NIST-on-a-Chip Technology Transfer 

Pilot

Anita Vanek

Director, Business Operations Office
What we are Piloting

TEAM: Engage personnel from across the 

organization with varying skillsets and expertise

APPROACH: Utilize portfolio management to 

coordinate execution and drive results

PILOT AN APPROACH THAT ACCELERATES THE 

COMMERCIALIZATION OF NIST TECHNOLOGIES

KEYS TO OUR PLAN

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT: Review 

our progress and make adjustments as needed
NIST-on-a-Chip Pilot Program Goal

Develop and implement a PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT

APPROACH to NIST-on- a-Chip that integrates all pieces of 

the program, BEGINNING WITH RESEARCH AND

ENDING WITH A COMMERCIALIZED PRODUCT that 

enables the delivery of NIST-on-a-Chip devices first to market 

and POSITIONING NIST TO INFLUENCE THE

GLOBAL MARKETPLACE for metrology applications and 

to disseminate the NIST Quantum SI. 
Why NIST-on-a-Chip

o It is a strategic priority 

area for NIST

o It is multidisciplinary and 

involves multiple parts of 

the organization

It’s Important to NIST

o There are already mature 

products and others on 

their way

o Multiple partners are 

actively engaging NIST

A Sense of Urgency

o Impact on multiple 

industry sectors

o Potential to revolutionize 

measurement services 

Flagship for NIST

Strategic Fit Timing Impact
NIST-on-a-Chip Pilot Program Objectives

MOVING TOWARDS AN 

INTENTIONAL APPROACH

HOW: Use a portfolio management 

approach 

WHAT: The commercialization of 

NIST-on-a-chip technologies

WHY: Position NIST to influence the 

global marketplace for metrology 

applications
1

2

3

4

5

NIST-on-a-Chip Pilot Program Objectives

Review our NIST-on-a-Chip efforts to identify where we are today and 

compare that to where industry needs us to be

PARTNERSHIPS

CURRENT STATE

Be intentional in our partnerships by strategically choosing how we partner 

and with whom we form partnerships

MARKETING Create mechanisms to communicate the value of NIST-on-a-Chip to industry

PROCESS Make it easier for potential partners to work with NIST 

SUSTAINABILITY Review efforts to determine what worked well and should be applied to 

other areas and what needs to be changed
1

2

3

Achieving our Objectives

Create separate 

projects each with a 

unique scopes

Identify objectives, 

dependencies, and success 

criteria for each project

Coordinate across 

project teams to ensure 

mutual success
1

2

3

4

5

Achieving our Objectives

PARTNERSHIPS

CURRENT STATE

MARKETING

PROCESS

SUSTAINABILITY

Technology Roadmap

IP Strategy and Business Plan

Technology Discovery and Branding

Commercialization and PM Support

Process Automation

Program Assessment Review
The Next Year

0

0.5

9/1/2018 10/31/2018 12/30/2018 2/28/2019 4/29/2019 6/28/2019 8/27/2019 10/26/2019

IP Strategy and Business Plan

Technology Discovery and Branding

Commercialization and PM Support

Program Assessment Review

Technology Roadmap

Process Automation
Session III: NIST-on-a-Chip

Closing Remarks

Jim Olthoff

Acting Associate Director for Laboratory Programs
NIST-on-a-Chip Takeaways

1.NIST-on-a-Chip will provide 

NIST a leadership role in 

disseminating the SI through 

technology transfer

2.NIST-on-a-chip will serve as a 

test bed for overall technology 

transfer approach

3.We want to learn from others, 

experiment, and continuously 

improve

research

commercialization

resources

continuous 

improvement
QUESTIONS?