For release: March 26 , 2007

Contacts: 
Saren Johnston , Public Affairs, (515) 294-3474
Kerry Gibson, Public Affairs, 515-294-1405

AMES LABORATORY WORKSHOP FORMS BASIS
OF NATIONAL ACADEMY STUDY

Workshop and Study Highlight Urgent Need for Novel Materials to Ensure Scientific Progress

AMES, Iowa – Virtually every technology is materials-limited.  This is true whether you’re flipping open your cell phone to call a friend, exercising to the music on your iPod or saving a missed television show on your digital video recorder.

These trendy technologies depend on modern materials.  But if you think the need to develop novel, useful materials is limited to electronics, then add to the mix such discoveries as high-temperature superconductors, solid state lasers, conducting polymers, radiation detectors, solar cells and fuel cells.  Sadly, the United States is falling behind other countries in developing new materials — at least that’s what Paul Canfield told some of the nation’s top scientists recently.

Canfield, a senior physicist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory and an Iowa State University Distinguished Professor of physics, was an organizer of the 2003 DOE Basic Energy Sciences Workshop, “Future Directions of Design, Discovery and Growth of Single Crystals for Basic Research” held at Ames Laboratory, a world leader in new materials and crystal growth.  Participants in that workshop determined the development of novel, new materials to be a “national core competency” necessary for scientific advancement and economic growth.  They also concluded that the United States is lagging behind countries such as Japan in its ability to meet the growing demand for high-quality, specialized materials and to maintain international competitiveness in this vital area.

In the intervening years since the Ames Laboratory workshop, the gap has continued to widen between the demand for the design, discovery and growth of new materials and our nation’s ability to meet that demand. 

"New materials are being demanded by almost every study/workshop the DOE or NSF convenes,” said Canfield.  “New materials are the heart and sole of modern technology.  If the U.S. does not reinvest in the design and discovery of new materials, we will not be able to address the myriad of energy concerns facing us."

The escalating materials problem has resulted in the commissioning of a National Academy of Sciences study to assess the status of new materials development and crystal growth in the United States.  The study is a direct result of the concerns outlined at the 2003 Ames Laboratory workshop.  Canfield gave testimony from the workshop findings at the first meeting of the newly formed NAS Materials Synthesis and Crystal Growth committee in Washington, D.C., March 3-4.

The NAS study, “Assessment of and Outlook for New Materials Synthesis and Crystal Growth,” receives support from the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation. 

Ames Laboratory, celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2007, is operated for the Department of Energy by Iowa State University. The Lab conducts research into various areas of national concern, including energy resources, high-speed computer design, environmental cleanup and restoration, and the synthesis and study of new materials.

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