Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has extensive and diverse activities and programs in materials science and engineering. The Center for Materials Science (CMS) was established to promote scientific collaboration and scientific excellence in materials research and engineering throughout the Laboratory and with individuals and institutions outside the Laboratory. The Center's objective is to enhance the Laboratory's materials science and technology contributions to the nation's defense, energy, and scientific missions.

Consistent with its main objective, Laboratory resources supply the principal funding for CMS programs. Additional funding for individual scientific research programs conducted by CMS members comes directly from outside sources.

To carry out its responsibilities, CMS has accepted four demanding missions:

1. Build a core group of qualified and established materials scientists and solid state physicists.

2. Promote and support top-quality, interdisciplinary materials research programs at Los Alamos.

3. Strengthen the interactions of materials scientists at Los Alamos with the external materials science community.

4. Establish and maintain modern materials research facilities in a readily accessible, central location.

The core group of CMS members has a broad charter to advance materials science and technology in directions expected to have long-term impact on LANL's mission. The acting director is Don M. Parkin. In addition to the director, six members presently constitute the CMS. James L. Smith heads an experimental effort in superconductivity.

In a relatively short period of time ceramics have become the key elements to a variety of new technologies, including integrated circuit substrates, artificial limbs, turbocharger rotors, and, of course, superconductors. By and large, however, they have not met their potential. Though advances in basic research are responsible for the breakthroughs so far, no extensive work has been done to establish the manufacturing paradigms necessary for the production of reliable, reproducible materials.

The new Ceramics Manufacturing and Process Integration Laboratory (CMPIL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was conceived to address this need. As a logical extension of the science-based Ceramics Processing Research Laboratory (CPRL), also at MIT, the CMPIL will “test” fundamental ideas as they relate to ceramics manufacturing. The goal is to create a hands-on “research factory,” complete with manufactured product, to make an impact on manufacturing productivity and teach students, staff, and visiting scientists the principles that control ceramics manufacturing systems. Other thrusts include developing innovative processing techniques and collecting operating data that will ultimately be transferred to industry.