NIST Update and Agenda Review

VCAT: June 2015

Dr. Willie E. May 

NIST Director and Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology
Official Welcome to New VCAT Member

David Wilson

President of Morgan State University

 Former chancellor of both University of 

Wisconsin Colleges and the University of 

Wisconsin–Extension 

 Has held numerous other administrative posts 

in academia, including: vice president for 

University Outreach and associate provost at 

Auburn University, and associate provost of 

Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey

 In February 2010, the President appointed him 

to the 11-member Board of Advisors on 

Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Credit: Morgan State University

1
Safety Update

2

Goal = Zero

Recordable case (RC)

To a first approximation, 

an injury that required 

medical treatment 

beyond first aid

DART case

An OSHA recordable that 

resulted in employee Days 

Away, Restricted duty, or 

job Transfer

Projected 

from first 

8 months 

of FY15
Update on Safety Incident: Legacy Radioactive Material Discovery

• As reported in February, during 100% chemical inventory, an MML scientist discovered 

several uranium-containing reference materials -- in violation of policy for control of 

radioactive materials

Incident response:

• NRC notified

• NIST Leadership informed

• Search for additional radioactive material

• MML had Safety Stand Down Day

• Other OU Directors took actions 

• NIST Director sent email to all staff

Causal Factors

• Failure to recognize hazardous condition. 

• Inadequate safety inspection procedures. 

• Location of the materials in the laboratory.

• Lack of written procedures for material inventory. 

• Failure by management to anticipate the hazardous condition. 

• Lack of full understanding of supervisor responsibilities due to lack of supervisor training.

Corrective Actions

• NIST has secured reported sources and surveyed their areas for contamination.

• GRSD is working with Source Custodians to completely characterize their inventories.

• NIST has formalized the chain–of-custody process for Source Custodians who leave NIST.

• NIST is re-assessing its current source tracking practices for inventory and waste disposal 

activities to further ensure adequate control and accountability.

• NIST is developing a detailed inventory guidance procedure that includes line-management 

roles and responsibilities.

NRC regulations were 

violated because 

materials were not:

- appropriately labeled

- in approved facility

- in inventory

3
NRC Responses to Radioactive Material Discovery Incident

The NRC conducted a routine unannounced inspection on August 26-28, 2014 

and issued security and safety inspection reports – May 2015, June 2015

– Findings:

o Four Severity Level IV violations (lowest level, no civil penalties; 1 cited & 3 non-cited)

 Cited violation: Each licensee shall keep records showing the receipt, inventory, 

acquisition, transfer, and disposal of all special nuclear material in its possession 

regardless of its origin or method of acquisition.

o Although self-identified, NIST should have recognized this earlier.

– Additional Comments/Feedback from the NRC

o NIST’s response to the legacy-source incident was outstanding after the first legacy 

sources were discovered

o MML, PML, and OSHE worked together to find, characterize, and safely dispose of 

legacy materials

o Strong NIST radiation safety program

 NRC’s positive view of NIST’s radiation safety program played a major role in the 

final inspection results

 Proactive approach to identifying and addressing radiation safety issues

 Engaged Ionizing Radiation Safety Committee

 Strong management support

o Excellent transparency with the NRC on issues affecting radiation safety

4
NIST Update

 NIST Organizational Update

– Update on Director’s Priorities

– NIST Budget Status 

 Selected Staff Achievements

 Selected Research Updates

 Selected Programmatic Updates

 Selected New Programmatic Partnerships

 Agenda Review

5
Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee

Ordered nomination to be reported favorably to Full Senate on 25 March 

Full Senate Vote 

Confirmed by the Full Senate on 05 May by Vote of 93 – 0. 

Presidential Nomination

• July 24, 2014: Dr. Willie E. May nominated to be NIST Director and 

Commerce Undersecretary for Standards and Technology

• February 25, 2015: Dr. Willie E. May re-nominated to be NIST Director and 

Commerce Undersecretary for Standards and Technology

NIST Director Update: 

Presidential Re-Nomination and Senate Confirmation Required

https://www.congress.gov/nomination/114th-congress/209 6
My Priorities 

 Fill key leadership vacancies (e.g., Directors of PML, EL, MEP, SCO 

and my replacement as ADLP) 

 Work with the Senior Leadership Team in: 

