Some basic research opportunities in surface engineering

NSF's investment in basic research relevant to surface engineering has been growing rapidly in recent years, from almost nil 8-10 years ago to its current level of around $ 7-8 M per year. Its development over the past decade is briefly reviewed and some examples of ongoing projects are outlined. A number of different programs in addition to the surface engineering and tribology program, including materials processing, materials and mechanics, materials science, chemistry and SBIR support these projects. Some support also comes from various crosscutting special initiatives, such as the recent nano-technology initiative. The growth in NSF-funded activities has been in response to new perceived or clearly expressed research needs, to development of new instrumentation with expanded capabilities, and to the research community's growing interests in this general topic area. A personal view is presented of some promising potential intermediate and long-term advances in surface engineering and of the corresponding needs for research in underpinning basic and applied research areas. In general, future technology requirements will undoubtedly include the need to design and engineer surfaces and surface material to exacting performance requirements and with embedded smart or intelligent elements. In order to move technology towards such goals there will be needs for advances in a broad range of disciplines, from very basic surface science, materials and surface engineering to more mundane areas, such as design tools, process control, and technology transfer.