Engineering & The National Interest
Increased R&D Budget Is A Mixed Blessing for Engineers
Engineers and scientists in many fields of research may have a new reason to worry. After a National Academies of Science report last year warned that America’s future security and economic strength were at risk for lack of funding of basic research in engineering and the physical sciences, President George W. Bush responded with the American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI), a plan to double funding over the next decade.
And his budget reflects that promise. However, most of the total amount earmarked for R&D is going to weapons development and development of a space vehicle to replace the Space Shuttle. Strip those dollars out—as an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) analysis has done—and money available for basic and applied research totals $54.8 billion. That’s a slide of 3.3 percent and represents the third year in a row that research financing has taken a hit. Many research universities that specialize in areas outside aerospace and defense may be hard pressed to find funds to support many of their projects.
Read more about the state of the U.S. R&D budget in PRISM, ASEE’s award-winning magazine.
Image courtesy of PRISM Magazine
