Annual Report on Technology Transfer: 

Approach and Plans, Fiscal Year 2014 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) 

February 2015
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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) 2014. 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 2010 through FY 2014. 

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

Summary of Technology Transfer Activities FY 2010 – FY 2014 ........................................ 3

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

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

NIST Work Products and Collaborative Activities ............................................................. 10

Downstream Outcomes from NIST Technology Transfer Activities ................................. 25

CHAPTER 3 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ........................................ 31

Approach and Plans for Technology Transfer ..................................................................... 31

NOAA Work Products and Collaborative Activities ........................................................... 38

Downstream Outcomes from NOAA Technology Transfer ................................................ 53

CHAPTER 4 National Telecommunications and Information Administration: .................. 57

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 .................................... 61

SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................. 63

 
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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 NIST facilitating 

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

from agency technology transfer programs. 1 NIST also serves as the host agency for the Federal 

Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC), which is a nationwide network of 

federal laboratories that provides a forum to develop strategies and opportunities for linking 

laboratory mission technologies and expertise with the marketplace. 

DOC’s role in coordinating technology transfer activities across federal agencies was further 

expanded by the Presidential Memorandum (PM) – Accelerating Technology Transfer and 

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

21, 2011.

2

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

transfer and the economic and societal impact from federal investments in R&D. The PM directs 

agencies with federal laboratories to take actions 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 the successful outcomes of agency technology transfer and commercialization activities 

significantly over the next 5 years, while simultaneously achieving excellence in each agency’s 

focused research activities. 

Section 2 of the PM calls for establishing performance goals, metrics, and evaluation methods, as 

well as implementing and tracking progress relative to those goals, specifically directing that 

“[t]he Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with other agencies, including the National Center 

 

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 

for Science and Engineering Statistics, shall improve and expand, 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://www.noaa.gov/ 

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 2010 – FY 2014

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

DOC laboratories. Information is provided 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 these 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. This information is also 

required by Office of Management and Budget Circular A-11. The tables in the following 

sections present the required data.4

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 2014 has 

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

FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014

Invention Disclosures

NIST 30 25 52 33 41

NOAA 1 1 0 8 6

ITS 0 0 0 0 0

Department Total 31 26 52 41 47

Patent Applications Filed

NIST 19 17 20 23 21

NOAA 1 0 1 3 4

ITS 0 0 0 0 0

Department Total 20 17 21 26 25

Patents Issued

NIST 10 14 11 15 18

NOAA 2 2 2 1 0

ITS 0 0 0 0 0

Department Total 12 16 13 16 18
 

4 

In addition to the number of patents issued that are reported by each agency, the National 

Science Foundation (NSF) provides additional insight into the technology areas addressed by 

DOC patents.5 For example, in FY 2013, 41% of DOC’s patents were in the technical area of 

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

which measures, tests, inspects or analyzes a wide variety of materials or processes.6

Figure 1 – Percent of USPTO patents granted to DOC, by technology area: FY 2013 

Table 2 – Licensing – Profiles of Active Licenses 

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

 

5

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

http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/. NSF data presented here has been provided at the request of NIST and is in 

compliance with NSF’s goal of supporting agencies in their tasks of enhancing the measurement of technology 

transfer activities. 

6

 Sources: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, and The Patent 

Board,TM special tabulations (2014). Used with permission. 

 

FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014

Active Patent Licenses (a)

NIST 40 34 38 35 36

NOAA 6 6 5 5 5

ITS 0 0 0 0 0

Department Total 46 40 41 40 41
 

5 

Table 3 – Characteristics of Income-Bearing Licenses 

Table 4 – Income from Licensing 

FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014

Total Income-Bearing Licenses 

Department Total 29 26 25 28 26

Patent Licenses 

NIST 25 23 22 23 21

NOAA 4 3 355

ITS 0 0 000

License Types

Exclusive

NIST 12 12 12 15 14

NOAA 000 0 0

ITS 000 0 0

Department Total 12 12 12 15 14

Partially Exclusive

Department Total 000 0 0

Non-Exclusive

NIST 776 5 5

NOAA 433 5 5

ITS 000 0 0

FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014

Total Licensing Income 

NIST $202,216 $169,347 $146,796 $102,532 $150,995

NOAA $35,044 $107,220 $100,867 $48,798 $69,151

ITS $0 $0 $0 $0 $0

Department Total $237,260 $276,567 $247,663 $151,330 $220,146
 

6 

Table 5 – Collaborative Relationships for Research and Development 

(a) Traditional CRADAs involve collaborative research and development projects by a federal laboratory 

and non-federal partners. 

(b) NIST and ITS have been jointly involved in several Public Safety 700 MHz Broadband 

Demonstration CRADAs. 

(c) Department totals for Traditional CRADAs are adjusted to avoid double counting CRADAs where 

NIST and ITS are jointly involved. 

(d) Non-traditional CRADAs are used for special purposes, such as laboratory accreditation, materials 

transfer or technical assistance that may result in protected information. 

Scientific and Technical Publications 

As discussed in the Department’s response to the PM7

, technology transfer mechanisms include 

more than just accounting for CRADAs, patenting, and licensing. For example, technology 

transfer is also accomplished through DOC’s scientific and technical publications. In FY 2014, 

NIST, NOAA, and ITS researchers published 3,136 scientific and technical papers in peerreviewed journals. 

Table 6 – Scientific and Technical Publications 

 

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

FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014

CRADAs

Department Total 2,253 2,245 2,410 2,428 2,359

Traditional CRADAs(a)

NIST 66 103 140 179 206

NOAA 6 7 10 15 19

ITS 29 23 60 81 60

Joint CRADA Agreements (NIST and ITS)(b) 1 35 57 79 79

Department Total(c) 101 133 210 275 285

Non-Traditional CRADAs(d)

NIST 2,141 2,138 2,255 2,231 2,074

NOAA 0 0 0 0 0

ITS 12 9 2 0 0

Department Total 2,153 2,147 2,257 2,231 2,074

FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014

Technical Publications

NIST 1,243 1,210 1,335 1,393 1,359

NOAA 709 1,034 1,769 1,781 1,759

ITS 12 15 13 24 18

Department Total 1,964 2,259 3,117 3,198 3,136
 

7 

In addition to the number of publications reported by each agency, the National Science 

Foundation (NSF) provides insight into the technology areas addressed by each federal agency.8 

Using data from Thomson Reuters’ Science Citation Information (SCI)9 and Social Sciences 

Citation Index (SSCI)10 databases, NSF identifies the general technology areas addressed by 

each agency’s publications. The latest data available from NSF is for calendar year 2013. As 

shown in Figure 2, the largest technology areas covered by DOC publications are Geosciences 

(43%), followed by Physics (20%) and Chemistry (11%). 

Figure 2 – Percent of Articles by Technology Area Authored by DOC Staff in 201311

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

articles authored by DOC staff. These cited articles are from the set of journals covered by SCI 

and SSCI, classified by the year of publication, and assigned to a federal agency on the basis of 

the institutional addresses listed in the article. U.S. patents issued in 2013 cite 558 publications 

authored by DOC researchers. As shown in Figure 3, the largest technology areas citing DOC 

publications include Physics (32%), followed by Chemistry (26%) and Biological Sciences 

(18%). 

 

8

 The National Science Foundation routinely researches a wide range of data for its publication “Science and 

Engineering Indicators” (http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/.) The data presented here has been provided at the request of 

NIST and is in compliance with NSF’s goal of supporting agencies in their tasks of enhancing the measurement of 

technology transfer activities. 

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

10 http://thomsonreuters.com/social-sciences-citation-index/ 11 Publications are classified by the year they are entered into the database, rather than the year of publication, and 

are credited on a whole-count basis (i.e., each publication receives one count). 
 

8 

Figure 3 – Percent of Articles by Technology Area Authored by DOC Staff and Cited in 

U.S. Patents in 201312

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. 

 

12 Cited articles are classified by the year of publication, and are classified on a whole count basis (i.e. each cited 

article receives one count). Citation counts are based on an 11-year window with a 5-year lag (e.g., citations for 

2013 are references in USPTO patents issued in FY2013 to articles published in 1997–2007. The sum of the federal 

agencies may exceed the total when cited articles have authors from multiple federal agencies. 
 

9 

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 improves our quality of life. 

An important part of accomplishing NIST’s mission is to anticipate future measurement and 

standards needs of U.S. industry. Rapidly evolving sectors like nanotechnology, biotechnology, 

homeland security, information technology, and advanced manufacturing need sophisticated 

technical support systems in order to flourish and grow. 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 

Technology transfer activities at NIST are designed to disseminate fundamental research results, 

measurements, and standards research results 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.13 

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.” 

The broader definition of technology transfer for NIST intends to reflect the many means by 

which NIST reaches its external partners and transfers technology. The definition includes, inter 

alia: 1) knowledge transfer, the act of transferring knowledge from one individual to another by 

means of mentoring, training, documentation, or other collaboration; and 2) commercialization, 

the adoption of a technology into the private sector through a business or other organization. 

NIST’s technology transfer program supports two broad goals: 1) improving the transfer of NIST 

technology and work products; and 2) improving NIST technology transfer through 

collaborations. The following summarizes different technology transfer mechanisms NIST uses 

to promote innovation and ensure that the resulting technologies are broadly disseminated. 

 

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

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

10 

NIST Work Products and Collaborative Activities 

Participation in Documentary Standards Committees 

Documentary standards are shared sets of rules that specify, as examples, a test method, a 

product’s properties or a practice. Documentary standards codify, among other things, 

measurement methods, standard practices, and product specifications. Econometric studies have 

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

concludes 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.14 

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

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

During FY 2014, NIST had 464 staff involved with more than 121 standards organizations. Such 

participation helps NIST respond programmatically to the needs of 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).15 

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 

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

molecular physics, biotechnology, and materials sciences.16 

Data evaluations conducted at NIST laboratories are supplied to NIST customers through the 

Standard Reference Data Program. In FY 2014, NIST SRD distributions included 3,111 ecommerce transactions, 5,142 units sold via distributor, 101 active distributor agreements, 58 

active site licenses, 42, active internet subscriptions, 595 units shipped via UPS, and 3,435 

 

14 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 15 http://gsi.nist.gov/global/index.cfm/L1-1 16 http://www.nist.gov/srd/index.cfm
 

11 

products downloaded from the NIST website (1,352 free downloads, 2,83 paid downloads). 

NIST is currently studying SRD-related data to determine whether information regarding usage 

of databases is sufficiently centralized, and whether NIST can obtain comprehensive metrics for 

judging impact. 

Table 7 – Standard Reference Data 

Standard Reference Materials 

Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) are a definitive source of measurement traceability 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 Standard Reference Materials often depend on the 

development of unique measurement capabilities within NIST.17 

NIST will continue to report on the number of SRMs sold and new SRMs developed while 

studying whether other meaningful impact information can be developed using existing customer 

data. 

Table 8 – Standard Reference Materials 

Patents and Licensing 

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. 

NIST will continue to report on patents, licenses, age and size of companies licensing NIST 

technologies, number of jointly-owned inventions, and other relevant information. 

 

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

FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014

Standard Reference Data

Products Available (databases) 120 120 111 120 111

FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014

Standard Reference Materials

Units Available 1,283 1,177 1,298 1,299 1,281

Units Sold 31,667 32,864 33,441 32,267 32,636
 

12 

Information on patenting and summary information on licensing is presented in Chapter 1. 

Additional details on licensing are included below. 

