smooth transition to the use of new sources. Research is needed
to provide the engineering knowledge on which to base advances
not only in the traditional energy areas, including nuclear power,
but also in the newer, less well-developed technologies such as coal
liquifaction/gasification, beneficiation, and utilization; oil shale
extraction and processing; solar energy conversion; and the con-
version of low-grade or low quality fuels.
L`ow-Grade Mineral Recovery. U.S. national security and well-
being demand that plentiful domestic sources of a broad spectrum
of important minerals be maintained. However, many of the high-
est quality domestic deposits have been greatly depleted, and those
being exploited today are generally low grade and both difficult
and expensive to process. New and more economical techniques
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DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH
can expect to receive research support in that area from these
traditional sources.
Senior Faculty
Universities should also do more to encourage senior faculty to
develop new areas of research expertise as their established lines of
research become less relevant to current needs. A faculty member
well established in research is strongly tempted to continue work-
ing in one area through a full 3(> to Midyear career, if possible.
Given the rapid rate of change in engineering technologies, this
is not a workable approach. Changes in a university professor's
research emphasis should occur on a much shorter time scale. In-
dustrial leaves, permitting senior faculty members to spend a year
or two in industry to get started in a new research area, can be
very effective. A full-year sabbatical leave at another, carefully
chosen university also can be effective. A program of fellowships
for senior faculty specifically aimed at research redirection could
be an effective complement to industrial and university sabbati-
cal leaves. Faculty salary policies can offer an effective incentive
if significant rewards are permitted to accrue to those who are
successful in developing productive research and teaching in new
technical areas.
CROSS-DISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AND EDUCATION
Every pane} represented within the Engineering Research
Board's scope of study is profoundly cros~disciplinary in nature.
Indeed, engineering systems research in all areas with economic
and technological importance cuts across the established disci-
plinary boundaries. Industry must and does operate in a cross-
disciplinary systems mode, from applied research to development
to design and production. Engineering students therefore should
be educated to perform well in the cross-disciplinary mode within
a systems environment. This requirement in turn calls for those
who teach them to understand and (on occasion, at least) to par-
ticipate In group efforts that cut across disciplinary lines.
Universities have been criticized for resisting integration of
their engineering specialities into a whole that should serve both
themselves and their clients (government as well as industry)
better than current alignments do. Part of the problem is that
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OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS
67
cross-disciplinary research is not easily encompassed within the
traditional reward system for university faculty, or within the
academic department structure. Faculty who affiliate with a
cross-disciplinary activity outside the departments have no nat-
ural constituency within the departmental structure that controls
promotion and tenure. When young faculty members participate
in research activities that are viewed as not being "intellectually
tough, their publication record in these areas is frequently dis-
counted. Thus, it is important for them to have another major
suit.
One solution is for untenured faculty to have joint appoint-
ments in the traditional discipline and the new activity. There
are limitations to this approach, however, because the individual
has to do Trouble duty in terms of departmental citizenship;
and there is a constant risk of diluting faculty research output by
dividing it between the two activities.
Probably the best solution is to maintain such high standards
in the interdisciplinary programs that they are above reasonable
criticism by the faculty. At the same time, the program partici-
pants should strive to create a better sense of understanding among
the nonparticipating faculty regarding the mission and goals of the
activity. Fellowships specificltly targeted to encourage Ph.D. grad-
uates in one discipline to do postdoctoral research in another would
facilitate communication among disciplines and reseeds the faculty
with individual who are experienced in the cross-disciplinary ap-
proach. Such fellowships, extended by industry and government,
should carry stipends equal to those of beginning assistant pro-
fessors of engineering. Normal postdoctoral appointments, with
their modest stipends, attract ample numbers of science Ph.D.s
but almost no domestic engineering Ph.D.s.
The problems associated with cross-disciplinary research and
education must not be downplayed. Optimal tuning of what might
be called the specialist/generaTist axis Is still especially in the
university a highly nonlinear endeavor. The integration of talent
that has often worked so weD in industry task forces has worked
because there was something to integrate in the first place. In
university research the correct balance is equally ~rnportant, but
perhaps harder to discern. It must in any case ensure that stu-
dents receive a thorough grounding in the fundamentals of specific
disciplines.
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DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH
The basic exposure now offered in rigorous undergraduate
engineering curricula will continue to serve the nation's needs in
the future. Indeed, if we omit these basic studies we will soon
encounter a new kind of crisis in engineering education.
What is needed is more exposure in the curriculum to the ap-
plication of these skills to compound and cross-disciplinary prom
lems. This will happen only if the members of the faculty acquaint
each other with problems requiring multidisciplinary approaches.
