New Advanced Materials Economic Dynamics and European Strategy A Report from the FAST Programme of the Commission of the European Communities

This report on materials is not a sequel to the five or six high-quality reports published in certain Community countries over the last few years, nor does it attempt to summarize them. Nor is it a technical summary of the state of the art in new materials. It is rather to be seen as a survey of economic dynamics and strategy, carried out for the purpose of prompting political and industrial leaders throughout the European Community to reflect in some depth on the subject of materials. The report is arranged in five parts : the first is concerned with a definition of materials, the second with structural materials and their influence on the reconception of industrial processes, and this part is complemented by the third, which looks at the three main sectors using structural materials (transport, packaging, building and public works). The fourth part analyzes functional materials and the way in which they affect basic components in the technological system (information, energy, biotechnology). The fifth and last part makes a strategic analysis for Europe (in the spheres of industrial strategies, the role of the authorities and developments in employment and skills).

Foreword.- I: A Trial Definition of Materials: Towards a Definition of Materials to Assist the Understanding of Current Changes.- I.1: “New” Materials versus “Old” Materials: a Groundless Controversy.- I.2: From Macroscopic to Microscopic Industrial Mastery of Materials: the Characteristics of the New Materials.- I.3: Structural Materials and Functional Materials.- II: Structural Materials.- II.1: Introduction: Variety, Complexity, Integration. The Role of Structural Materials in the Transition to a New Information-rich Production System.- II.2: Intra-materials Variety: Competition and Know-how as Exemplified by Composites.- II.3: “Inter-materials” Variety and the Overchoice Phenomenon.- II.4: Transient and Permanent Variety. From Management of Uncertainty to Management of Complexity.- II.5: Reducing of Complexity through Integration.- III: Structural Materials: The Main Areas of Application.- III.1: New Materials and Transport.- III.2: New Materials and Packaging.- III.3: New Materials in Building and Public Works.- IV: Functional Materials.- IV.1: Functional Materials and Information.- IV.2: Materials and Energy.- IV.3: Biomaterials and Biotechnology.- V: Strategies - Elements in an Industrial Policy and a Policy for Employment and Skills.- V.1: Description of Two Development Scenarios for Materials.- V.2: Industrial Strategies in Materials: European Situation.- V.3: Role of the Authorities in Europe in the Field of Materials.- V.4: Materials, Employment and Skills.- Conclusion.