Table 9 – Profile of 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 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014

Total Number of Active Licenses(a) 40 34 36 35 36

 New Licenses Executed 7 5 6 5 7

Total Invention Licenses Active 40 34 36 35 36

 New Invention Licenses Executed 7 5 6 5 7

 

Total Patent Licenses Active(b) 40 34 36 35 36

 New Patent Licenses Executed 7 5 6 5 7

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) 00000

New Material Transfer Licenses Executed (NonInventions) 00000

 

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 00000

 New Copyright Licenses Executed 0 0 0 0 0

NIST Licenses Issued to Small Companies -- -- 2 7 7
 

13 

Table 10 – Licensing Management

(a) Date of license application to date of license execution. (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 11 – Characteristics of Licenses Bearing Income 

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

FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014

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

Average (months) 3.0 1.9 2.9 6.0 4.0

Minimum (months) 2.0 1.0 2.4 2.3 0.23

Maximum (months) 4.0 4.5 5.5 13.5 17.3

Licenses Terminated for Cause

Invention Licenses (Patent Licenses) 0 0000

FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014

Total Income Bearing Licenses 24 22 21 25 21

 Exclusive Licenses 17 15 15 17 14

 Partially Exclusive Licenses 0 0 0 0 0

 Non-Exclusive Licenses 7 7 6 8 7

Total Income Bearing Invention Licenses 

(Patent Licenses)(a) 24 22 21 25 21

 Exclusive 17 15 15 17 14

 Partially Exclusive 0 0 0 0 0

 Non-Exclusive 7 7 6 8 7

 Total Other Income Bearing IP Licenses 0 0 0 0 0

Total Royalty Bearing Licenses 24 22 21 25 21

Total Royalty Bearing Invention Licenses 24 22 21 25 21

Royalty Bearing Patent Licenses 24 22 21 25 21

Other Royalty Bearing IP Licenses 0 0 0 0 0
 

14 

Table 12 – Income from Licenses 

(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” is a royalty based on use of a licensed invention (usually, a percentage of 

sales or of units sold). Not a license issue fee or a minimum royalty. 

(d) Data withheld to protect proprietary information. 

Table 13 – 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. 

 

FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014

Total Income, All Active Licenses(a) $202,216 $169,347 $146,796 $102,532 $150,995

 Invention Licenses (Patent Licenses)(b) $202,216 $169,347 $146,796 $102,532 $150,995

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

Total Earned Royalty Income (ERI)(c) $202,216 $169,347 $146,796 $102,532 $150,995

 Median ERI $3,438 $1,844 $9,971 $10,000 $6,250

 Minimum ERI $1,245 $1,500 $1,500 $640 $640

 Maximum ERI $100,000 $100,000 $64,185 $58,642 $74,575

 ERI from Top 1% of Licenses(d) -- -- -- -- --

 ERI from Top 5% of Licenses(d) -- -- -- -- --

 ERI from Top 20% of Licenses(d) -- -- -- -- --

Invention Licenses (Patent Licenses) $202,216 $169,347 $146,796 $102,532 $150,995

 Median ERI $3,438 $1,844 $9,971 $10,000 $6,250

 Minimum ERI $1,245 $1,500 $1,500 $640 $640

 Maximum ERI $100,000 $100,000 $64,185 $58,642 $74,575

 ERI from Top 1% of Licenses(d) -- -- -- -- --

 ERI from Top 5% of Licenses(d) -- -- -- -- --

 ERI from Top 20% of Licenses(d) -- -- -- -- --

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

FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014

Income Distributed(a) $202,216 $169,347 $146,796 $102,532 $150,995

Invention Licenses (Patent Licenses)(b)

$72,157 $56,698 $61,300 $38,732 $54,602

36% 33% 42% 38% 36%

$130,058 $112,649 $85,497 $63,799 $96,393

64% 67% 58% 62% 64%

 Licensing Income to Inventor(s)

 Licensing Income to NIST 
 

15 

Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) 

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

outside partners are an effective means of technology transfer. Beyond the improved know-how 

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 a major collaborative 

mechanism for establishing joint relationships with industry, academia, and state and local 

governments. A CRADA is an agreement between a federal laboratory and one or more partners 

to collaborate on defined R&D projects. Created as a result of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology 

Innovation Act of 1980, as amended by the Federal Technology Transfer Act of 1986 (Pub. L. 

99-502), a CRADA allows federal laboratories to participate in R&D partnerships with nonfederal partners to advance promising new technologies toward commercialization.18

Table 14 – NIST Collaborative Relationships for Research and Development 

(a) CRADA = Cooperative Research and Development Agreement. Traditional CRADAs involve 

collaborative research and development projects by a federal laboratory and non-federal partners. 

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

transfer or technical assistance that may result in protected information. 

(b) “Guest scientists and engineers” includes foreign and domestic guest researchers and researchers 

working at NIST under Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) agreements, CRADAs, and Facility 

Use Agreements. 

 

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

FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014

NIST CRADAs(a)

Total Active CRADAs 2,207 2,241 2,916 2,410 2,280

New CRADAs Executed 2,142 2,173 2,810 2,252 2,092

Total Active Traditional CRADAs 66 103 140 179 206

New Traditional CRADAs Executed 16 51 53 48 50

Total Active Non-Traditional CRADAs 2,141 2,138 2,255 2,231 2,074

New Non-Traditional CRADAs Executed 2,126 2,122 2,236 2,204 2,042

Other Type of Collaborative R&D Relationships

Guest Scientists and Engineers(b) 2,897 2,899 2,782 2,963 2,981

Traditional CRADAs Involving Small Businesses -- -- 20 31 37

Total Number of Small Businesses involved in 

Traditionial CRADAs -- -- 20 31 37

Total number of Small Businesses involved in NonTraditional CRADAs -- -- -- -- 733
 

16 

Other Performance Measures Deemed Important 

Software and Other Downloadable Products 

NIST provides a wide variety of application software programs, testing tools, and databases that 

are accessible via the Internet and available to U.S. industry, academia and other interested users. 

These applications are an important means of disseminating NIST research results and technical 

information. 

NIST will explore methods for assessing significant technology transfer contribution made 

through downloads of NIST software and data. 

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 2014, NIST staff authored 1,393 

publications in peer-reviewed journals,19 including 444 papers (32.7%) published in 102 "top 

tier" journals. "Top tier" is defined as any journal with a Thomson Reuters' Journal Impact 

Factor (IF) that falls within the top 10 percentile in its Web of Science Subject Category.20

Figure 4 – NIST Publications in Top-Tier Journals vs. Total NIST Publications 

While the percentage of papers published every year in top tier journals has fluctuated since 

2007, about one third of the NIST authored papers indexed in Web of Science are published in 

top tier journals each year. 

In addition, NIST researchers collaborate and co-author with researchers from around the world. 

NIST researchers co-authored papers with 4,386 unique non-NIST authors from 1,207 unique 

 

19 http://nvl.nist.gov 20 http://wokinfo.com/essays/journal-selection-process
 

17 

institutions in 56 countries in 2013.21 Table 14 summarizes the NIST publication collaboration 

data collected for the years 2009-2013 (the most recent data available). 

Table 15 – NIST Publications (Calendar Year)

NIST also publicizes its planned, ongoing, and recently completed work in the trade and 

technical press, which is typically followed by the organizations most likely to have an interest in 

NIST’s research and services. In addition to news releases, websites and contacts with the media, 

NIST publishes Tech Beat, a biweekly plain language newsletter of recent research results.22

User Facilities – Research Participants 

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

Research (NCNR) and the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST) – for 

supporting U.S. industry, academic institutions, NIST laboratories, and other government 

laboratories. These facilities are a vibrant means by which NIST customers can tap directly into 

NIST measurement expertise to solve their problems. The NCNR is a national center for research 

using thermal and cold neutrons. Many of its instruments rely on intense beams of cold neutrons 

emanating from an advanced liquid hydrogen moderator. The CNST supports the development 

of nanotechnology from discovery to production. The CNST operates a national shared-use 

nanofabrication and measurement facility (the NanoFab), complemented by a multidisciplinary 

research staff creating next-generation tools for advancing nanotechnology.23

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. 

Table 16 – NIST Research Participants 

(a) Note: the FY 2014 Research Participant totals are preliminary. Totals will be updated and finalized in 

the FY 2015 TPO report.

Postdoctoral Researchers 

 

21 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. The data is provided on a calendar year basis in order to be 

consistent with internal data collection practices. 

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

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Number of NIST Papers 1,220 1,351 1,327 1,389 --

Number of Unique Non-NIST Co-Authors 3,560 4,086 4,171 4,386 --

Number of Unique Institutions 992 1,034 1,003 1,027 --

Number of Countries 62 64 54 56 --

FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014

NIST Research Participants

CNST(a) 970 1,402 1,669 1,885 2,086

NCNR 2,290 2,265 1,976 2,148 2,271
 

18 

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 are therefore another important means by which NIST technology 

is transferred.24 For the purpose of this report, NIST uses the National Science Foundation’s 

description of a postdoctoral researcher25 as one who has a temporary position taken within five 

years after the completion of a doctoral degree for the purpose of gaining scientific, technical, 

and professional skills. For FY 2014, there were 170 postdocs on the NIST campus. 

Postdocs are considered a measure of technology transfer because once their tenure at NIST ends 

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

NIST has begun efforts to track postdocs after their initial tenure at NIST. A survey of 326 

researchers, who were postdocs with the NIST NRC program between FY 2010 and FY 2014, 

shows that 45% stayed at NIST,26 23% moved to academia, 17% moved to industry, 10% moved 

to other government agencies, and 5% have either become independent researchers or are 

unemployed. As more data becomes available, NIST will employ advanced research tools, such 

as those utilized in the Star Metrics Program,27 to track and evaluate the post tenure work of 

postdocs from NIST. 

Figure 5 – Tracking Researchers after Initial Postdoc Tenure at NIST (FY 2010 – FY2014) 

Guest Researchers 

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

collaborative projects.28 NIST hosts many term appointment researchers and non-NIST 

employees working as guest researchers, collaborators, and student fellows. Like postdoctoral 

 

24 http://www.nist.gov/iaao/postdoc.cfm 25 http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind12 26 Researchers who left their postdoc positions and stayed at NIST were either hired in career conditional / term 

appointments (27%) or hired in non-career conditional or as term employees, i.e. contractors or guest researchers 

(18%). 

27 https://www.starmetrics.nih.gov 28 http://www.nist.gov/tpo/collaborations/guestresearchers.cfm
 

19 

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. Further, these 

researchers (“NIST alumni”) know how to collaborate with federal laboratories and what federal 

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

technologies. This reflects NIST’s views on technology transfer as involving “people” 

transferring new knowledge and innovative “things”. 

NIST will significantly expand efforts to gather information related to careers of NIST alumni 

from existing sources, and study linkages between the mined data and other metrics. 

Calibration and Accreditation Services 

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

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

calibration services are designed 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.29

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

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

specific tests or calibrations, or types of tests or calibrations. Through NVLAP, NIST efficiently 

leverages its primary calibration services to support a broader base of secondary calibrations 

conducted within the private sector.30

Table 17 – Calibration Services 

Education Outreach Programs and Partnerships 

NIST has been recognized as a vital contributor to the efforts in improving 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;31 

• the Summer High School Internship (SHIP) program;32

 

29 http://www.nist.gov/calibrations/index.cfm 30 http://www.nist.gov/nvlap/ 31 http://www.nist.gov/surfgaithersburg/index.cfm 32 http://www.nist.gov/ohrm/staffing/ship.cfm

FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014

Calibrations

Number of Calibration Tests Performed 17,697 18,195 17,206 14,974 15,401
 

20 

• the Pathways Program;33

• the NIST Summer Institute for Middle School Science Teachers;34 and 

• the Professional Research Experience Program (PREP).35

In FY 2014, there were 203 students enrolled in the SURF program, 60 students enrolled in the 

SHIP program, 78 students enrolled in the Pathways program, 22 students enrolled in the NIST 

Summer Institute for Middle School Science Teachers, and 134 students enrolled in the PREP 

program (83 postdocs, 33 graduate students and 18 undergraduate students). 

