UB materials scientist Amit Goyal recently served as guest editor for the National Academy of Engineering’s fall edition of The Bridge, a special issue of the magazine focusing on the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI), its status and future outlook.

Taking advantage of recent transformational advances in computing capabilities, theoretical modeling, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and data mining, MGI was launched by the White House in 2011 to enhance U.S. competitiveness across a variety of sectors.

Its objective, according to the National Science and Technology Council, is to exploit these advances to discover, develop and commercialize products in a significantly shorter timeframe and at a fraction of the cost. At the time, officials said they hoped to reduce both the discovery and development cycle and the total cost by 50%.

Goyal, SUNY Distinguished Professor and SUNY Empire Innovation Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

He served as a member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee that produced the 2023 consensus report “Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer Our Future (DMREF)” for the National Science Foundation (NSF). This followed the MGI strategic plans to 2014 and 2021.

The 2023 report provided recommendations for future DMREF initiatives to increase MGI-related impact.

NSF is one of 19 federal agencies and their associated laboratories engaged at different technology readiness levels in MGI. Others include the Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of Energy, National Institutes of Health, NASA, Department of Health and Human Services, and U.S. Geological Survey.

This current issue of The Bridge presents perspectives from national and global leaders in MGI who are developing strategic plans and policy across federal agencies, says Goyal. It also includes research and innovation leaders who are working in key areas such as autonomous experimentation, self-driving laboratories, advanced microscopy, polymers/plastics, and energy storage.

These articles provide reviews, summarize progress to date and offer recommendations for future work to fully realize the goals of MGI.