Annual Report on Technology Transfer:

Approach and Plans, Fiscal Year 2020 Activities and Achievements

U.S. Department of Commerce

Report prepared by:

National Institute of Standards and Technology

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

Institute for Telecommunication Sciences

Pursuant to the

Technology Transfer Commercialization Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-404)

September 2021
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FOREWORD

This report summarizes technology transfer activities and achievements of the Department of 

Commerce’s (DOC) federal laboratories for fiscal year (FY) 2020. At DOC, technology transfer 

is a significant part of the mission and programmatic activities of the National Institute of 

Standards and Technology (NIST), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

(NOAA), and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) 

Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS). Accordingly, this report focuses on the 

activities of these agencies.

This report has been prepared as required by 15 U.S.C. § 3710(f). All federal agencies that 

operate or direct one or more federal laboratories or conduct other activities under 35 U.S.C. §§

207 and 209 are subject to the requirements of this statute. 

DOC’s overall and laboratory-specific approaches and its plans for technology transfer are 

summarized in this report. The report focuses on current year activities and accomplishments,

and provides statistical information from FY 2016 through FY 2020. 

NIST, NOAA, and NTIA’s ITS technology transfer offices have contributed to the organization 

and preparation of the material reported. An electronic version of this report and versions from 

previous fiscal years are available online.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 Department of Commerce Overview ................................................................................... 1

1.1 Statutorily Required Combined Metric Tables........................................................... 2

1.2 Other Performance Measures Deemed Important ..................................................... 5

2 National Institute of Standards and Technology................................................................ 9

2.1 Approach and Plans for Technology Transfer............................................................ 9

2.2 Statutorily Required Metric Tables ........................................................................... 10

2.3 Other Important NIST Performance Measures........................................................ 12

2.4 Success Stories Demonstrating Downstream Outcomes From NIST Technology 

Transfer Activities .................................................................................................................. 24

3 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration........................................................ 30

3.1 Approach and Plans for Technology Transfer.......................................................... 30

3.2 Statutorily Required Metric Tables ........................................................................... 32

3.3 Other Important NOAA Performance Measures ..................................................... 35

3.4 Success Stories Demonstrating Downstream Outcomes From NOAA Technology 

Transfer Activities .................................................................................................................. 39

4 National Telecommunications and Information Administration: Institute for 

Telecommunication Sciences...................................................................................................... 46

4.1 Approach and Plans for Technology Transfer.......................................................... 46

4.2 Statutorily Required Metric Tables ........................................................................... 46

4.3 Other Important NTIA ITS Performance Measures................................................ 50

4.4 Success Stories Demonstrating Downstream Outcomes from NTIA ITS 

Technology Transfer Activities.............................................................................................. 55

5 SUMMARY.......................................................................................................................... 60

6 Appendix A........................................................................................................................... 61

7 Appendix B........................................................................................................................... 63
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1 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE OVERVIEW

Technology transfer plays an important role in DOC’s mission to promote job creation, 

economic growth, sustainable development, and improved standards of living for all Americans. 

DOC works in partnership with businesses, universities, state, tribal and local governments, and 

communities to promote innovation and improve the nation’s overall competitiveness in the 

global economy. DOC pursues these objectives through policies and programs directed at 

strengthening the nation’s economic infrastructure, facilitating the development of cutting-edge 

science and technology, providing critical scientific information and data, and managing national 

resources. 

DOC conducts research and development (R&D) in areas of science and technology at the 

laboratory facilities of NIST, NOAA, and NTIA’s ITS. Technology transfer, which is a key part 

of the programmatic activities in these laboratories, connects technological advances of DOC’s 

science and engineering programs to the American economy.

DOC is also responsible for organizing technology transfer activities across federal agencies. 

DOC coordinates the Interagency Work Group for Technology Transfer (IAWGTT) through 

NIST interagency discussion on policy, new approaches to technology transfer, and lessons 

learned from agency transfer programs.

1 NIST also serves as the host agency for the Federal 

Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC), which provides a forum for federal labs 

to develop strategies and opportunities for linking technologies and expertise with the 

marketplace, as well as serving as a Co-Chair and the Executive Secretariat for the National 

Science and Technology Council’s Lab-to-Market subcommittee. 

More information about DOC technology transfer is available on the following websites:

NIST | NOAA | ITS

This annual report provides comprehensive statistics on technology transfer activities of DOC

laboratories, including information regarding invention disclosures, intellectual property (i.e., 

patents and licenses), collaborative research and development agreements (CRADAs), and other 

technology transfer mechanisms. Examples of successful downstream results, such as 

commercially significant technologies from technology transfer activities, are also highlighted.

Section 10 of the Technology Transfer Commercialization Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-404, codified at

15 U.S.C. § 3710(f)) requires each federal agency that operates or directs one or more federal 

laboratories or conducts activities under 35 U.S.C. §§ 207 and 209 to report annually to the 

1 Agencies participating in the IAWGTT, established pursuant to Executive Order 12591 of April 10, 1987, include 

the Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of Energy, 

Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Homeland Security, Department of the Interior, 

Department of Transportation, Department of Veterans Affairs, Environmental Protection Agency, and National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration.
2

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on the agency’s technology transfer activities. The 

OMB’s Circular A-11 also requires this information. The tables in the following sections present 

the required data.

2

1.1 STATUTORILY REQUIRED COMBINED METRIC TABLES

Table 1: DOC Invention Disclosures and Patenting

2 In April 2020, the Interagency Working Group on Technology Transfer released the document, Guidance for 

Preparing Annual Agency Technology Transfer Reports Under the Technology Transfer Commercialization Act.

Agencies independently decided whether to implement the new guidance in their FY 2020 for FY 2021 reports. 

DOC decided to implement the new guidance in its FY 2020 report. In this report, the statutorily required metrics 

only report FY 2020 data due to the new guidance’s metrics and redefinitions. The additional metrics still display 5 

years’ worth of data because their definitions did not change. Technology transfer data is typically adjusted over 

time to account for new information resulting from changes in reporting procedures, patent decisions, programmatic 

changes, etc. With the new metrics and definitions, previous years’ data will not be added or updated. The metrics 

outside the statutory requirements were adjusted, where necessary, to reflect the most accurate estimates for each 

year reported. 

Metric FY 2020

Invention Disclosures Received 70

Total Patent Applications Filed 36

U.S. 36

Foreign 0

Total Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Applications 

Filed 3

Total Patents Issued 25

U.S. 25

Foreign 0
3

Table 2: DOC Licensing

Table 3: DOC Income from Licensing3

3 Aggregate DOC-level data on Earned Royalty Income (ERI) are not available due to aggregate values reported by 

DOC bureaus. Bureau-level data are available within each bureau’s chapter of this report.

Metric FY 2020

Invention Licenses, Total Active 52

New Invention Licenses 15

New Invention Licenses Granted to Small 

Businesses 12

Income Bearing Licenses, Total Active 34

New Income Bearing Licenses 6

Exclusive, Total Active 19

Partially Exclusive, Total Active 0

Non-Exclusive, Total Active 15

Other Licenses, Total Active 0

New Other Licenses 0

New Other Licenses Granted to Small 

Businesses 0

Elapsed Amount of Time for Granting Invention Licenses

Average (months) 18

Minimum (months) 1

Maximum (months) 25

Licenses Terminated for Cause 0
4

Table 4: DOC Collaborative Relationships

Metric FY 2020

Invention License Income $191,178

Other License Income 0

Total Earned Royalty Income (ERI) $187,578

ERI from Top 1% of Licenses n/a

ERI from Top 5% of Licenses n/a

ERI from Top 20% of Licenses n/a

Minimum ERI n/a

Maximum ERI n/a

Median ERI n/a

Disposition of ERI

Average Percentage Distributed to Inventors n/a

Average Percentage Distributed to Lab/Agency n/a

Metric FY 2020

Total Active CRADAs 2,014

New CRADAs 1,647

New CRADAs Involving Small Businesses 977

Other Collaborative Agreements 2,952
5

1.2 OTHER PERFORMANCE MEASURES DEEMED IMPORTANT

1.2.1 U.S. Patents Granted to DOC, by Technology Area

Figure 1 and 2 show the most common specific technical areas covered by DOC patents for FY 

2019 and FY 2020. In FY 2019, the top three specific technical areas covered by DOC patents 

were Measurement (38%), Optics (8%), and Telecommunications (7%).4 In FY 2020, the top 

three specific technical areas covered by DOC patents were Measurement (26%), Optics (10%), 

and Computer Technology (10%).5

Figure 1: Percent of U.S. Patents Granted to 

DOC, by Technology Area in FY 20196

Figure 2: Percent of U.S. Patents Granted to 

DOC, by Technology Area in FY 20207

4 In FY 2019, the Other category included the technical areas of: Materials, Metallurgy, Analysis of Biological 

Materials, Micro-Structural and Nano-Technology, Medical Technology, Digital Communication, Semiconductors, 

Biotechnology, Chemical Engineering, Pharmaceuticals, Other Consumer Goods, Thermal Processes and Apparatus, 

Environmental Technology, and Organic Fine Chemistry.

5 In FY2020, the Other category included the technical areas of: Telecommunications, Surface Technology, Coating, 

Biotechnology, Environmental Technology, Handling, Analysis of Biological Materials, Materials, Metallurgy, 

Chemical Engineering, Audio-Visual Technology, Control, Digital Communication, Micro-Structural and NanoTechnology, and Other Consumer Goods.

6 Prepared by Science-Metrix using USPTO data indexed in PatentsView accessed in September 2020. Used with 

permission.

7 A new data delivery schedule allowed for FY 2020 data to be included in this report. Prepared by Science-Metrix 

using USPTO data indexed in PatentsView accessed in March 2021. Used with permission.
6

Patents are credited on a whole-count basis (i.e., each participating federal agency is credited one 

count). However, fractioning is used at the level of International Patent Classification (IPC)

codes to ensure that the sum of patents across technology areas—World Intellectual Property 

Organization (WIPO) technology classification—is equal to the total number of patents as each 

patent can be assigned to more than one technology area. Technology areas are identified in 

Appendix A.

1.2.2 Scientific and Technical Publications

Technology transfer mechanisms include more than just counting CRADAs, patents, and 

licenses. Scientific and technical publications are also technology transfer. In FY 2020, NIST, 

NOAA, and ITS researchers published 3,114 scientific and technical papers in peer-reviewed 

journals.

Table 5: DOC Scientific and Technical Publications

1.2.2.1 Percent of Articles by Science and Engineering Fields Authored by DOC Staff

Figures 3 and 4 show the most frequent science and engineering fields of DOC publications for 

calendar year (CY) 2019 and CY 2020. Data are presented by calendar year as months of 

publication are not always available in Scopus. Taxonomy of Discipline (TOD) fields are used to 

classify articles. The TOD is a classification scheme developed by the National Science 

Foundation to suit its need for a unified scheme. Science-Metrix developed an alignment of its 

own classification scheme with the TOD and this alignment replaces the WebCaspar 

classification which was used in the past to produce bibliometric data for the Science & 

Engineering Indicators (SEI) reports. Journals are assigned to a unique TOD except for 

generalist journals, such as Science and Nature, for which articles are instead reclassified 

individually in TOD fields using an automated procedure based on machine-learning techniques. 

Articles are credited on a whole-count basis (i.e., each participating federal agency receives one 

count). Appendix B identifies science and engineering fields.

In CY 2019, the most frequent technology areas covered by DOC publications are Geosciences, 

Atmospheric, and Ocean Sciences (32%), followed by Physics (18%) and Engineering (16%).

8

8 In CY 2019, the Other category included the technology areas of: computer and information sciences, chemistry, 

materials science, health sciences, social sciences, mathematics and statistics, astronomy and astrophysics, 

psychology, and agricultural sciences.

FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020

NIST 1,355 1,433 1,415 1,396 1,345

NOAA 1,697 1,678 1,794 1,895 1,755

ITS 4 10 11 11 14

Department Total 3,056 3,121 3,220 3,302 3,114
7

In CY 2020, the most frequent technology areas covered by DOC publications are Geosciences, 

Atmospheric, and Ocean Sciences (32%), Physics (18%), and Engineering (16%).

9

Figure 3: Percent of Articles by Science and 

Engineering Fields Authored by DOC Staff 

in CY 201910

Figure 4: Percent of Articles by Science and 

Engineering Fields Authored by DOC Staff 

in CY 202011

1.2.2.2 Percent of Articles by Science and Engineering Fields Authored by DOC Staff and 

Cited in U.S. Patents

Data are also available on the number of times U.S. patents cite U.S. science and engineering 

articles authored by DOC staff. U.S. patents issued in FY 2019 cite 1,357 publications authored 

by DOC researchers. As shown in Figure 5, the largest technology areas citing DOC 

publications include Physics (32%), followed by Engineering (24%) and Chemistry (14%).

12

9 In CY 2020, the Other category included the technology areas of: chemistry, computer and information sciences, 

health sciences, materials science, social sciences, astronomy and astrophysics, mathematics and statistics, 

agricultural sciences, and psychology.

10 Prepared by Science-Metrix using Scopus (Elsevier) accessed in September 2020. Used with permission. 

11 A new data delivery schedule allowed for FY 2020 data to be included in this report. Prepared by Science-Metrix 

using Scopus (Elsevier) accessed in February 2021. Used with permission.

12 In FY 2019, the Other category included the technology areas of: Geosciences, Atmospheric, and Ocean Sciences, 

Health Sciences, Materials Science, Natural Resources and Conservation, Mathematics and Statistics, Social 

Sciences, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Psychology, and Agricultural Sciences.
8

U.S. patents issued in FY 2020 cite 1,537 publications authored by DOC researchers. As shown 

in Figure 6, the largest technology areas citing DOC publications include Physics (35%),

followed by Engineering (18%) and Chemistry (12%).13

Figure 5: Percent of Articles by Science and 

Engineering Fields Authored by DOC Staff 

and Cited in U.S. Patents in FY 201914

Figure 6: Percent of Articles by Science and 

Engineering Fields Authored by DOC Staff 

and Cited in U.S. Patents in FY 202015

TOD fields are used to classify articles. Citations are classified on a whole count basis (i.e., each 

participating federal agency on a cited article receives one count). Citation counts are based on 

an 11-year window with a 5-year lag (e.g., citations for 2012 are references in USPTO patents 

issued in FY 2012 to articles published in 1997–2007). Appendix B identifies science and 

engineering fields.

13 In FY 2019, the Other category included the technology areas of: Geosciences, Atmospheric, and Ocean Sciences, 

Health Sciences, Materials Science, Natural Resources and Conservation, Mathematics and Statistics, Social 

Sciences, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Psychology, and Agricultural Sciences.

14 Prepared by Science-Metrix using Scopus (Elsevier) accessed in September 2020 and PatentsView accessed in 

September 2020. Used with permission.