NIST provides student and post-doctoral fellows with information on the use of science by 

industry, and co-sponsors a career fair with other federal agencies and Rockville Economic 

Development Inc., Rockville, Maryland. 

In addition, NIST jointly operates several research organizations that have been established to 

promote cross-disciplinary collaborations.36 These include: 

• JILA,37 Boulder, Colorado, a world-class physics research institute jointly operated by 

NIST and the University of Colorado at Boulder; 

• Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research, Rockville, Maryland, an 

interdisciplinary partnership in cutting-edge biotechnology between NIST and the 

University of Maryland; 

• Joint Quantum Institute, College Park, Maryland, a new institute for advancing quantum 

physics research that is jointly operated with the University of Maryland; and 

• Hollings Marine Laboratory, Charleston, South Carolina, a national center for coastal 

ocean science, in which NIST is one of five federal, state, and university partners. 

Start-ups and Young Entrepreneurial Companies 

NIST recognizes the need to provide both funding and technological support for start-ups and 

young entrepreneurial companies. There are several means by which NIST and its joint institutes 

nurture young companies, including start-ups in high-growth technology areas. 

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. 

 

 

33 http://www.nist.gov/ohrm/staffing/students.cfm 34 http://www.nist.gov/iaao/teachlearn/index.cfm 35 http://www.boulder.nist.gov/bdprepo.htm 36 http://www.nist.gov/locations.cfm 37 When first established by NIST and the University of Colorado-Boulder, JILA stood for “Joint Institute for 

Laboratory Astrophysics.” At present, according to common usage, JILA simply denotes the joint NIST-UC 

research institute. 
 

21 

NIST has recently begun evaluating more than 25 young companies (existing for five years or 

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

in their core area of technical development. One company, Hexawise, Inc. a small company 

formed in 2009, was established to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of software testing 

by making powerful test design techniques accessible and easy to use. The company has adapted 

a software tool developed at NIST38 which they use to provide consulting services for large IT 

organizations who are responsible for software test design and project management. NIST 

expects to eventually track the development of such companies and to assess how working with 

NIST enables technology transfer and promotes the economic success of start-ups and young 

entrepreneurial companies. 

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.39

NIST has taken the following steps to improve and streamline its SBIR program. NIST has 

implemented changes to administrative practices, proposal solicitation, and review process to 

reduce the administrative burden on small businesses and time needed to process and issue 

awards. 

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 NISTs mission. The goal is to bring the Phase 1 

SBIR award rate up to the national average of 17%. 

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. 

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

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. 

For example, in FY 2014, the NIST Conference Program arranged for 80 conferences that 

attracted 9,208 researchers to NIST’s facilities in Gaithersburg, Maryland and Boulder, 

 

38 http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/SNS/acts/index.html

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

22 

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

and measures laws, regulations, and standards, trained over 1,000 weights and measures 

administrators, laboratory meteorologists, and field enforcement officials during FY2014. 

Table 18 – Conferences, Seminars, and Workshops 

(a) A total of 72 conferences were held in Gaithersburg, Maryland and eight conferences were held 

Boulder, Colorado. 

(b) A total of 7,988 attended conferences in Gaithersburg, Maryland and 1,220 attended conferences in 

Boulder, Colorado. 

NIST will continue to retain current information on metrology training as a metric and is 

expanding its efforts to include additional information on OU-specific training activities that are 

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

from the public, including inquiries from researchers requesting information and details about 

NIST technical developments and research results. 

Streamlining Technology Transfer 

In response to the PM, NIST has undertaken several efforts to streamline and simplify the 

technology transfer process. NIST has performed a revision of its standard CRADA resulting in 

several internal updates to expedite review and reducing the overall size of the document by 

approximately one third. NIST has 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 will expects to 

identify new ways to simplify and streamline technology transfer practices. 

FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014

NIST Conference Center

Conferences and Workshops (a) -- -- -- 86 80

Attendance (b) -- -- -- 8,579 9,208

Metrology Training

Office of Weights and Measures (Metrology 

Training)

Seminars -- -- 167 446 355

Webinars -- -- 448 110 133

Workshops -- -- -- 55 30

Students -- -- 615 633 518
 

23 

Table 19 – Streamlining 

(a) The time between the date an invention disclosure was received and the date the non-provisional 

patent application was filed. 

(b) The time between the receipt of the award memo and the time the memo was approved. 

Assessing the Economic Impact of Technology Transfer

While the metrics summarized in this report demonstrate a robust use of technology transfer 

mechanisms, there has long been a desire to expand the type of metrics to include measures that 

assess the impact of federal technology transfer activities upon the economy. The 2011 

Presidential Memorandum (PM) called on federal agencies to establish performance goals, 

metrics, evaluation methods, and implementation plans to improve the efficacy of federal 

technology transfer activities. In response to this directive, federal agencies have prepared and 

are currently implementing plans for improving the monitoring and assessment of their 

technology transfer operations.40 

To facilitate access to these studies, NIST is gathering economic impact studies from each 

federal agency and posting them on a centralized web site.41 This site will include past studies 

that agencies have performed to assess their performance and impact as well as future studies 

that have been performed to monitor the of changes resulting from compliance with the 

Presidential Memorandum.42 

More recently, NIST has commissioned a study to assess economic impact of DNA forensic 

standards. Since the late 1980s, NIST scientists have been involved in DNA testing and have 

been engaged in research to improve measurement accuracy and quality control of forensic DNA 

tests. Working with the Department of Justice, NIST’s Forensic Genetics Project Team has been 

called upon to develop standards for DNA forensic tests and technology evaluation. Their work 

has focused on the characterization of genetic polymorphisms and utilizes gel and capillary 

electrophoresis to characterization the size and sequence of polymorphisms. Among their many 

accomplishments, the team pioneered the use of short tandem repeat (STR) sequences for typing 

degraded samples and characterized new STR markers. The impact study now being prepared is 

designed to determine the value of NIST SRMs to the forensic DNA testing community. 

NIST is also engaged in a study to develop a framework for estimating the economic impact of 

eliminating the technical gaps in advanced manufacturing technical infrastructure. In FY 2014, 

 

40 In response, federal agencies prepared plans for improving their technology transfer operations which were then 

submitted to the Office of Management and Budget and to the Office of Science and Technology Policy for 

clearance. These plans are available online at http://nist.gov/tpo/publications/agency-responses-presidentialmemo.cfm

41 The current collection of these studies can be found at http://nist.gov/tpo/publications/. 42 Between 2000 to 2012, fourteen economic impact studies were conducted on NIST research programs. These 

studies show an overall return on investment ratio of approximately 36:1 The collection of these studies is available 

at http://nist.gov/tpo/economic-impact-studies.cfm

FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014

Streamlining Efforts

Average Number of Days to Prepare a Patent 

Application(a) 395 410 348 401 456

CRADA Approval Time(b) 85 122 145 91 110
 

24 

NIST prepared four case studies that identify industry trends, technical gaps, qualitatively 

discuss economic effects of technical gaps, and propose methodology for quantitative analysis. 

In FY 2015, NIST will develop, field, and analyze novel survey of advanced manufacturing 

stakeholders. The objective of this study is to quantitatively assess and prioritize the economic 

impact of eliminating technical gaps in the advanced manufacturing technical infrastructure for 

each case study area. 

Through all of these efforts, NIST will continue to improve its ability to measure and analyze the 

economic impact of its funding decisions and will work to remove barriers that prevent the 

efficient and timely transfer of technologies to industry. 

Efforts to Promote Entrepreneurship 

In 2014, NIST established a new training program to enhance successful technology transfer 

activities by promoting entrepreneurial mind-sets among NIST’s research staff and managers. 

This program provides NIST staff with a basic understanding of 

• mechanisms that NIST uses to transfer technologies from the laboratory to the 

commercial sector, 

• practices and strategies that entrepreneurs use when developing new technologies into 

viable commercial opportunities, 

• the importance of developing and protecting intellectual property rights, 

• best practices for collaborating with private companies and working with NIST 

customers, and

• career opportunities for researchers interested in spinning off companies and becoming 

entrepreneurs.

In addition, NIST has established an “Entrepreneurs-in-Residence” program that brings 

successful technology entrepreneurs into the NIST community for seminars and private 

consultations with NIST staff in all matters relating to technology transfer and 

commercialization. This effort designates the “Entrepreneurs-in-Residence” as guest researchers 

who will explore and evaluate licensable technologies developed at NIST for commercialization 

by private firms. At present, NIST’s current “Entrepreneurs-in-Residence” program is the result 

of a formal collaboration with the Technology Development Corporation of Maryland (TEDCO). 

Similar programs with other states are anticipated. 
 

25 

Downstream Outcomes from NIST Technology Transfer Activities 

US companies commercializing NIST chip-scale atomic magnetometer technologies 

Geometrics, the world leader in commercial atomic magnetometers, recently announced a 

Technology License and Development Agreement with leading semiconductor manufacturer 

Texas Instruments (TI) to develop and produce chip-scale atomic magnetometers based on 

technology invented by NIST. Geometrics and other companies use atom-based magnetometers 

for ultraprecise measurements of magnetic fields for everything from detecting concealed 

weapons, to locating underwater pipes and cables, to remote detection of vehicles and 

monitoring perimeters, to unique medical imaging of the heart and brain, and for fundamental 

research about the earth and other planets. 

Atom-based magnetometers are among the most sensitive and accurate ways to measure 

magnetic fields, but have previously been relatively large, high-power devices, limiting their 

deployment and use in the field. NIST pioneered chip-scale atomic magnetometers about the size 

of sugar cube and using the equivalent of AA battery power. Geometrics and TI plan to use the 

NIST technology to develop commercial chip-scale magnetometers that can be deployed on 

unmanned aerial vehicles, made into large arrays for medical imaging, inserted into small spaces 

such as pipes, and for many other field applications not possible with existing large, powerhungry magnetometers. The partnership combines Geometrics’ expertise in commercial 

magnetometer applications with TI’s microfabrication capabilities. 

NIST scientists consulted directly with Geometrics and Texas Instruments on the NIST 

technology, and the companies are also using NIST chip-scale atomic magnetometer patents that 

NIST placed in the public domain to encourage tech transfer. NIST scientists Drs. John Kitching 

(NIST Fellow), Svenja Knappe and Elizabeth Donley lead the NIST chip-scale atomic 

magnetometer technology development program and their accomplishments were recognized 

with a 2014 DOC team Gold Medal. 

Mouse Cell Line Authentication 

In 2013, NIST signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with DNA 

Diagnostics Center, Inc. and has been working collaboratively with the company during 2014 to 

further develop NIST’s mouse cell authentication technology invented by Dr. Jamie Almeida and 

Dr. Kenneth Cole. DNA Diagnostics Center has also obtained a non-exclusive license to 

commercially develop mouse cell line authentication test kits that use STR DNA technology to 

characterize mouse DNA. This product will provide researchers the appropriate quality control 

measures to ensure cell line integrity. NIST has also granted a research license to a cell 

biorepository so that further research can be done regarding the application of NIST’s 

technology to cell authentication and quality control. 

nSoft Consortium 

In 2014, NIST extended the Cooperative Research and Development Agreements of the partners 

in NIST’s nSoft Consortium. The consortium was started in 2012 to further NIST’s mission to 

promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science and 

reducing barriers for industrial research programs at peer-review based user facilities. Current 

partners include Chevron Phillips, Dow Chemical, DuPont, Genentech, Kimberly-Clark, 
 

26 

MedImmune, and Solvay. Through engagement of its partners, in the planning, development, 

and execution of research programs, nSoft is providing (1) predictable and timely access to 

neutron facilities, (2) research and development programs focused on high impact issues in soft 

materials manufacturing, and (3) increased scientific capacity through training programs and 

collaborative activities. The consortium is led by the NIST Polymers Division, featuring a long 

history of service to the U.S. economy through advanced characterizations of soft materials, and 

the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR), a world leading neutron facility. 

