X. ENGINEERING SCIENCE 



As mentioned previously, this study attempts to include big en- 

 gineering science facilities as well as "classical" big science faci- 

 lities devoted primarily to pure research. This is done for three 

 reasons. First, much engineering science is conducted in the "class- 

 ical" big science facilities like those Involved in high-energy phy- 

 sics research. Second, the Committee is interested both in the "big" 

 of big science and in its international aspects. Engineering science 

 can be both big and international in scope. Third, engineering sci- 

 ence explicitly has become a major thrust of current science policy, 

 as evidenced by the reorganization of the National Science Foundation 

 to include a Directorate of Engineering and the establishment of 

 federally-supported Engineering Research Centers (ERCs) at major uni- 

 versities under that Directorate. The recent congressional interest 

 in legislation proposing the creation of a national technology found- 

 ation or similar organizations is further evidence of the importance 

 of engineering science in current science policy. 



With that in mind, 18 big engineering science facilities were 

 identified in several areas, including ship hydrodynamics engineer- 

 ing, earthquake engineering, nuclear power reactor engineering, 

 radio isotope production, and weapons engineering. Three of these 

 facilities are foreign. Because of the difficulty in identifying 

 such facilities, others, both U.S. and foreign, may be identified 

 subsequently. 



It should be noted here that, in the same way that much engi- 

 neering science is inherent in the facilities discussed in preceding 

 chapters and labeled "big science" facilities, much pure science 

 probably is inherent in many of the facilities listed in table 12 

 and discussed briefly in appendix 11 as "big engineering" facilities. 

 Also, as noted previously, many of the aeronautical facilities dis- 

 cussed in chapter VIII may be engaged to a significant extent in big 

 engineering science and could be included in this chapter just as 

 well as in chapter VIII. 



There is no international ownership, operational funding (with 

 the following three exceptions), or management of the identified big 

 engineering science facilities, and there appears to be no adequate 

 generalization about International cooperation in their use. There 

 is Japanese operational funding involved in the Fast Flux Test 

 Facility at the Hanford Engineering Development Laboratory and the 

 Experimental Breeder Reactor II at Argonne National Laboratory and 

 international operational funding of the Loss-of-Fluid Test Facility 

 (LOFT) at Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. Reference can be 

 made to the discussions of the individual facilities in appendix 11. 



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