A comprehensive treatment of the economic and global impacts of the advanced materials industry

This book represents the first comprehensive investigation of the emerging international advanced materials industry and its profound impact on the world's industrialized and newly emerging economies. It examines the ways in which science, technology, business, and markets have converged to produce one of the most dynamic industries in recent yearsone that is increasingly controlling global technological progress as a whole.

From the unique vantage point of this crucial industry, this book illuminates the major differences in how the world's two economic superpowersthe United States and the European Unionperceive and carry forward the technology creation process and what these differences mean for achieving national and regional competitive advantage in the twenty-first century. It draws upon a rich body of source materials spanning from 1970 through 2007 as well as actual in-depth interviews and internal corporate and governmental documentation. The book is organized thematically, with each section highlighting critical perspectives on the rise of the international advanced materials industry and its impact on the relative competitiveness of the United States and the European Union. It concludes with a discussion of how what we have learned about advanced materials in the West tells us of the future competitive power of an emerging Asia.

The Advanced Materials Revolution is essential reading for researchers, executives, and managers working in the advanced materials and related technological fields, as well as professionals and scholars in the academic, investment, consulting, and government communities. It also serves as a valuable case study textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in business, management, entrepreneurship, technology studies, chemical and materials engineering, economics, economic history, and regional and economic development.

Introduction: Advanced Materials in A Global World.

Chapter 1: The Coming of The Advanced Materials Revolution.

PART II: OPPORTUNITIES AND RISKS.

Chapter 2: A Great Potential - Markets and Society.

Chapter 3: The Great Divide -- Advanced Materials, Productivity, and Economic Growth.

Chapter 4: Facing Reality - The Risk Factor In The World Of Advanced Materials.

PART III: CREATION: RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.

Chapter 5: Research And Development I: The American Context.

Chapter 6: Research And Development Ii: The European Context.

PART IV: A WIDER CONTEXT: THE SEAMLESS WEB.

Chapter 7: The Seamless Web I: Corporations, Universities, Incubators and Start Ups.

Chapter 8: The Seamless Web II: Signaling, Selection, and Focusing Mechanisms - SMEs, Entrepreneurs, and Venture Capital.

PART V: ORGANIZING GROWTH: CLUSTERS AND GATEKEEPERS.

Chapter 9: The Localization of Economic Growth: "Clustering," Synergies, And Advanced Materials.

Chapter 10: The American Touch: "Gatekeepers" And Creative Clusters.

Chapter 11: Conclusion - Broadening Horizons.