World’s Smallest Reference Material is Big Plus for Nanotechnology 

NIST recently issued Reference Material (RM) 8027, the smallest known reference material ever 

created for validating measurements of these man-made, ultrafine particles between 1 and 100 

nanometers (billionths of a meter) in size. 

RM 8027 consists of five hermetically sealed ampoules containing one milliliter of silicon 

nanoparticles—all certified to be close to 2 nanometers in diameter—suspended in toluene. To 

yield the appropriate sizes for the new RM, the nanocrystals are etched from a silicon wafer, 

separated using ultrasound and then stabilized within an organic shell. 

"For anyone working with nanomaterials at dimensions 5 nanometers or less, our wellcharacterized nanoparticles can ensure confidence that their measurements are accurate," says 

NIST research chemist Vytas Reipa, leader of the team that developed and qualified RM 8027. 

Silicon nanoparticles such as those in RM 8027 are being studied as alternative semiconductor 

materials for next-generation photovoltaic solar cells and solid-state lighting, and as a 

replacement for carbon in the cathodes of lithium batteries. Another potential application comes 

from the fact that silicon crystals at dimensions of 5 nanometers or less fluoresce under 

ultraviolet light. Because of this property, silicon nanoparticles may one day serve as easily 

detectable "tags" for tracking nanosized substances in biological, environmental or other 

dynamic systems. 

Reliable RNA Analysis Now Easier with NIST 'Dashboard' Tool 

A new, innovative “dashboard” from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 

won’t help you drive your car, but it will help enable reproducible research in biology. 

In a recent paper in the journal Nature Communications, an international multi-laboratory team 

demonstrates a new software tool, the “erccdashboard,” to evaluate the performance of 

experimental methods used to study gene expression. The analysis tool is designed for use with 

RNA spike-in controls developed by the NIST-hosted External RNA Controls Consortium 

(ERCC**). These ERCC controls are produced from the DNA Sequence Library for External 

RNA Controls (Standard Reference Material 2374) that was issued by the agency in 2013. 

“In gene expression experiments, scientists try to understand how a cell’s biological activities 

arise from the genetic information contained in its genome by simultaneously quantifying the 

thousands of RNA molecules expressed by that genome,” says Sarah Munro, lead author on the 

Nature Communications paper. 
 

27 

Munro says that the validation provided by the “erccdashboard” is essential to ensure that these 

complex experiments are reproducible. “The results of gene expression experiments are often 

used in making medical decisions such as identifying which drug is best for a particular patient,” 

she explains. “Our new software tool gives researchers the ability to gauge the performance of 

their methods for any experiment, evaluate repeatability and reproducibility of experiments over 

time and between laboratories, and provide confidence that the results can be trusted.” 

Previously, Munro says, there was no standard, technology-independent approach for analyzing 

the data obtained from gene expression experiments. “The ERCC control materials made the 

development of our new method validation tool, the “erccdashboard” possible,” she explains. 

The new NIST software, Munro says, provides a simple ‘turnkey’ mechanism for biologists to 

assess any gene expression experiment. “Its performance metrics are designed to be independent 

of the type of measurement technology used for an experiment, so results can be compared as 

technologies improve over time,” she says. “Using the dashboard will enable reproducible 

research and prevent researchers from drawing erroneous conclusions from low-quality 

experimental data.” 

Standardized Performance Testing for Emergency Response Robots 

With support from the Department of Homeland Security, engineers in NIST’s Intelligent 

Systems Division pioneered the use of standardized performance testing for emergency response 

robots used in bomb-response and for urban search-and-rescue operations. Since 2005, 15 NIST 

tests have been adopted as standards by ASTM International, and about 40 more are under 

various stages of development or review. To date, more than 100 response robots, both 

experimental and commercial, have run the gauntlet of NIST test methods at Response Robot 

Evaluation Exercises and in support of robot procurements. Over the last few years, the suite of 

performance tests has been duplicated at sites around the United States and in Germany, Japan, 

and soon, Australia. 

Advanced Computer Fire Modeling and Visualization Software 

NIST’s Fire Research Division scientists and engineers recently enhanced the capabilities of 

NIST's advanced computer fire modeling and visualization software suite, the NIST Fire 

Dynamics Simulator (FDS) and Smokeview (SMV). This powerful suite of tools is used 

worldwide in research, fire investigation, firefighter training, and development of fire-protection 

design and standards. The just-released sixth version of the software features improved physics 

and more accurate numerical methods for predicting smoke concentrations and soot deposition, a 

new turbulence model, and other significant improvements. Since they were first issued for 

public use in 2000, FDS and Smokeview have proven to be a disruptive technology and the most 

important advance in the field of fire protection research and engineering in the last decade. In 

presenting the prestigious Sjölin Award to the FDS team, the International Forum of Fire 

Research Directors said that FDS "has become the tool of choice by both the fire research and 

fire engineering communities.” 
 

28 

Automated Fault Detection in Building Heating, Ventilating, and Air-Conditioning Systems 

NIST enabled technology is now a requirement in the newest California building energy code 

(Title 24, Part 6), which became effective on July 1, 2014. One of the largest uses of energy in 

buildings is the heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system. HVAC systems 

sometimes operate with mechanical faults and control logic errors that significantly increase the 

energy consumption because the problems are masked by the fact that comfort conditions are 

still met or nearly met. NIST researchers, supported in part by the California Energy 

Commission, have developed and demonstrated fault detection and diagnostic (FDD) algorithms 

suitable for implementation in existing building control equipment. These algorithms use data 

from sensors already installed in building systems to identify faults and alert building operators 

so that corrective action can be taken. Commercial products that implement FDD techniques 

based on NIST research are now available. 

Detecting Neutrons with Light 

Scientists at NIST and the University of Maryland have demonstrated that a process called 

“excimer scintillation” can be controlled and characterized precisely enough to serve the pressing 

national need to detect neutrons with high efficiency. Detecting neutrons emitted by radioactive 

materials is of critical importance to homeland security and counter-terrorism activities, such as 

screening cargo containers, as well as other vital applications in nuclear power instrumentation, 

workplace safety, and industry. Not surprisingly, demand for detectors has risen dramatically 

over the past decade. 

For the past several years, Charles Clark of the PML’s Quantum Measurement Division and 

colleagues from the University of Maryland’s Institute for Physical Science and Technology 

have been investigating a process called excimer-based neutron detection The use of excimer 

scintillation – the emission of radiation from short-lived, exotic molecules created when a noble 

gas is excited by fission products – as an appropriately sensitive, accurate, and repeatable 

measure of incident neutrons. The NIST work, reported in the Journal of Applied Physics, brings 

a new degree of experimental control and repeatability that is available in the United States only 

at NIST. At NIST, the scientists were able to draw on the resources of the NIST Center for 

Neutron Research (NCNR), the Synchrotron Ultraviolet Radiation Facility (SURF III), and the 

Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST). The Maryland University Training 

Reactor (MUTR) was also used in the course of this work. 

NIST’s collaboration with the University of Maryland also contributed to the University’s 

mission. Jacob McComb, the first author on the Journal of Applied Physics paper, received a 

Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering for his work on this project, and is now employed as a nuclear 

engineer by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. A patent for this invention was issued 

on August 26, 2014. 
 

29 

Better Cargo Inspection Standards at Border Crossings 

As part of an Interagency Agreement between NIST and 

the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), PML’s 

Radiation Physics Division recently completed a series of 

image quality measurements of a high-energy x-ray 

vehicle-screening system at a newly constructed port-ofentry near El Paso, TX. 

In their study, researchers compared the performance of 

two image quality standards – ANSI N42.26 and IEC 

62523 – for cargo and vehicle screening systems. The 

purpose of the work was to provide feedback on the 

practical use of the two standards and recommend 

possible improvements, with a goal towards harmonization. 

Key findings from the image quality tests were summarized in an interagency report to DHS. 

Recommendations included a design change to objects used in the IEC test, the addition of a 

material discrimination test method for the ANSI standard, and a provision to include blind 

testing to improve the objectivity in both standards. 

These standards are recommendations by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and 

the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). 

Awards 

Five scientists at NIST have won major awards from the American Physical Society, the nation’s 

largest professional organization of physicists. “These awards demonstrate not only the value of 

NIST research, but its breadth,” says Willie May, NIST Acting Director and Acting Under 

Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology. “To have this many physicists honored in 

a single year shows that NIST discoveries continue to be at the vanguard of the physical 

sciences.” NIST's winners of American Physical Society awards for 2015 are: 

• Gretchen Campbell, 

• Robert Celotta, 

• Daniel Pierce, 

• Ian Spielman, and 

• John Unguris. 

Three scientists from NIST’s Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology have won the 

Joseph F. Keithley Award for Advances in Measurement Science. This award recognizes 

“physicists who have been instrumental in the development of measurement techniques or 

equipment that have impact on the physics community by providing better measurements.” 

• John Unguris 

• Robert J. Celotta 

• Daniel T. Pierce

An x-ray image showing a standard test object 

(upper left) held aloft by support apparatus 

and a forklift.
 

30 

Physicists John Kitching and Svenja Knappe of NIST’s Time and Frequency Division received 

2014 Rank Prizes in optoelectronics "for the creation and demonstration of the first chip-scale 

atomic clock." Also sharing the prize is Leo Hollberg, who led their research group in 2004 

when the chip-scale atomic clock was invented. The Rank Prizes are presented every two years 

by the charitable Rank Foundation in the United Kingdom. The prizes are awarded in London to 

individuals who have made a significant contribution to certain scientific fields, including 

optoelectronics, "where an initial idea has been carried through to practical applications that 

have, or will, demonstrably benefit mankind." 
 

31 

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. 

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

operational components to accomplish their respective missions. Recent examples demonstrating 

the direction of NOAA’s research are severe storm (hurricane, tornado, derecho winds) and 

drought forecasting, physical forecasts for renewable energy siting, predicting fresh water 

resources, tsunami warnings, air quality measurement, solar emission forecasting, monitoring 

and estimating of fish stocks and species health, coastal habitat monitoring and pollution, 

invasive species monitoring, coral reef health, ocean acidification, coastal/ocean disaster 

response and restoration, charting ocean bottom topography, and a wide variety of climate 

research and the impacts of a changing climate on human health, coastal zone management, and 

oceans. Research results are transferred to NOAA’s operational components to improve 

prediction, management, and other mission activities. 

Approach and Plans for Technology Transfer 

The NOAA Technology Partnerships Office (TPO), housed under the NOAA Office of Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Research (OAR), serves as the central technology transfer office for all NOAA 

Labs, programs, and external partners. 

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

of federal labs, the NOAA Technology Partnerships Office developed a 5-Year Plan to improve 

technology transfer from NOAA. The following is an overview of our plan objectives, progress 

to plan, and planned next steps for 2015 and beyond. 

 

Objective 1: Optimize TPO Management and Staffing Structure 

The TPO is the link between internal laboratories and private sector customers. In order to 

provide the required level of service, the TPO reviewed staffing levels and made 

recommendations in 2011 for appropriate staffing. 
 

32 

Progress to Plan 

The TPO reached recommended staffing levels in 2012 and is now operating with a 

Program Manager for Technology Transfer and a part-time program assistant. 

Following on the 2013 report, the TPO has developed a list of technology transfer contact 

points within the NOAA labs and some programs. The TPO views these contacts as 

extension agents for the office and a focal point for information transfer between the TPO 

and the lab. To date, however, there is not a well-developed culture of technology 

transfer within the labs, and these “positions” are in the category of “other duties as 

assigned.” As a result, the cohesion and functionality of this group is currently very low. 

In response to the Cross Agency Priority (CAP) goal of developing human capital within 

the agency, the TPO kicked off an internal rotational assignment program for the office. 

