Collaborating at a Distance: 

the How Can NIST Help effort 
Meeting the Challenge

Today I’m calling on all of you to help do something that NIST does better than 

anyone in the world and help America to address that uncertainty through our 

collective scientific and technical talent. NIST has risen to many challenges 

throughout the years, from the world wars, to 9-11, to addressing the Deepwater 

Horizon oil spill.

NIST is an amazing concentration of a broad array of scientific and technical 

expertise. It is time for us to aim that tremendous potential at the enormous COVID19 crisis that is now consuming the entire world. How can we apply our talents in 

measurements, standards, AI, simulation, engineering, logistics, automation, 

mechanical systems, chemistry, communications, and many other areas to address 

the challenges brought about by this pandemic? 

I am asking each of you to consider what NIST might do to help the world fight the 

corona virus.

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Credit: NIST
Collaboration Team 

Heather Evans (PCO) 

Nick Barbosa (MML) Sarah Hughes (CTL)

Carmen Martinez (EL) Elham Tabassi (ITL) 

Michelle Stephens (PML)

William Ratcliff (NCNR) 3
1.

2.

3.

4.

How Can NIST Help? 

Idea Generation 

Information Sharing 

Collaboration 

Action

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Idea Submission Criteria

*Has the promise of a significant impact within 

weeks or a few months

*Can be accomplished either by telework or with 

limited on-site presence

*If on-site work is required, it must be possible 

safely and with limited environmental conditions

Your submission should address: 

1. What is the idea? 

2. What outcomes and impacts are expected?

3. What personnel and resources are required?

4. What is the expected timeline? 

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Ideas Summary 

Idea Submission 

Form open for 4 

weeks 

75 submissions 

Responses from 

across all 6

laboratories

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Collaboration and Information Sharing

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Seminars 

• The COVID Impact on 

Community Colleges

• National Science Foundation 

Response to COVID-19

• The MEP Response & 

Opportunities for Engagement

• Underpinning COVID-19 

Detection Measurements

• Electronic Contact Tracing 

Efforts

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Mission and 

Purpose

Credit: Christian Gidlöf, Public Domain
Actions

www.nist.gov/coronavirus

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Main Themes 

Manufacturing 

& Industry

ML/AI, Data 

and Analytics

Volunteering & 

Engagement

Wireless 

Innovations

Personal 

Protective 

Equipment

Biological 

Measurements

Energy & 

Environment

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ML/AI, Data and Analytics 

COVID-19 Data Repository

https://covid19-data.nist.gov/

NIST Scientific Indexing Resource 

https://randr19.nist.gov/

NIST COVID-19 Resource Registry 

https://covid19-registry.nist.gov/

Curated Archive cord19-cdcs-nist

https://github.com/usnistgov/cord19-cdcs-nist

Research Project to Apply ML (in progress)

TREC-COVID (presentation to follow)

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Exposure Notification 

• Privacy & cybersecurity

• Performance & accuracy using 

BlueTooth®

• Other modes of accessibility, e.g. 

populations without smart phones

Engagement with many groups: 

https://www.nist.gov/itl/iad/mig/nist-tc4tl-challenge

Image credit: Christine Daniloff, MIT

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Credit: S. Nam, N. Moayeri, M. Keller (NIST) 
Manufacturing & Industry 

14 Credit: Aaron Urbas

Credit: NIST
Wireless Innovations

Spectrum Load: • collecting data on spectrum 

occupancy, traffic load, and the 

number of devices/networks 

operating

• develop scenarios for future testing • support more resilient 

communication networking

Wifi to Monitor Respiratory Function: • exploring the feasibility of 

implementing a software update to 

wireless routers or base stations 

• non-contact respiratory monitors in 

home and medical environments

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Credit: NIST CTL
Volunteering & Engagement 

Public Interest 

Internship 

Experience

Image Credits (cw): Amy Engelbrecht-Wiggins, Marcus Mendenhall, Brian Renegar
& More... 

Image credit: FDA

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Credit: A. Stelson
Select Snapshots of Activities 

Dr. Peter Vallone

COVID-19 Detection 

Dr. David LaVan

Personal Protective Equipment

Dr. Ellen Voorhees

TREC-COVID

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