White House Releases Novel Materials Plan

The White House Office of Science & Technology Policy unveiled a draft strategic plan for the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI) on June 19, marking the third anniversary of the project aimed at speeding the discovery of new materials for industry. The MGI strategic plan lays out four major goals: change the culture of materials science to a team approach; better integrate experiments, computer modeling, and theory; make more digital materials data accessible; and create a world-class workforce in materials. In addition to the broad goals, the plan lays out specific milestones to help meet them. For example, the plan suggests establishing a research network focused on development of software to predict the structure of materials. The Administration also announced several other MGI initiatives in the government and private sector, including the creation of a pilot Materials Data Facility to help more scientists access research results and an MGI Ambassadors program.