The program allows staff from other parts of NOAA to learn first-hand about technology 

transfer, while educating the TPO staff on R&D capabilities across the agency and 

helping to uncover potential technologies for commercialization. The first rotational 

assignment was very successful, greatly increasing technology transfer communication, 

training, and awareness across the National Ocean Service. 

Next Steps 

TPO will continue to build a culture of technology transfer within the agency through 

communication at the lab level and at the management level. TPO staff will work closely 

with the recently appointed NOAA Chief Scientist to develop a corporate technology 

transfer strategy, policy, and goals. 

The TPO will develop the human capital within the agency by continuing the successful 

detail assignment program and will explore the possibility of adding entrepreneurial 

education and training based on the NSF Entrepreneur in Residence Program. TPO staff 

will work closely with other agencies through the interagency Lab to Market process and 

the Federal Lab Consortium to determine best practices to apply within NOAA. 

Objective 2: Central Management of Patents 

TPO will continue to explore the feasibility of setting aside a portion of its program funding to 

support patent application and ongoing patent maintenance fees. Centralized payment 

capabilities, as well as centralized management of NOAA patents by the TPO would reduce the 

administrative and cost burden on NOAA labs. The reduced cost may encourage staff to disclose 

their inventions to the TPO and more readily seek patent protection for new technologies. Once 

mature, a centralized management process would allow the TPO to develop a more robust and 

fair process for evaluating which new technologies have the highest licensing potential and have 

the greatest need for patent protection (see Action 4 below). 

Progress to Plan 

The TPO has established a central account with the US Patent and Trademark Office for 

the payment of maintenance and filing fees. We have used this account to offset all 

maintenance fees and most patent filing fees in 2013-14; however, this account is 
 

33 

currently not included as a budget line item, so there is no guarantee funds will be 

available to maintain this account in the future. 

Next Steps 

TPO will consult with the NOAA Chief Scientist and the NOAA Chief Financial Officer 

to determine if TPO should include funding of this account in its annual budget request, 

and to determine if funding of all technology transfer fees (including attorney’s fees) 

centrally through TPO would be a beneficial policy. 

Objective 3: Programmatic Advice and Guidance 

The TPO will work directly through the NOAA Chief Scientist and the NOAA Research Council 

for programmatic advice and guidance. The TPO will continue to coordinate with NOAA Line 

Office Transition Managers to ensure TPO policies and procedures are consistent with their 

activities as guided by NOAA Administrative Order NAO 216-105. 

Progress to Plan 

The TPO has successfully implemented this action and is working through the Research 

Council and the Chief Scientist for guidance. The TPO has created a working group at 

headquarters to facilitate outreach and education, and is participating in the activities of 

Line Office Transition Manager Committee for NOAA. In 2014, TPO was able to 

accomplish some reporting of technology transfer for the Office of Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Research through a centralized data call provided for under NAO 216-105. 

This process was successful and will be repeated in 2015, which will further reduce 

reporting burdens on our labs. 

Next Steps 

The TPO will continue to work through its established network and to work through the 

Line Office Transition Manager Committee to ensure research to commercialization is 

included in NOAA’s transition planning and reporting. The TPO will reinforce the 

network to include lab liaisons (see Action 1) and, ideally, involve laboratory 

representatives directly in the training, meetings, and other activities of their regional 

Federal Laboratory Consortium group. 

Objective 4: Establish Technology Transfer Review Board 

Determining technologies for which NOAA should seek patent protection is a key component of 

the technology transfer process. Currently, there is no corporate process in place for this activity. 

A NOAA review board would provide inventors the opportunity to present detailed information 

concerning their technology to a cross-agency group. The review board would determine which 

technologies should move forward based on which have the highest commercial potential. TPO 

will work with the Chief Scientist to determine the best path forward for establishing this 

proposed board. 

Progress to Plan 

NOAA’s annual invention disclosure rate remains low, so the TPO has not moved to 

establish a technology transfer review board to date. Instead, the decision to pursue a 

patent or other protection is determined through collaboration between the inventor, the 
 

34 

lab director, the TPO, and NOAA General Counsel. The patent decisions in 2014 have 

been primarily based on cost-benefit considerations derived through rudimentary market 

assessments. 

Next Steps 

The TPO is working steadily to educate lab and headquarter staff on the importance of 

technology transfer in their work and the role of the NOAA TPO. As a part of that 

process, we are discovering and establishing a baseline of all NOAA technologies and 

innovations to be tracked. However, NOAA’s technology assessment process for 

disclosed technologies will need to be improved in order to provide the information 

needed to support a technology review board. The TPO will explore requesting funding 

for contract support for technology assessments and/or using temporary staff or other 

resources (students) to perform technology assessments. As disclosures increase and 

assessments improve, TPO will work with the NOAA Chief Scientist to determine the 

need for a technology review board. 

Objective 5: Enhance Internal Education on Patents and Technology Transfer Issues 

TPO will provide NOAA laboratory and program personnel with training, website resources, 

forms and templates, as well as extensive background information on program benefits. 

Progress to Plan 

The TPO continues to train NOAA staff at labs and Headquarters through a combination 

of on-site training, video-teleconference, telephone calls, and website materials. In 2014, 

we successfully trained staff at two labs in Miami, FL, multiple labs in Stennis, MS, and 

Boulder, CO. TPO staff were also able to provide training and outreach to three programs 

located in Silver Spring and one national program via video conference. 

Next Steps 

TPO will schedule training visits to at least two labs during 2015 and will conduct a 

series of brownbag seminars at the NOAA Library on technology transfer issues. The 

TPO is also participating in the interagency Lab to Market discussions for creating 

performance plan language for scientists, engineers, and managers related to technology 

transfer. Once the interagency working group has established recommendations, TPO 

will work with the Chief Scientist, the Research Council, and Workforce Management to 

best implement the recommendations within NOAA. 

Objective 6: Increase Outreach to Industry 

The TPO will conduct activities designed to better inform the public of the processes and 

benefits of partnering with NOAA for research and development activities. The activities will 

include: 

• Website Redesign: We will redesign the TPO website to feature pending opportunities, 

benefits, success stories, and answers to FAQs for staff, private companies, or other entities 

looking to partner with NOAA. 

• Trade Show Marketing: TPO staff will attend selected events and trade shows to meet with 

target audiences and distribute ORTA marketing materials. 
 

35 

• Targeted Meetings: TPO staff will meet with select trade associations and NGOs to increase 

awareness of technology transfer opportunities and brainstorm methods of increasing 

technology transfer activities with NOAA. 

• Joint Meetings with DOC Partners: TPO staff will collaborate with its sister bureaus in 

DOC and in other agencies to initiate joint outreach and promotional activities. 

Progress to Plan 

The TPO has developed 2-page marketing summaries and a multi-page marketing brochure 

to advertise our licensing opportunities. TPO continues to update and refine its website, 

including enhancements to the Open Opportunities to provide a more marketing-centric 

presentation for our technologies. In addition to the TPO website, the office has used 

NOAA’s social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter) to reach a broader audience for key 

announcement and events. 

Beyond the NOAA resources, TPO has taken advantage of broader efforts to advertise our 

available technologies. The TPO has provided comprehensive NOAA lab information to the 

Federal Labs Consortium Business Portal, open license opportunities to CollectiveIP.com.43 

The TPO is responsible for uploading and maintaining the full list of NOAA’s Intellectual 

Property assets on the U.S. data.gov platform under the President’s Lab to Market 

Initiative.44 

The TPO has also undertaken a plan to work closely with state and local development offices 

on a regional level. In 2014, in conjunction with TPO’s nation-wide SBIR program outreach, 

we were able to provide technology transfer opportunities to economic development offices 

across the nation. We will continue to reach out to this network to market NOAA’s licensing 

opportunities. 

More specifically, the TPO established a productive relationship with the Mississippi 

Enterprise for Technology regional development office in Stennis, Mississippi.45 NOAA, 

along with NASA, other federal agencies, and universities located at Stennis, are 

participating in a regional technology group with the goal of sharing best practices and 

encouraging technology transfer to the private sector in the Gulf region. 

The TPO also began work with the University of Colorado Technology Transfer Office 

(TTO) to establish a more robust collaborative relationship between our two offices. 

TPO has worked closely with NIST on employee training and will continue to collaborate 

closely with their TPO for both best practices and training. In 2014, TPO worked with NIST 

to host a Technology Showcase of NIST and NOAA technologies at our facilities in Boulder, 

Colorado. The Showcase was well attended and resulted in some direct company inquiries 

for NOAA technologies. 

 

43 https://www.collectiveip.com/ 44 http://www.data.gov/ 45 http://www.mset.org/
 

36 

Next Steps 

The TPO will begin more direct outreach to market out opportunities in FY15. We will 

attend at least 3 industry trade events to meet with companies in the oceanic and atmospheric 

science and technology fields. The purpose of these visits will be to learn who the major 

players are in relevant sectors, build relationships with the appropriate decision-makers in 

these companies, and obtain feedback on our existing technology portfolio. Secondarily, we 

will are hoping these interactions will lead to license negotiations in the future. 

TPO is hoping to implement a variety of programs in cooperation with the University of 

Colorado TTO. Specifically, we would like to establish connections between CU Business 

School students and scientists at the Earth System Research Laboratory to build an informal 

commercialization ecosystem. The program would allow students the opportunity to use realworld technologies for market assessments and possible commercialization activities. 

Objective 7: Develop Database of NOAA Technologies and Opportunities 

An important component of the TPO plan to improve management of NOAA’s technology 

transfer activities will be a database to easily track and monitor basic information on CRADAs, 

MOUs, invention disclosures, and patents (including status and regular maintenance fees). 

Tracking this basic information will allow staff to develop regular reports without adding 

administrative burden to the labs and will provide easy tracking of metrics. 

Progress to Plan 

TPO staff have built a rudimentary internal database to house technology transfer and 

SBIR information. While the database is limited in its functionality, TPO staff are now 

able to quickly query the information and report out on the status of the NOAA 

intellectual property portfolio. 

As with last year’s report, the data call for this annual report was pre-populated with data 

from the database. This step simplified the data call to the labs by changing the focus to 

mostly data validation and reporting of missing information. 

Next Steps 

Despite progress in this area, the TPO has a number of steps to improve this action. First, 

the database capabilities will need to be enhanced to improve data query and report 

generation. TPO will continue to with these enhancements in-house and at minimal 

expense while a planned NOAA-wide R&D database is completed. Eventually, we 

foresee including a technology transfer component into the full NOAA R&D database. 

TPO will continue to explore off-the-shelf technologies which will allow for better case 

and client management capabilities, as well as linking directly to the TPO website and 

(ideally) directly to the data.gov platform to allow for automatic updates to that website. 

To date, there has been no budget provided for this effort, so we are unable to fully 

comply with requirements for automated posting of intellectual property to data.gov 

under the Lab to Market initiative. 
 

37 

Objective 8: Improve Performance Measurement and Tracking 

NOAA has identified eight performance measures as an initial basis to track the effectiveness of 

its technology transfer. TPO will review this set annually and update measures to ensure 

NOAA’s ability to effectively monitor its performance. Individual performance results will vary 

even under ideal programmatic circumstances; however, taken as a whole, we believe this set of 

performance metrics will offer an accurate snapshot of NOAA’s ongoing technology transfer 

activities and will provide valuable insight for TPO to structure its education and training 

activities in the future. 

Progress to Plan 

As with the previous year’s report, we have included trademark filings as an anecdotal 

metric in this report and will continue to track new trademark filings as part of our 

intellectual property portfolio. 

We have also maintained our anecdotal reporting for visiting scientists and facilities use 

agreements. Reporting for visiting scientists is not always easy or obvious, as many of 

these “visiting” scientists are actually from our Cooperative Institutes (CI) and are treated 

as regular staff at the labs. For now, we have reported the number of CI staff receiving 

more than 50% of their funding from NOAA. 

