VISITING COMMITTEE ON ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY (VCAT)

MINUTES OF THE FEBRUARY 8, 2017 WEBINAR/VIRTUAL MEETING

GAITHERSBURG, MD

ATTENDANCE:

Visiting Committee 

Members Attending

Adler, Allen*

Brooks, Rodney*

Colwell, Rita*

Folena-Wasserman, Gail

Garvey, Michael*

Holt, William*

Ishak, Waguih*

Kerr, Karen*

Padovani, Roberto*

Prafullchandra, Hemma*

Sizer, Theodore*

Vasko, Dave

Designated Federal Officer 

Stephanie Shaw 

NIST Leadership Board 

Boehm, Jason

Brockett, Del

Celotta, Robert

Dimeo, Robert

Fangmeyer, Robert

Fasolka, Michael

Harary, Howard

Jenkins, George

Kayser, Richard

Locascio, Laurie

Molnar, Michael

Olthoff, James*

Orr, Dereck*

Porch, Susanne

Rochford, Kent

Romine, Charles

Royster, Cecelia

Schiller, Susannah

Singerman, Phil

Thomas, Carroll

Vaughn, Robert

Wixon, Henry

NIST Staff and Associates

Acierto, Linda

Butters, Rolf

Currens, Chris

Davis, Rick

Evans, Heather

Gayle, Frank

Hanna, Nancy

Henry, Akeem

Hooker, Stephanie

Ivy, Nahla

Jillavenkatesa, Ajit

Martinez, Serena

Miner, Laurel

Ng, Lisa

Pei, ZJ

Robinson, Crissy

Schwarz, Katie

St. Pierre, Jim

Szakal, Christopher

Thorne, Roger

Vinson, John

Waltermire, Karen

Williams, Carl

Others

Naomi Webber- Lewis Burke 

Associates, LLC

*Participated Remotely
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Call to Order - Dr. Rita Colwell, VCAT Chair

Dr. Colwell called the virtual meeting to order at 1:30 p.m. The Chair thanked Drs. Karen Kerr and Roberto 

Padovani for their service, time and effort and welcomed Dr. Gail Folena-Wasserman and Mr. David Vasko as 

the two newest members to join the VCAT.

OVERVIEW AND SAFETY UPDATE

NIST Update and Agenda Review – Dr. Kent Rochford, Acting Under Secretary of 

Commerce for Standards and Technology and Acting NIST Director

Dr. Rochford began his update by also thanking both Dr. Karen Kerr and Dr. Roberto Padovani for their 

membership and welcomed the two newest members Dr. Gail Folena-Wasserman from MedImmune and Mr. 

David Vasko from Rockwell Automation to the Committee. Since former NIST Director Dr. Willie May retired in 

January, Dr. Rochford will serve as the Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology 

and Acting NIST Director until a new one is appointed. During that time, Dr. Laurie Locascio will take on the 

roles and responsibilities of the Acting Associate Director for Laboratory Programs. At the end of February, Ms. 

Mary Saunders resigned as the Associate Director of Management Resources. Mr. Delwin Brockett will assume 

the roles and responsibilities of the Acting Associate Director of Management Resources until the position can 

be permanently filled. Dr. Rochford also introduced Mr. Robert “Skip” Vaughn, who joined NIST as the Chief 

Facilities Management Officer in November 2016. 

Dr. Rochford then informed the VCAT of the steps NIST is taking to balance needed improvements to our 

security posture with other operational and cultural requirements for successful NIST mission delivery. Dr. 

Rochford has tasked Dr. Rich Kayser, NIST’s Chief Safety Officer, with conducting a 30-day sprint to prioritize 

NIST’s security issues, concerns, and threats and what our countermeasures should be. 

Dr. Rochford also described to the VCAT a significant scientific breakthrough made by NIST researchers in 

January. NIST used squeezed microwave photons to cool a mechanical object below the quantum limit. This 

was the coldest mechanical object demonstrated to date.

Dr. Rochford updated the VCAT on the recently enacted American Innovation and Competitiveness Act, which 

reauthorizes NIST. Some key changes to NIST’s authority provided by the legislation include: the 

establishment of the NIST Director as the President’s principal advisor on standards policy which enhances our 

position in standards policy; second, cost share for the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)

program was changed from 2:1 to 1:1, which will help MEP serve the needs of small, rural companies in a more 

robust manner: third, the Act requires NIST to develop a strategic plan that expands on interactions with 

academia, international researchers, and industry, as well as our commercial and industrial applications; and,

fourth, the Act provides NIST additional flexibilities in hosting scientific conferences and meetings.

Dr. Rochford updated the VCAT on the Manufacturing USA program that in December of 2016 its first

manufacturing institute, the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL) was 

awarded. This was the first institute whose topic was proposed by industry. NIIMBL’s mission is to accelerate 

biopharmaceutical manufacturing innovation, support the development of standards that enable more efficient 

and rapid manufacturing capabilities, and educate and train a world-leading biopharmaceutical manufacturing 

workforce, fundamentally advancing U.S. competitiveness in this industry. The NIIMBL national footprint 

includes planned headquarters at the Delaware Biotechnology Institute, and a network of five regional 

hubs. The consortium has over 150 members, including large biopharma, small biotechs, academia (including 

community colleges), non-profits, and Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) centers across 25 states. 

The Institute is supported with $70 million of federal money over 5 years, $100 million of non-federal money, 

and an additional $80 million in-kind. Along with NIIMBL, the Departments of Defense and Energy established

four other institutes since the last VCAT meeting. This achieved 14 Manufacturing USA Institutes established 

before the end of the Obama Administration, one short of the goal.
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Also in December 2016, the President’s Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity released their final 

Report on Securing and Growing the Digital Economy. NIST provided expert data and information. In summary, 

the report’s recommendations asked for NIST to continue its current mode of operation, and expand efforts in 

certain areas. 