– Continuing to strengthen the NIST Safety Culture 

– Completing the successful implementation of programs that NIST has 

initiated in response to pressing national needs 

– Enhancing current and developing new capabilities needed to enhance 

mission delivery

– Addressing long-term sustainability of the Baldrige Program

– Strengthening the MEP Program

– Supporting the Secretary in the execution of the Department’s Strategic 

Plan

– Improving the efficiency and effectiveness of our internal operations 

• becoming an organization known and looked up to for our “Operational 

Excellence”

– Increasing staff engagement in the direction and implementation of 

NIST programs and priorities 7
Priorities: Filling key leadership vacancies

 Previously filled: PML Director, James Olthoff & EL Director, Howard Harary

 Filled since Feb Meeting:

 Selected, Pending DoC and OPM Approval:

 Yet to be filled:

– Associate Director for Laboratory Programs

• Vacancy Announcement Posted April 27, 2015 and closes June 26, 2015

Director, MEP

Carroll A. Thomas

Appointment date: April 19, 2015

Director, Standards 

Coordination Office 

Gordon Gillerman

Director, Advanced 

Manufacturing National 

Program Office

Mike Molnar 

8
 Effective NIST Mission Delivery requires operational excellence in 

– Acquisitions

– Agreements

– Human Resources

– Legal Services

as well as in our Program Areas

 A task force was established for each of these four areas to:

– Address/ Answer:

• What does success look like?

• What currently works well?

• What currently hinders success?

• How can we fix barriers to success?

– Challenge status quo

– Recommend process improvement solutions

– Report back every 30 days

 Each Task Force completed its report and presented its 

recommendations at NIST Town Meeting in March 2015

Priority: Improving operational efficiency and effectiveness

Each Task Force included a 

facilitator, an OU Director, NIST 

customers, and MR process 

owners. 

9
Task Group Recommendation Themes

There were a number of common themes across the groups for the 

need to:

 clarify and document roles and responsibilities of all parties.

 differentiate the amount of time, and level of review, provided for highrisk vs. lower-risk activities. 

 increase transparency of processes through:

– better tracking of the delivery of services via online tools

– increased consistency in implementing policies.

 improve communications, by:

– providing clearer directions, checklists, and templates

– annotating reviews of documents to show which changes are suggestions 

and which are required.

10
Action plans are being formed to address these common themes 

that include:

• securing a contractor to introduce Service Management1 concepts and best 

practices to three key Offices through a series of workshops and the 

evaluation of current processes, and then identifying and piloting the 

automation and tracking of 3-5 key services using our existing online Service 

Management system. 

• clearly documenting and disseminating the roles, responsibilities, and 

expectations of all parties involved in review processes, while simultaneously 

identifying gaps and streamlining review processes where possible.

• developing new training offerings, guidance, checklists, dos and don'ts, and 

FAQs.

Work is also underway on recommendations specific to each service area 

– progress will be documented on the NIST Internal Website

1Service Management is a customer-focused approach to delivering services. Service Management 

focuses on providing value to the customer and also on the customer relationship.

11
Priority: Employee Engagement and Satisfaction

Selected data from 2014 OPM Employee Viewpoint Survey

 HR selected 11 questions from the survey related to 

employment engagement and job satisfaction. 

12

Administrative Support Staff
Director’s Recognition for Excellence in 

Mission Support

 Was established to recognize staff within the Management Resources Directorate 

whose commitment to and excellence in service delivery has stood out among 

customers and significantly contributed to NIST mission delivery. 

 Bi-monthly recognition to an individual or group of employees from the MR Directorate for:

– Quality of activity and service 

– Initiative and creativity

– Degree of difficulty overcome

– Breadth and scope of impact provided

 Nominations by OU Directors within Lab and IIS Directorates

– will be due by the second Tuesday of February, April, June, 

August, October, and December of each year 

 First selection for Recognition announced May 20, 2015:

– “for his work as the Contract Specialist whose work helped establish 

a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) 

to support NIST’s “National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE).” 

Every other month, an email sent to AllStaff will describe how that Bimonthly Awardee’s 

contribution has been critical to NIST Mission Delivery.

Keith Bubar

Acquis. Mgmt. Div.

13
Innovations in Measurement Science (IMS) Program

Currently: ~$22M

IMS Program Overview:

– provides funds to explore high-risk, leading-edge research concepts that

anticipate future measurement and standards needs of industry and science

– Is a principal mechanism for initiating the new programs and research directions necessary for NIST to keep 

pace with and respond quickly to the increasingly complex nature, and the shorter time frame, of technology 

development and build new competences and capabilities to address our Mission.

