NIST
GCR 04-863
Composites Manufacturing Technologies: Applications in Automotive, Petroleum,
and Civil Infrastructure Industries
Economic Study of a Cluster of ATP-Funded Projects
About
the Advanced Technology Program
The Advanced Technology
Program (ATP) is a partnership between government and private industry
to conduct high-risk research to develop enabling technologies that promise
significant commercial payoffs and widespread benefits for the economy.
ATP provides a mechanism for industry to extend its technological reach
and push the envelope beyond what it otherwise would attempt. Promising
future technologies are the domain of ATP:
- Enabling technologies
that are essential to the development of future new and substantially
improved projects, processes, and services across diverse application
areas.
- Technologies for
which there are challenging technical issues standing in the way
of success.
- Technologies whose
development often involves complex “systems” problems
requiring a collaborative effort by multiple organizations.
- Technologies which
will go undeveloped and/or proceed too slowly to be competitive in
global markets without ATP.
ATP funds technical research,
but it does not fund product development. That is the domain of the company
partners. ATP is industry driven, and that keeps it grounded in real-world
needs. For-profit companies conceive, propose, cofund, and execute all
of the projects cost shared by ATP.
Smaller companies working
on single-firm projects pay a minimum of all the indirect costs associated
with the project. Large “Fortune 500” companies participating
as a single firm pay at least 60 percent of total project costs. Joint
ventures pay at least half of total project costs. Single-firm projects
can last up to three years; joint ventures can last as long as five years.
Companies of all sizes participate in ATP-funded projects. To date, two
out of three ATP awards have gone to individual small businesses or to
joint ventures led by a small business.
Each project has specific
goals, funding allocations, and completion dates established at the outset.
Projects are monitored and can be terminated for cause before completion.
All projects are selected in rigorous competitions that are peer reviewed
to identify those that score highest against technical and economic criteria.
Contact the ATP for more information:
- On the World Wide
Web: http://www.atp.nist.gov
- By e-mail: atp@nist.gov
- By phone: 1-800-ATP-FUND
(1-800-287-3863)
- By writing: Advanced
Technology Program
National Institute of Standards and Technology
100 Bureau Drive, Stop 4701
Gaithersburg, MD 20899-4701
About
the Author
Dr. Thomas Pelsoci is
the managing director of Delta Research Co., specializing in the economic
assessment of new technologies and manufacturing processes, including
prospective economic impact studies during early-stage “proof of
concept” and later-stage demonstration phases. His industrial experience
includes positions as R&D engineer at TRW and management consultant
in the high technology practice of BearingPoint (KPMG Peat Marwick Management
Consultants). Subsequently, Dr. Pelsoci held senior banking positions
at First National Bank of Chicago and at Sanwa Bank, specializing in
financing high-risk technology projects. He received a degree in Mechanical
Engineering from Case Western Reserve University and a Ph.D. in Public
Policy & Administration from the University of Minnesota.
Return to Table
of Contents.
Date created: July 14,
2004
Last updated:
August 3, 2005
|
