October 2007

Benchmarking the Competitiveness of the United

States in Mechanical Engineering Basic Research
U.S. leadership in mechanical engineering basic research is strong overall and will
continue to be strong. Contributions of U.S. mechanical engineers to journal articles will in-
crease, but so will the contributions from other growing economies such as China and India.
At the same time, the supply of U.S. mechanical engineers is in jeopardy, because of declines
in the number of U.S. citizens obtaining advanced degrees and uncertain prospects for con-
tinuing to attract foreign students. U.S. funding of mechanical engineering basic research
and infrastructure will remain level, with strong leadership in emerging areas.

M echanical engineering is critical to the design, manufacture, and operation of small

and large mechanical systems throughout the U.S. economy. It is often called upon
to provide scientific and technological solutions for national problems, playing a key role in the
transportation, power generation, advanced manufacturing, and aviation industries, to mention a
few.
Much like many other science and engineering disciplines, the field of mechanical engineer-
ing is facing issues of identity and purpose as it continues to expand beyond its traditional core
into biology, materials science, and nanotechnology. Concerns about educating students, future
employment opportunities, and the fundamental health of the discipline and industry are regular
topics of discussion in the mechanical engineering community. Before addressing questions of
how mechanical engineering must shift to meet future needs, it is imperative to understand its
current health and international standing.
This report highlights the main findings of a benchmarking exercise to rate the standing
of U.S. mechanical engineering basic research relative to other regions or countries, key factors
that influence U.S. performance in mechanical engineering research, and near- and longer-term
projections of research leadership.

Figure 1. Comparison of 70%

U.S. and China’s percent- US

60%
age share of contributions C h in a
Share of Mechanical Engineering Journal

to overall mechanical 50%

engineering journal articles,
40%
1988-2006.
Articles

30%

20%

10%

0%
88

89

90

91

92

93

94

95

96

97

98

99

00

01

02

03

04

05

06
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20

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20

20

20

20

20

Year
The United States is among the leaders in 1200
mechanical engineering basic research. T o ta l
U .S . C itiz e n s
1000
Evidence for current research leader- T e m p o ra ry R e s id e n ts

Number of Mechanical Engineering

ship in mechanical engineering basic research 800
P e rm a n e n t R e s id e n ts

Doctorate Recipients
U n k n o w n C itiz e n s h ip
comes from analysis of journal articles, most
cited articles, and virtual congresses by the 600

panel. Overall, the United States is among

400
the leaders in mechanical engineering basic
research. However, excellent mechanical 200
engineers throughout the world provide stiff
0
competition for the United States, especially
1975 1978 1981 1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 1999 2002 2005
in Asia and Europe. As shown in Figure 1,
Year
the United States contributed 40 percent of
mechanical engineering articles in the world. Figure 2. Earned doctoral degrees in mechanical engineering from
That number declined dramatically in 2006 U.S. institutions as a function of residency status for 1975-2005.
with the U.S. responsible for contributing only
20 percent of the articles.

400 A combination of factors is responsible for

U.S. basic research leadership in mechanical
350 B a s ic
engineering.
300 A p p lie d
U.S. research leadership in mechanical
Millions of Constant 2000 U.S. Dollars for
Mechanical Engineering Research

250 engineering basic research is the result of a

200 combination of key factors, including a national
instinct to respond to external challenges and
150
to compete for leadership. Over the years, the
100 United States has been a leader in innovation as
50 a result of cutting-edge facilities and centers, and
a steady flow of mechanical engineers (Figure 2)
0
and research funding (Figure 3). However, there
86

87

88

89

90

91

92

93

94

95

96

97

98

99

00

01

02

03

04

have been significant declines in basic research

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F is c a l Y e a r
funding since 1995.
Figure 3. Federal obligations for applied versus basic research in
mechanical engineering in constant 2000 U.S. Dollars, fiscal year Challenges lie ahead for the future position of
1986-2004. mechanical engineering basic research.
The United States now holds a position
among the leaders in most areas of mechanical engineering basic research, but because of the advance of mechanical
engineering in other nations, competition is increasing and the U.S. lead will shrink. The United States is particularly
strong in areas at the interface with other disciplines. In these areas, which include bioengineering, design, and mechanics
of materials, the United States will maintain the leadership position in spite of growing competition. In some core areas
where the U.S. position is currently not as strong, such as acoustics and dynamics, dynamics and controls, computational
mechanics, and tribology, the U.S. position among the leaders may continue to fade.

This brief was prepared by the National Research Council based on a report by the Panel on Benchmarking the
Research Competitiveness of the United States in Mechanical Engineering. The report was sponsored
by the National Science Foundation. For more information, contact the Board on Chemical Sciences and
Technology at (202) 334-2156 or visit http://dels.nas.edu/bcst. Copies of Benchmarking the Competitive-
ness of the United States in Mechanical Engineering Basic Research are available from the National Acad-
emies Press, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20001; (800) 624-6242; www.nap.edu.

Permission granted to reproduce this document with no additions or deletions.

Copyright 2007 The National Academy of Sciences