NRC Panel Assesses Magnetic Materials Research

“The present separation in much of the magnetics community between fundamental and applied activities is detrimental to the development of new [magnetic] materials and applications…. This split manifests itself in departmental boundaries within universities as well as in professional conferences. Magnetic technology has now reached a level of sophistication where this gap [between physicists and engineers] must be closed….” This is one of several key conclusions drawn by the National Research Council's Committee on Magnetic Materials and cited in the report of their deliberations recently published by the National Academy Press.