Through detailed case studies of the most important advanced material creations of the latter 20th and early 21st century, the author explores the role of the field of advanced materials in the technological and economic activity today, with implications to the innovation process in general.

* A comprehensive study that encompasses the three major categories of advanced material technologies, i.e., Structural Materials (metals and polymers), Functional Materials (transistor, microchip and semiconductor laser) and Hybrid and New Forms of Matter (liquid crystals and nanomaterials).

* Extensive use of primary sources, including unpublished interviews with the scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs on the front lines of advanced materials creation

* Original approach to case study narrative, emphasizing interaction between the advanced material process, perceived risk and directing and accelerating breakthrough technology

Dr. Sanford L. Moskowitz is Associate Professor of Global Business at St. John's University and the College of St. Benedict (Collegeville, MN). Dr. Moskowitz specializes in the evolution of advanced global technologies and their markets. He is a consultant to global business in the area of innovation and technological development and has delivered key-note presentations on advanced materials and related technologies at academic and professional conferences within the US and internationally. His views on the future of advanced material development have appeared in such publications as The Economist and Wired Magazine. Dr. Moskowitz is the author of The Advanced Materials Revolution: Technology and Economic Growth in the Age of Globalization (2009, John Wiley & Sons). Dr. Moskowitz holds a B.S. in physics from the City College of New York (CCNY) and an M.S., M. Phil. and Ph.D. in economic and business history from Columbia University (New York, N.Y.).

A detailed examination of the innovation process of important advanced materials and their products

Few areas play such a large role in the technological and economic activity today as the field of advanced materials. Why do advanced materials play such an important role in 21st century society? Which of the promising advanced materials being created in laboratories around the world are likely to become market reality? Which companies and governments will be the winners and which the losers in the advanced materials game? This book explores these questions through detailed case studies that highlight the technical, organizational, economic and human dimensions of the most important advanced material creations of the latter 20th and early 21st century.

• Comprehensive study that encompasses the three major categories of advanced material technologies, i.e., Structural Materials (metals, polymers, and fuels), Functional Materials (transistor, microchip and semiconductor laser) and Hybrid and New Forms of Matter (liquid crystals and nanomaterials).
• Extensive use of primary sources, including unpublished interviews with the scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs on the front lines of advanced materials creation
• Innovative approach to case study narrative emphasizing interaction between advanced material process, perceived risk and the creative champion in directing and accelerating breakthrough technology
• Comparative analysis of failures and successes that help understand why firms falter as well as why they triumph
• Summary final chapter that constructs a "Gauntlet of Risks" approach to predicting a firm's chances of succeeding at creating breakthrough advanced materials.

"Sanford Moskowitz [in his] book Advanced Materials Innovation: Managing Global Technology in the 21st Century [shows that] the time between lab and markets is very difficult to predict for new materials [but that] the search for new material properties remains an integral element in a healthy and dynamic innovation ecosystem."
The Economist

"Moskowitz has written a surprisingly accessiblebook that traces the history and key breakthroughs in the realm of advanced materials, an important growth engine in emerging markets. This is an important book that has relevance for academics, students, researchers, executives and policymakers."
Jonathan P. Doh, Rammrath Endowed Chair in International Business, Professor of Management and Operations, Villanova University School of Business

"An elegantly crafted bookwith an insightful analysis of advanced materials innovation. We learn how major corporations have navigated minefields and opportunities; why some companies succeed in turning out winners and why others fail. Even though I have been investing in the advanced materials space for 15 years, this book gave me a much better appreciation for the importance of advanced materials to our economy and their global impact."
Chris Erickson, Founder and General Partner, Pangaea Ventures Ltd., Advanced Materials Venture Capital, Vancouver, BC

PREFACE xvii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xxvii

PART I INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND 1

1 Advanced Materials Innovation: An Overview 3

1.1 The Advanced Materials Revolution, 3

1.2 The Economic Impact of Advanced Materials, 6

1.2.1 Information and Computer Technology, 8

1.2.2 Energy, 9

1.2.3 Biotechnology and Health Care, 10

1.2.4 Transportation, 11

1.2.5 Construction, Infrastructure, and Manufacturing, 12

1.3 Advanced Material Innovation: The Main Players, 13

References, 15

PART II STRUCTURAL MATERIALS: METALS AND POLYMERS 17

2 Advanced Casting Technology: Ultrathin Steel and the Microalloys 19

2.1 Introduction, 19

2.2 Background, 20

2.2.1 Thick Slab Casting and Big Steel, 20

2.2.2 The Mini- and Micromill Revolution: Thin Slab and Thin Strip Casting, 21

2.2.3 Ultrathin Steel and Microalloys, 22

2.3 Nucor Steel: Ground Zero for the Mini (and Micro-)-Mill Revolution, 23

2.3.1 Nucor's Flexible Structure, 24

2.3.2 Ken Iverson and Nucor, 24

2.3.3 Nucor Builds a Steel Minimill, 25

2.4 Thin Slab and Thin Strip Casting: Research and Development, 27

2.4.1 Thin Slab Casting, 27

2.4.2 Thin Strip Casting, 28

2.5 Thin Slab and Thin Strip Casting: Scale-Up, 30

2.5.1 The Challenges of Scaling, 30

2.5.2 Nucor and Reducing the Risks of Scaling, 31

2.5.2.1 Structural Risks, 31

2.5.2.2 Resource Risks: Capital, Raw Materials, and Labor, 32

2.5.2.3 Experiential Risks, 34

2.6 Thin Slab and Thin Strip Casting: Commercialization, 34

2.6.1 Commercializing the Thin Slab Process: Nucor's Internalized Static Culture and Technology Selection, 35

2.6.2 Commercializing the Thin Strip Process: Nucor Creates a Dynamic Expansionist Culture, 36

References, 38

3 High-Pressure Technology and Dupont's Synthetic Fiber Revolution 41

3.1 Background: The High-Pressure Process and Advanced Materials, 42

3.1.1 The Nature of High-Pressure Synthesis, 42

3.1.2 DuPont: High-Pressure Synthesis and Its Road to Advanced Fibers, 44

3.1.2.1 DuPont's Diversification Strategy, 44

3.1.2.2 DuPont Enters Uponand Struggles withHigh-Pressure Synthesis, 45

3.1.2.3 Roger Williams and the First-Generation High-Pressure Chemicals, 47

3.2 Dupont's Nylon Revolution, 48

3.2.1 Charles Stine and DuPont's Central Research Department, 49

3.2.2 Stine Finds His Star Scientist: Wallace Carothers, 51

3.2.3 Carothers and Nylon, 53

3.2.3.1 Nylon: Research Phase, 53

3.2.3.2 Nylon: Development, Scale-Up, and Commercialization, 56

3.3 Nylon's Ch…