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- Path: sparky!uunet!crdgw1!rpi!bu.edu!dartvax!fluent!creare!kwg
- From: kwg@creare.COM (Kent Goeking)
- Newsgroups: sci.materials
- Subject: Re: Student asking for help
- Message-ID: <13401@creare.COM>
- Date: 24 Jul 92 14:12:23 GMT
- References: <1992Jul20.172508.23796@news.acns.nwu.edu>
- Reply-To: kwg@creare.UUCP (Kent Goeking)
- Distribution: sci.materials
- Organization: Creare Inc., Hanover, NH
- Lines: 70
-
- In article <1992Jul20.172508.23796@news.acns.nwu.edu> mmass@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Michael Massing) writes:
- >
- > Hello to all of you! I'm an entering freshman at N.U. who is
- >seriously considering Materials Engineering as a major. I'm going into a 6
- >year PhD program, so I want to know if I'm making the right choice. I'd like
- >E-Mail on projects you are working on, info about different fields of
- >Materials Engineering (i.e. Semiconductors, ceramics ...) and whether or not
- >you feel Materials Engineering was a good choice for a career and why.
- >
- > All help is appreciated!!!!
- >
- > Mike Massing
- > mmass@casbah.acns.nwu.edu
-
- I am a couple of years out of a PhD program in Material Science/Engineering
- and from my vantage point the future looks bright for the field. I am
- encouraged by the heightened attention that the field and profession has
- received and I believe that Materials science and engineering is emerging
- as a coherent field. For a good overview of the present status of the
- field and its future potential I suggest you read the book recently
- published by the National Research Council entitled:
-
- "Materials Science and Engineering for the 1990s - Maintaining competitveness
- in the Age of Materials", National Academy Press, Wash D.C. 1989.
-
- Of particular interest to your situation is one of the conclusions;
-
- "The total number of degrees granted by materials-designated departments plus
- those granted in solid-state physics and chemistry and in polymer physics and
- chemistry in the field of materials science and engineering has remained
- essentially constant for more than 20 years, while opportunities in the field
- have expanded. If they are implemented, the initiatives recommended in this
- report will create an additional demand for highly qualified personnel in
- materials science and engineering."
-
- The question then is are the recommendations of this report being
- implemented? From the evidence I have seen they are attracting a lot of
- attention and some actual activity. In fact I point to the creation of the
- Advanced Materials and Processing Program (AMPP) by the US federal
- government as a step in the right direction. I quote the charter of that
- program;
-
- "AMPP is a coordinated interagency effort to exploit opportunities in materials
- research and development to meet significant national goals and to extend U.S.
- leadership in this area. If aggressively exploited, this effort should lead to
- materials having properties and performance tailored for specific applications
- that can be fabricated by cost-effective and environmentally sound processes.
- Increased investments in materials science and technology should result in
- major contributions to this Nation's quality of life, national security,
- industrial productivity, and economic growth."
-
- You can obtain a copy of the AMPP program scope and intent by sending a
- request to:
-
- Committee on Industry and Technology/COMAT
- c/o National Institute of Standards and Technology
- Room B309, Materials Building
- Gaithersburg MD 20899
- Phone (301) 975-5655
-
- This document will give you some insight into what the future US
- government support for materials research will look like.
-
- Hope this helps.
-
- --
- ^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~
- Kent Goeking (kwg@creare.com)| "We are continually faced with a series of
- Creare Inc., P.O. 71 | opportunities brilliantly disguised as
- Hanover, New Hampshire 03755 | insoluble problems" - John W. Gardner
-