Facilities use agreements are not a large part of NOAA’s technology transfer portfolio, 

but could grow in the future if NOAA labs are allowed to retain funds accrued as a result 

of others using our facilities. The issue of inconsistent authorities across federal R&D 

labs is currently being discussed as part of the interagency Lab to Market initiative. The 

ability to retain funds at the lab would provide the needed incentives for NOAA lab 

directors to open under-utilized or highly specialized lab resources for public and 

corporate use. 

We are also gathering information on materials transfer agreements. As with facilities 

use, materials transfer is a smaller part of the portfolio, but one that could be tracked 

moving forward. 

Next Steps 

The TPO will continue to gather data on the NOAA portfolio in an effort to get more 

complete and accurate reporting of valuable metrics. Materials transfer, facilities usage, 

and visiting scientists will all be a focus for future inclusion in this report. 

In addition, we will carefully explore measures that speak to the impact of NOAA 

science and technology transfer. Specifically, we will look at citations on NOAA 

publications, not just the publications counts. We will also consider adding metrics for 

easily reported, but meaningful, web statistics (data downloads, number of partners using 

data sets or decision support tools) that demonstrate impact. 

The TPO will also follow closely the efforts of interagency groups to establish 

meaningful measures across the Federal Government. Over the next five years, we will 
 

38 

adopt new measures to continue to improve our reporting at the least cost in terms of 

effort to our lab staff. 

NOAA Work Products and Collaborative Activities 

In addition to the internal transition of NOAA’s Research and Development to operational 

products and services, NOAA science and data products are routinely provided to the public in 

service to the NOAA mission of protecting lives and property. 

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 

protected species, air quality, coastal conditions, beach temperatures, 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. 

NOAA View 

In November 2013, NOAA unveiled "NOAA View," 

an online educational tool that gives educators and the 

public interactive access to NOAA environmental data, 

enabling unique views of the world's oceans, land, 

atmosphere, cryosphere and climate. The NOAA View 

imagery portal provides a single point for experiencing 

NOAA data, including environmental information 

captured by satellites, inserted into scientific models 

and other data analyses.46 Users can browse, animate and download high-resolution imagery 

from the NOAA Visualization Lab, making it an ideal tool for putting NOAA data into the hands 

of students in classrooms around the world. 

NOAA View, which was developed by NOAA's Center for Satellite Applications and Research 

and the NOAA Visualization Lab, brings together more than 60 different sets of data, some even 

as far back as 1880, with new data sets being added regularly. Content is updated on a daily, 

weekly, monthly or annual basis as data observations and collections permit. 

Examples of data contents include: wind speed, coral bleaching, ice cover, vegetation, 

precipitation, and views of the Earth at night. NOAA View lets users manipulate the display to 

change views of the world, data inputs and periods of time to observe the Earth. 

NOAA’s Coastal Mapping Program Offers Significant Economic Benefits 

For every dollar American taxpayers spend on NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey (NGS)47

Coastal Mapping Program, they receive more than $35 in benefits, according to a 2012 

independent socio-economic scoping study.48

 

46 http://www.nnvl.noaa.gov/view/ 47 http://www.geodesy.noaa.gov/ 48 http://geodesy.noaa.gov/PUBS_LIB/CMP_Socio-Economic_Scoping_Study_Final.pdf
 

39 

The program provides critical baseline data for accurately mapping America’s official 

shoreline—important for national security, maritime shipping and navigation, and provides 

geographical reference data needed to manage, develop, conserve and protect coastal resources. 

The study demonstrates the program’s contributions in marine safety, geographic information, 

resource management, and emergency response and the wide range of economic and societal 

activities it supports. 

Conducted by Leveson Consulting of Jackson, N.J., the study analyzed the benefits to the nation 

of NOAA’s Coastal Mapping Program, which enhances coastal economies by providing accurate 

and consistent shoreline data. 

Direct economic benefits of the program alone were 

estimated at $100 million—15 times program costs. 

The study estimated that NGS’s Coastal Mapping 

Program further supports 1,500 jobs outside of the 

program. In addition to the economic data, the study 

also provides information on the program’s 

customers and their uses of mapping data. 

NOAA derives the shoreline data through various 

remote sensing technologies including aerial 

imagery, satellite imagery, Light Detection and 

Ranging (LiDAR), and Synthetic Aperture RADAR 

(SAR). 

Decision Support Tools 

NOAA labs develop a wide variety of dedicated decision support software tools that enable the 

use of our data to meet specific public management and decision-support needs. In many cases 

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

Storm Surge Inundation Mapping Tool - SLOSH 

This interactive web map allows anyone with a web browser to display a map of the near-worst 

case storm surge flooding scenarios.49 With this education and awareness tool, anyone living in 

hurricane-prone coastal areas along the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts can now evaluate their own 

unique risk from severe storms. This map makes it clear that storm surge is not just a beachfront 

problem, with the risk of storm surge extending several miles from the immediate coastline in 

some areas. “You don’t have to think very hard about it, just look at your location on the national 

map to find out if you are in an area at risk for storm surge from a future tropical storm or 

hurricane,” said Brian Zachry, Ph.D., NHC storm surge specialist. 

Cooperative Institutes 

NOAA supports a network of 16 Cooperative Institutes at 41 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 

 

49 http://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/StorytellingTextLegend/index.html?appid=b1a20ab5eec149058bafc059635a82ee

LIDAR imagery of an area south of San Francisco 

acquired by the NOAA aircraft. (Credit: NOAA) 
 

40 

NOAA scientists at NOAA labs. In 2014, over 900 researchers at the institutes received more 

than 50% of their funding to work on NOAA R&D projects. 

NOAA Technology Partnerships Office to Partner with University of Colorado TTO 

In 2014, NOAA’s Technology Partnerships Office initiated discussions with the University of 

Colorado Technology Transfer Office to develop a collaborative technology evaluation program 

between at the University and the Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado. The 

proposed program would bring students to the lab to work closely with NOAA scientists and 

engineers to evaluate and potentially commercialize new and existing technologies. The goal of 

the program will be to develop an innovation ecosystem where promising new technologies can 

be more quickly identified and moved to commercialization. If successful, this pilot program 

could be expanded to other NOAA labs and cooperative institutes. 

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. 
 

41 

Publications50

In FY 2014, peer-reviewed publications by NOAA scientists totaled 1,759. The following charts 

show the breakdown of publications by subject, R&D Unit, as well as co-authorship by 

institution and country. In the future, we hope to provide a more detailed analysis of citations for 

our publications to give a better sense of the impact of these publications. 

Table 20 – Number of Publications per Subject (Top 10) 

 

 

 

50 NOAA publications data for 2014 were derived on October 22, 2014, 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. 

Subject Publications

Meteorology Atmospheric Sciences 597

Marine Freshwater Biology 255

Environmental Sciences 251

Oceanography 206

Fisheries 174

Ecology 159

Geosciences Multidisciplinary 116

Multidisciplinary Sciences 92

Geochemistry Geosciences 63

Remote Sensing 62
 

42 

Figure 6 – Intramural Publications per R&D Unit 

 

AKFSC Alaska Fisheries Science Center NMFS National Marine Fisheries Service

AOML Atlantic Oceanographic Meteorological Laboratory NOS National Ocean Service

ARL Air Resources Laboratory NSSL National Severe Storms Laboratory

ESRL Earth Systems Research Laboratory NWFSC Northwest Fisheries Science Center

GFDL Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory NWS National Weather Services

GLERL Great Lakes Ecosystems Research Laboratory PIFSC Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center

NCCOS National Center for Coastal Ocean Sciences PMEL Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory

NCDC National Climate Data Center SEFSC Southeast Fisheries Science Center

NCEP National Centers for Environmental Prediction STAR Center for Satellite Applications and Research 

NEFSC Northeast Fisheries Science Center SWFSC Southwest Fisheries Science Center

NESDIS National Environmental, Satellite, Data and Information Service
 

43 

Figure 7 – Co-Authored Publications per Institution (top 15) 

Figure 8 – Co-Authored Publications per Country (top 15) 

 
 

44 

Inventions, Patents, and Licensing 

In 2014, NOAA researchers disclosed six new inventions and filed three provisional patent 

applications, and one full patent application. In 2014, NOAA voluntarily let one unlicensed 

patent expire, bringing its total issued patent portfolio (intramural and extramural) to 25. 

NOAA maintains five active licenses on its technologies and is actively pursuing licensing 

agreements on its newly patented technologies. 

Table 21 – Invention Disclosure and Patenting 

Trademark and Copyright 

The TPO began requesting trademark data from our labs in 2013, but reporting of this 

information to date has been incomplete, at best. As a proxy, the TPO conducts a simple word 

search of the USPTO TESS database. This search has revealed a total of 125 live trademarks for 

NOAA products, services, and logos, as compared with a result of 82 in 2013. 

With respect to copyrights, the Federal Government cannot assert copyright in our software and 

other written products; therefore, we rely on our cooperative institute and other partners to both 

assert copyright and notify the TPO of the action. To date, the TPO has not been able to 

accurately track these actions, so we are not providing these data in this annual report. We hope 

to have a more accurate tracking system for copyrights through our partners in the future. 

Additionally, the TPO will seek to work more closely with the Technology Transfer Offices at 

our Cooperative Institutes to actively license all jointly developed and copyrighted materials. 

Table 22 – Trademark and Copyright (a) 

(a) Trademark and copyright are new metrics NOAA is introducing for 2013. No trademarks were 

disclosed to the TPO, but a USPTO search revealed an increase of 43 trademarks. Copyright filings will 

be international or through university partners, if any. 

FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014

New Trademarks Disclosed -- -- -- 2 0

New Copyrights Disclosed -- -- -- 0 0
 

45 

Table 23 – Licensing Details Profile of Active Licenses 

Multiple inventions in a single license are counted as one license. Licenses that include both patents and 

copyrights (hybrid licenses) are reported as patent licenses and are not included in the count of copyright 

licenses. 

(a) “Active” means an agreement in force at any time during the fiscal year. NOTE: the FY 2013 

license figure was inaccurately reported in the previous report. The figure has been corrected to show 

5 active licenses. 

(b) NOAA does not distinguish between invention license and a patent license (patent license would 

include patent applications that are licensed with a one-time license only with one-time flat fee 

royalty). The numbers reported for both invention and patent licenses are the same licenses. 

(c) NOAA is not currently tracking MTAs and related agreements. 

 

FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014

All Licenses, Number Total Active(a) 66555

New, Executed 0 0 0 0 0

Invention Licenses, Total Active 6 6 5 5 5

New, Executed 0 0 0 0 0

Patent Licenses,(b) Total Active 66555

New, Executed 0 0 0 0 0

Material Transfer Licenses Total Active(c) 

(Inventions)

00000

New, Executed 0 0 0 0 0

Other Invention Licenses, Total Active 00000

New, Executed 0 0 0 0 0

Other IP Licenses, Total Active 0 0 0 0 0

New, executed 0 0 0 0 0

Copyright Licenses (Fee Bearing) 0 0 0 0 0

New, Executed 0 0 0 0 0

Material Transfer Licenses, Total Active (NonInventions) 00000

New, Executed 0 0 0 0 0

Other, Total Active 00000

New, Executed 0 0 0 0 0
 

46 

Table 24 – Licensing Management 

Data included in this table (intentionally) addresses only invention licenses, with patent licenses 

distinguished as a sub-class. 

 No new licenses were executed in FY 2008, FY 2012, or FY2013. 

(a) Date of license application to the date of license execution. (Date of license application is the date the 

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

enter into negotiations.) 

(b) NOAA does not distinguish between invention license and a patent license (Patent license would 

include patent applications that are licensed with a one-time license only with one-time flat fee 

royalty). The numbers reported for both invention and patent licenses are the same licenses. 