– Helped support research that led to the four NIST Nobel Prizes in Physics

 Input: Bottom-up from NIST scientists and engineers

 Decision: ADLP -- based on recommendations/input from Lab Directors

 Since its inception in 1979, the IMS Program has: 

 funded over 100 research projects that have formed the cutting edge of research programs 

and/or evolved into core activities within the NIST Labs

o Led to development of a cold-neutron small-angle scattering facility that led to the NIST 

Center for Neutron Research (NCNR)

o Supported growth of our NIST program in biology

o addressed fundamental problems in metrology, such as the links between electrical and 

mechanical SI units 

14
New - Colleague’s Choice Innovations in Measurement Science Program

 C2IMS is an open competition to encourage and reward staff creativity by putting 

them in charge of identifying, selecting, and solving significant challenges in 

measurement science and is part of a more general effort to broaden staff 

engagement

 In the first stage, NIST’s staff are to:

˗ Propose new measurement, standards and technology challenges that NIST should 

undertake, discuss and rate the challenges via a program specific website transparent to all 

staff

• Choose the winner

 Likewise, in the second stage, NIST’s staff are to:

˗ Propose solutions to the chosen challenge, discuss and rate the solutions via the website

• Choose the winner

 The Peer-Selected Topic and Team will be provided with IMS-level funding for 3 years (up to $1 

M/yr), based on required resources 

NIST’s First C2IMS Competition was launched May 4

Staff have submitted over 50 pressing measurement and standards challenges, and are 

now commenting and rating the problems submitted 15
Director’s NIST Fellows Postdoc Program 

NIST Fellows are senior researchers who:

– operate at the highest level of achievement and impact in contributing to the NIST 

mission; 

– are visionary scientific/technical leaders;

– provide high-quality programmatic input/advice to NIST management; and mentor, 

motivate, and 

– inspire other NIST technical staff. NIST Fellows are employees whose jobs primarily 

involve research, not administration.

A New Benefit for NIST Fellows was launched in 2014: 

– Where each Fellow is now endowed with a postdoctoral researcher of their choice to 

help them take on a new research challenge of the Fellow’s choice

• different from selection process used for NRC Postdocs, who are vetted and ranked 

by NRC

– Benefits and funding are comparable to that of NRC Postdocs

16
Examples of Comments by NIST Fellows re Postdoc Program

“The new Director’s postdoc program for NIST Fellows has already had an important 

impact on my own work and that of my NIST-Fellow colleagues, allowing us to rapidly 

explore new research directions. Giving NIST’s research leaders the flexibility and 

resources to pursue new ideas with a top-notch young person of their choice is a big plus for 

NIST, providing an important way for us to stay in the vanguard of scientific opportunity. It is 

also a big plus for the young postdocs, who profit from the mentorship of some of the country’s 

best researchers in an atmosphere that encourages scientific creativity in support of US 

technology, industry, and science.“ William Phillips 

“The program is great. It amplifies the influence of NIST Fellows without giving heartburn to 

NIST's line managers. With a minimum of paperwork, I was able to place a Grant with a 

university that will bring a postdoc to NIST on August 1. With my guidance, the postdoc will test the 

feasibility of using very-low-frequency sound waves to accurately measure the CO2 emitted by stacks at 

coal-burning power plants. Accurate, internationally-recognized, emission measurements will form the 

technical basis for pricing CO2, either by a carbon tax, or by cap-and-trade.” Mike Moldover

The Fellows Postdoc Program has 

been a tremendous benefit to our 

work; in addition to the increase in 

support, it has given us the ability to 

act quickly when we identify a good 

candidate for a key problem.

Dave Wineland

“Empowering the Fellows with funds for a postdoc not 

only makes everyone feel like they are needed, it also 

distributes funds rather than concentrating them into a 

few ideas. . .If the Fellows have demonstrated 

success in getting to where they are now, giving 

them more resources provides more than a perk—it 

speaks of trust in their abilities and commitment to 

doing good science at NIST.” John Butler 17
NIST Update

 NIST Organizational Update

– Update on Director’s Priorities

– NIST Budget Status 

 Selected Staff Achievements

 Selected Research Updates

 Selected Programmatic Updates

 Selected New Programmatic Partnerships

 Agenda Review

18
President’s FY 2016 Budget Request

19
Senate Mark-up expected later this week.

Status of NIST FY16 Budget Request

(Dollars in millions)

20
Administration Response to House Passage of H.R. 2578 –

Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies

Appropriations Act, 2016

“The Administration strongly 

opposes House passage of H.R. 2578,

... The bill drastically underfunds 

critical investments in research and 

development that are key to 

advancing . . .”

