This proposal requests funds to permit Dr. Malcolm G. McLaren, Director, Institute for Engineered Materials, Rutgers University, to conduct with Dr. Ahmad Tajuddin Ali, Controller, Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia (SIRIM),the 1990 U.S.-Malaysia Seminar on Innovation and Commercialization of Research, November 12-16, 1990, at Genting Highlands and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The joint seminar will involve eight U.S. participants, who, with a like number of Malaysian participants, will address several topics of mutual interest. A limited number of other Malaysian, ASEAN, and African scientists/engineers will be invited to participate as observers. The purpose of this seminar is to bring together for mutual benefit U.S. and Malaysian scientists/engineers to exchange ideas on innovation and commercialization of research and, within the scope of the seminar, to identify priority areas for future U.S.-Malaysian research cooperation. The Malaysian economy has shown a sustained rapid growth and diversification for most of the period from 1965 to the present with the exception of a decline due to falling commodity prices in 1985 and 1986. Manufacturing has replaced agriculture as the Malaysian economy's largest sector, but commodities account for 45 percent of that country's exports. Through its "New Economic Policy" (NEP), Malaysia seeks to strengthen its economy and become more competitive by using its labor community in a value-added mode. Toward this end, Malaysia seeks technology transfer and a broader use of science for development. The joint seminar will provide a unique opportunity for U.S. scientists/engineers to gain an insight into the state of development in Malaysia and the official policies which are guiding that rapid development. It is expected that this seminar will be instrumental in fostering future collaborative research that will be beneficial to the United States and Malaysia. This project is relevant to the objectives of the Science in Developing Countries Program which seeks to increase the level of cooperation between U.S. scientists and engineers and their counterparts in developing countries through the exchange of scientific information, ideas, skills, and techniques and through collaboration on problems of mutual benefit. Support of non-U.S. participants is provided from sources other than the National Science Foundation.
