TMS to Work on Transformational Materials Opportunities
The Department of Energy Industrial Technologies Program (ITP) has commissioned the Minerals Metals & Materials Society (TMS) to direct a two-phased study into areas where new materials and processing breakthroughs can lead to transformational advances in energy efficiency, energy security, and reductions in carbon emissions.
The studies will support DOE in launching two new university-led Manufacturing Energy Systems Centers intended to accelerate both knowledge development and dissemination in distinct manufacturing areas with critical technical needs. ITP has already requested $10 million in its Fiscal Year 2011 budget for these centers as part of its work to help develop innovative technologies for a clean energy economy.
TMS, a professional society of materials scientists and engineers that is headquartered in Warrendale, Pa., will conduct the project throughout 2010. This project grew from the ASM/TMS Energy Materials Initiative to provide information resources and connections both within and outside of the materials community to focus and accelerate the pace of development of new energy technologies.
An “Energy Materials Blue Ribbon Panel,” consisting of 21 thought leaders in the materials science and engineering field, will convene Feb. 18 in Seattle to identify significant high-impact materials and processing combinations most necessary for an energy-efficient and low-carbon economy. This panel will explore potentially untapped areas of materials and manufacturing science where breakthrough opportunities exist.
The panel’s recommendations will be captured in a vision document that will be widely disseminated.
TMS also will convene Technical Working Groups to identify and prioritize critical research and development needed to address the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Panel. A final report of the highest impact research and development areas identified by the Technical Working Groups will be created and communicated throughout the materials science and engineering community.
“TMS is the home of our professional community, so it is natural for TMS to be the catalyst and provide the vehicle for us to come together to deliberate these energy-related topics and to come up with implementable recommendations,” said Diran Apelian, chair of the Blue Ribbon Panel and Past President of TMS.
The final report will be published in December.