This paper presents an overview of the link made between material science and engineering through a cooperative research program, the goal of which was to provide a systematic approach to the study of new materials at the microscale that will lead to optimization of membrane performance. An academic research team with expertise in polymer synthesis and characterization is described. Measurements of water uptake, water flux in deadend cells (normalized for pressure and film thickness), solute diffusion and solute partitioning, and the fraction of bound and unbound water by DSC provide a simple, first-cut assessment of the promise of polymer formulations as membrane materials. These microscale tests should precede formulation of experimental materials into TFCMs for macroscale evaluation of membrane technology.