Table 1. Summary of Mechanical Engineering-Related
Programs in the FY 2007 Budget (in millions of dollars)
| | FY 2005 Actual | FY 2006 Estimate | FY 2007 Request |
| Department
of Defense | 13,026 | 13,191 | 11,083 |
| Department
of Energy | 3,039 | 3,202 | 3,703 |
| Department
of Homeland Security | 872 | 817 | 953 |
| Environmental
Protection Agency | 249 | 240 | 229 |
| National
Aeronautics and Space Admin. | 1,861 | 1,577 | 1,370 |
| National
Institute of Standards and Tech. | 694 | 806 | 573 |
| National
Institutes of Health | 921 | 894 | 891 |
| National
Science Foundation | 373 | 393 | 427 | Table
2: Detail of Mechanical Engineering-Related Programs in the FY
2007 Budget (in millions of dollars)
| | FY 2005 Actual | FY 2006 Estimate | FY 2007 Request |
Department of Defense (DOD)
| Army | | | |
| Basic
Research (“6.1”) | 393 | 372 | 312 |
| Applied
Research (“6.2”) | 1,138 | 1,250 | 685 |
| Advanced
Technology Development (“6.3”) | 1,480 | 1,389 | 722 |
| Navy | | | |
| Basic
Research (“6.1”) | 478 | 475 | 456 |
| Applied
Research (“6.2”) | 802 | 799 | 639 |
| Advanced
Technology Development (“6.3”) | 1,088 | 1,022 | 505 |
| Air
Force | | | |
| Basic
Research (“6.1”) | 374 | 363 | 370 |
| Applied
Research (“6.2”) | 924 | 1,071 | 973 |
| Advanced
Technology Development (“6.3”) | 925 | 1,010 | 805 |
| Defense
Wide | | | |
| Basic
Research (“6.1”) | 240 | 260 | 284 |
| Applied
Research (“6.2”) | 1,924 | 2,049 | 2,181 |
| Advanced
Technology Development (“6.3”) | 3,340 | 3,182 | 3,152 |
| -
University Research Initiative * | 287 | 272 | 249 |
| | _______ | _______ | _______ |
| Total
DOD | 13,026 | 13,191 | 11,083 | *
URI has not been included in the DOD budget total. Department
of Energy (DOE)
| Office of Science | | | |
| Basic Energy Sciences | 1,084 | 1,135 | 1,421 |
| Advanced Scientific Computing Research | 226 | 235 | 319 |
| Fusion Energy Sciences | 267 | 288 | 319 |
| Office of Nuclear Energy, Science, & Tech. | | | |
| Nuclear Energy R&D | 168 | 224 | 347 |
| Univ. Nuclear Reactor Infrastructure & Edu. | 24 | 27 | 0 |
| Office of Energy Effic. /Renewable Energy | | | |
| Hydrogen Technology | 167 | 156 | 196 |
| Biomass and Biorefinery Systems R&D | 87 | 91 | 150 |
| Solar and Wind Energy | 125 | 122 | 192 |
| Geothermal Technology | 25 | 23 | 0 |
| Hydropower | 5 | 0.5 | 0 |
| Vehicle, Building & Industrial Technologies | 300 | 308 | 289 |
| Office of Fossil Energy | 561 | 592 | 470 |
| | _______ | _______ | _______ |
| Total DOE | 3,039 | 3,202 | 3,703 | Department
of Homeland Security (DHS)
| Science and Technology Directorate | | | |
| Biological Countermeasures | 363 | 376 | 337 |
| Chemical Countermeasures | 53 | 94 | 83 |
| Explosives Countermeasures | 20 | 44 | 87 |
| Radiological and Nuclear Countermeasures | 123 | 19 | 0 |
| Anti-missile devices | 61 | 109 | 5 |
| Rapid Prototyping of Technologies | 76 | 35 | 0 |
| Standards | 40 | 35 | 22 |
| Threat Vulnerability and Assessment | 66 | 43 | 40 |
| University and Fellowship Programs | 70 | 62 | 52 |
| Domestic Nuclear Detection Office R&D | 0 | 0 | 327 |
| | _______ | _______ | _______ |
| Total DHS | 872 | 817 | 953 | Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)
| Air Toxics Research | 14 | 16 | 12 |
| Climate Change Research | 19 | 19 | 17 |
| Environmental Tech. Verification (ETV) | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Superfund Innovative Tech. Evalu (SITE) | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| Drinking Water and Water Quality Research | 93 | 96 | 106 |
| Fellowships | 14 | 12 | 8 |
| Nat’l. Ambient Air Quality Stds.
(NAAQS) | 63 | 67 | 65 |
| Sustainability Research | 36 | 26 | 21 |
| | _______ | _______ | _______ |
| Total EPA (with Superfund) | 249 | 240 | 229 | National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
| Aeronautics Technology | | | |
| Aviation Safety and Security | 183 | 148 | 102 |
| Airspace Systems | 149 | 174 | 120 |
| Fundamental Aeronautics | 630 | 562 | 447 |
| Aeronautics Test Program | 0 | 0 | 55 |
| Exploration Systems Research &Technology | 899 | 693 | 646 |
| | _______ | _______ | _______ |
| Total NASA | 1,861 | 1,577 | 1,370 | National
Institute of Standards
and Technology (NIST)
| Scientific & Tech. Res. & Services | | | |
| NIST Laboratories | 373 | 387 | 459 |
| Industrial Technology Services (ITS) | | | |
| Advanced Technology Program (ATP) | 140 | 79 | 0 |
| Manufacturing Extension Partnership | 108 | 105 | 46 |
| Construction of Research Facilities | 73 | 174 | 68 |
| | _______ | _______ | _______ |
| Total NIST | 694 | 806 | 573 | National
Institutes of Health (NIH)
| NIH-wide SBIR/STTR (excl. NIBIB) | 614 | 597 | 596 |
| National Institute of Biomedical Imaging & Bioengineering (NIBIB) | 298 | 297 | 295 |
| | _______ | _______ | _______ |
| Total NIH | 921 | 894 | 891 | National
Science Foundation (NSF)
| Chemical, Bioeng., Env., & Transport Sys. | 112* | 123* | 124 |
| Civil, Mechanical, & Manuf. Innovation | 141** | 147** | 152 |
| Engineering Education and Centers | 120 | 123 | 126 |
| Emerging Frontiers in Res. & Innov. | 0 | 0 | 25 |
| | _______ | _______ | _______ |
| Total NSF | 373 | 393 | 427 | *
Combines former Bioengineering and Chemical & Transport Sys. divisions.
**
Funding levels reflect the combination of the former Civil & Mechanical Systems
and Design and Manufacturing Innovation divisions. Mechanical engineering R&D spans a very wide range
of problems and applications. Mechanical engineering has a presence in nanotechnology
to multi-scale computing to astrodynamics. This comes about by virtue of the fact
that the laws of mechanics hold from the nanoscale to galactic scales and that
mankind is actively engaged in exploration and design across this entire spectrum.
The function of this chapter is to provide the reader with a sense of the major
activity areas in which mechanical engineering R&D may be found and trends
in funding within these areas. In this regard, programs and initiatives may be
highlighted that are not specifically mechanical engineering focused. It is important
to note therefore that the funding requests discussed in this chapter represent
potential sources of funding for mechanical engineers; they do not represent the
state of federal funding specifically for mechanical engineering alone. Data for
funding by agency are presented in Table 1. Individual agency breakdowns appear
in Table 2. In addition, it is important to keep in mind that only
sources of research and development funding have been identified. Funding for
application and missions involving mechanical engineering, such as the space shuttle,
do not lie within the purview of this analysis. Where possible, these distinctions
have been highlighted. Department of Defense (DOD) The FY 2007 request for DOD Science and Technology
(S&T) accounts is $11.08 billion, which is a $1.86 billion or 16 percent reduction
from FY 2006. The total FY 2007 DOD budget, which does not include anticipated
supplemental appropriations for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, is $489.3 billion. The 2001
Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) recommended that 3 percent of the defense budget
be allocated to S&T. The S&T portion of total DOD spending would be 2.5
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 reductions in funding. Basic Research would decrease
from $1.47 billion to $1.43 billion, a 2.7 percent decline, while Applied Research
would be reduced from $5.17 billion to $4.48 billion, a 13 percent reduction.
The largest reduction would occur in Advanced Technology Development, which would
experience a 21.5 percent decline, from $6.6 billion to $5.18 billion. The services’ S&T accounts reflect the general
trend of reductions described above. However, the largest reductions would be
in the Army’s accounts, where Basic Research would fall 16.2 percent, Applied
Research by 45.2 percent, and Advanced Technology Development by 48.0 percent.