24
NIST Update

 NIST Organizational Update

– Update on Director’s Priorities

– NIST Budget Status 

 Selected Staff Achievements

 Selected Research Updates

 Selected Program Updates

 Selected New Programmatic Partnerships

 Agenda Review

25
In the Call to Service category:

 Gretchen K. Campbell, Research Physicist

– for advancing the emerging field of physics known as 

atomtronics. Her work is helping to pave the way for a new 

generation of technologies much like electronics has 

transformed our society today. 

In the Homeland Security and Law Enforcement category:

 Ron Ross, Computer Security Researcher and NIST Fellow 

– for instituting a “state-of-the-art” risk assessment system 

that has protected federal computer networks from 

cyberattacks and helped secure information critical to our 

national and economic security.

Two NIST staffers among 30 finalists 

chosen from >500 nominations 

across the federal government. 

26
Other Noteworthy Awards

Donna Dodson, ITL – one of FedScoop’s “DC’s Top 50 Women in Tech for 2015”

(second consecutive year on the list) 

For her work with industry, academia, and other government agencies to forge a consensus 

on how best to secure the nation's information and communications infrastructure 

Dereck Orr, CTL – National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) 

Leadership Award 

“Dereck Orr’s achievements and advocacy on behalf of public safety communications 

professionals across the nation ... have helped change the face of public safety 

communication. .... . .[through] his leadership, understanding of technical systems, and 

people management skills”

Robert Cook, MML – The Robert B. Sosman Award

For his pioneering work on Multi-Scale Effects in the Strength of Ceramics.

Ari Schwartz, ITL – Federal 100 Award

For his deep knowledge and voice of reason as an inside advocate for a wide range of 

cybersecurity activities while on detail to the Executive Office of the President

25

Michael Boss, PML - 2015 Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) Award for Excellence 

in Technology Transfer 

For outstanding work in the process of transferring federally developed technology to 

the commercial market - MRI Calibration Standard
Other Noteworthy Awards - continued

Jason Averill EL – 2014 International Assoc. of Fire Chiefs (IACF) President’s Award 

For Leadership and Contributions to Scientific-Based Firefighting Tactics and Strategy.

Paul Witherell, EL – ASME/CIE Young Engineer

For making outstanding contributions to the application of computers in engineering; 

being recognized by his peers for his professional ability and potential to make significant 

contributions to the discipline of computers and information in engineering in the future.

–

Keith Stouffer, EL – Gov30 Security award

In recognition of his contribution to the government security community.

Dan Madrzykowski, EL – 2014 International Assoc. of Fire Chiefs (IACF) President’s Award 

For Leadership and Contributions to Scientific-Based Firefighting Tactics and Strategy.

Dale Bentz, EL – 2014 American Concrete Institute (ACI) Cedric Wilson Lightweight Aggregate 

Concrete Award

In recognition of “clearly articulated scholarly research that pointed the way to significant 

advances in both industry and research.”

28
NIST Update

 NIST Organizational Update

– Update on Director’s Priorities

 NIST Budget Status 

 Selected Staff Achievements

 Selected Research Updates

 Selected Program Updates

 Selected New Programmatic Partnerships

 Agenda Review

29
Update: Strontium Lattice Atomic Clock

Key improvements:

• New ultra-stable laser developed by Ye improves clock performance.

• Special NIST-calibrated thermometers (visible near center of photo) provide better 

measurement of tiny temperature-induced changes in frequency (“ticking rate”).

• Lead researcher Jun Ye reports that thanks to new modifications, the recordsetting strontium atomic clock is now so stable that it could theoretically "tick" for 

15 billion years -- the age of our entire universe -- without gaining or losing a 

second

• Ultracold strontium atoms confined in “crystal” of laser light (optical lattice).

• This development was widely publicized in both scientific and lay publications.

(Marti/JILA)

30
• For the past 24 years, a sizable portion of our 

nation’s space effort has involved missions to 

observe—and measure—phenomena on Earth.

• NIST has been instrumental in critical 

calibration of sensors for many of these 

missions dating back to the 1960’s and 

numerous others are in the planning stages (see 

lists of these at the website shown below).