Then, as students progress through their necessarily somewhat
specialized curricula, they can be exposed to more comprehensive
problems and issues. A valuable by-product of that exposure will
be a more flexible national pool of engineering researchers and
practitioners who are able to move within and across fields to
meet the nation's changing technological needs.
The board believes that it is much too early to tell whether the
results of disciplinary engineering research or of cross-disciplinary
research will have the greater impact on future engineering prac-
tice. Moreover, we believe that there is no need to resolve the
question if indeed resolution in the abstract is possible. Both
modes are likely to contribute substantially to the future eco-
nomic well-being and industrial competitiveness of our nation. In
addition, both modes are investments in the future with a guar-
antee of substantial economic return in the aggregate, despite the
uncertainty of success of any single engineering research program.
It is for this reason that we urge more cross-disciplinary re-
search with a systems orientation, through such vehicles as NSF's
ERCs, because so little fundamental engineering research at uni-
versities is now done in that way. We also urge continued atten-
tion to and support of those engineering researchers who prefer
to pursue high-quality work in a single discipline as individual
investigators or in very small groups. They have in the past and
will in the future make significant contributions to the knowledge
base on which industry will build.
MAXIMIZING THE USE OF FACILITIES
Meaningful engineering research and effective education of
doctoral-level students require progressively more sophisticated
and expensive equipment, facilities, and support staff. The need
to expose a large number of graduate engineering students to the
advanced technology they will encounter in industry means that
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OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS
69
first-rate facilities should be available at many schools across the
nation. A handful of the largest engineering colleges have kept
current in selected research areas, but at the cost of substantial
fund-raising efforts by faculty and alumni.
However, as described in the section "Issues that Determine
the Health of Engineering Research, most engineering colleges
have been unable to remain up to date in research facilities and
instrumentation, or in providing the support staff to maintain and
operate costly experimental facilities. Costs are so high that a
majority of engineering colleges with graduate programs will have
to rely on shared facilities and equipment for a portion of their
experimental research. Examples are already evident: the Na-
tional Research and Resource Facility for Su~micron Structures
at Cornell University, NSF's newly established ERCs, and the four
new supercomputer centers encourage participation by researchers
from many institutions. Collaborations between universities and
industry, and universities and government laboratories, are also
very useful means of sharing access to costly research facilities,
and should be actively pursued.
We welcome the trend toward broader access to these scarce
resources. However, successful conduct of research in an environ-
ment of shared facilities will require more collaboration between
senior researchers than has been common in engineering in the
past. University policies must be modified to support, evaluate,
and reward success in collaborative research. The fact that other
successful fields of university research, such as high-energy physics
and astronomy, have out of necessity operated with shared facili-
ties for years gives hope that engineering research also can succeed
in this mode.
Graduate programs in engineering are expensive to operate.
Because of the need to educate future practitioners in research
methodologies, these programs should be considered more akin to
medical science programs (as contrasted to programs in the phys-
ical and natural sciences) in terms of their need for equipment
and facilities. To provide more funds, university equipment and
facilities should be formally depreciated over lifetimes comparable
to those used by industry. Contrary to widespread university prac-
tice, depreciation charges should be allowed as a normal operating
expense and should accrue toward renovation and replacement of
equipment and facilities. Of course, in most cases this will require
the approval of the sponsor.
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DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH
POLICIES TOWARD GRADUATE STUDY
Attracting Nigh- Quality Students
University policies and practices concerning graduate students
must be modified to induce more of the nation's most able engi-
neering undergraduates to continue into M.S. and Ph.D. programs.
As we recommended in the section "Issues that Determine the
Health of Engineering Research, supporting stipends for gradu-
ate students need to be at least half the engineering salary offered
by industry to graduates with B.S. degrees. Some fields, such as
materials and manufacturing, may need to offer especially attrac-
tive fellowships or assistantships in order to attract the numbers
of high-quality students they seek. Students are also strongly dis-
couraged from pursuing doctoral studies if facilities and equipment
available for their use are below industry standards.
New Programs
Given the changing nature of technology and of industry's de-
mand for engineering researchers, it is difficult for academia to keep
up. The development of high-quality graduate research programs
takes considerable time and effort. The relative scarcity of pro-
grams in biotechnology and manufacturing, for example, has been
noted. Universities are of necessity conservative institutions-
they cannot afford imprudent change. Having seen the decline of
student interest in programs that were once fashionable (recent
examples would include environmental and nuclear engineering),
they are reluctant to innovate quickly.
