26

 

Mechanical Engineering in the FY 2006 Budget

Timothy Wei, Board of Government Relations,
American Society of Mechanical Engineers International

Table 1: Summary of Mechanical Engineering-Related Programs in the FY 2006 Budget (in millions of dollars)

 

FY 2004

Actual

FY 2005

Estimate

FY 2006

Request

 

 

 

 

Department of Defense

11,888

13,070

10,770

Department of Energy

2,621

2,742

2,723

Department of Homeland Security

304

436

250

Environmental Protection Agency

307

288

250

National Aeronautics and Space Admin.

1,734

1,629

1,771

National Institute of Standards and                 Technology

621

698

533

National Institutes of Health

899

910

916

National Science Foundation

336

339

350

 Table 2: Detail of Mechanical Engineering-Related Programs in the FY 2006 Budget (in millions of dollars)

 

FY 2004

Actual

FY 2005

Estimate

FY 2006

Request

Department of Defense (DOD)

Army

 

 

 

Basic Research (“6.1”)

369

393

308

Applied Research (“6.2”)

1,046

1,117

671

Advanced Technology Development (“6.3”)

1,187

1,385

756

Navy

 

 

 

Basic Research (“6.1”)

468

491

448

Applied Research (“6.2”)

667

882

598

Advanced Technology Development (“6.3”)

1,036

975

730

Air Force

 

 

 

Basic Research (“6.1”)

326

383

341

Applied Research (“6.2”)

886

946

852

Advanced Technology Development (“6.3”)

1,073

1,000

788

Defense Wide

 

 

 

Basic Research (“6.1”)

195

246

222

Applied Research (“6.2”)

1,737

1,963

2,018

Advanced Technology Development (“6.3”)

2,876

3,332

2,790

University Research Initiative

275

294

248

 

_______

_______

_______

Total DOD

11,888

13,070

10,770

 Department of Energy (DOE)

Basic Energy Sciences

991

1,105

1,146

Fusion Energy Sciences

255

274

294

Nuclear Energy S&T

128

171

191

Fossil Energy R&D

659

572

491

Energy Efficiency/Renewable Energy

352

380

354

Fuel Cell Tech. (Energy Conservation)

64

75

84

Vehicle Technology (Energy Conservation)

172

165

166

 

_______

_______

_______

Total DOE

2,621

2,742

2,723

 Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

Radiological and Nuclear Countermeasures

106

123

246

Anti-missile devices

17

61

110

Rapid Prototyping of Technologies

68

76

21

Standards

32

40

36

Threat Vulnerability and Assessment

59

66

47

University and Fellowship Programs

22

70

64

 

_______

_______

_______

Total DHS

304

436

524

 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Sustainability S&T

47

31

23

Air Toxics Research

20

18

16

Climate Change Research

16

21

21

Environmental Technology Verification

 (ETV)

4

3

3

Superfund Innovative Technology

 Evaluation (SITE)

6

7

1

Particulate Matter Research *

63

64

0

Pollution Prevention Research

49

33

0

Drinking Water and Water Quality Research

90

93

102

Science Advisory Board

5

5

5

Tropospheric Ozone Research *

5

5

0

Fellowships

2

8

8

National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)*

0

0

71

Total EPA (with Superfund)

307

288

250

* Consolidates the Particulate Matter and Tropospheric Ozone programs.

 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Aeronautics Technology

 

 

 

Aviation Safety & Security

183

185

193

Airspace Systems

232

152

200

Vehicle Systems

641

587

459

Exploration Systems Research and Technology

677

723

919

 

_______

_______

_______

Total NASA

1,734

1,629

1,771

Exploration Systems: In FY 2005 and earlier years, Exploration Systems Research and Technology was Human and Robotic Technology. Some projects have been transferred from the former Biological and Physical Research program to Exploration Systems Research and Technology.

