Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future

Non-Technical Abstract

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) will convene an ad hoc committee to examine the impact that the National Science Foundation’s (NSF’s) Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF) program is having as it is progressing and adapting to achieve the Nation’s vision for the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI). The MGI began in 2011 with the broad goal of vastly expanding the United States’ materials science research capabilities through the development of a materials innovation infrastructure to address our country’s pressing technical needs.

The NSF’s principal response to the MGI was to develop and implement the DMREF program, a broad effort across many divisions and directorates within NSF. The NASEM committee will evaluate the goals, progress, and scientific accomplishments of the DMREF program within the context of similar efforts both within the US and abroad. Since the tenth anniversary of the MGI will take place in 2021, it is an appropriate time to evaluate the successes and challenges that DMREF has had in order to ensure that this program becomes an even more impactful component of the MGI in the future.

Technical Abstract

This project is an 18-month study by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) that will increase the impact of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF’s) Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF) program as it strives to achieve the lofty objectives of the National Materials Genome Initiative (MGI). The study is supported by experienced members of the NASEM's professional staff and conducted by an ad-hoc committee of approximately 14-15 members, most of whom will be materials researchers who have previously been funded by DMREF or MGI-related research programs supported by other federal agencies.

Members will also include materials researchers from industry with backgrounds in advancing materials research toward applications and commercialization. Workforce training and development will also be examined. In conducting the study, the committee will meet approximately five times, either in person or virtually.

Input will be solicited from relevant communities. These efforts may include conducting town hall meetings, participating in professional society meetings, and soliciting white papers, in addition to hearing from community members at its meetings. The general task of the committee is to evaluate the goals, progress, and scientific accomplishments of the DMREF program within the context of similar efforts both within the US and abroad and to identify opportunities for DMREF to further accelerate the progression of materials research.

The conclusions of the report will be disseminated to NSF, as the sponsoring agency, representatives from other federal departments and branches, the public, and the research and technical communities that conduct materials research. Free electronic versions of the report will be available via the National Academies Press website.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.