This conservatism is much assuaged, however, by tangible sup-
port. Industry offers to support the establishment of needed new
programs would be a strong inducement to universities. One sug-
gested mechanism would be the use of matching-grant programs
at either the state or federal level, with the government matching
industry funds provided for this purpose.
The board believes that, for new programs to be most effective,
they should generally foe targeted at particular fiends. Given the
time and resources required to establish high-quality, broad-based
programs, it is unlikely that such programs will be able to com-
pete with established programs for full-time graduate students.
Without an adequate supply of full-time students it is difficult to
develop a strong, broad-based research program.
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OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS
71
Universities often fee] pressure from industry to offer part-time
graduate study programs. However, the university community be-
lieves that whereas part-time programs for the master's degree
may be acceptable, part-time doctoral study is in no way equiv-
alent to a high-quaTity, full-time Ph.D. program and cannot be
relied on to produce first-cIass research personnel. Full-time co-
operative programs with industry SILO have promise and should be
developed further.
POLICY ISSUES FOR INDUSTRY
INCREASED SUPPORT OF FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH
Industry performs about half of all science and engineering
research carried out in the United States, but only about 15-20
percent of the basic research (National Science Foundation, 1984a).
Basic research accounts for just 5 percent of all industry R&D
expenditures (National Science Board, 1985~. It is appropriate
that industry should devote most of its effort to relatively near-
term research and product development; this is to be expected.
However, in the interest of its [ong-term health and competitiveness,
particularly on the international scene, industry should give greater
attention to f?`ndamental engineering research, both in-house and
at universities.
In the manufacturing industries, the trend toward moving
"offshore with production may tend to deflect attention away
from fundamental engineering research that could improve com-
petitiveness over the long term. In other industries (e g., con-
struction, shipping, and railroads) there is little support for near-
term research and virtually no long-term research. It is obvious
that research must compete with other priorities, only beginning
with short-term pressures on the bottom line. However, enlight-
ened managers must come to realize that an appropriate emphasis
on engineering research is in the long-term best interest of any
technology-based company.
In the dual interest of increasing fundamental engineering
research and improving the supply of engineering talent, indus-
try should substantially increase its interactions with universities.
These interactions can take several forms:
. contracting for basic research
L'
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DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH
increasing equipment donations (including funds for its
operation and maintenance);
providing matching funds for "bricks and mortar";
offering consulting contracts to faculty and summer jobs
to students; and
arranging personnel exchanges and encouraging joint re-
search.
More of this kind of interaction would be highly beneficial, as it
would help to close the existing gap between engineering research
and practice. It is not only support in the form of funds and
equipment that is important; the personal involvement of gradu-
ate students and faculty with their industry counterparts is also
extremely valuable. Management support for such interactions is
essential.
Responsibility for graduate research education rests largely
with those universities having strong research programs. The in-
teraction of graduate students with research faculty is essential
and provides the best possible training environment. NSF and
the federal mission agencies have heretofore been the primary sup-
porters of graduate education. Now, industry is being increasingly
drawn in. In addition to the measures noted previously, inno-
vative programs such as the ERCs and the Presidential Young
Investigator Awards are attracting industry sponsorship. Faculty
fellowships of various kinds, sponsorship of doctoral students, and
other such activities also deserve the full support of industry.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
In addition to academic researchers, the national pool of
research talent also includes large numbers of experienced re-
searchers in industry. These individuals are a valuable resource
that must be conserved and nurtured.
There are two primary mechanisms by which this resource
can be efficiently used. First, industry managers should ensure
that the company is making optimum use of its engineering re-
search talent. For example, it ~ important to subject the research
program to periodic review so that unproductive lines of research
can be weeded out. JLn addition, opportunities should be provided
for continuing growth of responsibilities and salary in the context
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OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS
73
of technical activities, through "dual-ladder" structures (i.e., tech-
nical management paralleling corporate management) and other
means.
Second, the effective lifetime of researchers can toe extended
through continuing professional development and education. Japa-
nese engineers, for example, are said to receive very effective
continuing training after being employed in industry. They ap-
pear to obtain an excellent theoretical education in the univer-
sity, which is then augmented by rigorous and substantive prac-
tical training on the job. U.S. industry should support atten-
dance at technical meetings, short courses, and sabbaticals at
academic centers. Universities can organize part-time, weekend,
and evening courses in cooperation with local industries. In ad-
dition, industrial researchers can be brought into closer contact
with academic research through joint university-industry research
contracts awarded by government agencies.
Finally, industry research engineers could also contribute sig-
nificantly to the nation by advising the government on research
planning. Such advice would help to stabilize fields of engineer-
ing research and coordinate advances in technology across related
fields.