 National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Scientific & Tech. Res. & Services

 

 

 

NIST Laboratories

335

373

421

Baldridge National Quality Program

6

5

6

Industrial Technology Services (ITS)

 

 

 

Advanced Technology Program (ATP)

177

140

0

Manufacturing Extension Partnership

39

108

47

Construction of Research Facilities

64

72

59

 

_______

_______

_______

Total NIST

621

698

533

 National Institutes of Health (NIH)

NIH-wide SBIR/STTR

610

612

616

National Institute of Biomedical Imaging & Bioengineering (NIBIB)

289

298

300

 

_______

_______

_______

Total NIH

899

910

916

 National Science Foundation (NSF)

Chemical and Transport Systems

69

66

69

Civil and Mechanical Systems

67

82

84

Design, Manufacture and Industrial

 Innovation

66

64

67

Engineering Education and Centers

 (includes ERC and I/UCRC)

134

127

130

 

_______

_______

_______

Total NSF

336

339

350

 Department of Defense (DOD)

 The FY 2006 request for DOD Science and Technology (S&T) accounts is $10.8 billion, which is $2.3 billion less than the FY 2005 appropriation and represents a 17.6 percent reduction. The total FY 2006 DOD budget request, which does not include any funds that may be expended in FY 2006 from prior or future supplemental appropriations, is $419.3 billion. The 2001 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) recommended that 3 percent of the defense budget be allocated to Science and Technology. However, the S&T portion of total DOD spending will be 2.6 percent.

 These S&T funds support Basic Research (“6.1”), Applied Research (“6.2”), and Advanced Technology Development (“6.3”) and all categories would experience significant declines in funding. Basic Research would decrease from $1.5 billion to $1.3 billion, a 12.9 percent decline, while Applied Research would be reduced from $4.8 billion to $4.1 billion, a 14.6 percent reduction. The largest reduction would occur in Advanced Technology Development, which would experience a 24.5 percent decline, from $6.7 billion to $5.0 billion.

 The services’ S&T accounts reflect the general trend of large reductions described above, and these figures are shown in Table 2. However, the largest reductions are in the Army’s accounts, where Basic Research would fall 21.6 percent, Advanced Technology Development by 39.9 percent, and Advanced Technology Development by 45.4 percent. The only major S&T component proposed for an increase is “Defense-Wide” Applied Research (“6.2”) with 2.8 percent, due to a 3.6 percent increase for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). 

 The budgets for the University Research Initiative (URI) programs that support graduate education in Mathematics, Science, and Engineering, which were transferred two years ago from OSD to the individual services, would see a $46 million or 15.7 percent decrease from $294 million in FY 2005 to $248 million. (For more on DOD, see Chapter 6.)

Department of Energy (DOE)

The Department’s budget for FY 2006 reflects three priorities: keeping DOE well positioned to help in fighting the war on terror, strengthening our homeland defenses, and sustaining the momentum of our economic recovery. The administration proposes a total of $3.47 billion for the DOE Office of Science for FY 2006, a $142 million decrease from FY 2005. The decrease includes reductions for nearly every program except for Basic Energy Sciences (up $41 million to $1.15 billion) and Fusion Energy Sciences (an increase of $17 million to $291 million).  While there are no major new policy initiatives, there are a number of proposed program terminations and several programs would see decreases. A few programs would see significant increases, including hydrogen research (up $33 million to $257 million), nuclear energy research (up $25 million to $511 million), the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER, near start at $50 million), and the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository (increased $79 million to $651 million).

 The FY 2006 budget for nuclear energy research is $191 million, an increase of $20 million above FY 2005. Within that budget, the largest increase would be for the Nuclear Hydrogen Initiative (up $11.1 million; $20 million total), followed by the Nuclear Power 2010 program (increased $6.4 million; $56 million total), the Generation IV Initiative (up $5.3 million; $45 million total), and the Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative (increased $2.5 million; $70 million total).  

 The FY 2006 request of $491 million for fossil energy research represents a decrease of $81 million from FY 2005. The request includes a $13.2 million (14.9 percent) increase for the President’s Coal Research Initiative, including a $21.8 million increase for carbon sequestration research. Otherwise, funding would decline, including natural gas and petroleum technologies, which would be reduced to closeout levels (down $34.8 million, $10 million total for natural gas; down $23.9 million $10 million for petroleum); ultra clean fuels, which will used for funding hydrogen production from coal; and cooperative research and development (down $5.3 million; $3 million total).

 The $1.2 billion total request for energy efficiency, renewable energy (EERE), and energy conservation reflects a decrease of approximately $48 million over FY 2005. This is due to the proposed elimination of the $4.2 million hydropower research program, a substantial reduction in biomass and biorefinery systems research (decreased $30.4 million; $50.4 million total), and reductions in weatherization assistance (down $10.8 million; $298.2 million total), distributed energy R&D (decreased $3.8 million; $56.6 million total), building technologies (reduced $7.5 million; $58 million total), and industrial technologies (down $18.3 million; $56.5 million total).  Proposed increases in the EERE budget include hydrogen research (up $5 million to $99.1 million), wind energy research (up $3.4 million to $44.2 million), fuel cell technologies (up $9 million; $84 million total), and vehicle technologies, mostly in support of FreedomCAR (increased $1 million; $166 million total).

 Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

 Homeland Security R&D program funding would experience slower growth in FY 2006 compared to previous years, specifically, an increase of $44 million (3.6 percent) to $1.3 billion. The Science and Technology Directorate will assume control of all the agency’s R&D portfolios and become responsible for 100 percent of the R&D funding.

 In the FY 2006 budget request, a top priority in DHS R&D is radiological and nuclear countermeasures (increasing by 100 percent to $246 million), wherein efforts will be focused on detection and reporting of terrorists attempts to transport or use nuclear or radiological materials. Programs will develop new technologies and transfer them to use in the field. Another top priority is anti-missile devices, termed counter MANPADS, which is increased by 80 percent to $110 million. The R&D emphasis would be on the development, prototype and testing of promising missile technologies effective against man-portable air defense systems. Increases would be partially balanced by reductions in threat and vulnerability assessment (down 29 percent to $47 million); standards development (decreased by 11 percent to $36 million); and rapid prototyping of technologies (down 72 percent to $21 million.)

 The University Programs and Fellowship Programs request would also decline slightly (decreased by 9 percent to $64 million.) Four university centers performing research are currently in operation. They are focused on agro-terrorism, threat assessment, and behavioral and social aspects of terrorism. Four additional centers will be awarded in FY 2006, one of which will be specializing in preparations and response to terrorist attacks. This program also supports fellowships and scholarships for graduate education and research opportunities for engineers and scientists. (For more on DHS, see Chapter 12.)

 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

 The total EPA budget for FY 2006 is $7.6 billion, a cut of 5.7 percent. The EPA R&D request for FY 2006 is $568 million, down $4 million or 0.7 percent relative to FY 2005. Most of the R&D request will be funded in the Science and Technology account, which would increase by $1 million to $536 million. This year’s request for Science and Technology incorporates significant shifts in the structure of its programs. These shifts include consolidation of projects and funding of the Office of Research and Development (ORD) by specific offices within the agency rather than direct funding to ORD. Funding requests related to mechanical engineering for FY 2006 total $194 million. This is a $47 million, or 19.5 percent decrease from the FY 2005 request.

 The particulate matter and tropospheric ozone programs would be consolidated into the NAAQS project. Funding for research on air toxics would increase. There are two homeland security related initiatives: $11.5 million for decontamination technology development, and approximately $1.2 million for radiation response team development. Research funding for drinking water and water quality would increase (10 percent) in this budget. Also included is a $44 million homeland security related initiative to employ sensors and monitoring systems into the nation’s water supply. Projects in ecosystem science will experience a significant reduction in order to pay for increases in homeland security initiatives and other higher priority projects. Although projects in the area of Human Health Risks would increase overall, research in the areas of risk and dose exposure would decline. Exploratory grants would fall $5 million, with the remaining funds to focus on nanotechnology. The Pollution Prevention project would be replaced by Sustainability, with a decrease in funding of $10 million spanning all areas of the initiative. (For more on EPA, see Chapter 13.)

 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

 NASA’s budget request for FY 2006 is $16.5 billion, an increase of 2.4 percent over the $16.1 billion provided in FY 2005. (The FY 2005 level does not include a $126 million emergency supplemental.)

 The Vision for Space Exploration continues to be the priority in NASA’s budget. The Space Shuttle and Space Station account for 39 percent of the proposed NASA budget for FY 2006. Development of the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) would jump in the FY 2006 budget by more than 500 percent, from $140 million in FY 2005 to $753 million in FY 2006, as work on the vehicle destined for test in 2008 gets underway. Project Prometheus, focusing on the development of nuclear propulsion techniques, would be reduced due to its potential use on the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) proving to be too complex and expensive. NASA is reviewing options before deciding what mission to substitute for JIMO as a test. Funding for research aboard the Space Station is proposed for a cut as NASA reorients the program toward human physiology research.

 Mechanical engineering-related research is primarily conducted in the Office of Aeronautics (OA) and in the newly formed Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. NASA proposes $852.3 million for aeronautics technology in FY 2006, a decrease of $53.9 million from FY 2005. This would include $193 million, an increase of $7.5 million above FY 2005, for the Aviation Safety and Security Program; $200.3 million for the A