 
 

47 

Table 25 – Characteristics of Licenses Bearing Income 

In general, license income can result from various sources: license issue fees, earned royalties, minimum 

annual royalties, paid-up license fees, and reimbursement for full-cost recovery of goods and services 

provided by the lab to the licensee including patent costs. 

(a) NOAA does not distinguish between invention license and a patent license (Patent license would 

include patent applications that are licensed with a one-time license only with one-time flat fee 

royalty). The numbers reported for both invention and patent licenses are the same licenses. 

(b) Note that royalties are one component of total license income. 

 

FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014

All Income Bearing Licenses, Total Number 4 3 3 5 5

Exclusive 0 0 0 0 0

Partially Exclusive 0 0 0 0 0

Non-Exclusive 4 3 3 5 5

Invention Licenses, Income Bearing 4 3 3 5 5

Exclusive 0 0 0 0 0

Partially Exclusive 0 0 0 0 0

Non-Exclusive 4 3 3 4 5

Patent licenses,(a) Income Bearing 43355

Exclusive 0 0 0 0 0

Partially Exclusive 0 0 0 0 0

Non-Exclusive 4 3 3 5 5

Other IP Licenses, Income Bearing 0 0 0 0 0

Exclusive 0 0 0 0 0

Partially Exclusive 0 0 0 0 0

Non-Exclusive 0 0 0 0 0

Copyright Licenses (Fee Bearing) 0 0 0 0 0

Exclusive 0 0 0 0 0

Partially Exclusive 0 0 0 0 0

Non-Exclusive 0 0 0 0 0

All Royalty Bearing Licenses,(b) Total Number 43355

Invention Licenses, Royalty Bearing 4 3 3 5 5

Patent Licenses,Royalty Bearing 43355

Other IP Licenses, Royalty Bearing 0 0 0 0 0

Copyright Licenses (Fee Bearing) 4 3 3 0 0
 

48 

Table 26 – Income from Licenses 

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

fees, and reimbursement for full-cost recovery of goods & services provided by the lab to the licensee 

including patent costs. 

(b) NOAA does not distinguish between Invention License and a Patent License (Patent license would 

include patent applications that are licensed with a one-time license only with one-time flat fee 

royalty). The numbers reported for both Invention and Patent licenses are the same licenses. 

(c) “Earned royalty” = royalty based upon use of a licensed invention (usually, a percentage of sales or 

of units sold). Not a license issue fee or a minimum royalty. 

FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014

Total Income, All Licenses Active (a) $35,044 $107,220 $100,867 $48,798 $69,151

Invention Licenses $35,044 $107,220 $100,867 $48,798 $69,151

Patent Licenses (b) $35,044 $107,220 $100,867 $48,798 $69,151

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

Copyright Licenses $0 $0 $0 $0 $0

Total Earned Royalty Income (ERI) (c) $35,044 $107,220 $100,867 $48,798 $69,151

Median ERI $5,000 $34,000 $9,902 $11,000 $13,830

Minimum ERI $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 $1,000

Maximum ERI $17,044 $69,000 $89,965 $36,798 $50,000

ERI from Top 1% of Licenses $17,044 $69,000 $89,965 $36,798 $50,000

ERI from Top 5% of Licenses $17,044 $69,000 $89,965 $36,798 $50,000

ERI from Top 20% of Licenses $17,044 $69,000 $89,965 $36,798 $50,000

Invention Licenses $35,044 $107,220 $100,867 $48,798 $69,151

Median ERI $5,000 $34,000 $9,902 $11,000 $13,830

Minimum ERI $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 $1,000

Maximum ERI $17,044 $69,000 $89,965 $36,798 $50,000

ERI from Top 1% of Licenses $17,044 $69,000 $89,965 $36,798 $50,000

ERI from Top 5% of Licenses $17,044 $69,000 $89,965 $36,798 $50,000

ERI from Top 20% of Licenses $17,044 $69,000 $89,965 $36,798 $50,000

Patent Licenses $35,044 $107,220 $100,867 $48,798 $69,151

Median ERI $5,000 $34,000 $9,902 $11,000 $13,830

Minimum ERI $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 $1,000

Maximum ERI $17,044 $69,000 $89,965 $36,798 $50,000

ERI from Top 1% of Licenses $17,044 $69,000 $89,965 $36,798 $50,000

ERI from Top 5% of Licenses $17,044 $69,000 $89,965 $36,798 $50,000

ERI from Top 20% of Licenses $17,044 $69,000 $89,965 $36,798 $50,000

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

49 

Table 27 – Disposition of License Income 

Invention licenses are the chief policy interest regarding disposition of income; content of table reflects 

this focus. 

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

(b) NOAA does not distinguish between Invention License and a Patent License (Patent license would 

include patent applications that are licensed with a one-time license only with one-time flat fee 

royalty). The numbers reported for both Invention and Patent licenses are the same licenses. 

Cooperative Research and Development Agreements, MOUs, and Other Collaborations 

NOAA’s labs executed eight new Cooperative Research and Development Agreements 

(CRADAs) in 2014, one agreement concluded, and another was deemed inactive, bringing the 

total reported NOAA CRADA portfolio to 19 active agreements. The Labs have additionally 

reported 50 MoU and Other Collaborative R&D Agreements: 

• 8 Guest Researcher agreements, 

• 41 Memoranda of Understanding 

o 8 International 

o 4 US Private 

o 26 Interagency/State 

o 3 Academia 

• 1 Special Studies Agreement.51 

CRADA with Trimble Navigation Ltd for Global Positioning System Meteorology (GPSMet) Commercialization 

The Global Positioning System Meteorology (GPS-Met) observing system project in the Earth 

System Research Laboratory Global Systems Division (ESRL/GSD) develops and assesses 

techniques to measure atmospheric water vapor amounts using ground-based GPS receivers. 

Estimates of the total column precipitable water (TPW) are assimilated into National Weather 

Service operational weather prediction models and used to fill observation gaps in weather 

satellite products generated by National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service. 

 

51 Prior to 2013, the NOAA Technology Partnerships Office (TPO) has only tracked CRADA data. The TPO 

continues to request MoU information to provide a more comprehensive view of the collaboration portfolio. These 

data are preliminary, so they are not included in the official metrics section below. Once data are validated over the 

course of two or more reporting periods, we may revise our metrics to include MoU data. 

FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014

Income Distributed (a)

Invention Licenses, Total Distributed $35,044 $107,220 $100,867 $48,798 $69,151

$14,514 $34,266 $35,331 $16,740 $22,845

41% 32% 35% 34% 33%

$20,530 $72,954 $65,536 $32,058 $46,306

59% 68% 65% 66% 67%

Patent Licenses, (b) Total Distributed $35,044 $107,220 $100,867 $48,798 $69,151

$14,514 $34,266 $35,331 $16,740 $22,845

41% 32% 35% 34% 33%

$20,530 $72,954 $65,536 $32,058 $46,306

59% 68% 65% 66% 67% To Other

To Inventor(s)

To Other

To Inventor(s)
 

50 

Assimilation of these water vapor or precipitable water estimates has been shown to significantly 

improve the accuracy of hourly weather forecasts. 

Under terms of the CRADA with Trimble Navigation Limited, ESRL/GSD will collaborate in 

joint research and development activities to evaluate, refine, and improve Trimble’s capability to 

estimate both GPS zenith signal delay (ZTD) and TPW. Ideally, this CRADA will result in the 

successful implementation of the technology within the private sector leading to an on-going 

purchase of ZTD/TPW estimates by NOAA. Thus far Trimble has successfully processed 

observations from a limited set of GPS-Met sites demonstrating that it can provide the same 

accurate data as the ESRL/GSD system. In FY15, long-term tests will be conducted using more 

sites located in significantly different meteorological environments. 

Increasing the rate of transition of lab technologies to the private sector is a stated goal of the 

Obama Administration under the new Lab to Market Cross Agency Priority Goal. ESRL's use of 

the CRADA to facilitate the transition of technologies that are not yet market ready is an 

excellent example for other NOAA labs to follow in the future. 

Table 28 – Collaborative Relationships for Research and Development

(a) CRADA = Cooperative Research and Development Agreement. Traditional CRADAs involve 

collaborative research and development projects by a federal laboratory and non-federal partners. 

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

transfer or technical assistance that may result in protected information. 

(b) “Active” means an agreement in force at any time during the fiscal year. “Total active” is 

comprehensive of all agreements executed under CRADA authority (15 USC 3710a). 

(c) Second year reporting of “Other” figures. Data will need multiple years of reporting to normalize. 

 
 

51 

Other Performance Measures Deemed Important 

Challenges/Prizes 

NOAA is not currently leading any challenges/prizes, but is actively participating in the White 

House Nutrient Challenge and the Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health X-Prize. 

Facilities Use 

NOAA labs do not currently have the authority to retain funds received for use of NOAA 

facilities, which has limited NOAA’s participation in this form of technology transfer; however, 

NOAA does regularly engage with the private sector and academia through its 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.52 NOAA maintains 11 individual testbeds related to weather, climate, 

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. 

NOAA-Funded (Extramural) R&D 

NOAA Sea Grant 

The NOAA Sea Grant Model integrates research and outreach (including extension, 

communication, and education) for science with real world impacts. Sea Grant takes a 

multi-faceted approach to outreach through programs of education, extension, and 

communication. Specialists in each of these areas translate research into usable 

information and products for many audiences, ensuring that scientific information is 

delivered to those who need it, and in ways that are relevant. 

Maryland Sea Grant Oyster Research leads Hatchery to Produce 1.2 Billion Spat 

for Aquaculture and Restoration

The state of Maryland has dedicated considerable resources to restoring oysters to the 

Chesapeake Bay. The estuary’s oyster populations declined dramatically beginning in the 

1950s as a result of overfishing and disease. The loss contributed to worsening water 

quality in the Bay and its tributaries and has deprived commercial watermen in Maryland 

of income. 

Efforts to restore oyster populations are expected to provide habitat for fish and other 

animals, help to reduce nutrients and sediments in the estuary, and enhance the Maryland 

economy. Both wild oyster restoration projects and aquaculture businesses, however, 

require a supply of oyster shell and larvae in order to build new reefs and stocks. 

 

52 http://www.testbeds.noaa.gov/
 

52 

The Horn Point Oyster Hatchery, directed by Maryland Sea Grant Extension Program’s 

shellfish aquaculture specialist in partnership with government agencies and nongovernmental organizations, is among the largest operations of its kind on the East Coast 

of the United States. Using new methods and technologies, the hatchery produces spat on 

shell -- oyster larvae that have attached to shells. The hatchery’s partners use this oyster 

spat to seed or supplement restored oyster reefs in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. 

Regional oyster aquaculture growers also need large numbers of spat to produce the next 

generation of oysters at their growing sites. MDSG’s aquaculture specialist directed the 

production of 1.2 billion spat on shell in 2013 at the Horn Point Oyster Hatchery, a record 

number. Additionally, the hatchery sold $113,000 worth of oyster shell to aquaculture 

enterprises in the state. To help reduce start-up costs for new aquaculture enterprises, the 

hatchery also donated spat valued at $156,000 to regional oyster aquaculture growers. 

Crab Cake Success Keeps NC Processor in Business 

North Carolina seafood processors need to develop value-added products in order to meet 

consumer demand while also competing with imported seafood that is cheaper but often 

of lower quality. A North Carolina crab processor came to North Carolina Sea Grant's 

seafood technologist in about 2006 for help in developing a retail line of crab cakes based 

on the flavor profile of a classic recipe. NC Sea Grant assisted with testing for 

commercial-scale production, as well as sensory panels. This included identifying 

ingredients and the respective sources. This effort resulted in the new product that 

continues to be widely available via seafood vendors and at least one grocery store. 

