Division on Engineering and Physical Sci

Decades of research have shown that disadvantaged communities exist at the intersection of high levels of hazard exposure and poverty. Geospatial environmental justice (EJ) tools, such as the White House Council on Environmental Quality-developed Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST), are designed to integrate different kinds of health, social, environmental, and economic data to identify disadvantaged communities and to aid policy and investment decisions that address the pervasive, persistent, and largely unaddressed problems associated with environmental disparities in the United States. Constructing Valid Geospatial Tools for Environmental Justice evaluates several EJ tools, including CEJST, and provides a conceptual framework and data strategy recommendations for developing the composite indicators that are the heart of geospatial EJ tools. An EJ tool that is transparent, legitimate, and has the trust of its users and the communities it represents is based on a structured iterative process that includes: a clear statement of tool objectives and definitions for the concepts being measured; the selection and integration of data and indicators; and assessment of robustness of the selected data and integration processes. Decisions regarding the tool should be iteratively informed by meaningful community engagement, validation to ensure tool results reflect real-world experiences, and careful and thorough documentation of all decision and data processes.

High magnetic fields are a vital tool in many areas of science and technology that impact our everyday lives. Magnetic resonance imaging enables a wide range of medical diagnostics and research, while nuclear magnetic resonance is critical for drug discovery research and more. High magnetic fields are an essential component to many proposed fusion energy reactors and are necessary to push the boundaries towards the development of new quantum technologies and semiconductors. At the request of the National Science Foundation, the National Academies organized a study to identify scientific opportunities and key applications for high-magnetic-field science and technology for the next decade and beyond. This report explores the current state and future prospects for high-magnetic-field technologies and recommends actions to support the workforce, facilities, magnet development, and critical materials access necessary to promote U.S. innovation.

The U.S. electricity system, known collectively as "the grid," is increasingly integrating a complex array of distributed energy resources (DERs) such as solar panels, wind turbines, batteries, and small-scale energy generators. By harnessing a diverse range of power sources and often generating energy close to the point of use rather than only in central power plants, DERs offer unprecedented flexibility in electricity generation and management. However, the imperative to maintain and improve the operational integrity of the grid as it takes on increasing quantities of DERs represents an emerging critical issue, particularly as demand for electricity enters a period of significant growth in many places across the United States. To consider the research needs, operational standards, regulatory approaches, market incentives, and other facets relevant to ensuring the operational integrity of the grid as it integrates complex distributed elements, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a workshop on Electricity System Operability and Reliability under Increasing Complexity in Washington, DC, on June 17-18, 2024. The workshop convened representatives from government, industry, academia, and nongovernmental organizations to examine a variety of challenges that grid operators face in maintaining reliable and equitable electricity service, along with emerging technologies and capabilities that may impact grid operations and reliability.

Contrails are visible lines in the sky behind aircraft that occur when warm jet engine exhaust meets the colder surrounding atmosphere, forming small ice crystals. Most contrails dissipate within about 10 minutes, but they can last for hours under certain conditions. Persistent contrails can contribute to atmospheric warming and are estimated to have a climate impact on par with carbon dioxide emissions from aviation. In early 2024, NASA requested that the National Academies develop a national research agenda to better understand, quantify, and develop technical and operational solutions to reduce the global climate impact of aviation-induced cloudiness and persistent contrails. This report presents priorities for a national contrails research strategy and provides a vision for how this research could eventually support operational contrails mitigation. This research would support the global economic competitiveness of the U.S. civil aviation industry in the context of emerging international aviation regulations.

Additive manufacturing (AM), the process in which a three-dimensional (3D) object is built by adding subsequent layers of materials, enables novel material compositions and shapes, often without the need for specialized tooling. On March 11-13, 2024, the Board on Mathematical Sciences and Analytics of the National Academies held a workshop on Statistical and Data-Driven Methods for Additive Manufacturing. The workshop brought together researchers from different AM communities, statisticians, data scientists, and AI/machine learning (ML) experts to examine approaches that enhance dimensional accuracy and dimensional stability; recent advances and future directions in statistics, data analytics, AI, and ML; and the issues associated with a rapid advance of AM material qualification and part certification.