The Manufacturing Studies Board will establish a series of committees to analyze research directions and to develop a strategic research framework for technologies specifically related to manufacturing. To accomplish this, the committee will: (1) identify and prioritize manufacturing-related technologies and disciplines to produce a comprehensive manufacturing research agenda for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. research community, and (2) conduct a series of analyses of the technologies and disciplines in the research agenda to determine the current state of the art, research activities, and needed future research initiatives. The resulting reports are expected to provide the NSF, as well as academic and industrial researchers, with an authoritative basis for focusing their research and funding activities. The activities of the committees are intended to be steps in a dynamic process that will adapt as technologies and the competitive environment change.
