with universities when it set up jointly with the 

 University of Colorado in Boulder a laboratory 

 for the study of upper atmosphere science. Joint 

 Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA), with 

 funding shared with the Defense Advanced Re- 

 search Projects Agency (now with NSF). JILA 

 still functions as an outstanding example of Gov- 

 ernment participation with a university in basic 

 research and has become a world leader in atomic 



and molecular science. NBS doors are also open 

 to scientists who want to collaborate with its staff 

 on a temporary basis. Many of these are local 

 faculty members who make use of special facili- 

 ties at NBS such as the nuclear reactor, while 

 others stay for longer sabbatical periods. NBS has 

 an industrial research associate program which 

 attracts scientists and engineers to work with 

 NBS on problems of mutual interest. 



MARITIME ADMINISTRATION 



The Maritime Administration (MarAd) promotes 

 the development, operation, and maintenance of 

 an efficient American-flag merchant marine capa- 

 ble of meeting the commercial and military ship- 

 ping requirements of the United States. To carry 

 out this mission, MarAd assists the maritime in- 

 dustry by promoting shipper patronage of U.S.- 

 flag vessels, developing advanced transportation 

 systems and shipboard equipment, evaluating ship 

 design, training merchant marine officers, and 

 providing financial support to American shipbuild- 

 ers and operators to narrow the cost advantages 

 enjoyed by their foreign competitors. 



In the conduct of its mission over the past five 

 years, MarAd, in cooperation with the maritime 

 industry, has carried out a broad research and 

 development program directed toward improving 

 the productivity and competitive posture of the 

 U.S. merchant marine through technologically 

 based innovations. The general program is direct- 

 ed along two parallel paths which correspond to 

 the structure of the maritime industry itself. 

 There are major programs in advanced ship oper- 

 ations and in advanced ship development. Under 

 advanced ship development, elements address the 

 technologies of shipbuilding, ship machinery, and 

 nuclear merchant ships. Under advanced ship 

 operations, development programs are carried out 

 in ship and cargo operations generally, ship con- 

 trol technology, and navigation and communica- 

 tion. These programs are designed to speed the 

 development of new processes and methods to 

 improve productivity in the operation of Ameri- 

 can flag ships and in American shipyards. They 

 are each characterized by extensive participation 

 and cost-sharing by the ship operators and ship- 

 builders, who also share in the planning and im- 

 plementation of the programs. The cost of equip- 

 ment development is shared by the commercial 

 equipment manufacturers. 



Within this total program, a portion of the effort 

 is devoted to long-term research of a disciplinary 

 nature designed to provide the concepts and capa- 



54 COMMERCE 



bilities upon which future development programs 

 can build. Such research corresponds to the basic 

 research category for this document as a whole. 



In particular, the basic research addresses the 

 classical naval architecture technologies of struc- 

 tures, hydrodynamics, and propulsors. In the pro- 

 pulsor area, emphasis is on advanced propeller 

 design and materials to achieve improved efficien- 

 cy. In the structures area, investigations are con- 

 ducted to determine the effects of sea loads and 

 vibrations on ship structures. Analyses in this 

 area are conducted in cooperation with other 

 agencies and the National Academy of Sciences. 

 Hydrodynamics projects are aimed at improving 

 the efficiency of moving vehicles through the sea, 

 with emphasis on powering technology, speed, 

 and maneuverability. For example, an extensive 

 series of model tests has been conducted on new 

 hull forms and their maneuvering limitations. In- 

 house efforts in exploratory research involve 

 human factors studies, ship automation and com- 

 munications project support, energy/environmen- 

 tal research support, and technology transfer. 

 Areas of special interest have been studies of 

 wave heights and their effect on ship bending, 

 hydrodynamics studies of new ship forms, and 

 studies of the effect of propeller shape on the 

 transmission of vibration to the ship. The latter 

 work has led to the development of a new type of 

 propeller, with extended trailing edge of the blade 

 tips, which induces a much lower vibration level 

 in the ship. This new design is also characterized 

 by increased efficiency and reduced maintenance. 



An important tool developed for the in-house 

 work on maritime research is the Computer-Aided 

 Operations Research Facility (CAORF). At this 

 unique simulator, built around a typical wheel- 

 house and control center that uses computer- 

 generated images of the changing scene projected 

 on a wide screen, simulated ships of all types can 

 be maneuvered through any harbor configuration 

 or environment and traffic situation in real time. 

 Many of the tests at CAORF will thus study the 



