Annual Report on Technology Transfer:

Approach and Plans, Fiscal Year 2016 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 and Commercialization Act of 2000 (Pub. L. 106-404)

September 2017
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FOREWORD

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

Commerce’s (DOC’s) Federal laboratories for fiscal year (FY) 2016. 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’s) 

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

activities of these agencies.

This report has been prepared in response to the statutory requirement for an annual “agency 

report on utilization” (15 U.S.C. Section 3710(f)) established under Section 10 of the

Technology Transfer Commercialization Act of 2000 (Pub. L. 106-404). All Federal agencies 

that operate or direct one or more Federal laboratories or conduct other activities under Sections

207 and 209 of Title 35, United States Code, are subject to the requirements of this statute. 

Pursuant to the Presidential Memorandum – Accelerating Technology Transfer and

Commercialization of Federal Research in Support of High-Growth Businesses (October, 2011), 

this report contains significantly expanded metrics on technology transfer from previous editions. 

 

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

summarized within this report. The report focuses on current year activities and 

accomplishments and provides statistical information from FY 2012 through FY 2016. 

NIST, NOAA, and 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 at: http://www.nist.gov/tpo/publications/index.cfm.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1.................................................................................................................................. 1

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

Summary of Technology Transfer Activities FY 2012 – FY 2016........................................ 3

CHAPTER 2................................................................................................................................ 12

National Institute of Standards and Technology ..................................................................... 12

Approach and Plans for Technology Transfer..................................................................... 12

NIST Work Products and Collaborative Activities............................................................. 13

Downstream Outcomes from NIST Technology Transfer Activities................................. 35

CHAPTER 3................................................................................................................................ 40

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ............................................................... 40

Approach and Plans for Technology Transfer..................................................................... 41

NOAA Work Products and Collaborative Activities........................................................... 44

Downstream Outcomes from NOAA Technology Transfer Activities .............................. 52

CHAPTER 4................................................................................................................................ 57

National Telecommunications and Information Administration: Institute for 

Telecommunication Sciences...................................................................................................... 57

Approach and Plans for Technology Transfer..................................................................... 57

ITS Work Products and Collaborative Activities................................................................ 57

Downstream Outcomes from ITS Technology Transfer Activities.................................... 62

SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................. 64
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1

CHAPTER 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.

In addition to the technology transfer efforts of DOC laboratories, DOC is responsible for 

coordinating technology transfer activities across Federal agencies. DOC coordinates the 

Interagency Workgroup for Technology Transfer (IAWGTT) through the facilitation by NIST of

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. 

The Presidential Memorandum (PM) – Accelerating Technology Transfer and 

Commercialization of Federal Research in Support of High-Growth Businesses of October 21, 

2011 further expanded DOC’s role in coordinating technology transfer activities across Federal

agencies.

2 The purpose of this PM is to foster innovation by increasing the rate of technology 

transfer leading to a greater economic and societal impact from Federal investments in R&D. 

The PM directs agencies with Federal laboratories to establish goals to measure performance, 

streamline administrative processes, and facilitate local and regional partnerships in order to 

accelerate technology transfer and support private sector commercialization. The aim is to 

increase significantly the successful agency technology transfer and commercialization activities, 

while simultaneously achieving excellence in each agency’s research activities. Section 2 of the 

PM specifically requires that “[t]he Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with other agencies, 

including the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, shall improve and expand, 

 

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 Interior, Department 

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

Space Administration.

2 http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/10/28/presidential-memorandum-accelerating-technologytransfer-and-commerciali
2

where appropriate, its collection of metrics in the Department of Commerce's annual technology 

transfer summary report, submitted pursuant to 15 U.S.C. Section 3710(g)(2).” 3 

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

NIST: http://www.nist.gov/tpo/index.cfm;

NOAA: http://techpartnerships.noaa.gov/; and

ITS: http://www.its.bldrdoc.gov.

 

3 For a list of available reports see http://www.nist.gov/tpo/publications/doc-annual-reports-techtransfer.cfm
3

Summary of Technology Transfer Activities FY 2012 – FY 2016

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

DOC laboratories, including information regarding invention disclosures, intellectual property 

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

technology transfer mechanisms. Examples of successful downstream results (e.g., commercially 

significant technologies) from technology transfer activities are also highlighted. 

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

codified at 15 U.S.C. Section 3710(f)) requires each Federal agency, which operates or directs 

one or more Federal laboratories, or conducts activities under 35 U.S.C. Sections 207 and 209, to 

report to Congress the results of its technology transfer activities. Office of Management and 

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

the required data.

4

Invention Disclosures and Patenting

In FY 2016, DOC researchers disclosed 55 new inventions. Of these, 46 invention disclosures 

were from NIST researchers and 9 were from NOAA researchers. There were 25 patent 

applications filed (21 for NIST and 4 for NOAA) and 12 patents issued (11 for NIST and 1 for 

NOAA).5

Table 1 – Invention Disclosure and Patenting

 

4 Technology transfer data is typically adjusted over time to account for new information resulting from changes in 

reporting procedures, patent decisions, programmatic changes, etc. Throughout this report, data prior to FY 2016 

has been adjusted, where necessary, to reflect the most accurate estimates for each year reported. 

5 Note that the time required for a patent to be granted may take two years or more. Patents issued in FY 2016 were 

filed in prior years.

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

Invention Disclosures

NIST 52 33 41 46 46

NOAA 8 8 6 15 9

ITS 0 0 0 0 0

Department Total 60 41 47 61 55

Patent Applications Filed

NIST 24 23 21 26 21

NOAA 3 3 4 6 4

ITS 0 0 0 0 0

Department Total 27 26 25 32 25

Patents Issued

NIST 12 20 19 19 11

NOAA 1 1 0 1 1

ITS 0 0 0 0 0

Department Total 13 21 19 20 12
4

In addition to reporting on the number of patents issued, the National Science Foundation (NSF) 

provides additional insight into the technology areas addressed by DOC patents.

6

In FY 2015

(the latest year available), 26% of the patents issued to DOC were in the technical area of 

Measurement Techniques and Instruments. This includes techniques and use of instrumentation 

that measures, tests, inspects or analyzes a wide variety of materials or processes.7

Figure 1 – Percent of USPTO Patents Granted to DOC, by Technology Area – FY 2015

 

6 NSF routinely researches a wide range of data for its publication “Science and Engineering Indicators” 

http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/. NIST requested that NSF provide the data in Figure 1 and this complies with NSF’s 

goal of supporting agencies in their tasks of enhancing the measurement of technology transfer activities.

7 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 IPC codes to ensure that the sum of patents across technology areas 

(WIPO technology classification) is equal to the total number of patents as each patent can be assigned to more than 

one technology area. Source: Prepared by Science-Metrix using USPTO data indexed in PATSTAT Spring 2016 

edition (European Patent Office). Used with permission.

26%

8%

8%

6% 8% 5%

5%

5%

5%

24%

Measurement 26%

Chemical engineering 8%

Semiconductors 8%

Optics 8%

Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy 6%

Other special machines 5%

Thermal processes and apparatus 5%

Analysis of biological materials 5%

Materials, metallurgy 5%

Other 24%
5

Licensing

In FY 2016, DOC reported 57 active patent licenses, the largest number in the last five fiscal 

years. Of these, NIST had 50 active patent licenses and NOAA had seven active patent licenses.

Table 2 – Profile of Active Licenses

(a) “Active” means an agreement in effect at any time during the fiscal year.

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

Active Patent Licenses(a)

NIST 36 33 33 40 50

NOAA 5 5 5 6 7

ITS 0 0 0 0 0

Department Total 41 38 38 46 57
6

Of the 57 active patent licenses, 33 were income-bearing licenses. Of these income-bearing 

licenses, 20 were exclusive licenses and 13 were non-exclusive. 

Table 3 – Characteristics of Income-Bearing Licenses

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

Total Income-Bearing Licenses 

NIST 20 21 21 25 26

NOAA 3 5 5 6 7

ITS 0 0 0 0 0

Department Total 23 26 26 31 33

Patent Licenses 

NIST 20 21 21 25 26

NOAA 3 5 5 4 7

ITS 0 0 0 0 0

Department Total 23 26 26 29 33

License Types

Exclusive

NIST 10 13 14 15 16

NOAA 0 0 0 1 4

ITS 0 0 0 0 0

Department Total 10 13 14 16 20

Partially Exclusive

Department Total 0 0 0 0 0

Non-Exclusive

NIST 8 7 7 10 10

NOAA 3 5 5 3 3

ITS 0 0 0 0 0

Department Total 11 12 12 13 13
7

In FY 2016, DOC’s income-bearing licenses provided $148,662 in income. Of this amount, 

$137,662 came from NIST licenses and $11,000 came from NOAA licenses.

Table 4 – Income from Licensing

Collaborative Relationships for Research and Development (CRADAs)

In 2016, there were 2,994 CRADAs involving DOC researchers, the largest number in the last 

five fiscal years. There were 389 traditional CRADAs8and 2,605 non-traditional CRADAs.

9 Of 

the 389 traditional CRADAs, NIST was involved in 294, NOAA was involved in 33, and ITS 

was involved in 62. These traditional CRADAs included 54 joint agreements that dealt with

Public Safety 700 MHz Broadband Demonstrations and involved both NIST and ITS.

Table 5 – Collaborative Relationships for Research and Development

 

(a) The total number of traditional CRADAs for the Department has been adjusted to avoid double counting where 

NIST and ITS are involved together in Joint CRADA Agreements.

 

8 Traditional CRADAs involve collaborative research and development projects by a Federal laboratory and nonFederal partners. 

9 Non-traditional CRADAs involve laboratory accreditations, material transfer agreements, and calibration services.

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

Total Licensing Income 

NIST $146,796 $102,532 $150,995 $124,823 $137,662

NOAA $100,867 $48,798 $69,151 $39,633 $11,000

ITS $0 $0 $0 $0 $0

Department Total $247,663 $151,330 $220,146 $164,456 $148,662

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

CRADAs

Department Total 2,411 2,437 2,307 2,752 2,940

Traditional CRADAs

NIST 140 179 206 329 294

NOAA 10 15 19 28 33

ITS 61 91 87 136 62

Department Total(a) 154 206 233 365 335

Joint CRADA Agreements (NIST and ITS) 57 79 79 128 54

Non-Traditional CRADAs

NIST 2,255 2,231 2,074 2,387 2,605

NOAA 0 0 0 0 0

ITS 2 0 0 0 0

Department Total 2,257 2,231 2,074 2,387 2,605
8

Trends in DOC Technology Transfer Activities

One of the reasons for reporting technology transfer metrics is to monitor trends over time. 

Unfortunately, it is not always possible to identify and compare trends by simply looking at 

changes in values from one year to the next. Technology transfer activities are not spontaneous 

events. Inventions typically require years, if not decades of research before they are disclosed. A 

review of a patent application may take roughly three to five years before the patent is awarded. 

It may take several years to license a patent or form the collaborative commitments behind a 

CRADA. 

To assess the trends in key technology transfer metrics, we first convert annual metric values into 

index values and then plot trend lines using these index values. Index values are calculated by 

dividing the value of a metric in a given year (year “t”), by its value in a base year (year “i”), and 

then multiplying by 100. 

Index Valuet =

Valuet

Base Valuei

x 100

The fixed base year chosen for this report is FY 2012. The index value for each metric in the 

base year is equal to 100. In the years that follow, index values change as the value of the metric 

in year “t” changes while the value in the base year “i” remains the same. 

To calculate the index value for patents issued in FY 2013, we divide the number of patents 

issued in FY 2013 by the number of patents issued in the base year (FY 2012) and then multiply 

by 100. Using data from the table on page 3 of this report, the index value for patents issued in 

FY 2012 is 162.

Index ValueFY2012 =

21

13 x 100 = 162

Because the index value of 162 is greater than 100, we can interpret this as a 62% increase in the 

number of patents issued between FY 2012 and FY 2013. In FY 2014, the index value for 

patents issued is 146 which we can interpret as a 46% increase between FY 2012 and FY 2014. 

We calculate index values for key metrics (e.g., invention disclosures, patents issued, invention 

licenses, and CRADAs) and plot the values in the chart below. To show the trend for a given 

metric, a straight line is plotted in the middle of the plotted values for that metric.10 In the chart 

below, index values for patents issued are plotted in purple and the trend line for patents issued is 

plotted in the middle of the purple points. It is important to note that each trend line is drawn 

independent of other measures; they do not suggest causal relationships, nor do they forecast 

future trends. A trend line is a simple tool that illustrates the general tendency of a measure over 

a given period of time. 

Trend lines are plotted for invention disclosures (blue), patents issued (purple), invention 

licenses (green), and traditional CRADAs (red). From this chart, we can see that over this time 

 

10 Trend lines in this report are plotted using Microsoft Excel.
9

period there has been a slight increase in the trend for invention disclosures, a more significant 

increase in the trends for invention licenses and traditional CRADAs and a decrease in the trend 

for patents issued. 

Figure 2 – Trends in DOC’s Technology Transfer Activities (FY 2012 – FY 2016)

Scientific and Technical Publications

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

licenses.