The only major S&T components proposed for increases are “Defense-Wide” Basic
Research (“6.1”) and Applied Research (“6.2”) with 9.1 percent and 6.5 percent
boosts respectively. The majority of that increase would go to the Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency (DARPA), up 10.6 percent to $3.3 billion. Budgets for the University Research Initiative (URI)
programs that support graduate education in Mathematics, Science, and Engineering
would see a $23 million or 3.2 percent decrease from $272 million last year to
$249 million in FY 2007.
Department of Energy
(DOE) DOE’s FY 2007 budget 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. Mechanical engineering
related R&D lies primarily in four offices: Office of Science, Office of Energy
Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and
Technology (NE) and Office of Fossil Energy. These four offices’ requests reflect
increases of $505 million or 14.1 percent above FY 2006 for the Office of Science,
$2.6 million or 0.2 percent for EERE and $97 million or 18.1 percent for NE. The
lone decrease would be in the Office of Fossil Energy which would fall $193 million
or 22.9 percent. There are three programs within the Office of Science
in which mechanical engineering related R&D typically occurs. These are Basic
Energy Sciences (BES), $1.42 billion; Advanced Scientific Computing and Research
(ASCR), $0.32 billion; and Fusion Energy Sciences (FES), $0.32 billion. All three
of these programs would experience increases under the FY 2007 budget request.
There are a number of programs within EERE involving
mechanical engineering R&D. These include Biomass and Biorefinery Systems
R&D, $150 million; Wind and Solar Energy, $44 million and $148 million respectively;
Hydrogen Technology, $196 million; and Vehicle, Industrial and Building Technologies,
$166 million, $46 million and $77 million respectively. Funding for hydropower
and geothermal technology would not continue in FY 2007. Those programs combined
with decreases in vehicle and industrial technologies offset significant increases
(up to 78.5 percent for solar energy) in the other programs. The funding request within NE also reflects a balance
of increases and decreases. Overall Nuclear Energy R&D would increase by 55.1
percent to $347 million. This is led by a $164 million increase to $243 million
in the Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative. Offsetting this gain, there would be reductions
in Nuclear Power 2010, Generation IV and Nuclear Hydrogen Initiative. Under the FY 2007 budget request, the Office of Fossil
Energy would see a 22.9 percent reduction to $649 million. Research on coal would
decrease from $376 million to $330 million. Funding for Clean Coal Technology,
Natural Gas Technologies and Petroleum Oil Technologies would be discontinued
in FY 2007. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) The total FY 2007 budget request for DHS is $42.7 billion,
a 6 percent increase over the previous year. The FY 2007 budget is centered around
five themes: increasing overall preparedness (including strengthening FEMA), strengthening
border security and reforming immigration, enhancing transportation security,
improving information sharing, and strengthening the department’s organization
to maximize performance. The DHS R&D portfolio would decline for the first
time in 2007, falling 5.6 percent to $1.3 billion despite the overall budgetary
increase. R&D is divided between the new Domestic Nuclear Detection Office,
(DNDO), $327 million and the Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), $1.0
billion. Under this new organization, research, development and operations related
to radiological and nuclear countermeasures moves to DNDO with an increase from
$19 million in FY 2006 to $327 million. The budget for S&T, in contrast, would decline
33 percent from $1.49 billion to just slightly over $1.0 billion. The biological
and chemical countermeasures activities would fall 10 percent to $337 million
and 11.7 percent to $83 million, respectively. Work on explosive countermeasures,
conversely, would roughly double from $43.6 million in FY 2006 to $86.6 million
in FY 2007. Funding for R&D on technologies to counter shoulder-fired anti-aircraft
missiles would fall from $109 million down to $5 million as prototype technologies
transition out of R&D to deployment. The University Programs Fellowship Programs
request would decline by $10.4 million to $51.97 billion. This is the second budget
reduction for this program since its inception in FY 2005 when it received $70.0
million in funding. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) The FY 2007 budget request for EPA is $7.3 billion,
a decrease from the FY 2006 enacted budget of $7.63 billion. While the Agency’s
Science and Technology account would increase from $730 million last year to $788
million in FY 2007, the overall R&D portfolio request within S&T of $557
million reflects a 7.2 percent cut. This is mostly due to the proposed elimination
of earmarks after a similar-sized cut in 2006. Areas
in which mechanical engineering related R&D are most prevalent are highlighted
in Table 2. These include the Environmental Technology Verification Program (ETV),
which was funded at $3.0 million this year, but would not be funded under the
FY 2007 budget request. Also note that research on ozone and particular matter
would be made part of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards activity (NAAQS)
in FY 2007. Fellowships also would be reduced to $8.4 million, down from $11.7
million. The Sustainability project, which last year replaced the Pollution Prevention
project, would see its budget decline from $26.0 million to $21.4 million. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) NASA’s budget request for FY 2007 is $16.8 billion,
an increase of 3.2 percent over the $16.27 billion provided in FY 2006. (The FY
2006 level does not include the $349.8 million emergency supplemental provided
to fix facilities damaged by Hurricane Katrina.) The Vision for Space Exploration continues to be the
priority in NASA’s budget. The Space Shuttle and the International Space Station
account for 39 percent of the proposed NASA budget for FY 2007. Development of
the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) would be increased to $894.7 million in FY
2007 from $839.2 million in FY 2006, in order to accelerate the start of production
and sustain engineering for the program. Project Prometheus, focusing on the development
of nuclear propulsion techniques, would fall substantially from $75.7 million
in FY 2006 to $9.4 million in FY 2007 because Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO)
and all other nuclear propulsion and nuclear reactor flight systems have been
terminated. Funding for Prometheus would be shifted towards the CEV, with the
remaining funds used for JIMO termination costs and towards a future restructuring
of nuclear technology research and development programs. For the second year in a row, the budget proposes additional
cuts to programs in Earth Science, Aeronautics and some portions of Space Science.