• An example, the Deep Space Climate Observer 

mission -- a partnership between NOAA, NASA 

and the U.S. Air Force. 

• DSCOVR contains NASA-funded instruments that 

require NIST traceable calibrations

• One of these instruments, NISTAR, was conceived 

at NIST

NIST Instrument – “NISTAR” Launched into Space 

http://www.nist.gov/earth-from-distance-nist-role-observing-planet-from-space.cfm

The DSCOVR Mission's NISTAR—the NIST

Advanced Radiometer -- will measure 

whether our planet’s atmosphere is 

retaining more or less solar energy than it 

radiates back to space -- the Earth’s 

radiation budget 

Credit: NASA/DSCOVR

31

DSCOVR is expected to arrive at L1 point (the neutral gravity point between the Earth and sun 

approximately one million miles from Earth where it will have a continuous view of Earth’s sunlit 

side) around time of VCAT meeting 
NIST Issues 1st RM for Whole-genome Measurement Assurance

 NIST-convened Genome in a Bottle 

Consortium for developing standards to 

support clinical adoption of DNA sequencing 

technology

– public-private-academic partnership

• ~100 member organizations

• technology developers, clinical labs, major 

sequencing centers

– “pilot” genome sample now available from NIST

– genomes from 2 family “trios” (Mother, Father, Son) 

in development at NIST

• commercial products already on market, based on 

these samples

 Standards resulting from this effort will

– support WH Precision Medicine Initiative

– enable FDA regulatory oversight

The end result of a DNA sequencing process. Each color 

represents one of the four base chemicals that make up 

DNA (adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine). 

32
Photonics: NIST Researchers have created a nanoscale "speedbump" that can be used to 

regulate the flow of high-speed data

 Computers currently process information using electricity traveling in 

nanoscale metal wires. 

– Metal wires are inexpensive and easy to miniaturize but limited in terms of speed due to the 

resistance in the metal itself

– Fiber optics use light to move information about 10,000 times faster, but these and other 

nonmetallic waveguides are constrained by pesky physical laws that require critical dimensions 

to be at least half the wavelength of the light in size; still small, but many times larger than the 

dimensions of current commercial nanoscale electronics.

 Plasmonics combines the small size and manufacturability of electronics 

with the high speeds of optics. 

– When light waves interact with electrons on a metal’s surface, strong fields with dimensions far 

smaller than the wavelength of the original light can be created—plasmons. Unlike light, these tiny 

plasmons are free to travel down nanoscale wires or gaps in metals.

– By using an electric field to bend a nanoscale membrane, the speed of propagating plasmons

can be slowed. This allows optical signals to be delayed or even switched off.

 This innovation is a step towards enabling computers to process 

information hundreds of times faster than today’s machines.

 Nature Photonics: B.S. Dennis, M.I. Haftel, D.A. Czaplewski, D. Lopez, G. Blumberg and V.A. 

Aksyuk. Compact nano-mechanical plasmonic phase modulators. Nature Photonics. 

 The CNST led team included participants from Rutgers University, the University of Colorado 

at Colorado Springs, and Argonne National Laboratory

 http://www.nist.gov/cnst/nanoscale-speed-bump040115.cfm 33
Global Cities Expo Showcases IoT Apps 

Sponsored by NIST and US Ignite 

Keynote 

Speakers

• ~ 800 participated in a June 1 Expo showcasing 61 “smart cities” projects 

from 51 different cities from around the world. Each is a collaborative effort 

between businesses, university researchers and communities to harness 

Internet of Things technologies in ways that address needs of the world’s 

rapidly urbanizing population. 

• The projects demonstrated how connecting smart devices and systems -- in 

sectors such as energy, health care, education, disaster response and 

transportation -- will enable communities to improve services, promote 

economic growth and enhance their citizens’ quality of life. 

˗ Presentations included smart water-leak detection and public lighting control 

systems in Los Angeles, Calif.; driverless campus shuttles for Greenville, S.C.; 

and a gunshot-sensing safety network for a middle school in Ammon, Idaho. 

35

Anthony Foxx,

Transportation 

Secretary

Tom Kalil,

Dep. Director for 

Policy, OSTP

Willie E. May, 

NIST Director

NIST Co-Organizers of Expo

Meeting with Mayors and City Planners

WEM Hosting King and Queen of 

The Netherlands at Expo
36

On April 27, at a Workshop held at Texas Southern 

University, NIST issued its “Community Resilience Planning 

Guide for Buildings and Infrastructure Systems” for public 

comment

 a Component of the President’s Climate Action Plan, the 

Planning Guide takes a proactive approach. It leads 

communities through a step-by-step process that helps 

them make informed long-term decisions about 

priorities, costs and ways to better manage disaster risks

 based on input gathered during four regional meetings 

with stakeholder community and from nine outside 

experts in disciplines ranging from buildings to public 

utilities and from earthquake engineering to sociology to 

assist in drafting the guide.