15 A new data delivery schedule allowed for FY 2020 data to be included in this report. Prepared by Science-Metrix 

using Scopus (Elsevier) accessed in February 2021 and PatentsView accessed in March 2021. Used with permission.
9

2 NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY

NIST has a broad mission: to promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by 

advancing measurement science, standards, and technology in ways that enhance economic 

security and improve our quality of life. 

Rapidly evolving sectors like nanotechnology, biotechnology, homeland security, information 

technology, and advanced manufacturing need sophisticated technical support systems in order 

to flourish and grow. Therefore, an important part of accomplishing NIST’s mission is to 

anticipate future measurement and standards needs of U.S. industry. NIST laboratories develop 

measurement techniques, test methods, standards, reference materials, reference data, and other 

technologies and services that support U.S. industry, scientific research, and the activities of 

many other federal agencies. In carrying out its mission, NIST works directly with industry 

partners (individual companies and consortia), universities, standards organizations, other 

domestic and foreign associations, and other government agencies.

2.1 APPROACH AND PLANS FOR TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

NIST designs its technology transfer activities to disseminate the results of fundamental 

research, measurements, and standards research to industry and other interested parties. In order 

to provide leading-edge scientific and technical work, NIST is required to have expertise in 

multiple disciplines, maintain high levels of collaboration with organizations and people with 

diverse capabilities, and have highly specialized facilities and tools. For more than a century, 

laboratories at NIST (and its direct predecessor agency, the National Bureau of Standards) have 

successfully collaborated with others to provide the measurement techniques and technical tools 

needed by America’s innovators. 

NIST broadly defines technology transfer as:

“... the overall process by which NIST knowledge, facilities, or capabilities in 

measurement science, standards and technology promote U.S. innovation and 

industrial competitiveness in order to enhance economic security and improve

quality of life.”

NIST’s definition of technology transfer reflects the many ways NIST reaches its external 

partners. The definition includes, inter alia: 1) the act of transferring knowledge from one 

individual to another by means of mentoring, training, documenting, or collaborating; and 2) 

commercialization, which allows the adoption of a technology into the private sector through a 

business or other organization.

NIST designed its technology transfer program to improve processes and work products directly 

through collaborations. The following summarizes different technology transfer mechanisms 

NIST uses to promote innovation and to disseminate technologies that result from its research. 
10

2.2 STATUTORILY REQUIRED METRIC TABLES

Table 6: NIST Invention Disclosures and Patenting

Metric FY 2020

Invention Disclosures Received 64

Total Patent Applications Filed 35

U.S. 35

Foreign 0

Total Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Applications 

Filed 3

Total Patents Issued 25

U.S. 25

Foreign 0
11

Table 7: NIST Licensing16

16 “Active” means an agreement in force at any time during the fiscal year. Invention licenses include licenses to 

pending patent applications. Elapsed Amount of Time for Granting Invention Licenses is defined as the time 

between the date of license application and the date of license execution. The date of license application is the date 

the laboratory formally acknowledges the written request for a license from a prospective licensee and agrees to 

enter into negotiations.

Metric FY 2020

Invention Licenses, Total Active 46

New Invention Licenses 15

New Invention Licenses Granted to Small 

Businesses 12

Income Bearing Licenses, Total Active 28

New Income Bearing Licenses 6

Exclusive, Total Active 15

Partially Exclusive, Total Active 0

Non-Exclusive, Total Active 13

Other Licenses, Total Active 0

New Other Licenses 0

New Other Licenses Granted to Small 

Businesses 0

Elapsed Amount of Time for Granting Invention Licenses

Average (months) 18

Minimum (months) 1

Maximum (months) 25

Licenses Terminated for Cause 0
12

Table 8: NIST Income from Licensing

Table 9: NIST Collaborative Relationships17

2.3 OTHER IMPORTANT NIST PERFORMANCE MEASURES 

2.3.1 Scientific and Technical Publications

Technical publications are one of the major mechanisms NIST uses to disseminate the results of 

its research to industry, academia, and other agencies.

In FY 2020, NIST staff published 1,345 papers in peer-reviewed journals, including 360 papers 

(27%) published in "top tier" journals. A top tier publication is a journal with a Clarivate 

Analytics Impact Factor (IF) in the top 10th percentile of its Web of Science Subject Category.

17 CRADAs include: bilateral agreements, consortia agreements, industry-led agreements, NVLAP accreditations, 

and calibrations. Other Collaborative Agreements include: material transfer agreements and guest researcher 

agreements.

Metric FY 2020

Invention License Income $79,344

Other License Income $0

Total Earned Royalty Income (ERI) $79,344

ERI from Top 1% of Licenses $45,000

ERI from Top 5% of Licenses $45,000

ERI from Top 20% of Licenses $45,000

Minimum ERI $1,250

Maximum ERI $45,000

Median ERI $5,000

Disposition of ERI

Percentage Distributed to Inventors 42%

Percentage Distributed to Lab/Agency 58%

Metric FY 2020

Total Active CRADAs 1,952

New CRADAs 1,624

New CRADAs Involving Small Businesses 970

Other Collaborative Agreements 2,952
13

NIST researchers collaborated and co-authored with researchers world-wide, authoring papers 

with 6,505 unique non-NIST authors representing 1,310 institutions in 69 countries.18

Table 10: NIST Scientific and Technical Publications

NIST also publicizes its planned, ongoing, and recently completed work in outlets followed by 

the organizations with interests aligned to NIST’s research and services, such as the trade and 

technical press. In addition to news releases, websites, social media posts, and contacts with the 

media, NIST issues a bi-weekly e-mail roundup of its latest news, called Tech Beat.

In addition to the primary methods of transferring technology i.e., patents, licenses, and 

CRADAs, NIST researchers routinely transfer technological innovations through the following 

mechanisms. 

2.3.2 Participation in Documentary Standards Committees

Documentary standards are shared sets of rules that specify, for example, a test method or 

measurement method, a product’s properties, or standard practices. Econometric studies proport

that standards contribute significantly to economic growth, and a significant study concluded,

“development of standards is integral to innovation; documentary standards contribute to 

economic growth at least as much as do patents; and the macroeconomic benefits of the 

development of standards extend beyond the benefits to the companies that use the standards.”19 

During FY 2020, 400 members of the NIST staff were involved with 112 standards 

organizations. Such participation helps NIST respond to the needs of the private sector and 

enables its scientists and engineers to bring NIST technology and know-how directly into 

standards-setting bodies. 

18 Unique co-authors and institutions were identified by performing a search for all NIST authored papers in the Web 

of Science (WoS) database. This includes publications in the peer-reviewed literature but excludes most conference 

proceedings papers and all NIST series publications.

19 Peter Swann, G.M., Report for the UK Department of Business, Innovation, and Skills (BIS), 2010 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/economics-of-standardisation-update-to-report.

FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020

Number of NIST Papers 1,355 1,433 1,415 1,396 1,345

Number of NIST Papers in Top-Tier Journals 329 406 367 392 360

Percentage of NIST Papers in Top-Tier Journals 24% 28% 26% 28% 27%

Number of Unique Non-NIST Co-Authors 5,116 5,464 5,277 5,247 6,505

Number of Unique Institutions 1,037 1,334 1,283 1,142 1,310

Number of Countries 46 67 59 54 69
14

Table 11: NIST Participation in Documentary Standards

The NIST Standards Coordination Office (SCO) maintains the Standards Committee 

Participation Database for employees to report their participation, including leadership positions 

within standards organizations.

2.3.3 Standard Reference Data

NIST’s Standard Reference Data (SRD) Program provides critically evaluated numeric data to 

scientists and engineers for use in technical problem solving, research, and development. Many 

types of reference data are extremely important in engineering structures, optimizing chemical 

processes, and other industrial applications. NIST extracts SRD from scientific and technical 

literature or develops them from measurements conducted at its laboratories that are carefully

evaluated for accuracy and reliability. NIST currently maintains 74 SRD databases that cover 

many areas of science, including analytical chemistry, atomic and molecular physics, 

biotechnology, and materials sciences.

In FY 2020, the NIST SRD Program distributed 2,908 e-commerce orders, 7,905 units sold via 

distributor, 115 active distributor agreements, 15 active site licenses, 140 active internet 

subscriptions, 57 units shipped to the user, and 4,578 products downloaded from the NIST 

website (1,484 free downloads, 3,094 paid downloads). The number of active internet 

subscriptions increased from 41 in FY19 to 140 in FY20 due to new online subscription for SRD 

3.

Table 12: NIST Standard Reference Data Program

FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020

Number of Participating NIST Staff 445 440 423 440 400

Number of Standard Organizations with NIST 

Participants 120 119 116 112 112

FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020

Products Available (Databases) 102 97 92 90 74

E-Commerce Orders 2,689 2,229 2,670 2,613 2,908

Units Sold via Distributor 10,573 7,995 8,413 9,880 7,905

Active Distributor Agreements 124 154 157 125 115

Active Site Licenses 59 36 17 30 15

Active Internet Subscriptions 49 40 50 41 140

Units Shipped via UPS 311 328 146 82 57

Products Downloaded from the NIST Website 6,208 3,119 3,910 3,812 4,578

Free Downloads 4,083 1,225 1,099 1,100 1,484

Paid Downloads 2,125 1,894 2,811 2,712 3,094
15

2.3.4 Standard Reference Materials

Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) are a definitive source for various measurements in the 

United States. Measurements made using SRMs can be traced to a common and recognized set 

of basic standards that provide the basis for measurement compatibility among different 

laboratories. The certified property values for SRMs often depend on the development of unique 

measurement capabilities within NIST. In FY 2020, NIST made available 1,114 SRMs and from 

these, sold 27,319 units. The downward trend of units available is, in part, due to labor charges 

and limited availability of products.

Table 13: NIST Standard Reference Materials

2.3.5 User Facilities – Research Participants

NIST operates two unique and valuable laboratory facilities that support U.S. industry, academic 

institutions, and other NIST and government laboratories. These facilities, the Center for 

Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST) and the NIST Center for Neutron Research 

(NCNR), allow NIST customers to tap directly into NIST measurement expertise to solve 

problems.

The CNST supports the development of nanotechnology from discovery to production. It

operates in a national shared-use nanofabrication and measurement facility (the NanoFab), 

complemented by a multidisciplinary research staff creating next-generation tools for advancing 

nanotechnology. The NCNR is a national user facility that provides cold and thermal neutron 

measurement capabilities to researchers from academia, industry, and other government 

agencies.

NIST user facility “research participants” are those who directly participate in an NCNR

experiment or CNST project. Research participants include those who use the facility on-site or 

remotely, and their collaborators on the experiment or project. In FY 2019, CNST began 

reporting the number of distinct facility users versus the previously reported number of research 

participants.20 In FY 2020, there were 230 distinct facility users at CNST and 3,068 research 

participants at NCNR. 

Table 14: NIST Research Participants

20 The change in reporting is due to organizational restructuring. CNST merged with the Physical Measurement 

Laboratory in FY 2019. 

FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020

Units Available 1,194 1,182 1,140 1,130 1,114

Units Sold 31,938 32,348 31,503 29,955 27,319

FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020

CNST 2,917 3,215 3,415 314 230

NCNR 2,536 2,769 2,742 2,923 3,068
16

2.3.6 Postdoctoral Researchers

Technology transfer includes the people who perform the actual research and development. 

NIST Postdoctoral researchers, or “postdocs,” play an important role in transferring NIST 

technology and expertise. NIST adheres to the National Science Foundation’s Proposal and 

Award Policies and Procedures Guide’s standard of a postdoctoral researcher. In FY 2020, NIST 

hosted 154 postdocs. Of these, 103 were based at the NIST Gaithersburg, Maryland campus; 40

were located in Boulder, Colorado; and the remainder were located at five other locations. 

Table 15: NIST Postdoctoral Researchers

(a) Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA) was founded in 1962 as a joint institute of CU-Boulder 

and NIST. JILA is located at the base of the Rocky Mountains on the CU-Boulder campus in the Duane 

Physics complex. 

(b) The Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) was founded in September 2006 as a collaboration between the 

University of Maryland and NIST, with additional support from the Laboratory for Physical Sciences, a 

government facility in College Park. 

(c) The Hollings Marine Laboratory (HML) is a world-class research facility in Charleston, South Carolina. 

HML’s mission is to provide science and biotechnology applications to sustain, protect, and restore coastal 

ecosystems, with emphasis on links between environmental condition and the health of marine organisms 

and humans. 

(d) The Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research (IBBR) is a joint research enterprise created to 

enhance collaboration among the University of Maryland College Park, the University of Maryland 

Baltimore and NIST. 

(e) The Brookhaven National Laboratory’s National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) facility is co-led by 

DOE and NIST’s Material Measurement Laboratory (MML). MML's Synchrotron Science Group develops 

and disseminates synchrotron measurement science and technology needed by U.S. industry to measure 

nanoscale electronic, chemical, and spatial structure of advanced materials. 

(f) The Joint Initiative for Metrology in Biology (JIMB) is co-led by Stanford University and NIST and is 

designed to enable significant improvements in the accuracy and comparability of vital data used to make 

important research, regulatory, clinical, and manufacturing quality control decisions. 

The number of postdocs is a significant measure of technology transfer; at the conclusion of their 

tenure, they take what they have learned and apply it to their next employment. NIST surveyed

64 FY 2020 NIST National Research Council (NRC) program postdocs. Of these, 47% 

FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020

NIST Postdocs, Total (NCR) 167 159 153 165 154

Gaithersburg campus 104 87 91 110 103

Boulder campus 43 47 44 35 40

Joint Institute for Laboratory 

Astrophysics (a) 9 12 10 13 7

Joint Quantum Institute (b) 2 3 3 1 0

Hollings Marine Laboratory (c) 2 2 1 3 4

Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology 

Research (d) 3 3 3 2 0

Brookhaven National Laboratory(e) 0 2 0 0 0

Joint Initiative for Metrology in Biology(f) 4 3 1 1 0
17

continued research careers with NIST21 and 52% transferred NIST technology to public venues. 

Thirty-nine percent moved to the private sector, 5% pursued other opportunities such as 

becoming independent researchers, 8% moved to academia, and 2% moved to non-NIST

government agencies.

Figure 7: Tracking NIST Researchers after Initial Postdoc Tenure at NIST (FY 2020)

2.3.7 Guest Researchers

In addition to postdocs, each year, thousands of researchers visit NIST to participate in 

collaborative projects. NIST hosts many term appointment researchers and non-NIST employees 

working as guest researchers, collaborators, and student fellows. Similar to postdoctoral 

researchers, many guest researchers seek career opportunities in academia, the private sector, or

federal agencies after their tenure at NIST. While some guest researchers’ NIST projects may 

result in inventions, all guest researchers leave NIST with technical and research skills that place 

them on the cutting edge of their disciplines. Each researcher takes the skills and knowledge and 

aspires to apply them in innovative ways in their careers. Paramount among these skills is the 

knowledge requirements and processes needed to collaborate with federal laboratories and the 

federal resources available to assist companies in creating and developing new and improved 

technologies. 

In FY 2020 there were 2,701 guest scientists and engineers working at NIST. Fewer Guest 

Researchers visited NIST due to the COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions.

Table 16: NIST Guest Researchers

21 Researchers who left their postdoc positions and stayed at NIST became career conditional / term employees or

non-career conditional or term employees (i.e. contractors or guest researchers).

FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020

Guest Scientists and Engineers 3,273 3,181 3,221 3,180 2,701
18

2.3.8 Accreditation Services

The NIST National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP) is a voluntary, feesupported program to accredit private sector laboratories competency to perform measurement

tests or calibrations. In FY 2020, NVLAP accredited 644 laboratories.

Table 17: NIST Accreditation Services

2.3.9 Calibration Services

The NIST laboratories provide unique physical measurement services for their customers, 

including calibration services, special tests, and measurement assurance programs. NIST designs 

its calibration services to help manufacturers and users of precision instruments achieve the 

highest possible levels of measurement quality and productivity. NIST calibrations often serve 

as the basis for companies that provide commercial calibration services and calibration 

equipment. The NIST on a Chip project established in 2018 aims to streamline a host of 

calibration services by making chip-scale calibration technologies available to end-users, with 

the goal of reducing the need for traditional calibration services provided on-site at NIST. In FY 

2020, NIST performed 9,225 calibration tests.

Table 18: NIST Calibration Services

2.3.10 Education Outreach Programs and Partnerships

NIST has received recognition as a vital contributor to the efforts to improve science, 

technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in the United States. As part of its 

mission, and to help create a long-term and well-qualified workforce for standards and 

measurement research, NIST has several educational outreach programs and partnerships that 

enrich basic research programs such as:

• the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program;

• the Summer High School Internship (SHIP) program;

• the Pathways Program;

• the NIST Summer Institute for Middle School Science Teachers; and

• the Professional Research Experience Program (PREP).

The Department of Commerce Women in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics 

(DOC WSTEM) was formed in October 2018. To date there are 331 members representing all of 

the DOC bureaus. The group was formed for (1) information sharing (2) mentoring (3) 

conducting community out-reach (4) addressing diversity and inclusion and (5) networking . 

FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020

NVLAP Accreditations 735 723 674 674 644

FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020

Number of Calibration Tests Performed 12,971 13,802 11,771 11,519 9,225
19

DOC WSTEM hosts numerous events and maintains a sought after database for information 

sharing across the bureaus. In FY 2020, cross-pollination in science and technology transfer 

occurred across the bureaus when the group sponsored DOC-wide monthly “Lunch and Learn 

Webinars” where one bureau presented their bureau’s mission, vision, and research efforts of the 

speaker. NIST provided a “Technology Transfer 101” webinar. The intention and results of 

these monthly webinars is a deeper understanding of the bureaus and opportunities for 

collaboration between bureaus and promote technology transfer.

In FY 2020, 77 students participated in the Pathways Program, 23 individuals participated in the 

Summer Institute for Middle School Science Teachers, and 174 students participated in the 

PREP program. 

Table 19: NIST STEM Education Participation

(a) NIST did not hold the SURF or SHIP programs in FY 2020

(b) NIST did not hold the Summer Institute for Middle School Science Teachers in FY 2018.

2.3.11 Conferences, Seminars, and Workshops

Some of the most important mechanisms for technology dissemination are communication, 

education, and interaction among researchers, developers, and users of technology. NIST hosts 

numerous conferences, workshops, and other meetings each year to facilitate the transfer of 

technology. 

In FY 2020, the NIST Conference Program arranged 74 conferences, both in person and 

virtually, that attracted 7,747 researchers to NIST’s facilities in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and 

Boulder, Colorado. NIST’s Office of Weights and Measures, which promotes uniformity in U.S. 

weights and measures laws, regulations, and standards, trained 2,057 weights and measures 

administrators, laboratory metrologists, and field enforcement officials which is more than three 

times the number trained in FY 2019. This is primarily due to the increase in webinar 

attendance. In addition to formal trainings, NIST staff respond to email, telephone, and mail 

inquiries from researchers requesting information and details about NIST technical developments 

and research results.

FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020

SURF(a) 213 212 212 173 0

SHIP 70 70 64 55 0

Pathways Program 85 111 85 71 77

Summer Institute for Middle School Science 

Teachers(b) 20 21 0 24 23

PREP 204 36 200 360 174
20

Table 20: NIST Conferences, Seminars, and Workshops

2.3.12 Trends in Technology Transfer Office Activity

To better understand the year-over-year activity of its technology transfer office, NIST tracks the 

average number of days to both file a patent application and approve a CRADA. In FY 2020, the 

average number of days between the receipt date of an invention disclosure and the filing date of 

the first non-provisional patent application was 450 days. The average CRADA approval time 

was 109 days.

Table 21: NIST Activity Trends

(a) The time between the receipt date of an invention disclosure and the filing date of the first non-provisional 

patent application filed by NIST. 

(b) The time between the receipt of the memo related to the award of a CRADA and the time of approval for the 

memo.

2.3.13 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)

NIST’s SBIR program funds science and technology based small businesses in the United 

States. The program offers qualified small businesses the opportunity to propose innovative 

ideas that align with NIST research and development and have the potential for 

commercialization. NIST took the following steps to improve its SBIR program:

1. Continued to streamline practices to reduce the administrative burden on small businesses 

and time needed to process and issue awards. NIST eliminated one of the review steps by 

combining the evaluation criteria used in the former process.

FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020

NIST Conference Center

Conferences and Workshops 102 108 101 78 74

Attendance 10,370 10,588 8,772 8,596 7,747

Office of Weights and Measures - Metrology Training 

Total Students 754 987 902 666 2,057

Seminar Attendance 357 537 523 441 101

Webinar Attendance 397 414 379 225 1,948

Workshop Attendance 0 36 0 0 8

FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020

Average Number of Days to File a Patent 

Application(a) 442 396 337 408 450

Average Number of Days to Approve a 

CRADA(b) 104 108 91 129 109
21

2. Eliminated subtopics to open the program to a greater number of small businesses. NIST 

Priority Areas in the NIST Three Year Programmatic Plan serve as topics to align SBIR 

priorities to NIST’s mission.

3. Implemented a Technical and Business Assistance (TABA) program to assist NIST SBIR 

awardees with commercialization needs.

Table 22: NIST SBIR Award Count

2.3.14 Economic Assessment

Economists at NIST completed two studies in FY 2020:

1. NIST Interactions: Fiscal Year 2015 through Fiscal Year 2018

Abstract: This study analyzes data from fiscal years 2015 through 2018 of eighteen 

interaction types in which NIST participates annually. To describe the volume of direct 

relationships NIST has with the U.S. economy, it calculates the average number of 

interactions and the average number of partners per fiscal year, as well as the geographic 

location of those partners.

2. An Initial Look at Federal Offices of Research and Technology Applications

Abstract: In Science the Endless Frontier, Vannevar Bush wrote that reaping the potential 

benefits of science conducted at federal laboratories requires the discoveries made in the 

labs be transferred to society. In federal laboratories, Offices of Research and Technology 

Applications (ORTAs) are tasked with transferring lab-developed technologies to the 

market, facilitating society’s reaping the benefits provided by scientific investments. In 

fiscal year 2016, the Technology Partnerships Office of the National Institute of 

Standards and Technology conducted a first-of-its-kind survey of the ORTAs of more 

than fifty federal laboratories to obtain information on their organization and operation. 

We present descriptive analyses of the responses to this survey in two topical areas: 

organizational characteristics and technology transfer characteristics. We disaggregate 

the data across the dimension of budget size, and find similarities and differences across 

the budget categories. Among the relationships we observe, we find that ORTAs with 

larger technology transfer budgets report higher frequencies of conducting internal 

technology transfer activities, such as patent prosecution and market analysis. 

Additionally, we provide context to the data by overviewing the relevant research on 

ORTAs at universities and present potential inferences that may be drawn from that body 

of research and applied to the data on ORTAs at federal laboratories.

FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020

Phase I SBIR Awards 12 12 12 12 12

Phase II SBIR Awards 7 9 10 7 8
22

2.3.15 N-STEP Program

NIST launched the NIST Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Program (N-STEP) in 

November 2015 to provide researchers opportunities to build upon their NIST experience and

explore entrepreneurial careers that benefit the NIST mission. The program focuses on 

commercializing the research conducted at NIST by postdocs interested in forming companies to 

independently pursue further translational research and development of technologies specifically 

related to NIST’s mission. These technologies can then be commercialized as products or 

services to benefit the public.

In FY 2020, ten companies completed N-STEP projects, two companies are involved in ongoing 

projects, and one company has a contingent award awaiting final approval. N-STEP is funded by 

NIST and administered by Maryland TEDCO but is a nationwide opportunity.

2.3.16 Challenge and Prize Competitions

Challenge.gov is a listing of challenge and prize competitions run by more than 102 agencies 

across the federal government. NIST offers cash prizes to the public participants for their help in 

solving perplexing mission-centric problems. In FY 2020, NIST either launched or continued the 

following challenges:

1. 2020 Agile Robotics for Industrial Automation Competition

2. Automated Streams Analysis for Public Safety (ASAPS) Prize Challenge: Contest 1

3. CHARIoT Challenge: Advancing First Responder Communications

4. Enhancing Computer Vision for Public Safety Challenge

5. Haptic Interfaces for Public Safety Challenge

6. Expanding the SIM Card Use for Public Safety Challenge

7. Tech to Protect Challenge, Coding for Emergency Responders

8. First Responder UAS Endurance Challenge

In addition to the challenges above that are executed under the COMPETES Prize Competition 

Authority, NIST launched and completed two, non-cash prize challenges related to COVID-19: 

1. Too Close for Too Long

2. TREC-COVID

2.3.17 Awards

In addition to the NIST and DOC awards, NIST staff received the following prestigious awards

during FY 2020:

2020 Health Level Seven (HL7) Fellow

Robert Snelick

2020 Highly Cited Researcher in Physics

Jun Ye

2020 IAPP Vanguard Award

Naomi Lefkovitz

2020 Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellows

Konrad W. Lehner

2020 Women in Biometrics Award

Mei Ngan

AAAS Fellow

Konrad W. Lehnert
23

ASPE College of Fellows

Jon Pratt

ASTM International James A. Thomas 

President’s Leadership Award

Bala Muralikrishnan

American Physical Society Fellow

Alexey V. Gorshkov

Daniel S. Hussey

Sae-Woo Nam

Jacob Taylor

American Society of Mechanical Engineers 

(ASME) Fellow

John Wright

Annual Computer Security Applications 

Conference (ACSAC) – Test of Time Award

Dave Ferraiolo

Association for Computing Machinery Fellow

Ronald Boisvert

Association for Women in Mathematics Fellow

Fern Y. Hunt

B. Stephen Carpenter

Yoshi Ohno

CO-LABS Governor's Award for High Impact 

Research

Kuldeep Prasad

Dimensional Metrology Standards Consortium 

Special Recognition

John Horst

DOE/NREL Photovoltaic Module Reliability 

Workshop Best Poster Awards

Stephanie Moffitt

Xiaohong Gu

Earthquake Engineering Research Institute 

(EERI) Housner Fellowship

Siamak Sattar

Edsger W. Dijkstra Prize in Distributed 

Computing

Rene Peralta

FCW Government Innovation Awards – 2020 

Rising Star

Katie Boeckl

Federal 100 Award

Naomi Lefkovitz

FedID 2020 Best Educational Effort

Patrick Grother

Mei Ngan

Kayee Hanaoka

HotSoS ’20 Best Paper Award, 7th Symposium on 

Hot Topics in the Science of Security (HotSoS), 

Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)

Himanshu Neema

Bradley Potteiger

Xenofon Koutsoukos

Chee Tang

Keith Stouffer

IOP Trusted Reviewer

Zachary Levine

Innovation Research Interchange Medal

David J. Wineland

Micius Quantum Prize

Jun Ye

NIST/UL Workshop on PV Materials Durability 

Best Poster Awards

Debbie Jacobs

Xiaohong Gu

LaKesha Perry

National Academy of Construction

H.S. Lew

Object Management Group (OMG) 25-Year 

Service Award

Conrad Bock

Office of Naval Research Young Investigator 

Award

Adam Kaufman

Optical Society of America – Fellow

John H. Lehman

Alan Migdall

Sergey V. Polyakov

Optical Society of America – Optics and Photonics 

News Annual Photo Contest – 2nd Place

Alexandra Artusio-Glimpse

Optical Society of America – Paul F. Forman 

Team Engineering Excellence Award

Scott Diddams
24

Matthew T. Hummon

B. Robert Ilic

John Kitching

Scott Papp

Kartik Srinivasan

Daron Westly

PLM20 Best Paper Award, IFIP 17th 

International Conference on Product Lifecycle 

Management

Rick Candell

Yongkang Liu

Mohamed Hany

Karl Montgomery

Sebti Foufou

Rising Stars of Light – 2nd Place

Amit Agrawal

Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) 

Arthur B. Guise Medal, Distinguished Fire 

Protection Engineering Career

Erica Kuligowski

Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) 

Educational and Scientific Foundation Jack Bono 

Award

Matthew Hoehler

Solid Modeling Association 2020 Fellow

Ram Sriram

Top-Coder Public Sector Innovation Award

Terese Manley

Christine Task

Washington Academy of Sciences Award – 2020 

Excellence in Research in Applied Mathematics 

Award

Michael Donahue

Washington Academy of Sciences Award – 2020 

Excellence in Research in Computer Science

Elham Tabassi

Washington Academy of Sciences Award – 2020 

Excellence in Research in Physical Science

John Villarrubia

Washington Academy of Sciences 2020 Fellow

Jeff Voas

Washington Academy of Sciences Award – 2020 

Leadership in IT Standards for Industry Award

Lisa Carnahan

2.4 SUCCESS STORIES DEMONSTRATING DOWNSTREAM OUTCOMES FROM NIST

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER ACTIVITIES

2.4.1 A Better Alternative to Phthalates?

Detergents, shampoos, soaps and other everyday items sometimes contain a group of chemicals 

called phthalates, which are often used to enhance products and add flexibility to plastics. 

However, mounting research has shown a link between phthalates and effects on hormones in 

humans, laboratory animals and wildlife, which is why phthalates are increasingly being replaced 

with other chemicals, such as a compound called DINCH.