11 Scientific and technical publications also can lead to technology transfer. In FY 

2016, NIST, NOAA, and ITS researchers published 3,056 scientific and technical papers in peerreviewed journals.

Table 6 – Scientific and Technical Publications

 

11 http://www.nist.gov/tpo/publications/upload/DOC-Tech-Transfer-Plan.pdf

50

75

100

125

150

175

200

225

250

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

Index Value (FY 2012 = 100)

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

Technical Publications

NIST 1,335 1,393 1,359 1,323 1,355

NOAA 1,769 1,781 1,759 1,860 1,697

ITS 13 24 18 22 4

Department Total 3,117 3,198 3,136 3,205 3,056
10

In addition to the number of publications reported by each agency, NSF provides insight into the 

technology areas addressed by each Federal agency in its publications. Using data from Thomson 

Reuters’ Science Citation Information (SCI)12 and Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI)13

databases, NSF finds that, for FY 2015, the most recent year available, the largest technology 

areas shown in Figure 3 covered by DOC publications are Geosciences (47%), followed by 

Physics (19%) and Chemistry (10%). 

Figure 3 – Percent of Articles by Technology Area Authored by DOC Staff in FY 2015

14

 

12 http://ip-science.thomsonreuters.com/cgi-bin/jrnlst/jloptions.cgi?PC=K

13 http://thomsonreuters.com/social-sciences-citation-index/

14 Data are presented by calendar year as month of publication is not always available in the Web of Science. 

Article counts are from the set of journals covered by the Science Citation Index (SCI) and Social Sciences Citation 

Index (SSCI) classified under Caspar fields using the CHI classification. Articles are classified by the year they 

entered the database, rather than the year of publication, and are assigned to a federal agency on the basis of the 

institutional address(es) listed in the article. Articles are credited on a whole-count basis (i.e., each participating 

federal agency receives one count). Source: Prepared by Science-Metrix using the Web of Science database 

(Thomson Reuters). Used with permission. 

47%

19%

10%

9%

7%

3%2% 3%

Geosciences 47%

Physics 19%

Chemistry 10%

Biological sciences

9%

Engineering 7%

Astronomy 3%

Medical sciences 2%

Other 3%
11

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 2015 cite 826 publications authored by 

DOC researchers. As shown in Figure 4, the largest technology areas citing DOC publications 

include Chemistry (29%), followed by Physics (27%), Engineering (19%), and Biological 

Sciences (18%).

Figure 4 – Percent of Articles by Technology Area Authored by DOC Staff and Cited in 

U.S. Patents in 2015

15

The following chapters provide details on other agency-specific technology transfer activities 

such as technical support development for industrial standards and reference materials, public 

dissemination activities (meetings and workshops), collaborations with guest researchers, etc. 

 

15 Cited articles are from the set of journals covered by the Science Citation Index (SCI) and Social Sciences 

Citation Index (SSCI) classified under Caspar fields using the CHI classification. Cited articles are classified by the 

year of publication, and are assigned to a federal agency on the basis of the institutional address(es) listed in the 

article. 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 FY2012 to articles published in 1997–2007. Source: Prepared by ScienceMetrix using the Web of Science (Thomson Reuters), PATSTAT Spring 2016 edition (European Patent Office) and 

PatentsView (Accessed in December 2016) databases. Used with permission.

29%

27%

19%

18%

3% 2% 2% Chemistry 29%

Physics 27%

Engineering 19%

Biological sciences

18%

Computer sciences

3%

Geosciences 2%

Medical sciences 2%
12

CHAPTER 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.

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.16 

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, the adoption of a technology into the private sector through a business or 

other organization.

NIST has designed its technology transfer program to improve the transfer of its technology and 

work products directly and through collaborations. The following summarizes different 

 

16 Additional details on NIST’s technology transfer program are available at 

http://www.nist.gov/tpo/index.cfm.
13

technology transfer mechanisms NIST uses to promote innovation and to disseminate broadly the 

technologies that result from its research. 

NIST Work Products and Collaborative Activities

NIST actively seeks to identify commercially valuable inventions that result from its research. 

The Patent Review Committee at NIST evaluates each reported invention’s potential to promote 

U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST will generally seek patent protection when 

a patent: (1) would enhance the potential for an invention’s commercialization; (2) would have a 

positive impact on a new field of science or technology and/or the visibility and vitality of NIST;

(3) would further the goals of a CRADA or other agreement; (4) would further U.S. 

manufacturing; or (5) would likely lead to a commercialization license. 

Chapter 1 presented summary information on patenting and licensing; additional details on 

licensing are included below.

NIST research has led to inventions in the following areas: bioscience and health, building and 

fire research, chemistry, math, physics, electronics and telecommunications, energy, 

environment/climate, information technology, manufacturing, materials science, 

nanotechnology, public safety and security, and transportation.
14

In FY 2016, there were 50 active NIST patent licenses of which 12 of these licenses were issued 

in FY 2016. Of these active licenses, 14 licenses were issued to small companies (i.e., companies 

with less than 500 employees).

Table 7 – Profile of NIST’s Active NIST Licenses

(a) “Active” means an agreement in force at any time during the fiscal year.

(b) Patent licenses include licenses to pending patent applications.

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

Total Number of Active Licenses(a) 36 33 33 40 50

 New Licenses Executed 6 7 7 11 12

Total Invention Licenses Active 36 33 33 40 50

 New Invention Licenses Executed 6 7 7 11 12

Total Patent Licenses Active(b) 36 33 33 40 50

 New Patent Licenses Executed 6 7 7 11 12

Total Material Transfer Licenses Active (Inventions) 0 0 0 0 0

 New Material Transfer Licenses (Inventions) 0 0 0 0 0

Total Material Transfer Licenses Active (NonInventions) 0 0 0 0 0

New Material Transfer Licenses Executed (NonInventions) 0 0 0 0 0

 

Total “Other Invention Licenses” Active 0 0 0 0 0

 New “Other Invention Licenses” Executed 0 0 0 0 0

Total “Other IP Licenses” Active 0 0 0 0 0

 New “Other IP Licenses” Executed 0 0 0 0 0

Copyright Licenses (Fee-Bearing) Active 0 0 0 0 0

 New Copyright Licenses Executed 0 0 0 0 0

Active NIST Licenses Issued to Small Companies 2 7 7 4 14
15

In FY 2016, the average time to negotiate a patent license was 5 months. The minimum time to 

negotiate a license was less than 1 month (6 days) and the maximum time was 14 months.

Table 8 – Licensing Management

(a) License Negotiation Time 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.

(b) Patent licenses include licenses to pending patent applications.

Income from licensing comes from a variety of sources: license issue fees; earned royalties; 

minimum annual royalties; paid-up license fees; reimbursement for full-cost recovery of goods; 

and services provided by the laboratory to the licensee (including patent costs).

Table 9 – Characteristics of Licenses Bearing Income

(a) Includes licenses to pending patent applications.

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

License Negotiation Time (Patent Licenses) (a)(b) 

Average (months) 2.9 6.0 4.0 7.0 5.0

Minimum (months) 2.4 2.3 0.2 0.2 1.0

Maximum (months) 5.5 13.5 17.3 38.7 14.0

Licenses Terminated for Cause

Invention Licenses (Patent Licenses) 0 0 0 0 0

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

Total Income Bearing Licenses 20 21 21 25 26

 Exclusive 10 13 14 15 16

 Partially Exclusive 0 0 0 0 0

 Non-Exclusive 6 5 5 8 8

Total Other Income Bearing IP Licenses(a)

Assignment 2 1 1 1 1

Custody Transfer 2 2 1 1 1

Total Income Bearing Invention Licenses 20 21 21 25 26

 Exclusive 10 13 14 15 16

 Partially Exclusive 0 0 0 0 0

 Non-Exclusive 6 5 5 8 8

Total Other Income Bearing IP Licenses

Assignment 2 1 1 1 1

Custody Transfer 2 2 1 1 1

Total Royalty Bearing Licenses 20 21 21 25 26

Total Royalty Bearing Invention Licenses 20 21 21 25 26

Royalty Bearing Patent Licenses 20 21 21 25 26

Other Royalty Bearing IP Licenses 0 0 0 0 0
16

In FY 2016, NIST received $137,662 from all active licenses. The median amount received was 

$5,295. The minimum amount received was $62 and maximum was $40,000. 

Table 10 – Income from Licenses

n.a. = not available. Data withheld to protect proprietary information.

(a) Total income includes license issue fees, earned royalties, minimum annual royalties, paid-up license fees, 

reimbursement for full-cost recovery of goods and services provided by the laboratory to the licensee including 

patent costs and Standard Reference Data. “Active” means an agreement in force at any time during the fiscal 

year.

(b) Patent licenses include licenses to pending patent applications.

(c) “Earned Royalty Income” (ERI) is a royalty based on use of a licensed invention (usually, a percentage of sales 

or of units sold). It is not a license issue fee or a minimum royalty.

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

Total Income, All Active Licenses(a) $146,796 $102,532 $150,995 $124,823 $137,662 

 Invention Licenses (Patent Licenses)(b) $146,796 $102,532 $150,995 $124,823 $137,662 

 Other IP Licenses, Total Active $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 

Total Earned Royalty Income (ERI)(c) $146,796 $102,532 $150,995 $124,823 $137,662 

 Median ERI $9,971 $10,000 $6,250 $1,600 $5,295 

 Minimum ERI $1,500 $640 $640 $640 $62 

 Maximum ERI $64,185 $58,642 $74,575 $62,833 $40,000 

 ERI from Top 1% of Licenses n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

 ERI from Top 5% of Licenses n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

 ERI from Top 20% of Licenses n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

Invention Licenses (Patent Licenses) $146,796 $102,532 $150,995 $124,823 $137,662 

 Median ERI $9,971 $10,000 $6,250 $1,600 $5,296 

 Minimum ERI $1,500 $640 $640 $640 $62 

 Maximum ERI $64,185 $58,642 $74,575 $62,833 $40,000 

 ERI from Top 1% of Licenses n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

 ERI from Top 5% of Licenses n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

 ERI from Top 20% of Licenses n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

Other IP Licenses, Total Active $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 
17

Of the total licensing income received, 33% ($45,148) was distributed to the NIST inventor and 

the remaining 67% ($92,514) was retained by the NIST inventor’s Operating Unit.

Table 11 – Disposition of Invention License Income

(a) Income includes royalties and other payments received during the fiscal year.

(b) Patent licenses include licenses to pending patent applications.

Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs)

Collaborative research and development projects between Federal laboratories, academia, and 

outside partners are an effective means of transferring technology. Beyond the improved knowhow and new technologies that result, these joint efforts often help collaborators to leverage each 

other’s resources and technical capabilities. They also provide mechanisms for collaborators to 

gain technical competencies and acquire new skills. CRADAs are agreements between a Federal

laboratory and one or more partners to collaborate on defined research and development (R&D) 

projects. They are a major mechanism for establishing joint relationships with industry,

academia, and state and local governments to advance promising new technologies toward 

commercialization. These agreements are created under the statutory authority of the StevensonWydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980, as amended by the Federal Technology Transfer 

Act of 1986 (Pub. L. 99-502).

17

In FY 2016, NIST was involved in a total of 2,899 active CRADAs; 294 were traditional 

CRADAs18 and 2,605 were non-traditional CRADAs.19 There were 2,586 new NIST CRADAs. 

Of these, 89 were traditional and 2,497 were non-traditional. 

 

17 http://www.nist.gov/tpo/collaborations/crada.cfm

18 Traditional CRADAs involve collaborative research and development projects by a Federal laboratory and nonFederal partners.

19 Non-traditional CRADAs are used for special purposes, such as laboratory accreditation, materials transfer or 

calibration services.

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

Total Income Received(a) $146,796 $102,532 $150,995 $124,823 $137,662 

Invention Licenses (Patent Licenses)(b)

 Licensing Income to Inventor(s) $61,300 $38,732 $54,602 $44,936 $45,148 

42% 38% 36% 36% 33%

 Licensing Income to NIST $85,497 $63,799 $96,393 $79,887 $92,514 

58% 62% 64% 64% 67%
18

Table 12 – NIST Collaborative Relationships for Research and Development

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 2016, NIST staff authored 1,355 publications in peer-reviewed journals,20 including 329

papers (24.0%) published in 110 "top tier" journals where “top tier" includes any journal with a 

Thomson Reuters' Journal Impact Factor (IF) that falls within the top 10 percentile in its Web of 

Science Subject Category.21 NIST researchers collaborated and co-authored with researchers 

from around the world. NIST researchers co-authored papers with 5,116 unique non-NIST 

authors from 1,037 unique institutions in 46 countries.22

 

20 http://nvl.nist.gov

21 For additional information see http://wokinfo.com/essays/journal-selection-process

22 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.

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

NIST CRADAs

Total Active CRADAs 2,916 2,410 2,280 2,716 2,899

New CRADAs Executed 2,810 2,252 2,092 2,481 2,586

Total Active Traditional CRADAs 140 179 206 329 294

New Traditional CRADAs Executed 53 48 50 143 89

Total Active Non-Traditional CRADAs 2,255 2,231 2,074 2,387 2,605

New Non-Traditional CRADAs Executed 2,236 2,204 2,042 2,338 2,497
19

Table 13 – NIST Publications in Top-Tier Journals vs. Total NIST Publications

n.a. = not available. 