NIST issues its “Community Resilience Planning Guide for public comment

The Guide consists of 2 volumes: 

• Volume I describes the methodology and has an appendix 

that illustrates the planning process for a fictional town, 

Riverbend, USA; 

• Volume II has informational chapters as a reference for 

Volume I

Planning Guide Development Process 
Program Update: Head Health Challenge III: 

Advanced Materials for Impact Mitigation

• A Public-Private Challenge Prize to stimulate 

the development of advanced materials that 

exhibit excellent energy absorbing /dissipating 

properties

• Employs NIST expertise in materials testing 

and assessment

• Inspired by the National Materials Genome 

Initiative (MGI)

− January 29, 2015: NFL SuperBowl Press Conference

− February 2, 2015: Challenge III Opens

− March 2015: 125 Abstracts Received

− April 2015: 75 Winning Abstracts invited to submit full proposal and a material sample

o Summer 2015: NIST tests materials samples

o September 2015: 6 First Round awardees up to $250,000 each

− October 2015: 6 First Round Awardees begin work to refine materials

− September 2016: Grand Prize Winner awarded $500,000

NIST is leveraging Challenge III to 

expand MGI-related activities in 

advanced protection materials

37
Program Update: Forensics 

Since our last meeting, NIST and DoJ have addressed a number of 

critical issues regarding our partnership through increased 

understanding and documentation of the roles and responsibilities of 

each.

1. National Commission on Forensic Science (NCFS - DoJ FACA)

– Updated Commission Charter Clarifies that Standards issues are in the 

NIST domain – not shared with DoJ

o The Attorney General will refer recommendations regarding measurement 

standards and priorities for standards development to the Director of NIST, as 

he deems appropriate.

– New MOU between DOJ and NIST (in signature phase)

o Clarifies that the MOU address the NCFS and OSAC as distinct but related 

activities

o The NIST Director will consult with the Attorney General (rather than get 

approval) to ensure that balance of perspectives is maintained in OSAC. 

2. Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC)

First public meetings of the five Scientific Area Committees held in late 

February with announcement of priorities for standards and guidelines 

covering 24 forensic science disciplines.

38
3. Forensics Science Research

 NIST Forensic Science Research Foci Identified

 New Forensic Science Center of Excellence 

DNA Increased reliability of analysis of DNA samples. 

Ballistics An objective, numerical and statistically valid criteria for identification of 

firearm and tool mark evidence

Digital Reference data for personal computer software through the National 

Software Reference Library (NSRL) and the Computer Forensic Tool 

Testing (CFTT) program. Support for the FBI fingerprint database, 

Statistics A long term program to build new methods suited to forensic problems in 

the specific use cases such as illicit drug analysis, pattern recognition, and 

trace evidence analysis

Toxins Designer drugs, synthetic marijuana, and ricin are a few of the compounds 

requiring measurement research to establish validated analytical 

procedures. 

Trace Development of objective measures for interpretation of evidence to 

promote standardization of trace evidence work across laboratories.

40
Re-Competition for MEP State Programs

DRIVERS:

 The Administration’s FY2015 Budget proposed a 10% increase ($13 M) for MEP and 

noted

– MEP’s strategic planning process and operational reform agenda, and

– NIST Management’s direction in FY2014 to initiate a carefully planned, systematic, 

multi-year recompetition of the national system of Centers.

 The Government Accountability Office (March 2014 report) “MEP: Most Federal 

Spending Directly Supports Work with Manufacturers, but Distribution Could Be Improved” 

recommended that “Commerce’s spending on cooperative agreement awards be revised to 

account for variations across service areas in demand for program services and in MEP 

centers’ cost of providing services.”

 NIST Reauthorization Act of 2014 – which provided that if a recipient has received a 

Center award for 10 consecutive years, then the NIST Director shall conduct a 

competition to select a Center operator. 

Overview:

 Primary objective: Optimize the impact of the Federal investment on U.S. manufacturing 

and to allocate additional funds to areas with higher concentrations of manufacturers.