The processor reports that the crab cake has kept the company going, including about 60 

seasonal jobs. The price point is approximately $2 per cake wholesale. The company is 

producing about 1,000 crab cakes per day in season. To conservatively estimate 75 

production days, that would be $150,000 per year. Additional profits are reaped by the 

next-level distributors, as the cakes are known to go for $5 each in some metro markets. 

Thus the total economic value of the product would be about $225,000 annually. Based 

on the crab cake success, the company has requested to again work with NC Sea Grant to 

develop new products in 2014-15. 

Education and Outreach 

National Weather Festival 

The annual National Weather Festival highlights the many weather related organizations 

and activities in central Oklahoma. Visitors can view the National Weather Center’s 

premier facilities including National Weather Service forecast operation areas. 

This unique event features hourly weather balloon launches with local TV 

meteorologists, emergency response vehicle and equipment displays, LEGO® models 

and robots demonstration, children’s activities, and weather related information and 

products. 
 

53 

Adopt a Drifter Program 

Through the NOAA Adopt a Drifter Program, kids are learning about ocean currents in 

real time, as scientists collect and analyze ocean data. 

First, drifting buoys are deployed from ships at sea. As they are carried along ocean 

currents, “drifters” measure and transmit sea surface temperature data and positioning 

coordinates via satellite for about 400 days. Students follow their adopted drifter and 

analyze the sea surface temperature data in their classrooms as it’s posted online. The 

data are then used by both ocean scientists and students to track warm and cold currents. 

Understanding where and how fast the warm and cold currents are flowing is useful in 

several ways. It helps provide more accurate weather forecasts, track oil spills, and learn 

where drifting plants, animals, and migrating species travel. 

Adopt a Drifter is science in action – giving kids an inside view of how the ocean 

connects us all. 

Downstream Outcomes from NOAA Technology Transfer 

NOAA Funding Expands Uses of Commercial Environmental Sample Processor 

The Environmental Sample Processor (ESP) provides in situ

robotic collection and analysis of subsurface water samples for 

harmful algae, their toxins and other microrganisms. Funding 

from NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, 

Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research (CSCOR) 

supports agency and partner expansion of the utility of the ESP, 

which was initially developed by the Monterey Bay Aquarium 

Research Institute (MBARI),53 CSCOR sponsored projects are 

piloting ESP deployments to advance operational harmful algal 

bloom forecasting in the Gulf of Maine,54 Puget Sound,55 and 

Southern California Bight.56 Other CSCOR funding is reducing 

ESP production costs and increasing its robustness under field 

conditions.57 In October 2014 McLane Research Laboratories, 

Inc. was licensed by MBARI to manufacture, sell, and service the ESP.58 

New Coastal Survey Technique Aids Coastal Managers and Navigation

After Tropical Cyclone (later termed Hurricane) Arthur roared up the coast of North Carolina 

and Virginia this summer, NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey began flying survey missions to 

 

53 http://www.mbari.org/esp/ 54 http://coastalscience.noaa.gov/projects/detail?key=137 55 http://coastalscience.noaa.gov/projects/detail?key=148 56 http://coastalscience.noaa.gov/projects/detail?key=152 57 http://coastalscience.noaa.gov/projects/detail?key=118 58 http://www.mclanelabs.com/news_article/mclane-sells-esp-direct-researchers
 

54 

take aerial photographs to document damage, erosion, and potential impacts to navigation. This 

collection of coastline imagery, now available online, employs new photographic techniques that 

NGS experts expect will lead to better post-storm surveys in the future.59 For the first time, NGS 

surveyors collected oblique imagery, or images taken at an angle rather than straight down. The 

advantage to this type of approach is that it allows the team to photograph a wider area and also 

improves the visibility of vertical structures, such as the sides of buildings, as opposed to only 

the tops of buildings as typically seen in traditional imagery. This new layered approach provides 

better visual context than the imagery gathered by surveyors in past missions. 

In the aftermath of events such as hurricanes, data contained in NOAA aerial photos provide 

emergency and coastal managers with the information they need to develop recovery strategies, 

facilitate search-and-rescue efforts, identify hazards to navigation and HAZMAT spills, locate 

errant vessels, and provide documentation necessary for damage assessment through the 

comparison of before-and-after imagery.

NOAA Space Weather Data and Products in Commercial Enterprises 

 The American Commercial Space Weather Association (ACSWA) is an association of 

companies that promotes space weather risk mitigation for critical national infrastructure related 

to national daily life, economic strength, and national security.60 ACSWA, in conjunction with 

its member companies, is playing a vital role by identifying important data and technology gaps 

that can be filled by private or government actions and by developing value-added products and 

services for the benefit of human and property safety as well as for vibrant commerce. 

Websites that display NOAA data 

• www.Spaceweather.com 

• www.spaceweathertext.com 

• www.Space.com 

• www.spaceweatherlive.com 

• www.Spacew.com 

• www.spaceweatherphone.com 

• www.thewatchers.adorraeli.com 

• www.spaceref.com 

• www.talkspaceweather.com 

• www.spacewx.com 

• www.nwra.com/spawx/

• www.hamqsl.com/solar.html 

 

59 http://storms.ngs.noaa.gov/storms/arthur/oblique/index.html 60 http://www.acswa.us/
 

55 

Honorable mention to the following not-for-profit web site 

• www.SolarHam.net 

Smartphone Apps 

• SpaceWX 

• SWx Monitor 

• Solar Monitor 

• ASTRA Space Weather 

• AFFECTS 

Offshore Mariculture Monitoring Program 

Catalina Sea Ranch is developing the "First Open Ocean Shellfish Ranch in United States 

Federal Waters" pursuant to NOAA's new aquaculture policy.61 This project will create jobs and 

help reduce our nation's $10 billion seafood deficit. 

Globally, filter-feeding bivalve shellfish are key players in ecologically sustainable aquaculture 

in the marine environment and as environmentally sensitive monitors and water purifiers. 

Shellfish are successfully farmed throughout the world and represent a legitimate use of the 

marine environment for sustainable food production. 

In the United States, NOAA announced its national aquaculture policies establishing a 

framework to allow sustainable domestic aquaculture to contribute to the U.S. seafood supply. 

There is an emphasis on sustainable marine aquaculture through a “National Shellfish Initiative” 

for increasing shellfish farming and restoration. 

The data from this 100-acre project will provide science-based solutions for marine spatial 

planning in a sustainable and responsible manner that protects the environment. NOAA has also 

provided a NOMAD buoy, which will be anchored in the middle of Catalina Sea Ranch. The 

20x10x7 foot 16,000-pound aluminum boat-shaped hull can endure severe sea conditions for 

24/7 real-time environmental monitoring and security protection. 

 

 

61 http://www.catalinasearanch.com/Catalinasearanch.com/Monitoring.html
 

56 

Awards and Recognition 

Climate.gov wins two Webby Awards and a People’s Voice 

Award in 2014 

NOAA’s Climate.gov website was selected by the International 

Academy of the Digital Arts & Sciences to receive two Webby 

Awards in the "Government" and "Green" categories. They also 

garnered a People's Voice Award in the "Green" category (placing 

second overall in the "Government" category). 

NOAA Technology Transfer Awards 

NOAA selected four projects to receive the Agency’s Technology 

Transfer Award in 2014. These projects exemplified the highest 

standard for developing a new technology in cooperation with 

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

• Ralph Ferraro, Limin Zhao, Robert Kuligowski, and Donna McNamara, 

National Environmental Satellite, Data, & Information Service 

For greatly increasing the usefulness of state-of-the-art NOAA polar satellite 

information to the television broadcast community. 

• James Farr, National Ocean Service 

For providing the chemical industry, first responders, and emergency planners with 

comprehensive access to critical chemical compatibility predictions. 

• Frances VanDolah, National Ocean Service 

For the commercialization and regulatory approval of NOAA biotechnology ensuring 

the safety of U.S. shellfish and reducing impediments to international trade. 

• Petrus Tans, Oceanic and Atmospheric Research

For developing and successfully transferring the revolutionary AirCore technology to 

industry to aid the collection of air samples with exceptional data resolution. 

 
 

57 

CHAPTER 4 National Telecommunications and Information Administration: 

Institute for Telecommunication Sciences 

ITS is the research and engineering arm of NTIA and performs telecommunications research to 

provide 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; and 

• 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 2014, ITS participated—as it has for a number of years—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 

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 
 

58 

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, 

research, testing, and evaluation (RDT&E). This joint program has been operating for close to 

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 four years are the Public Safety 

700 MHz Broadband Demonstration Agreements. 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 2014, 51 

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. 

Table 29 – Collaborative Relationships for Research and 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.
 

59 

Other Performance Measures Deemed Important 

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). Approximately one-third of the publications 

released through the ERB process in FY 2014 were approved for external publication in 

scientific journals or conference proceedings and two-thirds were published as NTIA reports. At 

one time, only official NTIA publications were counted, but recently it became apparent that 

journal articles and conference papers have equal, and sometimes greater, reach in transferring 

new tools and discoveries, and now all publications are being counted. 

Technical Publications Downloaded 

ITS makes all of its publications available to the public through its Web site, and provides online 

users with advanced search capabilities that will locate relevant publications by keyword. 

Changes in the Internet environment, in particular an explosion in the number of “bot hits,” have 

rendered the “hit” and “page view” metrics unreliable, inflated, and meaningless. Therefore, in 

the first quarter of FY 2013, ITS implemented the more accurate metric of actual PDF 

downloads of publications. In FY 2014, ITS technical publications were downloaded 7,707 

times, a 7% increase over the prior year. 

Table 30 – Technical Publications and Downloads

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 

2,000 different video clips were downloaded from the library in FY 2014; 360 of those were 

downloaded at least 15 times each. 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 

FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014

Technical Publications Released 12 15 13 24 18

Technical Publications Downloaded -- -- -- 7,174 7,707

Consumer Digital Video Library Users Downloading -- 242 187 418 184

Video Quality Metric Software Users Downloading -- -- -- 591 685

Propagation Modeling Software Downloads -- -- -- -- 717

Other Software/Data Downloads -- -- -- -- 489
 

60 

journal articles describing CDVL; annual rates of between 180 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 are 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 on 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 2014, 685 users downloaded the VQM software, a 16% increase 

over the prior year. The Web-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. 
 

61 

Development of Telecommunication Standards62

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 2014, ITS staff held 36 positions on 30 different bodies in six standards development 

organizations. ITS staff filled numerous key leadership positions in the ITU-R, including the 

U.S. Chair of SG3, International Chair of SG3 Working Party 3K, and U.S. Chair or Co-chair of 

four other Working Parties and one Correspondence Group. An ITS staff member is also U.S. 

Chair of ITU-T Study Group 9. ITS also continued its technical leadership and contributions to 

communications standards for public safety, particularly for first responders. 

Downstream Outcomes from ITS Technology Transfer Activities 

Telecommunication Standards 

ITS substantially shaped the 17 technical contributions on various engineering issues and subject 

areas submitted by the U.S. during the 2014 ITU-R Study Group 3 meetings. In particular, ITS 

engineers volunteered to lead the Correspondence Group on Building Entry Loss. This group is 

critical to LTE deployment across the world and represents millions, if not billions of dollars, in 

potential commercial development. 

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 the final agenda for 3GPP Release 12 and Mission Critical Push to Talk being included in the 

final agenda for 3GPP Release 13. These features are critical to ensuring that LTE can meet 

public safety’s requirements and 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. 

 

62 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.
 

62 

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 2014, 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. 

• For the past eight 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 aircraft at Table Mountain. 

• Lockheed Martin Coherent Technologies is in its fourteenth year of field-testing and 

characterizing components, subsystems and systems for eye-safe coherent laser radar. 

This has benefited NTIA and the Department of Defense. 

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 codes, 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. 

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. 
 

63 

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 technology partnering activities originating from 

DOC’s federal laboratories. Federal research is a complex process that provides the opportunity 

for new ideas and innovations to achieved 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 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 created by the Department’s federal laboratories.