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

the organizations most likely to have an interest in NIST’s research and services, such as the 

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

NIST publishes Tech Beat, a biweekly, plain language newsletter of recent research results.23

In addition to the basic methods of transferring technology such as patents, licenses, and 

CRADAs, NIST researchers routinely transfer technological innovations through the following 

mechanisms. 

Participation in Documentary Standards Committees

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

measurement methods, a product’s properties, or standard practices. Econometric studies have 

concluded that standards contribute significantly to economic growth, and at least one study 

concluded the following: 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.24 

One mechanism used to transfer NIST measurement-science research and other technologies for

market use is through participation in the development of consensus documentary standards. 

During FY 2016, 445 members of NIST staff were involved with more than 120 standards 

organizations. Such participation helps NIST respond programmatically 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. NIST reports its activities in standards development to the 

Office of Management and Budget and to Congress, as required by the National Technology 

Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-113).

25

 

23 http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/tech-beat/index.cfm

24 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

25 http://gsi.nist.gov/global/index.cfm/L1-1

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

Number of NIST Papers 1,335 1,393 1,359 1,323 1,355

Number of NIST Papers in Top-Tier Journals 369 436 444 384 329

Percentage of NIST Papers in Top-Tier 

Journals 28% 31% 33% 29% 24%

Number of Unique Non-NIST Co-Authors n.a. 3,920 4,086 4,585 5,116

Number of Unique Institutions n.a. 922 965 1,003 1,037

Number of Countries n.a. 53 62 63 46
20

Table 14 – Participation in Documentary Standards

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

Participation Database for employees to self-report their involvement, including leadership 

positions, within standards organizations. SCO has been proactively expanding the database to 

collect information on staff tenure on a standards committee, standard(s) developed with NIST 

staff participation, and other information relevant to NIST’s contributions in new and existing 

documentary standards. 

Standard Reference Data

The 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 critically important in engineering structures, optimizing chemical 

processes, and other industrial applications. Standard Reference Data are extracted from the 

scientific and technical literature, or developed from measurements conducted at NIST 

laboratories, and are critically evaluated for accuracy and reliability. NIST currently maintains 

102 SRD databases that cover many areas of science, including analytical chemistry, atomic and 

molecular physics, biotechnology, and materials sciences.26

NIST laboratories conducted data evaluations and supplied the results to NIST customers 

through the Standard Reference Data Program. In FY 2016, NIST SRD distributions included 

2,689 e-commerce orders, 10,573 units sold via distributor, 124 active distributor agreements, 59

active site licenses, 49 active internet subscriptions, 311 units shipped to the user, and 6,208

products downloaded from the NIST website (4,083 free downloads, 2,125 paid downloads). 

 

26 http://www.nist.gov/srd/index.cfm

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

Number of Participating NIST Staff n.a. 400 464 469 445

Number of Standard Organizations with NIST 

Participants n.a. 100 121 165 120
21

Table 15 – Standard Reference Data Program

(a) The increase in sales between FY 2014 and FY 2015 for “Units sold via distributor” reflects sales related to the 

release of a new version of the NIST Standard Reference Database 1A, NIST/EPA/NIH Mass Spectral Library 

and sales from Standard Reference Database 23, Reference Fluid Thermodynamic and Transport Properties.

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.27 In FY 2016, NIST made available 1,194 SRMs and 

from these, sold 31,938 units. 

Table 16 – Standard Reference Materials

User Facilities – Research Participants

NIST operates two unique and valuable laboratory facilities – the Center for Nanoscale Science 

and Technology (CNST) and the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR) – that support U.S. 

industry, academic institutions, and other NIST and government laboratories. These facilities are 

a vibrant means by which NIST customers can tap directly into NIST measurement expertise to 

solve their problems

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

operates 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 center for research using thermal and cold neutrons. 

 

27 http://www.nist.gov/srm/index.cfm

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

Standard Reference Data

Products available (databases) 111 120 111 111 102 

E-Commerce Orders 2,628 2,658 3,111 2,596 2,689 

Units Sold via Distributor 4,446 5,495 5,142 9,807 10,573 

Active Distributor Agreements 52 62 101 123 124 

Active Site Licenses 15 30 58 57 59 

Active Internet Subscriptions 59 50 42 38 49 

Units Shipped via UPS 547 430 595 418 311 

Products Downloaded from the NIST Website 1,951 2,055 3,435 5,751 6,208 

Free Downloads 1,137 1,399 1,352 3,615 4,083 

Paid Downloads 1,951 2,055 2,083 2,136 2,125 

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

Standard Reference Materials

Units Available 1,298 1,299 1,281 1,240 1,194

Units Sold 33,441 32,267 32,636 33,490 31,938
22

Many of its instruments rely on intense beams of cold neutrons emanating from an advanced 

liquid hydrogen moderator.

28

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 2016, there were 2,856

research participants at CNST and 2,536 at NCNR.

Table 17 – NIST Research Participants

(a) The FY 2016 Research Participant totals for CNST are preliminary.

 

28 http://www.nist.gov/user-facilities.cfm

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

NIST Research Participants

CNST (a) 1,669 1,885 2,147 2,434 2,856

NCNR 1,976 2,148 2,271 2,436 2,536
23

Postdoctoral Researchers

Technology transfer not only involves inventions, innovations, data, patents and licenses, but

also the people who perform the actual research and development. Postdoctoral researchers, or

“postdocs,” working at NIST also play an important role in transferring NIST technology.

29 For 

the purpose of this report, NIST uses the NSF’s description of a postdoctoral researcher30 as one 

who has a temporary position taken within five years after the completion of a doctoral degree to

gain scientific, technical, and professional skills.

In FY 2016, there were 167 NIST postdocs. Of these, 104 were located on the NIST campus in 

Gaithersburg, Maryland, 43 were located in Boulder, Colorado, and the remainder were located 

at five other NIST locations. 

Table 18 – 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. http://jila.colorado.edu/

(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. http://jqi.umd.edu/

(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. http://www.nist.gov/mml/hml/index.cfm

(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. https://www.ibbr.umd.edu//

(e) The Advances in Biomedical Measurement Science program (ABMS) 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. 

https://sites.stanford.edu/abms/

The number of postdocs is a measure of technology transfer because once their tenure at NIST 

ends they can take what they have learned and apply it to other projects outside of NIST. This is 

 

29 http://www.nist.gov/iaao/postdoc.cfm

30 http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind12

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

NIST Postdocs, Total (NCR) 130 140 172 174 167

Gaithersburg campus 84 88 115 113 104

Boulder campus 28 32 35 49 43

Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics 

(a) 12 11 9 5 9

Joint Quantum Institute (b) 2 4 3 2 2

Hollings Marine Laboratory (c) 1 2 1 2 2

Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology 

Research (d) 2 1 4 3 3

Advances in Biological and Measurement 

Science program (e) 1 2 5 5 4
24

supported by efforts NIST has begun to track postdocs after their initial tenure at NIST. NIST 

surveyed 73 researchers who were postdocs with the NIST National Research Council (NRC)

program in FY 2016. More than half of these postdocs (63%) continued research careers with

NIST,

31 12% moved to the private sector, 12% moved to other government agencies, 11% 

moved to academia and 2% either became independent researchers or were unemployed. As 

more data becomes available, NIST will employ advanced research tools, such as those utilized 

in the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) Star Metrics Program,32 to track and evaluate the post 

tenure work of postdocs from NIST.

Figure 5 – Tracking Researchers after Initial Postdoc Tenure at NIST (FY 2016)

Guest Researchers

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

collaborative projects.33 NIST hosts many term appointment researchers and non-NIST 

employees working as guest researchers, collaborators, and student fellows. Like 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’ work at NIST 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 these skills, knowledge, and a 

desire to employ them in innovative ways to new careers and employers. Among these skills is 

the knowledge of how to collaborate with Federal laboratories and what Federal resources are 

available to assist companies in creating and developing new and improved technologies. 

 

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

(85%) or became non-career conditional or term employees, i.e. contractors or guest researchers (15%).

32 https://www.starmetrics.nih.gov

33 http://www.nist.gov/tpo/collaborations/guestresearchers.cfm

12% 63%

12%

11%

2%

NIST

Private Sector

Govt Agencies (Non-NIST)

Academia

Other
25

In FY 2016, there were 3,273 guest scientists and engineers working at NIST.

Table 19 – Guest Researchers

Accreditation Services

The NIST National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP) is a voluntary and 

fee-supported program to accredit private sector laboratories that are competent to perform tests 

or calibrations.34 In FY 2016, NVLAP accredited 735 laboratories.

Table 20 – Accreditation Services

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.35 In FY 2016, there were 12,971 calibration tests performed by NIST.

Table 21 – Calibration Services

 

34 http://www.nist.gov/nvlap/

35 http://www.nist.gov/calibrations/index.cfm

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

NIST Guest Researchers

Number of Guest Scientists and Engineers 2,782 2,963 2,981 3,125 3,273

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

NVLAP Accreditations

Number of NVLAP Accreditations 732 743 774 726 735

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

Calibrations

Number of Calibration Tests Performed 17,206 14,974 15,401 13,906 12,971
26

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 education outreach programs and partnerships that 

enrich basic research programs such as:

• the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program;

36

• the Summer High School Internship (SHIP) program;

37

• the Pathways Program;38

• the NIST Summer Institute for Middle School Science Teachers;

39 and

• the Professional Research Experience Program (PREP).

40

In FY 2016, there were 213 students enrolled in the SURF program, 70 students enrolled in the 

SHIP program, 85 students enrolled in the Pathways program, 20 students enrolled in the NIST 

Summer Institute for Middle School Science Teachers, and 204 students enrolled in the PREP 

program.

Table 22 – STEM Education 

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 2016, the NIST Conference Program arranged for 102 conferences that attracted 10,370

researchers to NIST’s facilities in Gaithersburg, Maryland and Boulder, Colorado. NIST’s 

 

36 NIST’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program provides internships for college students 

majoring in science, mathematics and engineering. http://www.nist.gov/surfgaithersburg/index.cfm

37 NIST’s Summer High School Internship (SHIP) program provides summer intern program for high school 

students who are interested in scientific research. http://www.nist.gov/ohrm/staffing/ship.cfm

38 The Pathways Programs offers high school, college and trade school students paid opportunities to work in a 

Federal agency and explore different career paths while continuing their education. 

 http://www.nist.gov/ohrm/staffing/students.cfm

39 NIST’s Summer Institute for Middle School Science Teachers provides a two-week workshop for middle school 

science teachers featuring hands-on activities, lectures, tours, and visits with NIST scientists and engineers in their 

laboratories. http://www.nist.gov/iaao/teachlearn/index.cfm

40 NIST’s Professional Research Experience Program (PREP) provides undergraduate and graduate students, as well 

as post-doctoral researchers, the opportunity to gain hands-on research experience working with NIST researchers.

http://www.boulder.nist.gov/bdprepo.htm

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

SURF 196 205 203 206 213

SHIP 47 55 60 48 70

Pathways Program 130 98 78 97 85

Summer Institute for Middle School Teachers n.a. n.a. 22 22 20

PREP n.a. n.a. 134 164 204
27

Office of Weights and Measures, which promotes uniformity in U.S. weights and measures laws, 

regulations, and standards, trained 1,223 weights and measures administrators, laboratory 

metrologists, and field enforcement officials during FY 2016.

Table 23 – Conferences, Seminars, and Workshops

n.a. = not available.

NIST is continuing to collect and retain current information on metrology training and is 

expanding its efforts in this area to include additional information on training activities NIST

conducts for facility users. Further, NIST staff answers e-mail, telephone, and mail inquiries 

from researchers requesting information and details about NIST technical developments and 

research results. 

Streamlining Technology Transfer Processes

NIST has undertaken several efforts to streamline and simplify the technology transfer process. 

NIST revised its standard CRADA to expedite review of these documents and reduce the overall 

size of these documents by approximately one third. NIST also implemented several new 

licensing programs to encourage small businesses to participate. These programs lay out terms in 

advance to ease concerns by small businesses about overall costs. NIST is conducting detailed 

analysis of the flow of documents to understand where significant delays occur within the 

system. In many cases, these delays are with the partner and NIST does not have direct control; 

however, by continued efforts to identify and understand issues experienced by partners, NIST 

expects to identify new ways to simplify and streamline technology transfer practices. In FY 

2016 our times increased rather than decreased and NIST is taking efforts to address this issue. 

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 442 days. The average CRADA approval 

time was 104 days.

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

NIST Conference Center

Conferences and Workshops 80 86 80 118 102 

Attendance 9,104 8,579 9,208 11,490 10,370 

Office of Weights and Measures - Metrology Training 

Seminar Attendance 167 446 355 457 342 

Webinar Attendance 448 110 133 266 156 

Workshop Attendance n.a. 55 30 27 0 

Students 615 633 518 750 725 

Total 1,230 1,244 1,036 1,500 1,223 
28

Table 24 – Streamlining

(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.