COOPERATION
In the interest of the overall health and competitiveness of
industry, companies could aEord to be much more open with their
more fundamental engineering research data (e.g., in manufactur-
ing), by making it available to the technical community at large.
Companies should also take the initiative to form new cooperative
consortia along the lines of the Microelectronics and Computer
Technology Corporation to advance the state of the art in lag-
ging industries. Such joint research ventures can provide excellent
mechanisms for industrial investment In needed fundamental and
applied research.
IMPROVING INTERACTION AMONG THE SECTORS
Each of the sectors contributing to the technology develop
ment process government, industry, and universities focuses
primarily on its own role and its own goals. This "three-legged"
approach has worked well, and has been the basis for our nation's
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DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH
past technological successes. Cooperation among the sectors has
always been a feature of that process. However, closer coordina-
tion and stronger links are now greatly needed. If, as was urged
in the introduction to this report, we are to Begin to capital-
ize faster and more electively on our breakthroughs in scientific
and technological knowledge, we must deliberately strengthen
the interactions among the sectors.
An important step will be to improve the linkage between
engineering researchers and practitioners. This~will require funda-
mental changes in attitudes and orientations. Traditionally, many
university researchers have been reluctant to interact closely with
their industry counterparts and to attend in a direct way to long-
range industry needs. Many practicing engineers in industry, for
their part, have been poorly equipped to understand the content
and implications of university research findings; after entering the
work force, they have had little opportunity to learn how to do so.
It is imperative that engineering researchers and practitioners
alike begin to work consciously toward a mutual understanding
of each other's work, needs, and goals, so that the transfer of
technology from research to practice can become more effective and
efficient. To this end, a crucial step will be to increase the numbers
of engineers in industry who are able to understand and utilize
the results of research. Exposure to research beyond what is
possible at the undergraduate level is essential. The M.S. degree
clearly will come to be a requirement in many areas of engineering
practice. Some practicing engineers will also hold the Ph.D. These
highly educated practitioners could do much to bridge the gap
between engineering research and practice.
Cooperative research activities have recently been the center
of much attention in engineering, and have been a good step in
the direction of improving the linkages among sectors. With the
help of government, industry and the universities have developed
a number of new approaches to research collaboration. For exam-
ple, the NSF has established 20 university-industry cooperative
research centers, and its ERC program has had high visibility.
DOD is establishing a parallel program, and other federal agencies
are considering similar actions. The Semiconductor Research Cor-
poration, founded in 1982 with a long roster of corporate members,
has already organized centers of excellence with long-term thrusts
at three universities. In addition, a number of states have initiated
successful programs involving joint state, university, and industrial
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OPPORTUNITIES AND NEEDS
75
participation in technology centers of excellence. Individual en-
gineering schools have also begun to stress improved interaction
with industry through joint research and other programs.
Cooperative research programs involving university personnel
with their counterparts in industry (and in government laborato-
ries) can be fruitful in many ways. They can broaden the base of
support for university teaching and research, give (two-way) ac-
cess to research skills and equipment not otherwise available, and
develop in students and faculty as well as those outside academia
an awareness of opportunities and constraints as seen from various
perspectives. We have emphasized the importance of instilling in
students a sense of the flavor, attitudes, and approaches of engi-
neering in the real world. Early contact with the engineering world
is the best way to impart that awareness. A tradition must develop
in which university people faculty and students alike participate
on a long-term and continual basis in both the research and facilities
of industry and government.
Mutual expectations should be reconciled at the outset of such
cooperative research ventures. Each party must try to understand
the other's objectives and needs. For example, the conflict be-
tween short-term pressures and long-term goad sometimes causes
problems in industry-supported university research. Milestones
for evaluating progress are one potential solution. Two-way ex-
changes of personnel for varying periods are a feature of many
successful cooperative research programs.
Conflicts over rights to inventions and other intellectual prop-
erty sometimes have blocked otherwise promising research rela-
tionships between industry and universities. In reality, only a tiny
fraction of university research projects result in economically sig-
nificant patents or other intellectual property. It is questionable
whether, in the aggregate, the realizable value from secured in-
tellectual property exceeds the costs incurred In the prospective
attempts to cover all contingencies. Worse, the atmosphere of
open exchange that IS an essential aspect of university research
programs is poisoned when students and faculty become highly
sensitized on matters of rights to intellectual property. Thus, we
favor university and industry policies that seek research payoffs in
the form of new knowledge (avaitable in the public domain) and
u)ell-educated graduates, rather than emphasizing patent rights and
royalty payments.
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DIRECTIONS IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
fundamental engineering