In collaboration with the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), NIST researchers

analyzed urine samples from pregnant women to look for the presence of DINCH, which is short 

for di(isononyl)cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylate. They found concentrations of DINCH in most of 

the urine samples but no evidence of effects in lab assays on two hormones, progesterone and 

estrogen. The researchers have published their findings in the journal Chemosphere.
25

2.4.2 NIST Expands Database That Helps Identify Unknown Compounds in Milk

Got milk? Most people have seen the famous ads 

featuring celebrities that highlight the importance of 

drinking milk for building strong bones. Research 

shows that milk has other benefits, especially for 

babies, such as helping them grow and strengthening 

their immune systems. But scientists still don’t 

understand exactly how milk does these things.

Solving that mystery starts with identifying the 

compounds in milk. To support that effort, NIST 

researchers have recently doubled the size of a 

reference library that includes examples of a certain 

type of carbohydrate found in milk from humans and 

several other animals. The expansion of the library will 

help scientists identify the unknown compounds in 

their own milk samples. The researchers published 

their new findings in Analytical Chemistry.

2.4.3 NIST Develops Benchmark for Accurately Detecting Large Genetic Mutations 

Linked to Major Diseases

Many serious diseases, including autism, schizophrenia and numerous 

cardiac disorders, are believed to result from mutation of an 

individual’s DNA. But some large mutations, which still make up only 

a small fraction of the total human genome, have been surprisingly 

challenging to detect.

Now, NIST researchers have developed a way for laboratories to 

determine how accurately they can detect these mutations, which take 

the form of large insertions and deletions in the human genome. The 

new method and the benchmark material enable researchers, clinical 

labs and commercial technology developers to better identify large 

genome changes they now miss and will help them reduce false 

detections of genome changes.

The researchers presented their new benchmark in Nature 

Biotechnology.

The "book analogy" is a 

popular way of explaining 

genome changes. If the 

human genome is considered 

a book, a new NISTdeveloped benchmark will 

help scientists better detect 

large chapters that are 

missing (deleted chapters) or 

not in the original (inserted 

chapters). Credit: N. 

Hanacek/NIST

Connie Remoroza operates a mass 

spectrometer, a laboratory instrument used to 

identify chemical compounds. “We want to find 

out as many details as we can about milk 

because it is so important, but so little is known 

about its chemistry,” Remoroza said. Credit: R. 

Press/NIST
26

2.4.4 Comb on a Chip

As part of the NIST on a Chip program, NIST scientists and their 

University of California at Santa Barbra collaborators have demonstrated 

that microcombs—a device with hundreds of evenly spaced, sharply 

defined frequencies, that can be used to measure the colors of light 

waves with great precision—created from the semiconductor aluminum 

gallium arsenide have two essential properties that make them especially 

promising. The new combs operate at such low power that they do not 

need an amplifier, and they can be manipulated to produce an 

extraordinarily steady set of frequencies—exactly what is needed to use 

the microchip comb as a sensitive tool for measuring frequencies with 

extraordinary precision.

Small enough to fit on a chip, miniature versions of these combs are 

making possible a new generation of atomic clocks, a great increase in 

the number of signals traveling through optical fibers, and the ability to 

discern tiny frequency shifts in starlight that hint at the presence of 

unseen planets. “The newly developed microcomb technology can help 

enable engineers and scientists to make precision optical frequency measurements outside the 

laboratory,” said NIST scientist Gregory Moille. In addition, the microcomb can be massproduced through nanofabrication techniques similar to the ones already used to manufacture 

microelectronics.

The researcher published their findings in Laser and Photonic Reviews.

2.4.5 Spotlight on N-STEP Graduates

N-STEP provides commercial opportunities for motivated researchers to build upon the 

experience they gained, while working at NIST, as they explore entrepreneurial careers. For 

National Entrepreneruship Week, the Technology Partnerships Office interviewed N-STEP 

graduates about their experiences. 

Javier Atencia, a graduate of the N-STEP program said, “I spent several years at NIST 

developing new technology to leverage micro-scale phenomena.” They continued, “This resulted 

in a significant number of disclousres and eight issued patents. The company I founded is 

commercializing one of those inventions.” Regarding the outcome of the N-STEP program, 

Javier said, “The program allowed us to move to an incubator at the university of Maryland in 

College Park where we purchased critical tools and machines to move the technology to the next 

level. The project was a total success. Not only did we meet the milestones set forward in the 

proposal, but we went well beyond them. The N-STEP program allowed us to de-risk the 

technology and move substantially forward in the path of commercialization.”

Experimental setup to 

generate a set of stable 

frequencies in a 

cryogenically cooled laser 

microresonator frequency 

comb. 

Credit: NIST Credit: NIST
27

2.4.6 SRM in Space

NIST’s thermal insulation standard reference materials are used 

to evaluate commonly used insulation materials such as cellular 

plastics, fiberglass, or mineral wool for buildings. But, NIST’s 

thermal insulation also SRM played a role in helping the 

European Space Agency and Japanese Aerospace Exploration 

Agency test their BepiColombo probe that is headed to Mercury.

To keep cool around all the radiation in space, the craft needs to 

collect heat with solar panels, transfer it through the panel’s 

supporting structures, and push it back out into the stellar 

beyond. 

The NIST SRM allowed the agencies to determine if their 

probe’s materials were up to the task of cooling the craft. The 

researchers use NIST’s SRMs to make sure their own test 

methods were accurate. This helped the agencies scientists ensure that the supporting structures 

were doing what they were designed to do.

2.4.7 NIST Adds New ‘Fingerprints’ to Chemical Identification Database

NIST has updated its database of chemical fingerprints, 

called mass spectra, that are used to identify unknown 

chemical compounds. The NIST Spectral Library and its new 

version, called NIST20 is used in health care, drug discovery, 

foods and fragrances, oil and natural gas, environmental 

protection, foresinsic science, and almost every other 

industry that manufactures or measures physical stuff. “If you 

have a mysterious substance—you have no idea what it is—

you generate its fingerprints then run those prints through our 

library,” said NIST biostatistican Tyuts Mak. “If you find a 

match, you know what the substance is.”

This update includes more than 14,000 human and plant 

metabolites. Those are the substances formed when living 

things break down food, drugs or their own tissue, such as when you burn fat by exercising. 

Medical tests often involve identifying metabolites in blood or urine. Plant metabolites make up 

an even larger univerise of chemical compounds. They are in everything we eat and are 

important in the agricultural sector. The update also includes pesticides and environmental 

contaminants, chemicals used in manufacturing such as lubricants and surfactants, pharmecutical 

drugs and illicit drugs such as new varieties of fentanyl, the drug that is driving a nationwide 

overdose epidemic.

2.4.8 NIST and OSTP Launch Effort to Improve Search Engines for COVID-19 Research

Researchers, clinicians, and policy makers involved with the response to COVID-19 are 

constantly searching for reliable information on the virus and its impact. NIST and the White 

How it works: Researchers check 

the SRM and our printout of its 

properties against their own 

guaraded hotplate (like the NIST 

one shown here). 

Credit: NIST Credit: NIST

NIST research chemist Kelly Telu 

injects a sample into a mass 

spectrometer, a laboratory instrument 

that scientists use to identify unknown 

chemical compounds.

Credit: Credit:M. Delorme/ NIST NIST
28

House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) launched a joint effort to support the 

development of search engines for research that will help in the fight against COVID-19. The 

result of this effort was TREC-COVID, a collaboration among the Allen Institute for Artificial 

Intelligence (AI2), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the National 

Library of Medicine (NLM), Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), and the University 

of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).

Based on the Text Retreieval Conference (TREC) model, TREC-COVID built a set of 

Information Retrieval (IR) test collections based on the CORD-19 data sets. The results of the 

TREC-COVID Challenge identify answers for some of today's questions and create 

infrastructure to improve tomorrow's search systems. The final document and topic sets together 

with the cumulative relevance judgments comprise a COVID test collection called TRECCOVID Complete. The incremental nature of the collection as viewed through the successive 

rounds supports research on search systems for dynamic environments.

2.4.9 NIST Scientists Create New Recipe for Single-Atom Transistors

Once unimaginable, transistors consisting only of several-atom 

clusters or even single atoms promise to become the building 

blocks of a new generation of computers with unparalleled 

memory and processing power. But to realize the full potential of 

these tiny transistors — miniature electrical on-off switches —

researchers must find a way to make many copies of these 

notoriously difficult-to-fabricate components. Researchers at 

NIST and their University of Maryland colleagues have 

developed a step-by-step recipe to produce the atomic-scale 

devices.

Fabricating single-atom transistors “is a difficult and complicated process that maybe everyone 

has to cut their teeth on, but we’ve laid out the steps so that other teams don’t have to proceed by 

trial and error,” said NIST scientist Curt Richter.

2.4.10 NIST Helps Build Accurate Measurement Infrastructure for 5G Communications

As fifth-generation (5G) devices and networks begin to roll out, NIST is helping to build the 

crucial measurement infrastructure for emerging wireless systems by developing new 

measurement methods and analysis tools and by facilitating the sharing of 5G performance data. 

These resources can help industry optimize designs for many applications, including cellphones, 

the internet of things, virtual reality, smart manufacturing and autonomous vehicles.

The 5G mmWave Channel Model Alliance, organized by NIST to address the need for accurate 

channel measurements and models, now has more than 175 participants representing 80 

academic, government and industry research organizations worldwide. The Alliance has

produced dozens of datasets and complex models for 5G communications scenarios ranging from 

offices to shopping malls to outdoor areas. These resources are publicly available and used by 

many companies and some organizations that set telecommunications standards. The group has 

Artist’s illustration of part of the 

method developed by NIST to make 

single-atom transistors.

Credit: Credit:S. Kelley/ NIST NIST
29

also developed best-practice measurement guidelines for instrumentation used at these 

frequencies.

2.4.11 Roll-Up TVs and Benadable Smartphones: Toward More Choices for Flexible 

Electronic Materials

A future with foldable, bendable, flexible and ultrathin 

electronics is fast becoming our present. The materials 

responsible for these consumer goods are typically polymers—

plastics—that conduct electricity. To better understand this 

promising class of substances, scientists at NIST developed a 

technique that uses light to quickly and accurately test materials’ 

conductivity—and potentially reveal behavior that other methods 

could not. Now, the NIST team has demonstrated the further 

usefulness of this light-based method by using it to uncover 

behavior in one polymer that no one had seen before.

The scientists report their results today in The Journal of Physical 

Chemistry C. The work is NIST’s latest contribution to the quest to develop measurement tools 

to study novel materials for use in all different kinds of electronic transmission, from bendable 

biosensors to mobile phones and solar cells.

“There is a growing market for flexible displays and smartphones, and keeping things smaller, 

more flexible and easier to mass produce,” said Tim Magnanelli, NIST research chemist and 

National Research Council postdoctoral fellow. “Streamlining the conductivity testing process 

could be very valuable to industry researchers who just want to know, ‘Are we going in the right 

direction with a particular modification? Does this make the material better?’”

One way to visualize strands of 

PCDTPT, the conductive plastic 

material researchers studied in 

this work, is a collection of gummy 

worms.

Credit: Credit:Sean NISTKelley/NIST
30

3 NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) mission is to understand and 

predict changes in climate, weather, oceans, and coasts; to share that knowledge and information 

with others; and to conserve and manage coastal and marine ecosystems and resources. This 

mission will become ever more critical in the 21st century as national issues related to climate 

change; limited freshwater supply, ecosystem management, and homeland security intensify. 

The NOAA technology and innovation enterprise consists of more than 50 laboratories, 

programs, and offices headquartered in Silver Spring, MD, and staffed across the United States, 

supporting NOAA’s four service-based Line Offices: the National Marine Fisheries Service, the 

National Ocean Service, the National Weather Service, and the National Environmental Satellite, 

Data, and Information Service, as well as thematic programs including Climate, Aquaculture, 

Arctic, Ocean Exploration and Research, Weather and Air Quality, and Ocean Acidification. 

While the service-based Line Offices each have an R&D component, the entire enterprise is also 

supported by a dedicated R&D Line Office: The Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research.

Research across NOAA’s laboratories is primarily aimed at improving the ability of the 

operational components to accomplish their respective missions. Recent examples 

demonstrating the direction of NOAA’s research are:

• severe storm (hurricane, tornado, derecho winds) and drought forecasting

• physical forecasts for renewable energy siting

• predicting freshwater resources

• tsunami warnings

• air quality measurement

• solar emission forecasting

• monitoring and estimating of fish stocks and species health

• coastal habitat monitoring and pollution

• invasive species monitoring

• coral reef health

• ocean acidification

• coastal/ocean disaster response and restoration

• charting ocean bottom topography

• a wide variety of climate research and the impacts of a changing climate on human 

health, coastal zone management, and oceans. 

Research results are routinely transitioned to NOAA’s operational components to improve 

prediction, management, and other mission activities.

3.1 APPROACH AND PLANS FOR TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

The vast majority of NOAA’s transfer of technology outside of the organization happens through 

peer-reviewed scientific publications and the provision of data and software-based decision-
31

support tools which are delivered directly to the public and stakeholders in service to the NOAA 

mission of protecting lives and property. The remainder of NOAA’s technology transfers are the 

result of partnerships, grants, and other formal technology transfer mechanisms such as patent 

license agreements. 

The following is an overview of NOAA’s technology transfer activity, both formal and informal, 

during FY 2020. 

3.1.1 Program and Portfolio Management

The NOAA TPO, housed under the NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research 

(OAR), manages a central technology transfer program for all NOAA Labs, Centers, Programs, 

and external partners. 

In 2017, the NOAA TPO developed a revised five-year strategic plan to ensure the program is 

effectively serving its customers and management. The Plan was refined in 2018 to more closely 

align with the Department of Commerce Strategic Plan and was included in our annual report. 

The NOAA TPO will likely update this strategic plan again in 2020 to better align with NOAA 

goals.

The following are selected reports of progress planned for 2020:

Goal 1: Enhance Innovation within NOAA and the Nation

Activity 1.2: Increase the number of CRADAs with U.S. Private Sector 

Progress Update:

NOAA CRADA activity rebounded in 2020, up from a lower 2019 level of activity, 

despite the COVID 19 lockdowns. Active CRADA numbers have remained steady. The 

NOAA TPO continues to educate staff internally and to engage with the U.S. private 

sector at selected events. The NOAA TPO has also been directly engaged in the 

development of NOAA’s new Science and Technology Focus Area Strategies to ensure 

public-private partnerships are encouraged.

Goal 2: Enhance Job Creation within the U.S. Economy

Activity 2.2: Increase adoption rate for NOAA technologies

Progress Update:

The NOAA TPO has been a key driver in the internal effort to standardize NOAA’s 

approach to licensing of software and data products. The NOAA TPO has submitted a 

revised draft of its NOAA Administrative Order for approval. This new Order outlines 

the general principles NOAA will follow for technology dissemination. 