 Goal: Complete competition of the entire 50 State (plus Puerto Rico) national network over 

three years

41
MEP State Competitions

42

Round 1 competition in 10 states:

 Competition announced Aug 1, 2014 with proposals due Oct 15, 2014

 Awards announced Feb 23, 2015; Start date July 1, 2015

– Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, 

Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia

Round 2 competition in 12 states:

 Competition announced Mar 2, 2015 with proposals due Jun 1, 2015

 Award date: Sep 30, 2015; Start date Jan 1, 2016

– Alaska, Idaho, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Utah, 

Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin

Round 3 competition in 10 States and Puerto Rico:

 Announcement anticipated in Jan 2016. 

 New MEP Center cooperative agreements anticipated to start in Oct 2016

– Alabama, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, 

Montana, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Vermont

Round 4 competition for 11 States:

 Announcement anticipated in July 2016. 

 New MEP Center cooperative agreements anticipated to start in Apr 2017

– Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North 

Dakota, South Carolina, Wyoming
The National Network on Manufacturing Innovation

“In my State of the Union Address, I asked Congress to build on a successful 

pilot program and create 15 manufacturing innovation institutes that connect 

businesses, universities, and federal agencies to turn communities left behind 

by global competition into global centers of high-tech jobs.

“Today, I’m asking Congress to build on the bipartisan support for this idea and 

triple that number to 45 – creating a network of these hubs and guaranteeing 

that the next revolution in manufacturing is ‘Made in America.’”

- July 30, 2013

O

President Obama

43
NNMI Authorized: Revitalize American 

Manufacturing & Innovation Act

118 bipartisan RAMI Bill Sponsors

Sen. Sherrod Brown

D Ohio

Sen. Roy Blunt

R Missouri

Rep. Tom Reed

R NY-23

Rep. Joe Kennedy

D MA-4

RAMI and NIST

RAMI calls upon the U.S. Secretary of Commerce through the NIST to:

1. Establish the “Network for Manufacturing Innovation Program” to convene and 

support existing and future manufacturing innovation Institutes.

2. Establish new “Institutes for Manufacturing Innovation” that address private 

sector needs using an open topic, open competition process

3. But... no new funds allocated to implement... and forbids use of existing funds

The Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office housed at NIST has the 

responsibility to oversee the program coordination, network support, and reporting. 44
First Public Safety Communications Research Stakeholder-driven R&D 

plan released

• PSCR recently unveiled its first R&D roadmap

– Location-based Services R&D issued as NIST Technical 

Note 1883

– Addresses trends, drivers, software, applications, 

devices & networks

 Data analytics roadmap in process

45
5G mmWave channel model alliance

Purpose: Assemble worldwide expertise 

to tackle fundamental challenges in 

channel measurement and modeling.

– NIST to convene a kickoff meeting on 

July 8-9, 2015 in Boulder, CO with 15+ 

corporate & academic participants

– Goal is improved channel 

measurement techniques, channel 

sounding techniques, and library of 

channel models

46
NIST Update

 NIST Organizational Update

– Update on Director’s Priorities

– NIST Budget Status 

 Selected Staff Achievements

 Selected Research Updates

 Selected Program Updates

 Selected New Programmatic Partnerships

 Agenda Review

47
NIST- MedImmune Establish 5-year 

Cooperative Research & Development Agreement 

“MedImmune is 

committed to partnering 

with premier institutions 

that can translate strong 

science into patient 

benefit,” Bahija Jallal, 

executive vice 

president, MedImmune

from joint NIST-MedI

press release Feb, 2015.

NISTmAb: MedI donated 

monoclonal antibody for 

reference material to be 

issued end of 2015 

• Develop a fluorescence-based optical method to select the optimal 

formulation for keeping protein medicines stable and safe.

• Develop a new form of Raman Spectroscopy to determine rapidly that 

protein medicines are properly folded.

• Develop a mass spectral library to help detect and identify contaminant 

proteins from the host cells used to manufacture protein medicines.

• Develop a mass spectral library of cell surface proteins that are 

important in the biological pathways of disease and potential targets of 

therapeutics.

• Determine the genetic stability of cell lines used to manufacture protein 

therapeutics.

• Develop high resolution NMR and isotopic labeling methods to produce 

atomic resolution, 3-D structural maps of monoclonal antibodies, the 

largest class of protein therapeutics.

• Use neutron scattering methods to understand at a molecular level why 

protein therapeutics can unfold and form particles during manufacturing 

and during administration to patients.