Small Businesses, Start-ups and Young Entrepreneurial Companies

NIST recognizes the need to provide both funding and technological support for small 

businesses, start-ups, and young entrepreneurial companies. NIST and its joint institutes nurture 

young companies in high-growth technology areas by several means. 

In addition to financial support provided by the SBIR program and technical support through 

CRADAs, NIST recently implemented several new licensing options to aid innovators and lower 

developmental risk for potential partners who wish to obtain and use NIST technology. For 

example, the Science/Technology Advancement Research (STAR) license provides a no-cost, 

non-exclusive field-of-use research license to explore and advance NIST technologies for 

commercialization. 

In FY 2016, NIST issued patent licenses to 14 small businesses. There were 58 small businesses 

involved in traditional CRADAs and 823 small businesses were involved in non-traditional 

CRADAs. NIST’s non-traditional CRADAs involved 823 small businesses including 12 small 

businesses involved with material transfer agreements, 223 involved in calibration services and 

588 receiving NVLAP certifications. There were also 12 small businesses who received Phase I 

SBIR awards and 7 small businesses who received Phase II SBIR awards.

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)

NIST’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program funds science and technology

based small businesses in the U.S. The program offers qualified small businesses the opportunity 

to propose innovative ideas that meet specific NIST research and development needs and have 

the potential for commercialization.

41

 NIST has taken the following steps to improve its SBIR 

program:

1. Streamlining practices to reduce the administrative burden on small businesses and time 

needed to process and issue awards;

2. Reducing the number of topics and subtopics to balance the work required to obtain 

proposals while increasing the selection rate for worthwhile proposals. NIST 

Programmatic Investment Priority Areas in the NIST Three Year Programmatic Plan 

serve as topics to align SBIR priorities to NIST’s mission. The goal is to bring the Phase 

1 SBIR award rate up to the national average of 17%;

 

41 http://www.nist.gov/tpo/sbir/index.cfm

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

Streamlining Efforts

Average Number of Days to Prepare a 

Patent Application(a) 348 401 456 410 442

Average CRADA Approval Time(b) 145 91 110 65 104
29

3. Implementing a two-step review process to evaluate technical feasibility and to maximize 

investments, catalyze commercialization, and achieve a strategic focus. The first step is a 

technical evaluation conducted by the NIST laboratories. The second step is prioritization 

of proposals considered meritorious in the laboratory review through the use of criteria 

based on the overall NIST strategy and SBIR program goals; and

4. Reducing, by 10%, the time from close of solicitation to award issuance. During FY 

2016, the Phase I-time period was reduced to 82 days.

Table 25 - Number of Small Businesses Interacting with NIST

n.a. = not available.

In addition, NIST reports that 19 other small businesses were engaged in collaborative research 

activities with NIST. NIST has also identified 49 start-up and young companies (existing for five 

years or less) that have either spun off technologies from NIST or received considerable support 

in their core area of technical development and were involved in research collaborations with 

NIST during FY 2016.

Technology Transfer Metrics and Impact Studies

In 2012, NIST expanded the reporting of activity metrics and is currently developing tools and 

techniques to enhance the measurement of technology transfer impacts. 

Activity metrics measure the activities or outcomes of a program, i.e., efforts made by a Federal 

agency to transfer technologies outside of the agency. In this report, activity metrics are basic 

counts of the number of times an agency uses different transfer mechanisms during a fiscal year, 

such as the number of patents, licenses, CRADAs, etc. The function of an activity metric is to 

characterize a technology transfer operation and to show how various processes are functioning 

over time.42

Impact metrics measure things that happen outside of an agency because of the technologies the 

agency transferred. They are used to assess the performance of technologies and technology 

transfer operations by quantifying the resulting benefits or net benefits. Impact metrics are 

 

42 It is important to note that because each Federal agency has a different mission, addresses the needs of different 

stakeholders, customers and consumers, and pursues the development of different technologies, activity metrics are 

not effective measures to use when comparing the performance of agencies.

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

NIST Licenses 2 7 7 4 14

Number of Small Businesses involved in 

Traditional NIST CRADAs 20 31 37 68 58

Number of Small Businesses involved in NonTraditional NIST CRADAs n.a. n.a. 733 794 823

Number of Small Businesses involved in 

Phase I SBIR Awards 8 9 12 14 12

Number of Small Businesses involved in 

Phase II SBIR Awards 4 5 4 6 7
30

derived from careful studies of a transferred technology’s use and demand environment. The 

demand environment is the environment where the need for the transferred technology is formed, 

where the technology is utilized, and where economic and societal impacts are generated. It can 

refer to any number of consumers or end-users, research laboratories, institutes, companies, 

markets, industries, economic regions, etc. 

Impact studies and impact metrics are important tools that are used to evaluate and monitor the 

efficiency of programs that develop technologies as well as the programs that transfer 

technologies. There are many different types of impact studies and the appropriate study to use 

depends on the objective of the study and the nature of the transfer mechanisms and impacts 

being assessed. Federal technologies that are transferred to commercial enterprises via patent 

licenses or CRADAs are often assessed with economic impact studies. These studies focus on 

the net benefits that accrue to commercial developers and consumers of goods or services 

enabled by the technologies. Economic impact studies can provide an array of different metrics; 

some measure the return on the government’s investment in developing the technologies (e.g., 

measures of benefit to cost ratios, net present value, internal rate of return, etc.) while others 

measure the change in economic activity brought about by the technologies (e.g., changes in 

revenues, costs, employment, tax revenues, etc.). 

To provide an effective economic impact study, the impacts being studied must be easily 

identifiable and measurable. Unfortunately, this is not the case for all impacts resulting from 

transferred technologies. Impacts resulting from a complex integration of multiple technologies 

(both federal and non-federal) are not easily assessed because it is not possible to identify and 

isolate the contribution(s) made by any one technology. Other impacts are hard to measure 

because technologies are transferred to non-commercial applications, or the impact may be 

dispersed in an open access manner (e.g. via publications). For these technologies, an alternative 

approach is to assess impacts in terms of the changes in technical or physical performance. For 

example, impact studies can be used to measure improvements in fuel efficiency, drug delivery 

or manufacturing efficiency, enhancements in cyber security or highway safety and navigation, 

improvements in food production and safety, or efforts to control pollution, traffic congestion, 

pests or disease. Other technologies may be more suitable to societal impact studies where 

measures of impact focus on improvements in behavior, training, crime enforcement, safety, 

security, and quality of life.

It is also important to note that many impacts are dynamic, i.e., they change over time. Because 

of this, impact metrics are often reported as a range of values over time rather than a single 

value. And, for any given study, the resulting impact metrics are highly dependent on 1) the 

nature of the study, 2) the methodology used to assess the impact, 3) the quantity and quality of 

data, 4) the assumptions used to perform the analysis, and 5) the timing of the study, both in 

terms of when the impact occurred or is expected to have occurred and when the assessment was 

made. This means that when an impact is observed and assessed at two different times it is 

possible to get two different (but appropriate) measures of the size and nature of the impact. 

To illustrate this point, consider two impact studies, a forward-looking study performed in 2002 

and a retrospective study performed in 2013, that were performed on the same set of 
31

technologies transferred from NIST. In 2002, NIST contracted with RTI International43 to 

provide an ex ante study of the potential economic impacts of a set of international standards. 

These standards addressed interoperability problems encountered in the exchange of digital 

product information in the transportation equipment industries and were based on the Standard 

for Exchange of Product model data (STEP) that provided a suite of standards used by a variety 

of industries.

Along with other institutions, companies, and academic researchers, NIST made significant 

contributions to the development of the STEP model, the STEP standard, the integration of STEP 

functionality into applications, and the adoption of STEP functionality by end users. NIST also 

participated in several public-private partnerships involving demonstrations and development 

projects with software developers, industry, and other federal agencies. 

The RTI study found that STEP’s benefits would accrue to end users through increased 

interoperability of computer-aided design, engineering, and manufacturing and product data 

management systems used in the product design supply chain. Using data collected from 

industry surveys and case studies, RTI prepared an ex ante study of STEP’s impact as well as 

NIST’s contribution. The 2002 study estimated that the present value of benefits that would 

accrue to the development and use of STEP between the years 2002 and 2010 would be $1,186

million and the present value of costs would be $104 million. The net present value was 

therefore estimated to be $1,082 million and the benefit-to-cost ratio would be 11.4 to 1. This 

indicated that each dollar invested in STEP would likely yield $11.40 in return. For NIST’s 

involvement, the RTI study estimated that in 2002, the present value of benefits would therefore

be $206 million and the present value of costs would be $26 million. The net present value 

would therefore be $180 million and the benefit-to-cost ratio would be 7.9 to 1. So, for each 

dollar invested in STEP, NIST could expect $7.10 in return.

In 2013, NIST revisited this assessment by contracting with Robert D. Neihus, Inc. (RDN), to 

reassess the economic impact of the STEP standard.44 This study provided an ex post assessment 

of STEP’s benefits to the U.S. as well as NIST’s contribution. This study estimated that the 

present value of benefits that had accrued due to the development and use of STEP between 2002 

and 2010 was $901 million and the present value of costs was $83 million. The net present value 

was therefore estimated to be $812 million and the benefit-to-cost ratio was estimated to be 10.9

to 1. This means that each dollar invested in STEP yielded $10.90 in return. For NIST’s 

involvement, the RDN study estimated the present value of benefits was $89 million and the 

present value of costs was $15 million. The net present value was therefore estimated to be $74 

million and the benefit-to-cost ratio was estimated to be 5.9 to 1. So, for each dollar invested in 

STEP, NIST received $5.90 in return.

 

43 NIST Planning Report 02-5 Economic Impact Assessment of the International Standard for the Exchange of 

Product Model Data (STEP) in Transportation Equipment Industries. Prepared by RTI International. December 

2002. https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/documents/director/planning/report02-5.pdf

44 Reassessing the Economic Impacts of the International Standard for the Exchange of Product Model Data (STEP) 

on the U.S. Transportation Equipment Manufacturing Industry. Prepared by: Robert D. Niehaus, Inc. November 

2014. http://www.rdniehaus.com/rdn/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Economic-Impact-of-STEP-on-theTransportation-Industry.pdf
32

To compare the results from the RTI and RDN studies, it is necessary to convert the dollar values

to reflect the same purchasing power. This is done by adjusting the dollar estimates from the 

2001 RTI study to 2013 dollars using the Consumer Price Index45 so that estimates from both 

studies are expressed in terms of 2013 dollars. As shown in the table below, the earlier, ex ante

RTI study estimated net benefits for the overall development and use of STEP to be $1,432 

million in 2013 dollars. The later, ex post RDN study estimated net benefits were $818 for a 

difference of $614 million. The benefit to cost ratio for each study was very close with the RTI 

study forecasting 11.4 to 1 and the RDN study estimating 10.9 to 1. 

The two studies also differed in their estimate of the economic returns from NIST’s investment

in STEP. The earlier RTI study forecasted a net present value of $237 million when converted 

into 2013 dollars. The later RDN study estimated the net present value was $74 million for a 

difference of $163 million. The benefit to cost ratios also differed with the earlier RTI study 

forecasting a 7.9 to 1 ratio and the later RDN study estimating a 5.9 to 1 ratio.

The most significant finding from both studies is that the development and deployment of STEP 

and NIST’s involvement overwhelmingly provided significant returns for the U.S. The 

difference in the estimated impacts can be attributed to several factors, including:

• The difference in the methodology use (i.e., ex ante vs. ex post). 

• The RTI study’s projection of a higher adoption rate of STEP, up to 75 percent by 2010 

for the aerospace, automotive, and shipbuilding industries. The RDN study used adoption 

rates that were based on surveys of STEP end-users that showed variable adoption rates 

(in 2010 of adoption rates were 20.0 percent in the aerospace sector, 6.0 percent in the 

shipbuilding sector, and 17.4 percent in the automotive sector). 

 

45 See https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm

RTI Study 

(2001)

RDN Study 

(2013) Difference

Present Value of Benefits (2013 Dollars) $1,560 $901 ($659)

Present Value of Costs (2013 Dollars) $137 $83 ($54)

Net Present Value (2013 Dollars) $1,432 $818 ($614)

Benefit-to-Cost Ratio 11.4 10.9 (0.5)

Economic Returns to STEP ($ million)

RTI Study 

(2001)

RDN Study 

(2013) Difference

Present Value of Benefits (2013 Dollars) $271 $89 ($182)

Present Value of Costs (2013 Dollars) $34 $15 ($19)

Net Present Value (2013 Dollars) $237 $74 ($163)

Benefit-to-Cost Ratio 7.9 5.9 (2.0)

Economic Returns to NIST from STEP ($ million)
33

• The difference in some cost estimates including: avoidance costs, mitigation costs, and 

delay costs. 

• The 2008 recession which significantly impacted STEP’s development and deployment.

Despite the difference in results, it is clear that at the time the studies were made, both provided

appropriate, best estimates for measuring the impact for STEP’s development and deployment. 

From this comparison, it should be clear that unlike activity metrics that are simple counts of 

transfer activities, impact metrics are far more complex. In order to correctly interpret, compare, 

and aggregate impact metrics it is important to have an understanding of how the metrics were 

derived, what assumptions were used in their production, and when they were made. 

Efforts to Promote Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) Program

The NIST Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) Program was initiated in 2013 to help the research 

staff and management understand and become connected to the nation’s technologically-based 

entrepreneurship community. This program was developed and is jointly sponsored by NIST and 

Maryland’s Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) through a Partnership Intermediary 

Agreement (PIA) between the two organizations. Under the PIA, TEDCO vets and recommends 

suitable candidates for one year appointments. 

EIRs offer NIST employees seminars that cover such topics as business formation, funding, 

protection of intellectual property, and conflict-of-interest issues. EIRs also counsel NIST PostDoctoral Fellows (postdocs) and other temporary employees on identifying and exploring career 

opportunities in small and start-up technology-oriented businesses. Additional one-on-one 

sessions are provided to staff members who have an interest in pursuing efforts to develop a 

company that will spin out a NIST technology. Over the past two years, more than 20 staff 

members have received one-on-one counseling and two are actively engaged in efforts to form a 

business venture to license a NIST technology for commercial purposes. The two individuals 

seeking to form a business venture also received guidance from the NIST Chief Counsel and 

from the Department of Commerce Ethics Counsel before undertaking their initiative which is 

being pursued on their own time.

N-STEP Program

The NIST Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Program (N-STEP)46 was launched in 

November 2015 with the goal of providing opportunities for motivated researchers to build upon 

the experience they gained at NIST as they explore entrepreneurial careers that benefit the NIST 

mission. The Program is focused on commercialization of research that has been done at NIST 

by postdocs who are interested in forming companies to independently pursue further 

translational research and development of technologies specifically related to NIST’s mission, so 

that the technologies can be commercialized as products or services to benefit the public.

N-STEP is funded by NIST and administered by Maryland TEDCO, but is nation-wide in scope 

and not limited to the State of Maryland.

 

46 See http://tedco.md/program/n-step/
34

As of December 2016, TEDCO made a total number of 6 awards.

Challenges

NIST has been increasing its efforts to offer Challenge competitions.47 In FY 2016, NIST’s 

involvement included the following Challenges:

• NIST, partnering with the National Football League, Under Armour, and General 

Electric, launched the Head Health Challenge III in February 2015 to catalyze the 

development of advanced materials with improved impact resistance. This multi-phased 

Challenge is ongoing with the grand prize winner to be announced early 2017.

• In September, 2016, NIST’s Technology Partnerships Office launched the Federal 

Impact Assessment Challenge in collaboration with the Journal of Technology Transfer 

to stimulate new impact assessments of technology transferred from the Federal 

government.

• NIST’s Information Technology Laboratory launched the Post-Quantum Crypto 

Challenge in support of the computer security division’s mission.

• The Reference Data Challenge occurred in summer 2015 to spur the development of 

mobile applications using NIST scientific reference data as part of its ongoing effort to 

modernize availability and use of NIST data. The prizes were awarded in the early FY 

2016.

• NIST’s Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) division of CTL launched an 

Innovation Accelerator in FY 2016 with a mission to advance broadband 

communication technologies for use by the public safety responders. In February 2012, 

Congress enacted the middle-class tax reform and job creation act. The legislation 

contains landmark visions for the development and build out of the new nationwide 

public safety broadband network (“the Network”), a dedicated interoperable network for 

emergency responders. The Public Safety trust fund was established to support the design 

implementation of the network. The PSCR has been given the lead at NIST to plan and 

execute the $300 million Public Safety trust fund allocations to establish a research and 

development program to support the development and deployment of the network. A 

significant portion of the funds will go toward prize and challenge competitions starting 

in the fiscal year 2017 through 2022.

PSCR also entered into an agreement with NASA Center for Excellence in Collaborative 

Innovation (CoECI) to leverage their contract vehicle to engage crowdsourcing vendors 

and processes to achieve innovation goals. PSCR will focus on key areas for technology 

acceleration true prize competitions including: location-based services, mission-critical 

voice, enhance user interfaces and experiences, and data analytics.

 

47 For more information see https://www.challenge.gov/about/ 
35

Downstream Outcomes from NIST Technology Transfer Activities

NIST Patents Single-Photon Detector for Potential Encryption and Sensing Apps 

Individual photons of light now can be detected 

far more efficiently using a device patented by 

NIST scientists who have overcome longstanding 

limitations with one of the most commonly used 

type of single-photon detectors. Their invention 

could allow higher rates of transmission of 

encrypted electronic information and improved 

detection of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

The team, which also includes scientists working at the California Institute of Technology and 

the University of Maryland, has patented a method to detect the photons that arrive when the 

gates are either open or closed. The NIST team had developed a highly sensitive way to read tiny 

signals from the detector, a method that is based on electronic interferometry, or the combining 

of waves such that they cancel each other out.

The new detector can count individual photons at a very high maximum rate—several hundred 

million per second—and at higher than normal efficiency, while maintaining low noise. Its 

efficiency is at least 50 percent for photons in the near infrared, the standard wavelength range 

used in telecommunications. Commercial detectors operate with only 20 to 30 percent efficiency.

NIST Supports Precision Medicine Diagnostics 

NIST efforts to support accurate diagnostic testing so that 

cancer treatments can be tailored to the tumor DNA and 

other characteristics particular to individual patients 

continue to gain momentum, as the agency mounts a multilaboratory study to evaluate candidate reference materials 

for benchmarking measurements of circulating tumor DNA, 

so-called liquid biopsies.

The comparative exercise, sometimes referred to as an 

inter-laboratory “round robin”, benefits from a new threeyear CRADA with SeraCare Life Sciences, Millford, 

Massachusetts. Under the agreement, SeraCare will supply its circulating DNA reference 

material technology to NIST to help further development and refinement of digital measurement 

methods. NIST will distribute these materials for testing at laboratories in the National Cancer 

Institute’s Early Detection Research Network and to other research and testing organizations.

Reliably accurate measurements are critical to the successful introduction and adoption of liquid 

biopsies for clinical applications, which include monitoring therapeutic progress and detecting 

drug resistance mutations.

Credit: National Human Genome Research Institute
36

An Extraordinary Standard

NIST has issued one of the world's most intricate measurement standards: an exhaustively 

analyzed antibody protein that the biopharmaceutical industry will use to help ensure the quality 

of treatments across a widening range of health conditions, including cancers, autoimmune 

disorders and infectious diseases.

The standard is an antibody protein—consisting of more than 20,000 atoms—analyzed so 

thoroughly that the material can be used by organizations around the globe to verify and improve 

their analytical methods for quality control. The new reference material (NIST RM8671) is a 

monoclonal antibody, or mAb that is produced in the lab by living cells, usually from mouse or 

hamster cell lines. Uniform in composition and structure, mAbs account for five of the 10 topselling drugs and over $75 billion in annual sales worldwide. According to one estimate, about 

300 monoclonal-antibody-based therapeutics are being evaluated for safety and effectiveness in 

clinical trials.

Chosen for development in consultation with industry, NIST RM 8671 is an important addition 

to the toolkits of biological drug manufacturers and their suppliers and regulators. It serves as a 

representative molecule that can be used to determine that methods for assessing product quality 

are working properly and to evaluate new methods or technologies. It also provides an industry 

very mindful of intellectual property concerns with a standard benchmark for everyone, from 

aspiring startup to multinational firm to regulator.

Industry experts have indicated that the universally available “public” mAb, characterized and 

distributed by NIST, will allow better assessment of existing analytical methods and potentially 

faster adoption of new technologies. The utility of this reference material has already been 

demonstrated by more than 100 collaborators from companies, regulatory agencies and 

universities around the world. 

Newly Patented NIST Technique Creates Precisely Sized Nanocontainers Useful for Drug 

Delivery 

What if doctors could deliver anti-cancer drugs directly to 

tumors without making patients sick? Bringing this dream 

of targeted drug delivery closer to reality for 

pharmaceutical manufacturers, researchers at NIST have 

received a patent for a method to create precisely sized 

nanometer-scale capsules.

The NIST method employs microfluidics, the use of fluids 

at the microscopic level, to create precise nanoscale 

spherical capsules. Made of lipids, the kinds of 

biomolecules that also comprise fats, the spherical capsules 

are known as liposomes. The inside of a liposome could 

hold drugs, and the outside could be coated with receptors that bind to specific cancer cells. The 

method can produce liposomes with typical diameters of 100-400 nanometers, or billionths of a 

meter. This size range is useful for attaching to cells, whose size is typically 1 to 10 micrometers, 

or millionths of a meter.

Credit: A. Jahn, W.N. Vreeland, M. Gaitan, 

L.E. Locascio/NIST
37

Once this technique was developed researchers were able to create a variety of liposomes of 

many useful sizes and the potential drug-delivery applications became clear. “This research and 

the resulting patent also have implications for the on-demand formulation of drugs in a way that's 

applicable to personalized or precision medicine,” said Laurie Locascio, director of NIST's 

Material Measurement Laboratory.

NIST Expertise and Collaborations Lead to Portable Test Solution for Laser Trackers 

A collaboration between NIST researchers and a private-sector firm has led to development of a 

commercial device to fill a critical need in industry: field verification of laser tracking systems.

Laser trackers are state-of-the-art instruments capable of 

measuring the dimensions of objects as large as 120 meters 

in length to high accuracy and with uncertainties as low as 

60 micrometers – about half the width of a human hair. 

Laser-tracker measurements are responsible for ensuring the 

functionality of millions of dollars in products each day, and 

are used, for example, in precision measurement of the size, 

shape, and alignment of aircraft wings during assembly. 

Performance testing of the tracker systems, which can cost in 

the neighborhood of $200,000, is difficult because it requires 

long, high-accuracy, portable reference artifacts that retain 

their exact dimensions and characteristics over multiple sites and uses.

Thanks to a successful CRADA between NIST's Engineering Physics Division and Brunson 

Incorporated, a U.S. manufacturer of metrology equipment, such an artifact – the first of its kind 

– is now a reality. Brunson Incorporated provided the funding, product design, and 

manufacturing, and PML provided state-of-the-art measurement expertise.

NIST invented the first laser tracker in 1987, and since then has continued research in 

measurement applications, standardization, uncertainties, and testing. This commercialized 

product is the latest of many significant achievements in improving the understanding, and 

therefore the functionality, of laser trackers.

Awards

Consortium Names NIST's May Top Lab Director

The Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC) has named Under Secretary 

of Commerce for Standards and Technology and National Institute of Standards and Technology 

(NIST) Director Willie E. May as its Laboratory Director of the Year for 2016. Also recognized 

by the FLC with a 2016 Excellence in Technology Transfer Award is a NIST engineering team 

for its development of a computer simulation program that predicts air and contaminant 

movement within buildings.

Both May and the research trio of engineer W. Stuart Dols, engineer Steven Emmerich and 

information technology specialist Brian Polidoro were honored at the 2016 FLC National 

Meeting in Chicago, Ill., during an awards ceremony on April 27, 2016. The FLC is "the 

formally chartered, nationwide network of over 300 federal laboratories, agencies and research 
38

centers that fosters commercialization best practice strategies and opportunities for accelerating 

federal technologies from out of the labs and into the marketplace."

In selecting May as the top director among all of its federal member organizations, the FLC 

noted that "technology transfer achievements have grown exponentially" during his service as 

associate director of laboratory programs, acting director and director of NIST. The FLC also 

stated that between fiscal year 2013 and fiscal year 2015 "over two-thirds of the nearly 1,000 

active tech transfer activities were completed under Dr. May's oversight." Additionally, Dr. May 

was acknowledged for streamlining and enhancing the procedures by which NIST arranges and 

manages its Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) with external 

partners. According to the FLC award summary, May's efforts "have resulted in a tripling of new 

CRADAs per year from fiscal year 2010 to fiscal year 2014, while reducing the review time 

required to process each CRADA."

May also conceptualized a new partnership with the state of Maryland to provide up to 10 grants 

per year to former NIST postdoctoral fellows for commercializing technologies developed 

during their tenure at the agency.
39

Other NIST awardees include:

American Institute of Physics

• Jenny Lee: Science Communication Award, Broadcast/New Media Category (2016)

Colorado Governor’s Award for High-Impact Research

• Konard Lehnert: Foundational Science and Technology Category (2016)

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

• Darine Haddad: Technical Award (2016)

• John Kitching: Frequency Control Rabi Award (2016) and Sensors Counsel Technical 

Achievement Award (2016)

• Ron Goldfarb: Distinguished Service Award (2016)

American Chemical Society

• Stephanie Watson: National Committee Service Award (2016)

Thomson Reuters

• Jun Ye and Deborah Jin: Highly Cited Researchers (2016)

Federal Laboratory Consortium

• Steve Emmerich, Stuart Dols, and Brian Polidoro: Award for Excellence in Technology 

Transfer (2016)

ASTM International

• Sudarsan Rachuri: President’s Leadership Award (2016)

• Bob Chapman: Award for Excellence in Symposium and Publication Management (2016)

• Clarissa Ferraris: Award of Merit (2016)

AmericaMakes

• Shawn Moylan: Distinguished Collaborator Award

Washington Academy of Science

• Piotr Domanski: Engineering Science Award (2016)
40

CHAPTER 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.

NOAA dedicated $560 million, or approximately 10% of the agency’s total budget, to R&D in 

Fiscal Year 2016, with R&D defined as all research and development activities outside of 

facilities and equipment purchases. This continues a five-year trend of increased R&D 

expenditures, highlighting NOAA’s efforts to keep up with increased stakeholder demand for 

environmental intelligence and services in the face of a changing planet.

Almost 60 percent of NOAA’s FY 2016 R&D budget went to internal R&D efforts, including 

those at NOAA labs and science centers within the line offices. The remaining 40 percent was 

set aside for extramural research, enabling partnerships and collaborations with non-NOAA 

entities. Over the past five years, NOAA has been dedicating an increasing percentage of its

resources to extramural research, which shows the importance NOAA places on external 

partnerships in fulfilling its R&D mission.

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

operational components to accomplish their respective missions. NOAA’s research priorities are 

outlined each year in a Strategic Research Guidance Memorandum48 issued by the Office of the 

NOAA Chief Scientist. Current priorities include: 

• Improve and integrate earth system models and predictions

• Optimize observing systems and networks 

• Advance data science, management and distribution

• Enhance risk assessment and communication to the public

• Integrate water prediction and decision support capabilities

• Improve understanding of the Arctic environmental system

 

48 NOAA Strategic Guidance Memorandum, 2016: 

http://nrc.noaa.gov/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=BPiCcAnn18s%3d&portalid=6
41

Approach and Plans for Technology Transfer 

As required by 15 U.S. Code § 3710, the NOAA Technology Partnerships Office (TPO), housed 

under the NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), serves as the central 

Office of Research and Technology Applications (ORTA) for all NOAA labs, centers, programs, 

and external partners. The TPO has the primary mission of facilitating the conduct of, and 

reporting the results of, NOAA’s research to commercialization (R2C) activities.

In FY 2012, in response to President Obama’s request to accelerate technology transfer out of 

federal labs, the TPO developed a 5-Year Plan to improve technology transfer, including R2C 

from NOAA. The TPO reported on the outcomes of these activities in the 2015 Report to 

Congress. The TPO is now developing a new technology transfer plan for NOAA, which will be 

ready for implementation in 2017-2018. 

Small Business Innovation Research – Technology Transfer (SBIR-TT) Program

In FY 2016, the TPO began a pilot program to 

explore offering some of its patented 

technologies for commercial development 

through the Small Business Innovation Research 

(SBIR) Program. This pilot, called SBIR-TT, 

resulted in two Phase I proposals to develop 

commercial applications for NOAA’s Smart 

Module for Communications, Processing, and 

Interface technology. TPO has awarded R&D 

licenses to two U.S. small businesses under this 

program. 

Based on the initial success of this program, NOAA is planning to continue offering some of its 

patented technologies through this innovative vehicle to support the growth of small businesses 

in the United States. 

2016 Research to Applications/Use (R2A/U) Overview

The majority of NOAA’s R&D portfolio is transitioned as research to applications or other uses 

through various channels and processes including: 

• Peer-reviewed publications 

• MOUs and non-CRADA agreements

• Cooperative Institutes 

• Data portals 

• Computer models 

• Decision-support tools 

Data Products and Services

NOAA scientists provide details of their research and technology to the public in the form of 

information products and services. These include weather and climate forecast data, El Niño 

prediction and monitoring, tides and currents, satellite imagery, fishery statistics, information on 
42

protected species, air quality, coastal conditions, water conditions, nautical charts, and databases 

on climate, oceans, ice, atmosphere, geophysics and the sun. These data are provided, often in 

real-time, through the network of NOAA data centers and websites.

Decision Support Tools

NOAA’s labs and programs develop a wide variety of dedicated decision support software tools 

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.

Tools and Expertise Help U.S. Aquaculture Industry Expand

Offshore aquaculture is a promising new frontier for U.S seafood production. However, the 

growth of this industry has been constrained by concerns regarding negative environmental 

effects of improperly sited farms. In response to these concerns, NOAA’s National Centers for 

Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) and NOAA’s Office of Coastal Management partnered to 

develop a new offshore aquaculture planning tool, CanVis Aquaculture.49

This seascape visualization tool contains an image library of aquaculture gear, vessels, buoys, 

and other infrastructure that can be used to simulate the changes that result from aquaculture 

development. Coastal managers and developers in Hawaii, California, and Washington are 

currently using this tool to visualize and plan offshore aquaculture projects.

Cooperative Institutes

NOAA supports a network of 16 Cooperative Institutes at 42 universities and research 

institutions across 23 states and the District of Columbia.

Often these Cooperative Institutes are in the same state as a NOAA laboratory and Institute 

researchers are frequently co-located with NOAA scientists at NOAA labs. 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 with 

the technology transfer offices from the Institutes to jointly manage intellectual property and

seek out licensing partners.

 

49 https://coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/tools/canvis
43

Visiting Scientists - International Collaborations

In addition to NOAA’s Cooperative Institutes, a number of NOAA labs transfer technology by 

hosting visiting scientists, both domestic and international. To ensure that the United States 

benefits from and fully exploits scientific research and technology developed abroad, NOAA 

collaborates and shares information with organizations in countries throughout the world. 

Through these international relationships, NOAA receives technology that may eventually 

benefit U.S. industries and public users. For example, the understanding and forecasting of 

global phenomena that occur in the atmosphere, oceans, and on the sun require worldwide 

collaboration and information sharing. This is accomplished through formal agreements with 

individual countries and participation in international organizations, such as the World 

Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), 

and the International Astronomical Union (IAU). 

NOAA participates in international scientific programs, such as in the Global Earth Observation 

System, and shares technology and scientific data. This effort involves nearly 50 countries, the 

European Commission, and 29 international organizations. NOAA also provides technical 

assistance and training to individuals from other countries, and participates in an international 

visiting scientist program. Further, NOAA shares environmental data through its participation in 

the World Data Center program.

Facilities Use 

While NOAA does not currently offer its facilities for public use, NOAA does regularly 

collaborate with the private sector and academia to test new technologies for its operational 

environment through its networks of Testbeds and Proving Grounds. 

NOAA Testbeds

NOAA's testbeds and proving grounds facilitate the transition of promising research capabilities 

to operational implementation through development testing in testbeds, and pre-deployment 

testing and operational readiness/suitability evaluation in operational proving grounds. NOAA 

maintains 12 individual testbeds related to weather, climate, Arctic and severe weather activities. 

The annual Federal Funding Opportunities for these testbeds attract technologies from academia, 

the private sector, and NOAA labs. Testbeds also provide essential funding for bridging the gap 

between R&D and implementation into operational use. 
44

NOAA Work Products and Collaborative Activities

In FY 2016, NOAA researchers disclosed 18 new inventions bringing the total active NOAA 

intellectual property portfolio to 65 technologies.50 NOAA also filed one provisional patent 

application, three non-provisional applications on technologies, and was awarded one U.S. patent 

and a patent in China.

Table 26 – Invention Disclosures and Patents

NOAA signed three Patent License Agreements and two Research and Development License 

Agreements in FY 2016. NOAA now maintains 7 technologies under patent licenses, two 

technologies under R&D license, and one technology with multiple installation/use licenses.51 In 

addition, the TPO has assisted with the successful transfer of 10 technologies to industry through 

non-license agreements. 

 

50 Managed technology portfolio is for NOAA intramural research and does not include any technologies that may 

not have been disclosed to the NOAA Technology Partnerships Office.

51 License totals do not include patent license agreements for joint inventions managed by third parties. 

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

Invention Disclosures 

Number of new inventions disclosed 8 8 6 15 18

Patents 

Number of U.S. patent applications filed 3 3 4 6 4

Number of U.S. patents received 1 1 0 1 1

Number of foreign patent applications filed 0 0 1 0 0

Number of foreign patents received 0 0 0 0 1
45

Table 27– Licenses

Table 28 – License Income

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

Licenses 

Total Active Licenses 5 5 5 6 7

 Total New Licenses 0 0 0 2 3

Income Bearing Licenses

Total Active Income Bearing Licenses 3 5 5 4 5

 New Income Bearing Licenses 0 0 0 3 3

Total Active Invention Licenses 3 5 5 4 7

 New Invention Licenses 0 0 0 0 3

Exclusive Licenses 0 0 0 1 4

Partially Exclusive Licenses 0 0 0 0 0

Non-Exclusive License 3 5 5 3 3

Elapsed time for Granting Licenses

Average (months) 0 0 0 3 9

Minimum (months) 0 0 0 0 5

Maximum (months) 0 0 0 0 14

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

License Income

 Total License Income $100,867 $48,798 $69,151 $39,633 $11,000

 Total Invention License Income $100,867 $48,798 $69,151 $39,633 $11,000

Earned Royalty Income (ERI)

ERI top 1% $89,965 $36,798 $50,000 $39,633 $7,000

ERI top 5% $89,965 $36,798 $50,000 $39,633 $7,000

ERI top 20% $89,965 $36,798 $50,000 $39,633 $7,000

Minimum ERI $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 $39,633 $1,000

Maximum ERI $89,965 $36,798 $50,000 $39,633 $7,000

Median ERI $9,902 $11,000 $13,830 $39,633 $5,000

Disposition of Earned Royalty Income

Total amount of ERI received $100,867 $48,798 $69,151 $39,633 $11,000

ERI distributed to inventors $35,331 $16,740 $22,845 $12,588 $4,000

35% 34% 33% 32% 36%

ERI distributed to agency or lab $65,536 $32,058 $46,306 $27,045 $7,000

65% 66% 67% 68% 64%

Licenses Terminated for Cause 0 0 0 0 0
46

Cooperative Research and Development Agreements

NOAA’s labs, centers and programs executed 9 new CRADAs in FY 2016. Six of these 

agreements were with small businesses. Factoring in the new and expiring agreements, the total 

NOAA CRADA portfolio is now 33 active agreements. 

Table 29 – Cooperative Research and Development Agreements

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

CRADAs 

Number of active CRADAs 10 15 19 28 33

Number of newly executed CRADAs 4 7 8 14 9

Active CRADAs with small businesses 0 0 0 0 18

Number of small businesses in active 0 0 0 0 18

Traditional CRADAs

Active traditional CRADAs 10 15 19 28 33

Newly executed traditional CRADAs 4 7 8 14 9

Non-traditional CRADAs

Active non-traditional CRADAs 0 0 0 0 0

Newly executed non-traditional CRADAs 0 0 0 0 0
47

Publications52

In FY 2016, peer-reviewed publications by NOAA scientists totaled 1,697. The following charts 

show the breakdown of publications by subject, NOAA Line Office, R&D Unit, as well as coauthorship by institution and country.

Figure 6 shows the number of publications per Line Office as a percentage of all NOAAauthored publications in FY 2016. A single publication with authors from one or more Line

Office is counted as a publication for each Line Office.

Figure 6 – NOAA Publications per Line Office

 

52

 NOAA publications data for FY 2016 were derived on November 3, 2016, 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. Extramural publications funded by NOAA either directly or indirectly are also not 

included. 
48

Figure 7 shows the number of publications per Line Office as a percentage of all NOAAauthored publications in FY 2016. A single publication with authors from one or more Line 

Office is counted as a publication for each Line Office.

Figure 7 – NOAA Publications per Research Unit

 Source: Web of Science as of November 3, 2016
49

Figure 8 shows the top 15 extramural collaborators as measured by the number of publications 

co-authored by authors from NOAA and each institution. 

Figure 9 shows the top 15 international collaborators as measured by the number of publications 

co-authored by authors from NOAA and each nation. 

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180

Finland

Austria

Sweden

Natherlands

Spain

Switzerland

Italy

Norway

Japan

France

Germany

China

Australia

Canada

United Kingdom

Number of articles

Figure 9 – NOAA Co-Authored Publications per Country (Top 15)

0 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200 225 250

Colorado State Univ

UC San Diego

Univ Oklahoma System

Univ Oklahoma Norman

University of Miami

Princeton Univ

UMD College Park

NCAR

Univ System Maryland

Univ Washington Seattle

Univ Washington

Univ California System

NASA

Univ Colorado Sys

Univ Colorado Boulder

Number of articles

Figure 8 – NOAA Co-Authored Publications per Institution (Top 15)
50

Table 30 -- Small Businesses, Startups, and Young Companies.

n.a. = not available.

Other Activities, Performance Measures Deemed Important by the Agency

Trademark and Copyright53

NOAA currently maintains 79 live registered Trademarks, seven of which were either registered 

or applied for in FY 2016, according to the USPTO Trademark Electronic Search System. 

NOAA’s university partners may copyright portions of jointly developed work, but these 

instances are rarely reported to the TPO. In FY 2016, there were two reported cases where 

universities were enforcing their copyrights to jointly developed materials. 

Software

In FY 2016, TPO noted an increase in the number of software-based inventions and tools being 

disclosed. As a result of recent USPTO rulings, TPO has limited the number of non-provisional 

patents filed on software-based products. At the same time, NOAA’s corporate policies 

regarding software release and commercialization are somewhat fragmented, which may result in 

an ad hoc and less comprehensive adoption for some of NOAA’s software products. TPO will 

continue to assist with the transfer of NOAA software technology with an eye towards 

developing a corporate solution for improving NOAA’s software dissemination in the future. 