The VCAT was also briefed on the National Advanced Spectrum and Communications Test Network 

(NASTCN), a partnership with National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to address 

complex and controversial measurements related to spectrum sharing. NASTCN’s first project was prompted 

by Ligado Networks to measure and report the effect of Long-Term Evolution signals on Global Positioning 

System receivers operating in an adjacent frequency band. The preliminary briefings of the data show 

uncertainties instead of just numbers, teaching the community the difference metrology can make in very 

difficult spectrum measurements.

Finally, Dr. Rochford shared with the VCAT NIST’s efforts over the past year to update its core values, which

are:

• Perseverance: We take the long view, planning the future with scientific knowledge and imagination to 

ensure continued impact and relevance for our stakeholders.

• Integrity: We are ethical, honest, independent, and provide an objective perspective.

• Inclusivity: We work collaboratively to harness the diversity of people and ideas, both inside and 

outside of NIST, to attain the best solutions to multidisciplinary challenges. 

• Excellence: We apply rigor and critical thinking to achieve world-class results and continuous 

improvement in everything we do.

For more information, see Dr. Rochford’s presentation.

Safety Update – Dr. Richard Kayser, Chief Safety Officer

Dr. Kayser provided an update on the latest safety metrics and outlined our safety improvement efforts: safety 

incidents, continual improvement, and actions taken. In the first four months of fiscal year 2017, there have 

been 13 OSHA recordable incidents, 42% being slips, trips, and falls. The conclusion of a preliminary analysis 

on causes and patterns will be discussed at the June 2017 meeting. Two actions NIST undertook based on 

VCAT recommendations include a second Safety Climate Assessment in 2017 and the development of

enhanced workplace inspections. Dr. Kayser also updated the VCAT on actions taken since NIST conducted 

the 2014 Safety Climate Assessment. These include safety leadership training for over 700, enhanced 

reporting of safety concerns, better communication on safety rights and responsibilities including an all-staff 

message and posters, an increased emphasis on speaking up and reporting unsafe conditions, and a new 

website for shared standard of safety performance.

For more information, see Dr. Kayser’s presentation.

Administration and Congressional Landscape – Dr. Jason Boehm, Director, 

Program Coordination Office and Ms. Linda Acierto, Acting Director, 

Congressional and Legislative Affairs Office 

Dr. Boehm provided the VCAT with an update on the transition to the new administration and the potential 

timelines for the identification of new political leadership for NIST.

Dr. Boehm also reviewed several executive actions that affect NIST including a 90 day hiring freeze for federal 

employees and two presidential memoranda that directly affect the Department and the Secretary of 
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Commerce: the Presidential Memorandum Regarding Construction of American Pipelines and the Presidential 

Memorandum Streamlining Permitting and Reducing Regulatory Burdens for Domestic Manufacturing.

Depending on how the Department moves forward, our Manufacturing Extension Program (MEP) could 

potentially provide support in both areas.

Ms. Acierto, highlighted changes in the legislative branch after the November election and the potential impacts 

that those changes could have on NIST. 

Ms. Acierto also highlighted some of the bills introduced by Congress people that relate to NIST on topics 

including cybersecurity, voting, creating a new lab in plumbing research, and issues around fuel pump labeling. 

To educate their members, the Senate Commerce Committee has established the “101 Education” program. 

NIST has already spoken to about 35 staffers about what we do in cybersecurity and will continue to educate 

throughout the year. NIST will hopefully participate in panels to educate on new areas of interest such as 

quantum information and forensic science. In January, 60 welcome letters were sent out to new members of 

Congress resulting in numerous requests for NIST 101 overviews. Other areas of interest are in the Public 

Safety Communications Research Program, facial recognition technology, cybersecurity and password 

security, protecting small businesses from cyber-attacks, gene editing and artificial intelligence. 

Discussion: 

The group discussed the following topics:

- Where does Congress stand on autonomous cars in regards to technologies, regulations, and 

standards and how NIST will coordinate with the Department of Transportation? 

- The broad range of new potential areas for growth and how that fits within the current sphere of work. 

- The support given in regards to the on-going issue of voting security.

- Dr. Colwell, VCAT Chair, would like to be kept abreast on what transpires between now and the June 

meeting in regards to the Hill and actions taken and the budget guidance for FY18.

For more information, see Dr. Boehm’s and Ms. Acierto’s presentation.

Discussion/Approval of the 2016 VCAT Annual Report – Dr. Rita Colwell, VCAT 

Chair

Dr. Colwell, the VCAT Chair, took a formal vote from the VCAT to approve the 2016 VCAT Annual Report. The 

VCAT unanimously voted to approve the report.

VCAT Focus for 2017 – Dr. Rita Colwell, VCAT Chair

Dr. Colwell, the VCAT Chair, led a discussion and asked for suggestions on what VCAT should start to focus 

on in the coming year. The VCAT members were supplied with some background on their responsibilities and 

items of committee focus. Two areas that continue to be in focus are cybersecurity and forensic science. The 

VCAT also emphasized the importance of NIST providing guidance on its core values. The VCAT expressed 

desire to proactively form subcommittees on areas such as advanced manufacturing, privacy, cybersecurity, 

and other areas of interest.
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Administrative Business

Dr. Colwell recommended a conference call in a month to pick up on the discussion of the VCAT focus once 

NIST has a clearer perspective on its priorities.

There were no public comments offered.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 3:35 PM. 

I hereby certify that to the best of my knowledge, the forgoing minutes are accurate and complete.

Stephanie Shaw, Designated Federal Officer, NIST Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology

Dr. Rita Colwell, Chair, NIST Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology