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eMaterials Newsletters

 

Wednesday, December 5, 2001Volume 1, Issue 4

 

Director's Message

The University's Annual Report on Research shows $472M in research expenditures for FY 2000/2001. For the first time, the report includes categories for the various Strategic Research Initiatives:

 

For more details about these initiatives go to:
http://www.mri.psu.edu/ematerials/v01i04/StrategicResearchInitiatives.pdf

 

The $42M reported for Materials is a much more realistic representation of materials research programs... University-wide... than the past practice of reporting only intercollege research programs administered through the MRI contracts office (which for FY 2000/2001 totaled $12.8M of the $42M). The ability to roll-up all of the University's activities in materials was made possible by the new Clearance Data Form (CDF) which allows for the Assignment of Shared Credit (ASC).

 

To view the CDF go to:
http://www.mri.psu.edu/ematerials/v01i04/ASC.pdf.

 

Please be careful to accurately complete the CDF-ASC Form whenever you submit a proposal; does not influence where overhead is returned nor how much. The fact that we now have a way to report the magnitude of all materials research activities at Penn State should facilitate our marketing and rankings. And, in addition to pushing the envelope to make PSU #1 in Materials in the Nation, let's all endeavor to move MATERIALS to the head of the class in Strategic Research Initiatives here at Penn State!

 

The data for the Strategic and Research Initiatives and the CDF-ASC Form originated from the documents provided for the "Research Town Meeting" which can be viewed at: http://www.mri.psu.edu/ematerials/v01i04/TownMeeting.pdf.

 

Regards,
Carlo Pantano

NSF Budget Increases 8.4 Percent in 2002

The National Science Foundation (NSF) budget for FY 2002 will reflect an 8.4 percent increase over the FY 2001 funding levels, significantly above the 1.3 percent increase requested by the Bush Administration. Research and related activities total nearly $3.6 billion, an increase of 7.4 percent. Within that category, engineering research will see an 8.5 percent increase for an FY 2002 level of $467.5 million, and Mathematical and Physical Sciences will climb to $922.2 million.

 

Of the $508 million appropriated for Biological Sciences, $75 million is to go toward a comprehensive research initiative on plant genomes for economically significant crops.

 

The bill includes $26.61 million for the Science and Technology Centers and $4 million for the Rand Corporation's Science & Technology Policy Institute. The institute supports the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy.

 

The conference agreement increases the budget request level for all directorates and provides specific increases of $25 million for information technology research, $25 million for nanotechnology, and $12.5 million for increased energy and fuel costs in the polar and ocean sciences as well as national facilities in physics and materials. The conference agreement also directs NSF to undertake a study to determine its appropriate role in support of regional innovation activities.

 

For more information go to:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/R?cp107:FLD010:@1(HR272)

Labor Market Tightening for New College Grads

2002 college graduates, particularly those with masters and doctoral degrees, can expect a tougher time finding employment after graduation next spring, according to the 31st annual Recruiting Trends survey conducted by the Collegiate Employment Research Institute at Michigan State University.

 

The survey of 286 employers, primarily in the manufacturing and professional services sectors, determined that graduates with bachelor degrees will see a 6 percent to 13 percent decline in hiring during the 2001-02 academic year. 2002 grads with master's and doctoral degrees could see a 20 percent decline.

 

In addition, survey respondents reported hiring 34 percent fewer bachelor's degree recipients and 45 percent fewer master's degree graduates than they projected last year.

 

The largest declines in hiring include engineering, computer science, and business.

NSF Nanoscale Science and Engineering Information

Nanoscale science and engineering promises to produce a dominant technology for the 21st century. Control of matter at the nanoscale level underpins innovation in critical areas, from information and medicine to manufacturing and the environment.

 

One nanometer (one billionth of a meter) is a magical point on the dimensional scale. Nanostructures are at the confluence of the smallest of human-made devices and the largest molecules of living systems. Biological cells such as red blood cells have diameters in the range of thousands of nanometers. Microelectromechanical systems are now approaching this same scale. This means we are now at the point of connecting machines to individual cells.

 

Twelve Federal agencies have joined together to promote advances in nanotechnology, in which NSF has the largest investment. NSF's nanoscale science and engineering program is a multiyear investment whose goals include the following:

 

For More Information, see the latest program solicitation, available on the nano program web site, http://www.nsf.gov/nano/.

Faculty Contracts & Grants

Materials research accounted for nearly $4.5M in contracts and grants for the month of October 2001! The largest of these contracts and grants (those greater than $200K) are listed below, along with a link to the complete list of contracts and grants. These data are provided by OSPs Strategic Information Management System. We will provide this report each month to help familiarize our community with who we are and what we do.

 

Brown, Paul, Nanostructured Ceramics and Composites for Refractory Applications in Coal Gasification, U.S. Department of Energy

 

Macdonald, Digby, Development of Advanced Electrochemical Emission Spectroscopy for Monitoring Corrosion in Simulated DOE Liquid Waste, U.S. Department of Energy

 

Lvov, Sergeui,Development of High Temperature H2/02 Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells, U.S. Department of Energy

 

German, Randall, Senior Partner Membership in the Center for Innovative Sintered Products - Equipment Transfer Agreement, Industry

Materials Seminars

Thursday, December 06, 2001
Location:  22 Deike
Title:  High Temperature Microscopy: Seeing is Believing!
Speaker:  Alan Cramb, Carnegie Mellon University