The NOAA TPO has also been directly engaged in the development of the NOAA 

guidance for software licensing and public distribution. This guidance is now being 
32

transitioned to a formal NOAA Administrative Order, which will increase awareness and 

adoption of the processes.

Both documents will lead to a more coherent and coordinated approach to releasing 

NOAA’s software and data products to industry and to the public. 

Goal 3: Enhance Resilience and Security

Task 3.2: Increase public private partnerships in Aquaculture

Progress Update:

Currently, nine of NOAA’s 46 active CRADAs (19.5%) are in Aquaculture, with three 

additional aquaculture CRADAs under development. 

In FY 20 NOAA entered into multiple facilities-use partnerships in aquaculture. These 

partnerships, enabled under the CRADA authority, have ensured full exploitation of 

taxpayer funded facilities, while allowing fledgling U.S. entities the opportunity to grow. 

Goal 4: Improve Integration, Function, and Profile of the NOAA TPO

Task 2: Increase NOAA TPO input to Intra and Interagency Groups

Progress Update:

As mentioned above, the NOAA TPO is an active member in the development of 

NOAA’s Science and Technology Focus Area Strategies and will be involved in the 

implementation plans for many of these efforts. In addition, the TPO is an active member 

on the NOAA Blue Economy Executive Committee, which aims to develop a 5-year Blue 

Economy Strategic Plan. 

3.2 STATUTORILY REQUIRED METRIC TABLES

NOAA filed two (2) provisional patent applications and one (1) non-provisional application in 

2020.

NOAA researchers disclosed three software innovations, two hardware inventions, and one 

method invention. The rights for the software inventions were consolidated and the products 

were released under a Creative Commons Zero public domain designation. NOAA now 

maintains an active portfolio of 15 technologies, four of which are being marketed for licensees 

or are being actively commercialized. 

The licensing portfolio consists of six (6) active invention licenses, two of which have been 

executed through university partners, and three (3) research and development licenses. The 

NOAA-issued invention licenses include three exclusive licenses, and one non-exclusive license, 

all of which are income-bearing. 

NOAA’s Labs, Centers, and Programs executed 14 new Cooperative Research and Development 

Agreements (CRADAs) in FY 2020. One of these agreements was with small businesses. 
33

Factoring in the new and expiring agreements, the total NOAA CRADA portfolio is 46 active 

CRADAs. 

Table 23: NOAA Invention Disclosures and Patenting

Metric FY 2020

Invention Disclosures Received 6

Total Patent Applications Filed 1

U.S. 1

Foreign 0

Total Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Applications 

Filed 0

Total Patents Issued 0

U.S. 0

Foreign 0
34

Table 24: NOAA Licensing

Table 24: NOAA Income from Licensing

FY 2020

Invention Licenses, Total Active 6

New Invention Licenses 0

New Invention Licenses Granted to Small 

Businesses 0

Income Bearing Licenses, Total Active 6

New Income Bearing Licenses 0

Exclusive, Total Active 4

Partially Exclusive, Total Active 0

Non-Exclusive, Total Active 2

Other Licenses, Total Active 0

New Other Licenses 0

New Other Licenses Granted to Small 

Businesses 0

Elapsed Amount of Time for Granting Invention Licenses

Average (months) n/a

Minimum (months) n/a

Maximum (months) n/a

Licenses Terminated for Cause 0

FY 2020

Invention License Income $111,834

Other License Income $0

Total Earned Royalty Income (ERI) $108,234

ERI from Top 1% of Licenses $102,734

ERI from Top 5% of Licenses $102,734

ERI from Top 20% of Licenses $102,734

Minimum ERI $500

Maximum ERI $102,734

Median ERI $27,959

Disposition of ERI

Percentage Distributed to Inventors 34%

Percentage Distributed to Lab/Agency 66%
35

Table 26: NOAA Collaborative Agreements

3.3 OTHER IMPORTANT NOAA PERFORMANCE MEASURES 

3.3.1 Data Products and Services

NOAA data support a wide range of multi-billion dollar economic sectors in the U.S. and the 

global economy and is possibly the most impactful example of technology transfer NOAA 

provides. Express couriers, rail systems, retailers, and third-party weather forecasts rely on this 

free and publicly available information to determine routes, weather risks, seasonal 

merchandising, and scheduling. Ocean and coastal data give the fishing industry tools to 

determine prime fishing locations through private forecasters who build fishing reports using 

archived data. NOAA continues to improve and expand public access to its data. NOAA’s Big 

Data Program is an ongoing example of these efforts, which is starting to show some commercial 

success.

3.3.2 Decision Support Tools

NOAA’s labs and programs develop a wide variety of dedicated software tools and websites that 

bring data to the public in a user-friendly format to enable effective decision-support. In many 

cases, these sites are developed in conjunction with academia and private sector partners.

3.3.3 Cooperative Institutes 

NOAA supports a network of 20 Cooperative Institutes at 69 universities and research 

institutions across 27 states and the District of Columbia. Some Cooperative Institutes are 

located near NOAA laboratories or science centers, creating a strong, long-term collaboration 

between federal and university scientists. The work done through the Cooperative Institutes 

directly supports NOAA’s mission activities and results in similar technology transfer 

opportunities. NOAA’s Technology Partnerships Office works closely with the technology 

transfer offices from the Institutes to jointly manage intellectual property and seek out licensing 

partners.

FY 2020

Total Active CRADAs 46

New CRADAs 14

New CRADAs Involving Small Businesses 4

Other Collaborative Agreements 0
36

3.3.4 Publications22

In FY 2020, peer-reviewed publications by NOAA federal scientists totaled 1,755. The 

following charts show the breakdown of publications, including publications from NOAA and 

NOAA-funded sources. 

Table 25: NOAA Publication Count by Quarter23

3.3.5 Science on a Sphere®

Science on a Sphere® (SOS) is a room-sized, global display system (U.S. Patent 6,937,210) that 

uses computers and video projectors to display planetary data onto a six-foot diameter sphere, 

analogous to a giant animated globe. Researchers at NOAA developed Science on a Sphere® as 

an educational tool to help illustrate Earth System science to people of all ages. Animated images 

of atmospheric storms, climate change, and ocean temperature can be shown on the sphere, 

which is used to explain complex environmental processes in a way that is simultaneously 

intuitive and captivating.

Table 28: SOS Installations

22 NOAA publications data for 2020 were derived on October 9, 2020, using queries through the Web of Science 

database. As a result of variations in titles and nomenclature, these data do not provide a comprehensive measure of 

all NOAA publications. This reporting includes only those publications by NOAA scientists that were captured by 

the search queries. Due to a lag in indexing of articles in Web of Science this report does not reflect all articles 

published in FY2020 Q4.

Quarter 

(FY 2020)

Authored 

Articles

Funded Articles 

(including 

authored pubs)

Funded Articles 

(without 

authored pubs)

Total NOAAAuthored and 

Funded Articles

Q1 525 760 482 1,007

Q2 519 739 461 980

Q3 410 595 383 793

Q4 301 431 285 583

Total FY 2020 1,755 2,525 1,611 3,363

FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020

SOS Installations

Total Number in Operation 135 144 155 165 169

 New Domestic 3 6 3 7 5

 New International 6 3 8 8 3

 Total New Installs 9 9 11 15 8
37

3.3.6 NOAA-Funded (Extramural) R&D

3.3.6.1 NOAA Sea Grant

The National Sea Grant College Program was 

established by the U.S. Congress in 1966 and 

works to create and maintain a healthy coastal 

environment and economy. The Sea Grant network 

consists of a federal/university partnership 

between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration (NOAA) and 34 university-based 

programs in every coastal and Great Lakes state, 

Puerto Rico, and Guam. The network draws on the 

expertise of more than 3,000 scientists, engineers, 

public outreach experts, educators, and students to 

help citizens better understand, conserve and 

utilize America's coastal resources.

3.3.6.2 U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System Program (IOOS®)

IOOS is a national-regional partnership working to provide new tools and forecasts to improve 

safety, enhance the economy, and protect our environment. Integrated ocean information is 

available in near real-time, as well as retrospectively.

3.3.6.2.1 Ocean Technology Transition (OTT) Program

The OTT looks for developing ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes observing, product development, 

and data management technologies for which there is a known need and steps in to accelerate its 

transition to operations. These technologies include hardware and software platforms, sensors, 

and data management aimed at improving available ocean information to support decision 

making for the coastal ocean, and Great Lakes’ environments.

For 2020, IOOS, in conjunction with the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP), 

sought projects focused on regional coastal ocean observing systems and advancing data 

management and cyberinfrastructure for observations. The Program supported six projects with 

the high opportunity for successful transition. 

3.3.6.3 Climate Program Office

The Climate Program Office (CPO) manages the competitive research program in which NOAA 

funds high-priority climate science to advance understanding of Earth's climate system and its 

atmospheric, oceanic, land, and snow and ice components. This science contributes to knowledge 

about how climate variability and change affect our health, economy, and well-being. The Office 

supports research that is conducted in regions across the United States, at national and 

international scales, and globally.
38

3.3.6.3.1 Fire Influence on Regional and Global Environments Experiment (FIREX)

The Fire Influence on Regional and Global Environments Experiment (FIREX) is a field 

campaign designed to understand and predict the impact of North American fires on the 

atmosphere and to support better land management to help prevent them from occurring. 

The Chiwaukum Fire in Washington State in 2014. (Washington Department of Natural Resources)

Fires in the Western U.S. are regular seasonal events that greatly affect air quality and climate 

through the production and direct release into the atmosphere of trace gases and particulates, and 

their subsequent chemical evolution and transport. A number of field campaigns and laboratory 

studies have been undertaken in recent years that have provided data on various aspects of 

emission products resulting from biomass burning, their chemical composition, chemical and 

physical transformation, and their eventual impact on air quality and climate.

Over the next 5 years, NOAA’s Chemical Science Division (CSD) of the Earth System Research 

Laboratory is planning to add to the available knowledge of atmospheric composition resulting 

from biomass burning by focusing on fires in the Western U.S. FIREX will span a variety of 

ground, mobile, and aircraft measurements, in addition to chamber and Fire Science Laboratory 

experiments.

3.3.7 Education and Outreach

3.3.7.1 Environmental Literacy for a Blue Planet

Environmental Education BLUE or eeBLUE is a five-year partnership between NOAA Office of 

Education and the North American Association for Environmental Literacy (NAAEE) to help 

create a more environmentally literate society that has the knowledge, skills, and motivation to 

conserve our natural resources and build more resilient communities across the country. 

Partnership activities strengthen professional networks, support high-quality STEM education, 

and provide education and outreach for educators and other audiences.
39

3.3.8 NOAA Technology Transfer Awards

NOAA selected three projects to receive the Agency’s Technology Transfer Award in 2020. 

These projects exemplified the highest standard for developing new technology in cooperation 

with private sector partners in the service of NOAA’s mission. 

• Richard Stumpf, Michelle C. Tomlinson, D. Rance Hardison, William C. 

Holland, Wayne R. Litaker: For development and transition to citizen 

scientists, technology that gives beachgoers in Florida forecast of respiratory 

irritation from red tides. 

• Benjamin Johnson: For innovative development of an inexpensive, automated 

river gage and transfer of that technology to the private sector through a CRADA. 

• RuShan Gao, Steven J. Ciciora: For creating a unique instrument to measure 

atmospheric particles and helping a small company successfully commercialize it 

to yield $1M+ in sales.

3.4 SUCCESS STORIES DEMONSTRATING DOWNSTREAM OUTCOMES FROM 

NOAA TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER ACTIVITIES

3.4.1 Mayday.ai Applies Artificial Intelligence to NOAA Satellite Imagery to Detect 

Natural Disasters, Starting with Wildfires

NOAA’s Big Data Program, which was launched in 2016, 

provided the general public the ability to access and analyze near 

real-time data feeds from NOAA satellites and other NOAA data 

sources via the major U.S. Cloud Service Platforms. This access 

eliminated the need for a satellite dish and a supercomputer to 

analyze and develop products and services from these data. This 

low-cost access to near real-time data, together with the powerful 

computing resources and advanced AI technology available on the 

Cloud Service Providers’ platforms, has opened the doors for small 

startups and innovators, such as California-based startup 

Mayday.ai.

Mayday.ai was founded in May 2018 with the mission to help save 

lives, reduce costs and impacts of disasters, and protect the 

environment. Using multiple resources, including satellites, traffic 

cameras and social media, Mayday.ai has developed a cloud-based 

platform which can provide centralized early warning and dispatch 

for first responders and emergency managers combating highimpact events, such as wildfires. 
40

The 2020 fire season was unprecedented in California, Oregon, and beyond, which put 

Mayday.ai’s concept quickly to the test and provided multiple opportunities to evaluate 

and fine tune this early-warning technology. Mayday.ai has been training its analysis 

engine using Machine Learning to see through partial clouds, which has enabled 

Mayday.ai to detect a high proportion of wildfire events up to 15 minutes after starting 

and well in advance of 911 calls reporting the incidents. 

3.4.2 NOAA Digital Coast

The Digital Coast was developed to meet 

the unique needs of the coastal 

management community. The website 

provides not only coastal data, but also the 

tools, training, and information needed to 

make these data truly useful. Content 

comes from many sources, all of which are 

vetted by NOAA.

Data sets range from economic data to 

satellite imagery. The site contains 

visualization tools, predictive tools, and 

tools that make data easier to find and use. 

Training courses are available online or can 

be held at the user’s location. Information 

is also organized by focus area or topic.

Technology Application:

Miami-Dade County recognized the need 

for a cohesive plan for adapting to climate 

change. Their Office of Sustainability 

worked with the NOAA Office for Coastal 

Management to host a workshop. 

At the workshop, county department 

representatives learned how sea level rise 

could affect their county and generated 

ideas for adaptation strategies. To help 

participants fully understand local sea level 

rise predictions, maps were developed 

showing sea level rise and saltwater 

intrusion, and impacts to land cover and land use, zoning, emergency facilities, human 

infrastructure, and important natural features.

Examining flood zones with societal information helps county 

employees think about how increased flooding from sea level 

rise will impact their work. Credit: NOAA
41

3.4.3 Machine-Learning Tool May Improve Space Weather Forecasts

Changing conditions on the Sun and in space—broadly called “space weather”—can 

affect various technologies on Earth, blocking radio communications, damaging power 

grids and diminishing navigation system accuracy. So Cooperative Institute for Research 

in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) scientists at NOAA’s National Centers for 

Environmental Information and CU Boulder developed a machine-learning technique to 

search massive amounts of satellite data and pick out features significant for space 

weather. 

Credit: University of Colorado, Boulder

“Being able to process solar data in real time is important because flares erupting on the 

Sun impact Earth over the course of minutes,” said Rob Steenburgh, a forecaster in the 

NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado. 

To predict incoming space weather, forecasters summarize current conditions on the Sun 

twice daily. They use hand-drawn maps labeled with various solar features, including 

active regions, filaments and coronal hole boundaries. But solar imagers produce a new 

set of observations every few minutes: the Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI) on NOAA’s 

GOES-R Series satellites runs on a 4-minute cycle, collecting data in six different 

wavelengths every cycle. Keeping up with all that data would take up a lot of a 

forecaster’s time.

The algorithm’s skill at finding patterns assists short-term forecasting and also scientists 

evaluating long-term solar data. “Because the algorithm can look at 20 years’ worth of 

images and find patterns in the data, we’ll be able to answer questions and solve 

problems that have been intractable,” Seaton said. 

3.4.4 NOAA Teams Up with Viking to Conduct and Share Science Aboard New Great 

Lakes Expedition Voyages

NOAA plans to expand its research in the Great Lakes region as the agency teams up 

with the travel company Viking to carry scientists aboard new expedition voyages 

planned to begin in 2022.
42

As part of the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement, NOAA scientists will 

join Viking expeditions in the Great Lakes to conduct research focused on changes in the 

region’s weather, climate, ecosystems and maritime heritage resources. NOAA scientists 

will also serve on the Viking Scientific Advisory Committee. 

“We are very excited about the ways that our scientists can expand their research in the 

Great Lakes with sensors and testing aboard the new ship,” said Deborah Lee, Director of 

NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. “We also welcome the 

chance to help people learn about the richness and maritime heritage of the Great Lakes 

as well as the environmental challenges it faces.”

This rendering shows what the new Viking expedition ships will look like, including the hangar for launching small 

vessels. Credit: Viking

Viking’s arrival in the Great Lakes in 2022 will bring a new vessel with advanced 

research capabilities to explore this region of North America and will mark a major 

commitment to local tourism and economic development for the states of Michigan, 

Minnesota and Wisconsin, as well as the Canadian province of Ontario.

Viking’s new expedition voyages will be hands-on learning experiences; guests will 

explore their destinations while also having the opportunity to engage with working 

scientists in the ship’s laboratory or participate directly in citizen science programs. 

This public-private collaboration will draw global attention to NOAA’s research, 

laboratories and programs in the Great Lakes region. The new Great Lakes itineraries will 

include opportunities for guests to visit NOAA Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary

on Lake Huron in Alpena, Michigan, and the Lake Superior National Estuarine Research 

Reserve (NERR) in Superior, Wisconsin, among many other locations. NOAA Great 

Lakes scientists and program leaders will be on board and engage with guests as they 

advance Great Lakes ecosystems research.
43

The new Polar Class 6 Viking Octantis will debut in 2022 in the Great Lakes. This ship 

and a second ship, Viking Polaris, which will be used in the Arctic and Antarctica, are 

small enough to navigate remote polar regions and the St. Lawrence River, while large 

enough to provide superior handling and stability in the roughest seas.

Science onboard 

The new ships, while hosting guests, will also be research vessels with an onboard team 

of Viking resident scientists working on a variety of studies. Each ship is equipped with a 

FerryBox, a set of instruments continuously collecting and displaying data on water 

quality, oxygen content, plankton composition, and more. A key attribute of the venture 

is the continuous, simultaneous collection of these Great Lakes vital signs along the 

repetitive ship routes, which allows scientists to monitor changes on scales of season, 

years, and even decades. The laboratory on each ship is also designed to support a broad 

range of research activities and is equipped with wet and dry laboratory facilities, a 

sample processing area, fume cupboard, freezer and cool storage, comprehensive 

microscope optics, and extensive bench space for analysis-specific instruments. 

NOAA has collaborated with commercial vessels for scientific purposes before. In 2019, 

for instance, NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) 

installed and tested autonomous carbon-dioxide-measuring instruments aboard the 

Celebrity cruise ship Flora. Each time the Flora sails to the Galapagos Islands, the 

instruments will measure CO2 levels in the surface waters around the ship, providing 

insights into the health of this part of the ocean. NOAA’s Ships of Opportunity (SOPs) or 

Volunteer Observing Ships (VOSs) are another example of non-research ships such as,

commercial cargo ships or ferries, that provide unique and valuable opportunities to 

collect ocean surface data for use in NOAA science.

The new collaboration with Viking also supports NOAA’s goals to embrace 

transformative advances in science and technology through public-private partnerships, 

which were announced at the November 2019 White House Summit on Partnerships in 

Ocean Science and Technology.

3.4.5 NOAA Printed Optical Spectrometer (POPS) Delivered to the International Space 

Station

A miniaturized aerosol spectrometer developed by scientists in the NOAA Chemical 

Sciences Laboratory (CSL) reached new heights on Monday, October 5 when it was 

delivered by a cargo capsule to the International Space Station (ISS) orbiting more than 

250 miles above Earth's surface. The Portable Optical Particle Spectrometer (POPS) will 

help monitor air quality in the main living area of the space station.

Developed by NOAA physicist Ru-Shan Gao, POPS uses an on-board laser to measure 

and count aerosol particles between 140 nanometers to 2.5 micrometers in diameter. A 

micrometer is 1/1000th of a millimeter. A nanometer is 1,000 times smaller than that. At 
44

six inches long and 1.3 pounds, POPS is about one tenth the size and one fifth the cost of 

comparable instruments.

The instrument was integrated into Aerosol Dynamics Inc's Ambient Particle Monitor,

and ferried to the space station along with four tons of science experiments, crew supplies 

and station hardware on the Cygnus resupply capsule carried on an Antares rocket 

launched from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia.

In a spacecraft cabin environment, the size range of indoor aerosols is much larger, and 

they persist longer than on Earth because they are not removed by gravitational settling. 

High concentrations of inhalable particles on the space station may be responsible for 

crew complaints of respiratory and eye irritation and comments about 'dusty' air reported 

to NASA. POPS will participate in a flight experiment which will provide data on 

floating particulate matter in the air inside the space station. Samples will be returned to 

Earth for chemical and microscopic analyses and will provide the first look at aerosol 

composition in the spacecraft.

POPS instrument

NOAA CSL's Portable Optical Particle Spectrometer (POPS) uses an on-board laser to 

measure tiny suspended particles that influence stratospheric chemistry and reflect 

incoming sunlight. The miniaturized instrument, designed by CSL researchers in 

Boulder, Colorado, weighs 1.3 pounds and is about the size of a lunch box.

NOAA CSL's Portable Optical Particle Spectrometer (POPS) uses an on-board laser to measure tiny suspended 

particles that influence stratospheric chemistry and reflect incoming sunlight. The miniaturized instrument, designed 

by CSL researchers in Boulder, Colorado, weighs 1.3 pounds and is about the size of a lunch box. (Credit: NOAA)

The small size and light weight have earned POPS another high-flying mission in 2021. 

The instrument will be incorporated as a science payload launched by the Arizona 

company World View, for a series of high-altitude, long-duration flights aboard the 

company's "Stratollite" balloons for a uniquely detailed look at the composition of Earth's 

stratosphere.
45

Stratospheric particles, or aerosols, play a key role in moderating Earth's climate system 

by scattering or reflecting sunlight as it nears the surface and by modifying the formation 

of clouds. The stratosphere also holds the Earth's protective ozone layer, which absorbs 

ultraviolet radiation that can damage cellular structure, increase the risk of skin cancer 

and cataracts, and suppress the human immune system. Aerosols in the stratosphere act as 

surfaces for chemical reactions to occur, such as those that lead to depletion of the ozone 

layer.

The size range of particles that POPS can detect is particularly important for 

understanding the climate since they are both small enough to accumulate in the 

atmosphere instead of settling out, and large enough to efficiently reflect sunlight. The 

data will play a role in helping NOAA to understand baseline conditions in the 

stratosphere.

POPS has also been successfully transitioned to the commercial sector. In 2015, Dr. Gao 

disclosed the POPS to the NOAA Technology Partnerships Office (TPO), which filed a 

provisional patent application on the technology in June 2015. Later that year, TPO 

signed a non-exclusive license to commercialize the device with Handix Scientific of 

Boulder, Colorado.
46

4 NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION 

ADMINISTRATION: INSTITUTE FOR TELECOMMUNICATION 

SCIENCES 

The Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS) is the nation’s spectrum and 

communications lab. ITS provides technical engineering support to NTIA and serves as a 

principal federal resource for solving telecommunications concerns of other federal agencies, 

state and local governments, private corporations and associations, and international 

organizations through Interagency Agreements and CRADAs. Roughly three-quarters of ITS 

research programs are undertaken under such agreements. This includes assisting the FCC and 

federal defense, public safety, and other agencies that use federal and non-federal spectrum.

4.1 APPROACH AND PLANS FOR TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

ITS efforts in technology transfer and commercialization foster cooperative telecommunications 

research in areas where U.S. companies can directly benefit from improved competitiveness and 

market opportunities. ITS uses three principal means for achieving technology transfer: 

• Cooperative research and development

• Technical publications, open data, and software tools

• Leadership and technical contributions in the development of telecommunications 

standards

For 18 of the past 22 years, ITS has also hosted the International Symposium on Advanced 

Radio Technologies (ISART), a U.S. government-sponsored conference that brings together 

government, academia, and industry leaders for the purpose of collaborating on groundbreaking 

developments and applications of advanced radio technologies. In FY 2020, the virtual 

symposium drew over 200 attendees and 50 panelists on the topic of 5G Spectrum and a ZeroTrust Network. Presentations, video archives, and proceedings are available online.
47

4.2 STATUTORILY REQUIRED METRIC TABLES

Table 26: NTIA ITS Invention Disclosures and Patenting

Metric FY 2020

Invention Disclosures Received 0

Total Patent Applications Filed 0

U.S. 0

Foreign 0

Total Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Applications 

Filed 0

Total Patents Issued 0

U.S. 0

Foreign 0
48

Table 27: NTIA ITS Licensing24

24 Since FY 2008, ITS no longer licenses software technology. Instead, software is made available via open-source 

download. ITS reports zero licensing and income from licensing activity.

FY 2020

Invention Licenses, Total Active 0

New Invention Licenses 0

New Invention Licenses Granted to Small 

Businesses n/a

Income Bearing Licenses, Total Active 0

New Income Bearing Licenses 0

Exclusive, Total Active 0

Partially Exclusive, Total Active 0

Non-Exclusive, Total Active 0

Other Licenses, Total Active 0

New Other Licenses 0

New Other Licenses Granted to Small 

Businesses n/a

Elapsed Amount of Time for Granting Invention Licenses

Average (months) n/a

Minimum (months) n/a

Maximum (months) n/a

Licenses Terminated for Cause n/a
49

Table 28: NTIA ITS Income from Licensing

4.2.1 Collaborative Relationships for Research and Development

ITS is authorized under the Federal Technology Transfer Act of 1986 (FTTA) to enter into 

cooperative research agreements with private industry, universities, and other interested parties. 

ITS CRADAs protect proprietary information, grant patent rights, and provide user licenses to 

private entities. They also provide the legal basis for shared use of government facilities and 

resources with the private sector. 

In FY 2020, as it has for decades, ITS participated in CRADAs with private-sector organizations 

to design, develop, test, and evaluate advanced telecommunication concepts. CRADAs provide 

ITS with insights into industry’s needs for productivity growth and competitiveness. This 

enables ITS to adjust the focus and direction of its programs for effectiveness and value. The 

private industry partner benefits by gaining access to the results of research in commercially 

important areas that it would not otherwise be able to undertake.

To date, major contributions to citizens broadband commercial radio service (CBRS) (including 

testing and evaluation of spectrum access systems (SAS) and environmental sensing capability 

(ESC) sensors), spectrum monitoring, personal communication services (PCS), local multipoint 

distribution service (LMDS), ultra-wideband (UWB), objective audio and video Quality of 

Experience (QoE) metrics, advanced antennas for wireless systems, remote sensing and global 

position (GPS) technologies, high resolution laser radar (LADAR), autonomous networks for 

unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and broadband air-interface and core network capabilities for 

Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile communications have been achieved through CRADAs. 

These have aided U.S. efforts to rapidly introduce new socially constructive communications 

technologies. 

FY 2020

Invention License Income n/a

Other License Income n/a

Total Earned Royalty Income (ERI) n/a

ERI from Top 1% of Licenses n/a

ERI from Top 5% of Licenses n/a

ERI from Top 20% of Licenses n/a

Minimum ERI n/a

Maximum ERI n/a

Median ERI n/a

Disposition of ERI

Percentage Distributed to Inventors n/a

Percentage Distributed to Lab/Agency n/a
50

ITS was a partner in the original Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) program with 

the NIST Communications Technology Laboratory (CTL). That program focused on improving 

first responder communications and interoperability through the development of communication 

standards and through research, development, testing, and evaluation (RDT&E) of mission 

critical communication systems. This joint program operated for over two decades on behalf of 

sponsors at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ). 

Public Safety 700 MHz Broadband Demonstration Agreements (CRADAs) protected the 

intellectual property of vendors and manufacturers while operating various elements of an LTE 

network in the PSCR test bed and over-the-air (OTA) network (both hosted and managed by 

ITS) in order to test interoperability of public safety communications equipment under simulated 

field conditions, with the participation of public safety practitioners. The Broadband II 

Consortium expired in late FY 2018 and has not been renewed; since the vast majority of 

CRADAs ITS entered into in prior reporting years related to the Consortium, total number of 

CRADAs were significantly lower in later years.

Table 29: NTIA ITS Collaborative Agreements

4.3 OTHER IMPORTANT NTIA ITS PERFORMANCE MEASURES 

4.3.1 Technical Publications

Publication has historically been the means through which ITS has transferred research results to 

other researchers, the commercial sector, and government agencies. Many ITS technical 

publications—both reports and monographs published by NTIA and peer-reviewed articles in 

scientific journals—have become standard references in several telecommunications areas. 

Technical publication remains a principal means for ITS technology transfer; software releases 

are becoming increasingly important and publication downloads have been decreasing as 

software downloads increase. Technical publications are released after an internal peer review 

process managed by the ITS Editorial Review Board (ERB). In FY 2020, 57% of manuscripts 

released through the ERB process were published in scientific journals or conference 

proceedings and 43% were published as NTIA reports. While official NTIA publications allow 

greater in-depth analysis of research results, journal articles and conference papers often have 

greater reach in transferring new tools and discoveries.

4.3.2 Technical Publications Downloaded

ITS makes all of its publications available to the public through its web site and provides online 

users with advanced search capabilities to locate relevant publications by keyword. To ensure a 

FY 2020

Total Active CRADAs 16

New CRADAs 9

New CRADAs Involving Small Businesses 3

Other Collaborative Agreements 0
51

meaningful and realistic metric, ITS counts actual downloads of publication PDFs rather than 

pageviews of the bibliographic summaries. In FY 2020, ITS technical publications were 

downloaded 5,691 times.

