At the University of Massachusetts—the Commonwealth’s public research university—internationally renowned researchers are at work in labs from Boston to the Berkshires. In the applied sciences, UMass is one of the largest research enterprises in the state, playing a crucial role in promoting economic growth and job creation in industries that are key to the Commonwealth’s prosperity.
The human impact of all other fields of applied science depends, in the end, on advanced manufacturing. Every translational innovation requires something—a smart device, a novel material, a drug molecule—to be produced reliably, safely, and affordably at scale. Making that happen is the domain of manufacturing scientists and engineers.
The Internet. Global Positioning Systems. Drones. Much of the most world-changing, ubiquitous technology to emerge over the past 50 years has sprung from research sponsored by the Department of Defense and NASA in partnership with academic institutions like UMass.
The transformation of laboratory observation into human impact: That is the power of applied life science.
Advances in computer science, with their almost limitless applications, are enabling a societal transformation. Artificial intelligence, robotics, and data science extend our brain and body power in ways that promise broad impacts across all areas of applied science and human endeavor, from medicine to manufacturing to municipal services. These technologies have the potential for great human benefit—potential that is quickly becoming a reality.
As the COVID-19 pandemic made clear, disease risk and severity differ from person to person, each individual’s outcomes shaped by his or her unique mix of genetics, lifestyle, and environment. Precision health posits that healthcare should be shaped by this mix as well. Its emergence is a revolutionary moment, when medicine based on averages gives way to treatments tailored for each of us.
Extreme weather. Sea-level rise. Food and water shortages. Climate change is challenging our region, nation, and world on an unprecedented scale. Science is exposing the sobering extent of these problems, but also revealing solutions — opportunities to create a future that is not just low-carbon, but also equitable and even profitable, built around a robust sustainable economy and quality of life.
