Forces Shaping the U.S. Academic Engineering Research Enterprise (1995)
Chapter: Front Matter
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
2101 Constitution Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20418
NOTICE: The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Robert M. White is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
This publication has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a National Academy of Engineering report review process.
Partial funding for this effort was provided by the National Science Foundation.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 95-69121
International Standard Book Number 0-309-05284-X
Copyright 1995 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic, or electronic procedure, or in the form of a phonographic recording, nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise copied for public or private use, without written permission from the publisher, except for the purpose of official use by the United States government.
Printed in the United States of America
Preface
On February 18, 19, and 20, 1994, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), convened a public symposium and workshop on the forces shaping academic engineering research in the early 1990s and beyond. The report that follows has been prepared by an NAE committee charged with organizing the symposium and workshop and reporting back to the NSF. The membership of the Committee on Forces Shaping the Academic Engineering Research Enterprise is listed on page v of this volume.
In preparing this report, the committee drew heavily on the symposium presentations and workshop discussions. Nonetheless, the committee is the author of this report and is responsible for its arguments and findings. The papers presented at the public symposium as well as a background paper prepared for workshop participants follow the committee's report.
It is important to note that this document makes no claim to be an exhaustive examination of the issues facing academic engineering research. For example, there is no focus in this report on the impact of changing demographics on engineering students or faculty, or on the effect of the military build down on the character of the national portfolio of engineering research. The intent was not to be comprehensive, and the committee was not asked or constituted to write the last word on the status and future of academic engineering research.
On behalf of the National Academy of Engineering, I would like to thank the authors of the papers and the chairman and the members of the
COMMITTEE ON FORCES SHAPING THE U.S. ACADEMIC ENGINEERING RESEARCH ENTERPRISE
WILLIAM R. SCHOWALTER, Chairman, Dean,
College of Engineering, University of Illinois
DANIEL C. DRUCKER, Graduate Research Professor of Engineering Sciences,
University of Florida
ALEXANDER H. FLAX, Senior Fellow,
National Academy of Engineering
C. WILLIAM GEAR, President,
NEC Research Institute, Inc.
PAUL C. JENNINGS, Vice President and Provost,
California Institute of Technology
SIMON OSTRACH, NAE Home Secretary, Wilbert J. Austin Distinguished Professor of Engineering,
Case Western Reserve University
A. RICHARD SEEBASS, Professor of Aerospace Engineering Sciences,
University of Colorado
JOHN A. WHITE, JR., Dean, College of Engineering,
Georgia Institute of Technology
NAE Staff
BRUCE GUILE, Director, Program Office
DEBORAH STINE, Project Director
JESSICA BLAKE, Project Assistant
CONTENTS
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON FORCES SHAPING THE U.S. ACADEMIC ENGINEERING RESEARCH ENTERPRISE |
| |||
| ||||
| What Is Engineering Research and How Do Engineering and Science Interact? | |||
| ||||
| Why Is Academic Engineering Research at Risk and Why Should Its Health Be Preserved? | |||
| Responding to the Changed Environment for Academic Engineering Research | |||
SYMPOSIUM PAPERS AND BACKGROUND PAPER |
| |||
| Academic Engineering Research in a Changing World | |||
| A View from the Front Lines of Academic Engineering Research | |||
| Reengineering the Academic Engineering Enterprise | |||
| Defense Budgets and Academic Research | |||