4.3.3 Transfer of Technical Methods

High-precision measurements are key to creating and validating radio propagation models. ITS 

and its predecessors have been collecting measurement data for more than a century, creating a 

unique expertise in measurement science and techniques which has been leveraged by other 

agencies seeking data needed to coordinate with commercial entrants into spectrum bands being

opened for federal-nonfederal sharing. In FY 2020, ITS published in a peer-reviewed video 

journal the first of a planned series of video-illustrated articles that delve deeply and in detail into 

specific radiofrequency measurement techniques. The video article was viewed 1,784 times in its 

first year of publication, and it represents a continuation of a multimodal approach to transferring 

these techniques into broadspread use within the wider spectrum community. Theoretical context 

for this video article was set in a 2018 NTIA Technical Memorandum on “Best Practices for 

Radio Propagation Measurements,” which was adopted by the Defense Spectrum Organization’s 

(DSO) Spectrum Sharing Test & Demonstration (SST&D) program as a required resource to 

reduce the uncertainties of propagation measurement campaigns by commercial entrants seeking 

to coordinate sharing with DOD. The original Technical Memorandum, the series of 20 videos 

on Spectrum Measurement Theory and Techniques that combine theory and hands-on 

demonstration published on YouTube in 2019, and the 2020 peer-reviewed video journal article 

target audiences of differing scientific literacy through different media to amplify the reach of 

the best-practices message and expand message penetration.

4.3.4 Software and Data Downloads

Increasingly, technology transfer occurs through the publication of software rather than 

traditional technical reports. ITS makes several software and data tools available via open-source 

download. Reliable and robust methods of counting downloads of these tools took some time to 

develop; earlier, simpler software tools were offered as .zip files from the ITS public website, but 

over the past five years ITS increased its use of the GitHub open source code hosting platform, 

and by FY 2020 ITS had published 21 public repositories. While this allows more interaction 

with potential users of the software and can perhaps be said to broaden the audience, the open 

source paradigm also makes it more difficult to understand the impact of the software. As there 

is presently no generally accepted impact metric for GitHub repositories, ITS has added a count 

of the number of public repositories as a proxy until a more meaningful impact metric is 

determined. ITS continues to explore the development of metrics for GitHub-posted code in 

collaboration with other federal research institutions.

4.3.4.1 Propagation Prediction

ITS is, and has been for decades, a world leader in the development of models and methods for 

accurate prediction of radio propagation. Propagation prediction algorithms are freely shared 

through publication. In addition, software developed to predict propagation for planned 

communications systems through input of specific parameters to these algorithms has been 
52

developed and shared over the years, and some data sets that can be used to test and validate 

propagation prediction models are also available. The majority of downloads of ITS 

software/data are for propagation prediction tools. Open-sourcing trusted and authoritative 

propagation models meets a critical need for spectrum sharing. The C++ implementation of the 

Extended Hata (eHata) Urban Propagation Model was used to inform regulation, and the 

repository was forked by the Wireless Innovation ForumTM (WInnForum), which redistributed it 

to industry members for use in developing the Spectrum Access Systems (SAS) that enabled 

spectrum sharing using the three-tier architecture in 3.5 GHz (CBRS Band).

4.3.4.2 Audio Quality Testing

ITS has developed a family of no-reference speech quality and intelligibility estimators and is 

providing software implementations to industry, researchers, and other agencies via GitHub. 

These estimators (called WAWEnets) leverage convolutional neural networks, which are a 

specialized and very efficient type of deep neural network. This allows accurate speech quality 

and intelligibility estimates without access to any reference signal, thus expanding the utility of 

the tool to include real-time endpoint monitoring in the field.

Two earlier ITS-developed objective estimators of speech intelligibility are freely available for 

download from the ITS web site. These tools follow the paradigm of the Modified Rhyme Test 

(MRT) but consume a tiny fraction of the resources required by the conventional MRT. The 

Articulation Band Correlation MRT (ABC-MRT) provides excellent estimates of MRT 

intelligibility results (Pearson correlations of .95–.99) for narrowband speech transmissions. 

ABC-MRT16, released in FY 2017, not only updated the audition model, but also extended the 

estimator to cover wideband, superwideband, and fullband speech systems. The ITS web site

also offers a large variety of audio recordings that support the use of these tools.

4.3.4.3 Video Quality Measurement Software

ITS began researching objective video quality models in FY 1988, to address the needs of U.S.

industry to understand the complex relationship between digital video technologies, networks, 

and video quality. Rapid advances in video and network technologies make this a moving goal. 

ITS video quality research produces improved methods for human testing as well as objective 

metrics that provide users an inexpensive alternative to human testing. ITS distributes software 

for various tasks related to subjective testing (including subject screening, subjective test control, 

image filtering, color calibration, statistical analyses, and merging multiple subjective datasets 

onto a single scale) as well as software implementing objective metrics.

Objective metrics that predict human perception of video quality would allow broadcasters to 

optimize the tradeoff between bandwidth and quality in real time. Early ITS research focused on 

objective metrics that compare the current video to a pristine original, culminating in a series of 

objective video quality metrics (VQM) that are included in ATIS and ITU standards. The VQM 

software was downloaded 249 times and forked three times from GitHub in FY 2020. 

Downloads of the VQM software have been steadily decreasing as its age and changes in 

technology make it less relevant. 
53

Most contemporary video distribution technologies only have access to the current video signal 

(e.g., a pristine original never existed) and this presents a difficult challenge. Despite decades of 

research, existing no reference (NR) metrics remain too inaccurate for U.S. industry applications. 

ITS has intensified research on NR objective metrics over the past five years, but international 

experts agree that widespread collaboration is needed to build reliable NR metrics. In FY 2020, 

ITS made available a framework on GitHub that supports collaborative R&D into NR metrics for 

image and video quality. The repository was released to the public domain to stimulate an open 

exchange of ideas, information, and research to accelerate development of the robust and trusted 

NR metrics industry needs to more efficiently use increasingly crowded bandwidth. The

NRMetricFramework repository contains all of the tools, information, and statistical methods 

needed to begin research on this difficult problem. This repository has been forked twice and 

downloaded 32 times. 

4.3.4.4 Consumer Digital Video Library Users Downloading Clips

The Consumer Digital Video Library (CDVL), a web site hosted and maintained by ITS,

provides researchers access to high quality, uncompressed video clips royalty-free for use in 

video processing and video quality product development and testing. CDVL enables an open 

data solution that protects content owners’ rights, hosts large records (up to 0.5 GB), and 

provides generous terms for users. The technical committee for this collaborative project 

includes industry and academic representatives as well as ITS staff. ITS launched the site in 2010 

with 1000 clips and clips continue to be added by ITS and other collaborators. The CDVL 

website software was replaced in Q1 of FY 2020 to comply with new security policies and to 

accommodate an increasing volume of data as the site has become increasingly important to the 

wider research community. The updated website allows researchers to share entire experiments 

as open data. Significant recent additions include six experiments from ITS plus experiments 

contributed by the University of Brasília (UnB), the Delft University of Technology (TUD), 

Dolby, AGH University of Science and Technology, and the Video Quality Experts Group 

(VQEG). 

In FY 2020, 601 unique records were downloaded from the new website, by a total of 120 users. 

Self-reported demographics indicate 35% of users were from the United States, 21% China, 7% 

United Kingdom, 5% Canada, 5% India, and 3% or less from 16 other countries. The 

applications were 42% academic, 38% industry, 5% government, and 12% personal, with the 

remainder unreported. Users must register for each download or upload session. The number of 

registrants who perform downloads each year was selected as the most significant measure of the 

impact of this resource. 
54

Table 30: NTIA ITS Software and Data Downloads

* CDVL download statistics are not compared to prior years, due to suspected flaws in the prior website’s statistics.

4.3.5 Development of Telecommunication Standards

ITS works with industry to apply research results to the development of telecommunication 

performance standards and guidelines. For several decades, ITS has provided leadership and 

technical contributions to organizations, both national and international, responsible for 

developing telecommunication standards. ITS’s technical inputs are relied upon as technically 

advanced and sound, and as unbiased by commercial interests.

ITS works collaboratively with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Alliance 

for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS), the 3rd Generation Partnership Project 

(3GPP), the IEEE Standards Association, and various federal public safety groups to develop, 

interpret, analyze, and implement standards and regulations. This method of ITS technology 

transfer directly addresses improvement of U.S. competitiveness in telecommunications. For 

example, a plurality of the technical recommendations of the ITU-R, a treaty organization, are 

based on research conducted at ITS. Also, key national quality-of-service standards developed 

under the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) T1 committee for video, audio, and 

digital data incorporate research results obtained at ITS. ITS continues to chair numerous 

committees and working groups in the ITU, 3GPP, and other telecommunication standards 

organizations, providing technical leadership that is trusted by the commercial-sector 

participants.

In FY 2020, ITS staff held 28 positions in eight standards bodies, including 10 Chair/Cochair/Vice-chair positions. ITS staff filled key leadership positions in the ITU-R, including Head 

of the U.S. Delegation to Study Group (SG) 3 (Radiowave Propagation), International Chair and 

U.S. Chair of SG3 Working Parties 3K and 3L (Point-to-area and ionospheric propagation), and 

U.S. Chair of Working Party 3J (Propagation fundamentals). ITS staff also filled key leadership 

positions in the ITU-T, including Head of U.S. Delegation to Study Group 13 (Future Networks) 

and Study Group 11 (Protocols and Test Specifications). ITS staff hold the Co-Chair position for 

the ATIS 5G Supply Chain Working Group. ITS also continued its technical leadership and 

contributions to communications standards for emerging 5G technologies through participation 

in 3GPP and in that capacity, and at the behest of the National Security Council, is responsible 

for driving collaboration between U.S. Departments/Agencies participating in 3GPP. Finally, 

ITS provided technical leadership and contributions to IEEE standards for local/personal/

metropolitan area networks (LAN/PAN/MAN) through participation in IEEE 802.

FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020

Technical Publications Released 4 10 11 11 14

Technical Publications Downloaded 8,748 6,214 5,513 5,980 8,476

Consumer Digital Video Library Users Downloading * * * * 120*

Video Quality Metric Software Users Downloading 496 372 332 194 248

Propagation Modeling Software Downloads 781 1,160 1,325 1,352 1,213

Other Software/Data Downloads 591 819 661 714 875

Public GitHub Repositories 4 8 17 21 21
55

4.4 SUCCESS STORIES DEMONSTRATING DOWNSTREAM OUTCOMES FROM NTIA

ITS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER ACTIVITIES

4.4.1 Innovative Commercial Services

ITS research, technology transfer, and testing was critical to the successful commercial 

deployments of the new Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) and $4.6 billion auction of 

licenses within CBRS in 2020. When the FCC, in consultation with NTIA, created the innovative

three-tiered access and authorization framework to accommodate shared federal and non-federal

use of the 3.5 GHz band, no roadmap existed for creating and authorizing the new sharing 

system between high power federal radars and commercial mobile services. Broadly and openly 

disseminated ITS research and publications on electromagnetic compatibility between LTE and 

radars, LTE hotspot emission measurements, on-shore detections of off-shore radars, and effects 

of high-power radars on low noise amplifiers informed the development of technical 

requirements and commercial solutions. 

Initial estimates indicated that geographically very large exclusion zones would be needed to 

protect federal maritime radars from harmful interference from commercial wireless networks, 

precluding access to new services for nearly 60% of the U.S. population. ITS, working with 

NTIA’s Office of Spectrum Management (OSM), conducted analyses to decrease the initial 

exclusion zones by 77%. ITS worked closely with WInnForum to analyze the methodology they 

proposed to further facilitate dynamic protection and sharing, opening up more population-dense 

coastal geographic areas where commercial services could co-exist with federal radars and 

making a commercial service in the band economically viable. 

ITS worked with the industry-led standards organization on applying those analyses in the 

development of technical standards for a technology-neutral commercial broadband service, 

including providing critical propagation software through publication of the C++ implementation 

of the eHata propagation model. At the request of the FCC, ITS developed a certification testing 

system for environmental sensing capability sensors (ESCs) critical for protection of federal

radar systems, and conformance tests for the spectrum access systems (SAS) that leveraged the 

WInnForum SAS certification system. ITS published a technical memorandum detailing 

procedures and processes for ESC testing and published a SAS test software-based study guide 

via GitHub. Under CRADAs with industry partners, ITS conducted certification testing on ESCs 

and SASs. These test reports paved the way for the FCC, after consultation with the DoD and 

NTIA-OSM, to authorize initial commercial operations at 3.5 GHz on September 16, 2019. 

Subsequent real-world deployments proved the ITS testing regime successful, enabling the FCC 

to authorize full commercial service in 2020, and to conduct a $4.6 billion auction of priority 

access licenses within the CBRS band.

4.4.2 Telecommunication Standards

Models used to predict wireless propagation are fundamental to enabling spectrum sharing. The 

International Telecommunication Union – Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R), an international 

treaty organization, has as its primary objective to ensure interference free operations of 

radiocommunications systems. The ITU-R publishes internationally standardized propagation 
56

prediction models that are used to harmonize spectrum assignments internationally and to 

manage space-related spectrum assignments. Increasing spectrum crowding demands increased 

accuracy and granularity of these models, which are developed through the participation of 

technical committees from all the treaty nations. 

ITS leads efforts at ITU-R Study Group 3 (Radiowave Propagation) to ensure that U.S. interests 

and policy objectives are given due consideration by international technical experts and to 

promote informed decisions founded on physics and mathematics. ITS holds two of the four 

International Chairs of Study Group 3 and acts as Head of the U.S. Delegation to the Study 

Group 3 meetings. At the May 2019 meetings of SG3, ITS put forth a major revision of 

Recommendation P.528, A propagation prediction method for aeronautical mobile and 

radionavigation services using the VHF, UHF and SHF bands, along with a corresponding open

source software implementation of the model—both of which were adopted by Study Group 3. 

ITS open-sourced the reference implementation source code, a compiled DLL, and a pre-built 

executable that launches a graphical front end for this software implementation. Throughout FY 

2020, input was collected from the user community and minor updates released to GitHub, 

stimulating additional collaborative input that is expected to bear fruit as another major release 

after the July 2021 SG3 meetings. 

During FY 2020, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) acknowledged the value 

of the ITS-contributed update by incorporating the updated revision of Recommendation P.528 

into updates to their internal frequency assignment software. In addition, members of ICAO 

reach out to ITS for technical assistance with the model as well as requesting additional 

improvements in Recommendation P.528 to support the diversity of existing aeronautical 

systems—improvements that ITS proposed to Study Group 3 during the August 2020 meetings. 

Furthermore, one output of the 2019 World Radio Conference (WRC19) was a proposal for 

sharing studies between existing aeronautical systems and newly proposed commercial 

deployments at select millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies. ITS is chairing the 

Correspondence Group that will be developing and proposing updated air-to-ground propagation 

prediction models for millimeter wave frequencies. 

ITS leads efforts in the ITU Telecommunications Sector to defend U.S. interests in ensuring 

hostile regional agendas that are antithetical to U.S. policy on open standards development don’t 

take root. In particular, ITS staff lead the effort to push back against Chinese attempts to use the 

ITU to promulgate policy through standards via attempts to modify fundamental aspects for how 

the Internet operates.

Direct participation by ITS in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the dominant 

cellular communications standards development organization, allows NTIA to advance U.S. 

commercial, economic, and government interests by providing technical input to promote strong 

unbiased standards that support fair competition in next generation/5G cellular technologies. For 

a number of years, ITS has provided technical guidance to other government agencies in 

advocating for standardization of service features specific to public safety, emergency 

communications, and transportation. In particular, ITS represents the Department of 
57

Transportation and the Department of Defense Undersecretary for Research and Engineering’s 

interests in 5G within 3GPP. In FY 2020 ITS continued to provide U.S. Government 

stakeholders a comprehensive understanding of the 3GPP New Radio (5G NR—the global 

standard for the air interface of 5G networks) capabilities, the services 5G NR was built to 

deliver, and deployment scenarios in both licensed and unlicensed spectrum for the evolution to 

5G.

Direct participation by ITS in IEEE 802.15.22.3 led to standardization of the Spectrum 

Characterization and Occupancy Sensing (SCOS) standard. The purpose of the SCOS system is 

to characterize and assess spectrum occupancy towards supporting its more efficient and 

effective use. SCOS establishes a high-level architecture to support different spectrum sensing 

technologies and deployments. It enables specialization, promotes broad adoption of sensing 

technologies and subsequent economies of scale. SCOS achieves broader availability and usage 

of sensing information from different sources. 

SCOS applications include:

• policy and planning

• radio planning, management, and engineering

• regulatory enforcement to detect (RF incursion), locate (source), classify (by type and 

severity), and resolve/remediate

• research and technology development

4.4.3 Table Mountain Research

ITS manages the Table Mountain Radio Receiving Zone of the Research Laboratories of the 

Department of Commerce located in Boulder County, Colorado, an area designated by federal 

and state law as a Radio Quiet Zone. Quiet zones are protected by restrictions on radiofrequency 

radiation in the vicinity so as to minimize possible impact on the research operations that are 

highly sensitive to interference. This quiet zone managed by ITS is the only one presently 

available on a consistent basis for collaborative research across between government and 

industry and between different government agencies.

The Advanced Communications Test Site (ACTS) within the quiet zone supports fundamental 

research, engineering studies, and experiments into the nature, interaction, and evaluation of 

telecommunication devices, systems, and services. Annually NTIA, NOAA, NIST, universities, 

private companies, and other organizations conduct research at the ACTS under a variety of 

agreements (IAAs, Reimbursables, CRADAs). The work accomplished at the ACTS provides 

unique opportunities for cooperative learning and discovery, with the outcomes frequently 

becoming seeds of commercial and Government successes.

• In FY 2020, ITS continued its support of NOAA’s Radio Frequency Interference 

Monitoring System (RFIMS) program at the ACTS. ITS continued to assist NOAA in 

understanding Meteorological Satellite (MetSat) radio frequency (RF) downlink technical 

performance in the face of new spectrum sharing requirements recently imposed on the 

MetSat RF downlink spectrum by the $41 billion auction of the AWS-3 frequency bands. 

To prepare for the eventual co-existence of MetSat downlinks and terrestrial cell phones 
58

(or equivalent), NOAA is developing a radio frequency interference monitoring system 

(RFIMS) to mitigate the risk of potential interference by commercial wireless carriers 

that were slated to begin sharing the spectrum with NOAA satellite operations in 2020.

The ACTS was chosen to host a functionally equivalent MetSat Operations Center that 

mimics NOAA’s two main operational MetSat sites. In FY 2020, the installation of a 6.5 

m Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) receiver dish was 

completed and brought to an operational status. Additionally, ITS procured and installed 

a 3.7-meter Data Collection System (DCS) Direct Readout Ground Station (DRGS) and a 

1.5 meter High Rate information System (HRIT).

These new systems complete the representative MetSat systems build-out began in 2018 

with a 2.4 meter Polar Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) tracking and 

downlink earth station. The 2.4 meter system was the first MetSat system installed at the 

ACTS and has been the primary platform used to assess the degree to which terrestrial 

cellular interference can affect MetSat data downlink operations. The ACTS supports a 

test bed where commercial RFIMS systems can be tested for compliance with 

interference protection standards defined for the various federal MetSat assets, whether 

the commercial wireless systems seeking to share this spectrum are LTE (4G), 5G, 6G, or 

beyond. In concert with NOAA’s development of a very robust RFIMS, a more modest

Spectrum Survey System (SSS), created in FY2017, has been used over the past three 

years to prototype near-real time monitoring, data collecting, and reporting methods that 

might be used by the RFIMS. The SSS can also be used to analyze potential sharing 

concerns in other frequency bands. This foundational work is central to ITS’s vanguard 

work and ability to assist government and industry in achieving peaceful and harmless 

standards-based coexistence in spectrum sharing situations.

• In FY 2020, several companies used the ACTS under CRADAs to safely test and 

demonstrate LIDAR technologies under development in atmospheric conditions and at 

distances relevant to potential applications, to fully test the functionality of new antenna 

designs during product development. The ACTS was used to test an Adaptive Tactical 

Laser System (ATLAS) compensated beacon adaptive optics (CBAO) system under 

development. 

Applications for these technologies include:

o detection and tracking of wind shear and wake vortices

o remote wind measurements for the offshore wind energy industry

o mission-critical communications

o electronic warfare,

o direction finding/geolocation

o sensing of hazardous liquids and gases

• For the past twelve years, the University of Colorado’s Research and Engineering Center 

for Unmanned Vehicles has used the ACTS under a CRADA to safely and accurately test 

collective and autonomous sensing and communication technologies to facilitate 4D sight 
59

through a ground-to-space sensing column with unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) 

operating in the atmosphere integrated with ground-based and space-based observation 

systems. These capabilities are intended to be applied to a myriad of purposes ranging 

from improved climate and weather forecasting to better-informed government 

policymaking.

4.4.4 Video Quality Research

Both CDVL and the VQM tools are used by industry and academia for research into new 

techniques for transmitting video. Lack of access to appropriate video footage to test new video 

distribution technologies was a significant impediment to video processing R&D until the launch 

of CDVL. The clips may be used to test codecs, to evaluate new display technologies or validate

testing of new standards. For example, ITU-T Study Group 12 has used CDVL clips for research 

into the development of parametric models and tools for multimedia quality assessment and the 

MPEG committee opened a conversation with ITS about using the CDVL video clips for 

validation testing of new video coding standards. Currently, 40% of CDVL’s content is 

simulated public safety content; real public safety content is nearly impossible to obtain for 

research due to litigation concerns. Since first responders use consumer grade electronics, 

promoting development and standardization of commercial video technologies that meet public 

safety requirements through access to this simulated content, has the potential to save lives as 

well as money.

ITS actively contributes to ITU efforts around best practices for video quality assessment. ITS 

leads and sponsors VQEG, an open venue where technical experts collaborate to develop 

subjective test methods for new video technologies. VQEG also independently validates 

objective video quality metrics, which is a necessary step in the standards development process. 

VQEG meetings are co-located with meetings of the Intersector Rapporteur Group (IRG) for 

Audiovisual Quality Assessment (IRG-AVQA) of the ITU. This allows more technical experts to 

follow and contribute to ITU Recommendations. ITS participation in VQEG facilitates 

knowledge sharing and enables research into difficult issues that can only be resolved through 

international collaborations. In FY 2020, ITS contributed to VQEG efforts to develop improved 

statistical methods, value-added experiment designs, and no reference (NR) metrics. 
60

5 SUMMARY

This report details the results of the FY 2020 collaborative technology activities and technology 

transfer successes of the Department of Commerce agency laboratories at NIST, NOAA, and 

NTIA ITS. The report demonstrates that as technology advances and the economy changes, DOC

federal laboratories play a critical role in providing America a competitive advantage and 

bolstering the U.S. economy through the transfer and commercialization of innovative 

technologies. Technology transfer is an essential DOC mission highlights and the report 

highlights how well the DOC labs position to be competitive the global markets.
61

6 APPENDIX A

Technology Area Classifications

Mapping of International Patent Classifications to Technology Area25

Audio-Visual Technology – Includes but is not limited to: advertising, signs, labels or nameplates, seals, arrangements or circuits for control of indicating devices using static means to 

present variable information, scanning details of television systems, color television systems, still 

video cameras, loudspeakers, microphones, stereophonic systems, and printed circuits. 

Basic Communication Processes – Includes but is not limited to: generation of oscillations, 

modulation, amplifiers, control of amplification, impedance networks, tuning resonant circuits, 

pulse technique, and general coding, decoding, or code conversion.

Computer Technology – Includes but is not limited to: digital computers in which all the 

computation is affected mechanically, digital fluid-pressure computing devices, optical 

computing devices, electric digital data processing, analog computers, recognition of data, 

counting mechanisms, image data processing or generation, speech analysis or synthesis, speech 

recognition, and static stores. 

Digital Communication – Includes but is not limited to: transmission of digital information, 

selective content distribution, and wireless communication networks.

Electrical Machinery, Apparatus, Energy – Includes but is not limited to: incandescent 

mantles, lighting devices or systems, nonportable lighting devices or systems, cables, conductors, 

insulators, magnets, inductances, transformers, capacitors, electric switches, electric discharge 

tubes or discharge lamps, electric incandescent lamps, spark gaps, emergency protective circuit 

arrangements, dynamo-electric machines, electric heating, static electricity, and generation of 

electric power by conversion of Ingra-red radiation, visible light, or ultraviolet light.

Measurement – Includes but is not limited to: measuring linear dimensions, measuring 

distances, surveying, navigation, gyroscopic instruments, measuring volume, weighing, 

measurement of mechanical vibrations, measurement of intensity or velocity, measuring 

temperature or quantity of heat, measuring force, testing static or dynamic balance of machines 

or structures, sampling, investigating strength properties of solid materials by application of 

mechanical stress, investigating density or specific gravity of materials; investigating flow 

properties of materials, investigating or analyzing materials by use of optical or thermal means, 

and investigating or analyzing materials by the use of nuclear magnetic resonance, electron 

paramagnetic resonance or other spin effects.

25 Derived from The World Intellectual Property Organization’s International Patent Classification (IPC) 

Correspondence Table and IPC Searchable Classification Database, Version 2016.01.
62

Micro-Structural and Nano-Technology – Includes but is not limited to: micro-structural 

devices or systems, processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment of 

micro-structural devices or systems, specific uses or applications of nano-structures, and nanostructures formed by manipulation of individual atoms, molecules, or limited collections of 

atoms or molecules as discrete units. 

Semiconductors – Includes semiconductor devices and electric solid-state devices not otherwise 

provided.

Telecommunications – Includes but is not limited to: transmission systems for measured values, 

waveguides, resonators, aerials, transmission, broadcast communication, multiplex 

communication, secret communication, jamming of communication, telephonic communication, 

and scanning, transmitting, or reproducing documents.
63

7 APPENDIX B

Fields and Subfields of S&E Publications Data26

Agricultural Sciences: agronomy and agriculture; dairy and animal science; food science; 

horticulture

Astronomy and Astrophysics: astronomy and astrophysics

Biological and Biomedical Sciences: anatomy and morphology; biochemistry and molecular 

biology; bioinformatics; biophysics; biotechnology; developmental biology; ecology; 

entomology; evolutionary biology; genetics and heredity; immunology; medicinal and 

biomolecular chemistry; microbiology; microscopy; mycology and parasitology; nutrition and 

dietetics; ornithology; physiology; plant biology and botany; toxicology; virology; zoology

Chemistry: analytical chemistry; general chemistry; inorganic and nuclear chemistry; organic 

chemistry; physical chemistry; polymers

Computer and Information Sciences: artificial intelligence and image processing; computation 

theory and mathematics; computer hardware and architecture; distributed computing; 

information systems; networking and telecommunications; software engineering

Engineering: aerospace and aeronautics; automobile design and engineering; biomedical 

engineering; building and construction; chemical engineering; civil engineering; design practice 

and management; electrical and electronic engineering; environmental engineering; geological 

and geomatics engineering; industrial engineering and automation; logistics and transportation; 

mechanical engineering and transports; mining and metallurgy; nanoscience and 

nanotechnology; operations research; optoelectronics and photonics

Geosciences, Atmospheric, and Ocean Sciences: geochemistry and geophysics; geology; 

marine biology and hydrobiology; meteorology and atmospheric sciences; oceanography; 

paleontology

Health Sciences: allergy; anesthesiology; arthritis and rheumatology; cardiovascular system and 

hematology; complementary and alternative medicine; dentistry; dermatology and venereal 

diseases; emergency and critical care medicine; endocrinology and metabolism; environmental 

and occupational health; epidemiology; gastroenterology and hepatology; general and internal 

medicine; general clinical medicine; geriatrics; gerontology; health policy and services; legal and 

forensic medicine; medical informatics; neurology and neurosurgery; nuclear medicine and 

medical imaging; nursing; obstetrics and reproductive medicine; oncology and carcinogenesis; 

ophthalmology and optometry; orthopedics; otorhinolaryngology; pathology; pediatrics; 

26 The fields are based on the Taxonomy of Disciplines (TOD) developed by the National Science Foundation 

(NSF). Science-Metrix used its own classification of 176 subfields developed more than a decade ago and worked 

with NSF to align its subfields to the TOD scheme.
64

pharmacology and pharmacy; psychiatry; public health; rehabilitation; respiratory system; 

speech-language pathology and audiology; sport sciences; substance abuse; surgery; tropical 

medicine; urology and nephrology; veterinary sciences 

Materials Science: materials

Mathematics and Statistics: applied mathematics; general mathematics; numerical and 

computational mathematics; statistics and probability

Natural Resources and Conservation: Environmental sciences; fisheries; forestry

Physics: acoustics; applied physics; chemical physics; fluids and plasmas; general physics; 

mathematical physics; nuclear and particle physics; optics

Psychology: behavioral science and comparative psychology; clinical psychology; experimental 

psychology; general psychology and cognitive sciences; human factors; psychoanalysis; social 

psychology

Social Sciences: Agricultural economics and policy; criminology; cultural studies; development 

studies; econometrics; economic theory; economics; education; family studies; gender studies; 

geography; international relations; languages and linguistics; political science and public 

administration; science studies; social sciences methods; sociology; urban and regional planning