Science on a Sphere®

Science On a Sphere® (SOS) is a room-sized, global display system (US 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.

 

53 TPO began tracking this information in FY 2013 as a new metric. For FY 2016 and future years, we will only 

report this information in the text and not in the metrics tables. 

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

Small businesses supported

Total number of small businesses supported n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 23

Total number of startup and young companies 

supported n.a. n.a. 1 1 2
51

Table 31 – Science on a Sphere (SOS) Installations

Challenges/Prizes

Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE: NOAA Offers $1M Bonus Prize

The Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE is a global competition challenging teams to advance deepsea technologies to allow for autonomous, high-speed, and high-resolution ocean exploration.

The $7 million Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE includes a $1 million bonus prize from NOAA 

for teams that demonstrate technology that can find a specified object in the ocean through 

biological and chemical signals and trace its source.

"The goal of the $1 million NOAA bonus prize is to aid NOAA's marine resource management 

responsibilities by identifying technologies capable of detecting and tracking sources of marine 

pollution, locating deep-ocean hydrothermal vents and methane seeps, and monitoring marine 

life for scientific research and conservation efforts,” said Alan Leonardi, director of the NOAA 

Office of Ocean Exploration and Research.

A total of 32 teams from 22 countries entered the XPRIZE challenge that will take place in two 

rounds of testing over the next three years. Of these entries, 21 semi-finalists are moving 

forward to the first round of testing. These teams have accepted the challenge of mapping the 

ocean floor and are taking innovative approaches that run the gamut from gliders and drones, 

underwater robotic swarms to artificial intelligence. Information regarding each team is available 

at: http://oceandiscovery.xprize.org/teams.

Improving Nutrient Management and Reducing Pollution through Open Innovation Prizes

Launched in December 2014, the Nutrient Sensor Challenge is designed to accelerate the 

development, production, and use of affordable, reliable, and accurate nutrient sensors. These 

sensors will enable automated and high-resolution nutrient monitoring in aquatic environments 

ranging from freshwater lakes and streams to the coastal ocean. Nutrient pollution is one of the 

nation’s most difficult environmental challenges. While nutrients are essential compounds for 

functioning ecosystems and the production of food, fiber, and livestock feed, excessive nutrient 

levels can dramatically alter aquatic environments and threaten economic and human health.

For the past two years, the Challenging Nutrients Coalition has been working to facilitate the 

development of nutrient sensors that will provide the data needed to inform decisions to reduce 

nutrient loads on land, in the air, and in waterways and to track progress. The Coalition is an 

extensive collaboration between government agencies (including EPA, NOAA, the United States 

Geological Survey, and NIST), non-profit research organizations, and academic institutions that 

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

SoS Installations

Total Number in Operation 88 101 110 126 135

 New Domestic 4 7 4 6 3

 New International 11 6 5 10 6

 Total New Installs 15 13 9 16 9
52

deploy open innovation and incentive prize approaches to advance nutrient pollution 

management and reduction.

To stimulate these new innovations, the Coalition launched the Nutrient Sensor Challenge in 

collaboration with the Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT). The challenge goal was for 

new, more accurate, precise and reliable technologies to be commercially available by 2017 for a 

purchase price of less than $5,000 and with other significant savings in cost-of-ownership. After 

two years of development, and rigorous field and laboratory testing by ACT, the winners were 

selected by an independent panel of expert judges. Information on the nutrient pollution issue, 

the Nutrient Sensor Challenge, and the winners can be found at https://ioos.noaa.gov/news/actnutrient-sensor-challenge-winners-announced/

Downstream Outcomes from NOAA Technology Transfer Activities

CRADA Success: NOAA and Saildrone Chart New Territory for Ocean Science

NOAA Research and NOAA Fisheries have teamed up with academic and private sector partners 

to test innovative technologies that, if successful, will enable researchers to gather information in 

areas of the ocean virtually off limits to standard research vessels.

Scientists will be using a novel research platform that resembles a windsurfer, called a Saildrone, 

developed by Saildrone, Inc. Scientists and engineers equipped two of these autonomous, windand solar-powered vessels with other newly designed technologies. Their goal is to collect 

needed oceanographic data and information for endangered and commercially important species 

living in remote areas of the Bering Sea.

"We have high hopes for this 

mission – that it could mark a 

new chapter in ocean 

research," said Christopher 

Sabine, director, NOAA 

Research’s Pacific Marine 

Environmental Laboratory. 

"Last year, we successfully 

implemented a 3-month 

testbed Saildrone mission in 

the Bering Sea to remotely 

collect data on physical 

oceanographic conditions via 

satellite in near real-time. 

This summer, we are testing 

other new technologies in 

the hopes of demonstrating 

their efficacy for remotely collecting critical biological data."

"As pioneers in this new research frontier we're seeking to discover more cost-effective ways to 

augment our existing research efforts and gather additional biological information in places that 

The Saildrone research platform is equipped with technologies to collect 

oceanographic data. Photo credit: Saildrone Inc.

Collage of plankton images showing the diversity of 

micro-organisms observed by IFCB during the EcoMon 

surve

Collage of plankton images showing the diversity of 

micro-organisms observed by IFCB during the EcoMon 

surve
53

are difficult to navigate with a full-sized research vessel," said Douglas DeMaster, research and 

center director, NOAA Fisheries' Alaska Fisheries Science Center.

The mission unites scientists and engineers from NOAA, the University of Washington, the Joint 

Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and the Ocean, Saildrone, Inc., Simrad AS/Kongsberg 

Maritime, and Greeneridge Sciences, Inc. The marine mammal related research is possible due 

to the generous support of the Marine Mammal Commission.

"This advance in technology and science is the result of a sustained partnership between the 

NOAA laboratories and the University of Washington and reflects the talent and quality of the 

engineers and scientists involved in the project. Understanding climate change in the Arctic 

requires new tools and innovative measurements and we are all pleased to be part of that effort. 

We look forward to the results of this summer's campaign, as well as future measurement 

campaigns in the Arctic," said Thomas Ackerman, director, Joint Institute for the Study of the 

Atmosphere and Ocean at the University of Washington.

CRADA Success: Making Better Use of NOAA Data - The NOAA Big Data Project 

NOAA’s Big Data Partnership (BDP) was established in April 2015 through cooperative 

research and development agreements between NOAA and Amazon Web Services, Google, 

IBM, Microsoft and the Open Cloud Consortium. The BDP is investigating how the value 

inherent in NOAA’s data may be leveraged to broaden their utilization and dissemination 

through the use of modern cloud platforms and associated technologies. The CRADA 

collaborators work with NOAA experts to identify and deliver those datasets of interest, around 

which they can build business cases to justify their investments

NOAA’s Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) weather radar data were among the first 

data to be delivered. The National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) transferred the 

complete NEXRAD Level II historical archive to four interested BDP collaborators. Amazon 

Web Services (AWS) was the first to make freely available the complete archived Level-II data 

through its AWS platform, with The Climate Corporation as a business partner and data 

consumer. AWS also collaborated with Unidata/University Corporation for Atmospheric 

Research (UCAR) to establish a real-time NEXRAD data feed, thereby providing on-demand 

dissemination of both archived and current data seamlessly through the same access mechanism 

by October 2015. Through this cloud platform alone, the utilization of the NEXRAD data by 

volume has increased by 130% over the past usage patterns observed at the National Centers for 

Environmental Information (NCEI), while the load on NCEI systems has decreased by 50%.

Additional NOAA datasets including fisheries catch data, numerical weather prediction model 

output, advanced weather radar products, and geostationary satellite data are at various stages of 

discussion and development. NOAA and its collaborators are beginning to realize the potential 

of this collective effort among federal government, private industry, and academia, including 

stimulating new business opportunities and novel applications -- all at no net cost to the U.S. 

taxpayer.

SAIC Introduces New Generation of Commercial Tsunami Buoy Systems

Following 10 years of supporting the evolving tsunami buoy network, Science Applications 

International Corp. (SAIC), in collaboration with NOAA, will soon be deploying commercially 

available fourth generation (4G) buoy systems worldwide. As a leader in commercial tsunami 
54

buoy systems manufacturing, SAIC is helping to provide the world’s tsunami warning centers 

with access to affordable technology and critical data. 

Working with NOAA, SAIC develops, tests, and implements commercial tsunami buoy systems 

under a NOAA-license agreement. Under this license, SAIC has produced more than 35 secondgeneration buoy systems based on the NOAA Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of 

Tsunamis II (DART® II) system, and two types of third-generation systems based on the Easyto-Deploy (ETD) DART® technology. 

SAIC’s second- and third-generation buoy systems are currently operational in maritime 

countries worldwide, including Australia, Chile, China, India, Japan, Russia, and Thailand, and 

are gathering actionable data for its users and NOAA. Recently, SAIC provided developmental 

4G payloads and bottom pressure recorders to NOAA in support of a 4G research effort off the 

coast of Chile. 

Now, as SAIC enters another decade of work with NOAA, the company is manufacturing more 

than 85 percent of the world’s commercially deployed tsunami buoys, helping to make the 

concept of a globally interconnected, tsunami buoy network a reality. 

Successful Completion of NE Fisheries Science Center/Envera CRADA 

In 2016 NOAA's Milford Laboratory and Envera LLC completed research under their CRADA 

agreement to explore large-scale production trials of Milford Laboratory probiotic strain OY15 

for potential commercialization. 

Under the CRADA, Envera provided the Milford Laboratory with freeze-dried and spray-dried 

formulations of Milford Probiotic Strain OY15, which were analyzed in the lab to see if they 

stimulate immune functions as well as live OY15. In addition, larval bioassays comparing these 

two formulations to live OY15 have been run. Future adjustments to the concentrations of these 

formulations will aid in confirming their probiotic effects on survival of oyster larvae and ideally 

lead to the commercialization of the Milford Probiotic Strain OY15. 

NOAA Tracks Bacterial Contamination to Gulls, Watershed Managers Deploy Falcons 

A manuscript was recently published through NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic Meteorological 

Laboratory (AOML) that documents a successful technology transfer and subsequent 

management decisions which were facilitated through a CRADA with Weston Solutions in 

Carlsbad, CA. The paper describes application of two detection tests, called “assays”, which 

were developed by AOML to identify sources of bacterial contamination, primarily from animal 

feces. 

The assays were applied to a site with chronic water quality failure, a $3B problem for the U.S.

annually. Despite a $3M facility to UV-treat watershed flow, remediation was not achieved. In 

contrast, NOAA’s tools aided management by identifying gulls as a key pollutant source. This 

allowed water quality managers to undertake the relatively inexpensive solution of employing 

falcons to harass and disburse the gulls from the site. The management action resulted in 
55

improved coastal water quality, despite the traditionally poor ability to model environmental 

bacteria dynamics.54

Better Toxin Detection for Harmful Algal Blooms

Toxins produced by harmful algal blooms (HABs) accumulate in marine resources and are a 

major cause of human seafood poisoning, which impacts subsistence harvests, economic 

development, and international trade. Tests, known as receptor binding assays, developed by 

NOAA scientists to measure levels of HAB toxins, have recently been accepted by the Interstate 

Shellfish Sanitation Conference. This standardized test for regulatory users helps secure the food 

supply against these potent algal-based toxins and are in various phases of implementation in 

testing laboratories worldwide. 

In Alaska, NOAA scientists trained staff at the Sitka Tribe of Alaska Environmental Regulatory 

Laboratory on the extraction and detection of HAB-related paralytic shellfish toxins. 

Implementation of this NCCOS-developed technology by the Sitka tribe will mitigate the threat 

of toxic shellfish consumption from traditional subsistence shellfish harvesting to members of 

the Southeast Alaska Tribal Toxins partnership.

The development of HAB toxin detection methods, specifically receptor binding assays, also has 

a domestic and international component for their implementation. Domestically the use of this 

method is currently being evaluated by relevant public health agencies in Washington and 

California. Internationally, NOAA has an agreement with the International Atomic Energy 

Agency to support the use of this method worldwide.

Awards and Recognition

NOAA Researchers Honored with Federal Laboratory Consortium 2016 Interagency 

Partnership Award

NOAA researchers Michael Ek (NWS), James Verdin (OAR), Christopher Jackson (NESDIS), 

and Xiwu Zhan (NESDIS) were honored as part of a broad interagency team working on a 

USDA/NASA project to build broad user applications for NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive 

(SMAP) satellite data. The result of this collaboration was an unprecedented transfer of SMAP 

technology to users and critical feedback from users to the mission to improve product 

specifications and distribution for post-launch applications. This was a first-time, one-of-a-kind 

program that has since been implemented in every NASA Earth Observation mission since 

SMAP. 

NOAA Technology Transfer Awards

NOAA selected two projects to receive the Agency’s Technology Transfer Award in 2016. 

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

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

 

54 Source: "Watershed assessment with beach microbial source tracking and outcomes of resulting gull 

management" K.D. Goodwin, et al. Environmental Science and Technology, 

http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b02564, 2016.
56

Transfer of Geodetic Leveling Technology to Industry

Steve Breidenbach, John Ellingson, Kendall Francher, Charlie Geoghagen, Tim Hanson, Dave 

Zenk, Brian Ward, National Ocean Service. 

NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey (NGS) recently developed an alternate method for surveyors 

and geodesists to perform leveling surveys across rivers, valleys, and other barriers. The new 

method uses readily available commercial electronic theodolites, which are instruments 

commonly used for precise astronomical observations. This task previously required 

government equipment, so stakeholders could not complete the work independently.

The new method addresses sources of error, such as atmospheric refraction and Earth's curvature, 

that are often encountered during river and valley crossings, as well as instrument and observer 

errors. The team successfully developed, tested, and transferred procedures and equipment 

designs to stakeholders that were completing geodetic leveling across wide rivers. This transfer 

will save time and money for stakeholders.

Transfer of Floating Surface Collectors Technology to Industry

Edward Meyer, National Marine Fisheries Service

Economical, safe, and effective fish passage has been a significant issue for the hydropower 

industry from its inception. Development of Baker River’s Floating Surface Collectors provides 

the industry and regulators with design approaches and criteria to meet the challenge of passing 

fish downstream, past high-head dams. Mr. Meyer's advancements have been transferred to 

industry and consultants and have been the basis for successful juvenile collection systems at 

other projects in the Pacific Northwest, including the Cushman and Cowlitz collectors; Swift, 

River Mill, North Fork Clackamas, and Pelton Round Butte facilities; and the Cougar portable 

prototype floating collector. The system has attracted attention from resource groups not only 

along the entire West Coast, but throughout the country, and internationally in regions as diverse 

as Europe and China.

For exceptional performance in the design and 

transfer of procedures and supporting 

equipment to complete geodetic leveling across 

wide rivers

For innovative design of floating surface 

collectors, a major advancement in economical, 

safe, and effective fish passage for the 

hydropower industry.
57

CHAPTER 4 

National Telecommunications and Information Administration: Institute for 

Telecommunication Sciences 

The Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS) is the research and engineering laboratory 

that provides technical engineering support to NTIA. ITS also 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. Three-quarters of ITS research programs are undertaken 

for and with other Federal agencies; state, local and tribal governments; private corporations and 

associations; or international organizations. This includes assisting the FCC and Federal defense, 

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

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, sample data sets, and software tools available on the ITS Web 

site

• Leadership and technical contributions in the development of telecommunications 

standards.

ITS Work Products and Collaborative Activities

Cooperative 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 for 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 2016, 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 personal communication services (PCS), local multipoint 

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

advanced antennas for wireless systems, and remote sensing and global position (GPS) 

technologies have been achieved through CRADAs. These have aided U.S. efforts to rapidly 

introduce new socially constructive communications technologies. More recently, CRADAs in 
58

the areas of 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 allowed ITS to contribute to the development of 

new products and services.

ITS is a partner in the Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) program with the NIST 

Communications Technology Laboratory (CTL). PSCR is 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 has been operating for about two decades on behalf 

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

(DOJ). Since the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) became operational, PSCR’s 

research scope has expanded to supporting FirstNet’s work toward creation of a nationwide 

broadband wireless network dedicated to public safety agencies through RDT&E of equipment 

that may be used to both build the network and communicate over it.

The vast majority of CRADAs ITS has entered into in the past six years are the Public Safety 

700 MHz Broadband Demonstration Agreements and are joint with NIST. These agreements 

allow vendors, including equipment manufacturers and wireless carriers, who intend to supply 

700 MHz LTE equipment and service to public safety organizations to operate 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. At the close 

of FY 2016, 54 CRADAs were in place under this program. The CRADAs protect the 

intellectual property of vendors and manufacturers, encouraging participation in testing that 

simulates real multi-vendor environments in the field. This is the first government or 

independent facility in the U.S. capable of testing or demonstrating public-safety-specific LTE 

implementation requirements.
59

Table 32 – Collaborative Relationships for Research & Development

(a) ITS Telecommunications Analysis Services (TA Services), discontinued in FY 2012, provided Webbased analysis support on a cost-reimbursable basis for wireless system design/evaluation and site 

selection to private industry and public agencies through on-demand electronic CRADAs. The 

programing language used for TA Services is too old to update. Other service applications may be 

developed in the future depending on funding.

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 of ITS technical 

publications—both internal reports and monographs and peer-reviewed articles in external 

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

Technical publication remains a principal means for ITS technology transfer. Most of these 

technical publications are released only after going through an internal peer review process 

managed by the ITS Editorial Review Board (ERB). The majority of the publications released 

through the ERB process in FY 2016 were approved for external publication in scientific 

journals or conference proceedings; only 20% were published as NTIA reports. While official 

NTIA publications allow greater in-depth analysis of research results, journal articles and 

conference papers have equal, and sometimes greater, reach in transferring new tools and 

discoveries. 

Technical Publications Downloaded

ITS makes all of its publications available to the public through its website, and provides online 

users with advanced search capabilities that will locate relevant publications by keyword. To 

ensure a meaningful and realistic metric, ITS counts actual PDF downloads of publications rather 

than page views of the bibliographic summaries. In FY 2016, ITS technical publications were 

downloaded 8,748 times.

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

CRADAs

Number of active CRADAs 62 81 60 56 62

Number of newly executed CRADAs 30 30 11 53 12

Active CRADAs with small businesses 

involvement n.a. 17 12 12 17

Number of small businesses involved in active 

CRADAs n.a. 17 12 12 17

Traditional CRADAs

Active traditional CRADAs 60 81 60 56 62

Newly executed traditional CRADAs 28 30 11 53 12

Non-traditional CRADAs(a)

Active non-traditional CRADAs 2 0 0 0 0

Newly executed non-traditional CRADAs 2 0 0 0 0
60

Consumer Digital Video Library users downloading clips

In FY 2010, ITS began development of the Consumer Digital Video Library, a web site hosted 

and maintained by ITS that provides researchers access to high quality, uncompressed video 

clips royalty-free for use in video processing and video quality product development and testing. 

The technical committee for this collaborative project includes industry and academic 

representatives as well as ITS and Public Safety Communications Research staff. ITS launched 

the site with 1000 clips and clips continue to be added by ITS and other collaborators. Over 

2,400 different video clips were downloaded from the library in FY 2016. 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, and collection began 

in FY 2011. This number experienced a significant spike in FY 2013, probably due to the 

publication of a number of journal articles describing CDVL; annual rates of between 150 and 

200 users are consistent with the target audience for this library.

Licensing 

Since FY 2008, ITS no longer licenses software technology. Instead, software is made available 

via open-source download. Therefore, no licensing metrics are reported. 

Software and Data Downloads

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. VQM 

downloads were reported for the first time in FY 2013 and other downloads were reported for the 

first time for FY 2014.

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 

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 software/data downloads on 

the ITS web site are for propagation prediction tools.

Audio Quality Testing

In FY 2013, ITS developed an objective estimator of speech intelligibility that follows the 

paradigm of the Modified Rhyme Test (MRT). The Articulation Band Correlation MRT (ABCMRT) consumes a tiny fraction of the resources required by MRT testing and provides excellent

estimates of MRT intelligibility results (Pearson correlations of .95–.99). ABC-MRT tools and 

MRT databases are available for download through the ITS web site, as well as a variety of other 

sample clips for audio quality testing. 

Video Quality Measurement Software

ITS video quality measurement software tools use an objective video quality measurement 

method, which has been made a national standard by ANSI, to estimate the quality of video 

impairments, providing users an inexpensive alternative to viewer panels for testing new 

transmission technologies. In FY 2016, 496 users downloaded the VQM software. The Web-
61

Enabled Subjective Test (WEST) software package facilitates gathering subjective testing data 

from multiple locations and multiple portable or computing devices. This software is also freely 

available for download.

Table 33 – Other Performance Measures Deemed Important by the Agency

Development of Telecommunication Standards55

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), and various federal public safety groups to 

interpret and analyze 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, 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, ATIS, and other telecommunication standards organizations, providing 

technical leadership that is trusted by the commercial-sector participants.

In FY 2016, ITS staff held 36 positions on 29 different bodies in six standards development 

organizations. ITS staff filled key leadership positions in the ITU-R, including U.S. Vice-chair of 

SG3 (Radio Propagation), International Chair and U.S. Chair of SG3 Working Parties 3K and 3L 

(Point-to-area and ionospheric propagation), and U.S. Chair and Vice-Chair of Working Party 3J 

(Propagation fundamentals). ITS staff members also hold the positions of U.S. Chair of ITU-T 

Study Group 9 (Broadcast cable and TV) and International Vice-chair of the ITU Intersector 

Rapporteur Group on Audiovisual Quality Assessment. ITS also continued its technical 

 

55 In 2004, ITS added a collaborative standards contributions measure for participation on standards committees. As 

standards bodies increasingly move towards digital collaboration methods using wikis, email threads, and discussion 

boards, it has become impossible to define what constitutes a single “contribution.” This metric was discontinued in 

FY 2013.

FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016

Technical Publications Released 13 24 18 22 4

Technical Publications Downloaded n.a. 7,174 7,707 9,048 8,748

Consumer Digital Video Library Users 

Downloading 187 418 184 212 169

Video Quality Metric Software Users 

Downloading n.a. 591 685 507 496

Propagation Modeling Software Downloads n.a. n.a. 717 798 781

Other Software/Data Downloads n.a. n.a. 489 493 591
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leadership and contributions to communications standards for public safety, particularly for first 

responders. 

Downstream Outcomes from ITS Technology Transfer Activities

Telecommunication Standards

The ITS chair of ITU-R Study Group 3 Working Party 3K led the examination of over 70 input 

documents into the final 25 technical documents that were considered by ITU-R Study Group 3 

during 2016 meetings. ITS authored four of the 18 technical contributions submitted by the U.S. 

These addressed air-to-ground propagation, world refractivity mapping, and the effects of 

sunspot number recalculation.

Intense participation by ITS staff in the 3GPP standards development process on behalf of 

FirstNet resulted in Proximity Services and Group Communications requirements being included 

in 3GPP Release 12 and Mission Critical Push to Talk requirements being included in 3GPP 

Release 13, which was frozen in mid FY 2016. These features are critical to ensuring that LTE 

can meet public safety’s requirements and are a prerequisite to allowing FirstNet to offer 

mission-critical voice (MCV) on the new Band Class 14 nationwide interoperable public safety 

communications network when these capabilities become available.

Table Mountain Research

The Table Mountain Field Site and Radio Quiet Zone supports fundamental research in the 

nature, interaction, and evaluation of telecommunication devices, systems, and services. Each 

year, private companies, universities and other organizations conduct research at Table Mountain 

under CRADAs. 

• In FY 2016, several companies used the Table Mountain site under a CRADA to safely 

test and demonstrate LADAR 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, and to safely and accurately test an 

Adaptive Tactical Laser System (ATLAS) compensated beacon adaptive optics (CBAO) 

system under development. Applications for these technologies include detection and 

tracking of wind shear and wake vortices, remote wind measurements for the offshore 

wind energy industry, mission-critical communications, electronic warfare, direction 

finding/geolocation, and sensing of hazardous liquids and gases.

• For the past ten years, the University of Colorado’s Research and Engineering Center for 

Unmanned Vehicles safely and accurately tested collective and autonomous sensing and 

communication technologies for small unmanned aircrafts used for atmospheric science 

applications such as the study of tornado genesis.

Video Quality Research

Both CDVL and the VQM tools are used by industry and academia for research into new 

techniques for transmitting video. The clips may be used to test codecs, to evaluate new display 

technologies, or for validation 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. 
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Public Safety Broadband Demonstration Network

The PSCR Public Safety Broadband (PSBB) Demonstration Network facilitates accelerated 

development of testing for emerging LTE broadband equipment specific to public safety. The 

PSBB Demonstration Network was established in the ITS labs in FY 2010 by the Public Safety 

Communications Research program. This network provides a central and independent test 

bed/laboratory to help public safety understand 3GPP Band 14 LTE. Through CRADAs that 

protect their intellectual property, manufacturers and carriers test the deployment of 700 MHz 

systems under development in this multi-vendor environment and execute public-safety specific 

test cases to provide proof of concepts and improve the quality of future systems. This 

cooperative program provides ITS with guidance to develop technical contributions toward LTE 

standards to support public safety and First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) 

requirements. This work advances the development of new public safety communications 

equipment that will eventually operate on the nationwide public safety broadband network.
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SUMMARY

Technology transfer is an essential mission of DOC, using our Nation’s innovation and 

investment in science and technology to strengthen our economy and competitiveness in world 

markets. This report details the results of collaborative technology activities originating from 

DOC’s Federal laboratories. Federal research is a complex process that provides the opportunity 

for new ideas and innovations to achieve practical application for the benefit of U.S. citizens. 

The success stories in this report provide examples of how society benefits from technology 

transfer activities across DOC’s Federal laboratories. As knowledge advances and the needs of 

the economy change, DOC, through its Federal laboratories, will continue to play a role in 

keeping America in the forefront of innovation and supporting our economy by aiding in the 

transfer and commercialization of innovative technologies.