9/11 (believe it or not) had a lot to do with that in IT/computer engineering research (and likely other fields) with government funding. After the attacks, th

9/11 (believe it or not) had a lot to do with that in IT/computer engineering research (and likely other fields) with government funding. After the attacks, the US Federal government moved to stressing development more than blue sky research. That drew all the funding away from fundamental science to projects that could be made into a product in 3-5 years and focused on addressing some issue of the War on Terror.