The proposed cuts in these areas are being put into place to prevent further delays
in Vision for Space Exploration missions. Mechanical engineering-related research is primarily
conducted in the Office of Aeronautics (OA) and in the Exploration Systems Mission
Directorate (ESMD). Aeronautics research would decrease for the third consecutive
year. NASA proposes $724.4 million for aeronautics technology in FY 2007, a decrease
of $159.7 million from FY 2006. This would include $102.2 million, a decrease
of $46.2 million, for the Aviation Safety and Security Program; $120.0 million
for the Airspace Systems Program, a reduction of $53.9 million; $447.2 million
for Fundamental Aeronautics, a decrease of $114.5 million; and a newly proposed
Aeronautics Test Program with a request of $55 million in FY 2007. NASA proposes
$646.1 million for Exploration Systems Research and Technology, a decrease of
$46.4 million or 6.8 percent. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) The FY 2007 request for NIST is $583 million, down
$175 million from the FY 2006 enacted level of $758 million. This is largely because
of the proposed elimination of the Advanced Technology Program (ATP), which Congress
funded at $79 million in 2006. The portion of the NIST budget in which mechanical
engineering R&D occurs consists of two components. The NIST Laboratory portion
of the Scientific and Technical Research Services budget contains a request for
$420.6 million, $47.5 million above FY 2006. The second component, Industrial
Technology Services, consists of the ATP and the newly-named Hollings Manufacturing
Extension Partnership (HMEP). As noted, the FY 2007 budget request does not include
funding for the ATP. The request for HMEP is $46.8 million, $60.7 million below
FY 2006. The $47.5 million increase in the NIST Laboratory budget
was requested to provide measurement and standards infrastructure to support advances
in manufacturing and to improve measurements and standards for homeland security.
As part of this request, NIST proposes to use $17.2 million to help the U.S. scientific and industrial
communities keep pace with fast-breaking developments through innovation in biosystems
and health, interoperability, quantum processing, and competence in advanced measurements.
Additional funds would be used to help small manufacturers communicate electronically
with global business partners, align U.S. standards for measuring instruments
with international standards, and improve the accuracy of biometrics for border
security. National Institutes of Health (NIH) The total FY 2007 NIH budget request is $28.6 billion,
remaining at the same level as in FY 2006. NIH R&D would also stay at its
current level of $27.8 billion. Funds for the majority of NIH institutes and centers
would be reduced and the total number of Research Project Grants (RPGs) is projected
to decline for the third consecutive year. The largest percentage increase, 27 percent, in the
FY 2007 budget request would go to the Office of the Director (OD) to increase
funding for the NIH Roadmap for Biomedical Research and for biodefense countermeasures.
The Roadmap would receive $443 million in FY 2007, an increase of 24.5 percent,
with $332 million coming from institute budgets. NIH Biodefense R&D would
grow 6.2 percent to $1.9 billion. Most of NIH’s mechanical engineering R&D would
be associated with NIBIB. The FY 2007 budget requests $295 million for NIBIB,
a decrease of $2 million or 0.7 percent from FY 2006. NIBIB Extramural Research
would decline 1.3 percent, to $268 million, while intramural research would grow
6.5 percent to $7.7 million.
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