7 MedImmune funded Projects Under CRADA

48
 First of these new “Centers of Excellence” on Advanced Materials was 

announced last year

– Center for Hierarchical Materials Design (CHiMaD)

• NIST, Northwestern Univ., Univ. of Chicago, Argonne Natl. Lab

 The Second, to support NIST efforts in Disaster Resilience was announced in 

February 2015 

– Center of Excellence for Community Resilience Research – focused on the development of 

tools that individual communities can use to assess and improve their disaster resilience.

• NIST, Colorado State University, University of Oklahoma, Rice University, Texas A&M University, 

University of Washington, University of South Alabama, California Polytechnic University in Pomona and 

Texas A&M-Kingsville.

 The Third, to support NIST efforts in Forensic Science was announced May 25, 

2015 

– The research in the Center will focus on improving the statistical foundation for:

• fingerprint, firearm, toolmark, dental, and other pattern evidence analyses, and 

• for computer, video, audio and other digital evidence analyses.

– The Center will also be responsible for developing training tools for practitioners and nonpractitioners

• NIST, Iowa State University, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Virginia and the 

University of California, Irvine 49

NIST Centers of Excellence Program -- Update
NIST Update

 NIST Organizational Update

− Update on Director’s Priorities

– NIST Budget Status 

 Selected Staff Achievements

 Selected Research Updates

 Selected Program Updates

 Selected New Programmatic Partnerships

 Agenda Review

50
My Ask from VCAT

In general:

– Assistance in determining, establishing, and sustaining strategies for a 

“Healthy NIST” 

– Helping us to determine “what we should”, rather than “what we could” be 

doing to address pressing national needs

more specifically:

– In the near-term

• Help NIST ensure it can meet its responsibilities and expectations in Disaster 

Resilience, Cybersecurity, and Advanced Manufacturing

• Assess NIST’s growing programs in Advanced Communications to ensure 

maximum relevance and effectiveness 

– In the longer-term

• Continue examination of NIST’s measurement service programs

• Advise NIST on the effectiveness of its portfolio of international engagements 

and programs beyond its “Treaty-of-the-meter” related responsibilities

and:

– Identification of other areas where you -- VCAT-- think I should focus

51
Charge to the VCAT for this meeting

With a focus on NIST’s programs and projects in the areas of information technology and 

bioscience, the VCAT is asked to review NIST’s current portfolio of activities and provide 

feedback and recommendations in the following areas:

 Current research portfolio vs. future needs: 

– How can NIST best be positioned to respond to the emerging measurement and standards needs in these 

technology areas? 

 Diversity and depth of partnership arrangements: 

– In each area, what technical capabilities should be internal to NIST’s core programs and where are partnerships 

potentially advantageous? How can NIST ensure it has the right partners to support these activities? 

 Current and future technical staff: 

– Considering NIST’s current staff and partnership arrangements, how can NIST ensure access to the technical 

expertise to address these technology areas in the future? What considerations will be needed to allow NIST to 

compete in the future for the needed technical experts/expertise in these areas?

52
VCAT Meeting Agenda

Tues. 8:30 - Session I: Overview and Safety

 Call to Order, Tony Haymet, VCAT Chair

 NIST Update and Agenda Review, Willie E. May, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards 

and Technology and NIST Director

 Safety Update, Richard Kayser, Chief Safety Officer

Tues. 10:30 -Session II: NIST Planning Activities and Studies

 NIST Wide Planning Activities and Workforce Study Needs and Trends, Jason Boehm, 

Director, Program Coordination Office

 Panel Discussion with NIST Post-Docs

Tues. 10:30 Session III: Bioscience Review

 Context Setting, Willie E. May

 Review of NIST Bioscience Research Programs and Activities, Laurie Locascio, Director, 

Material Measurement Laboratory (MML)

 Panel of Internal NIST speakers 

– Protein Therapeutics– Mike Tarlov, Chief, Biomolecular Measurement Division, MML

– Cell measurements – Anne Plant, Program Director, Biosciences, MML

– Synthetic biology – Marc Salit, Leader, Genome-Scale Measurements Group, MML

 Bioscience Industry: Future Direction & Trends in Therapeutic

– Christine Colvis, Director for Drug Development Partnership Programs, National Center for 

Advancing Translational Sciences, NIH

– Robert Deans, Executive Vice President for Regenerative Medicine, Athersys

– Scott Koenig, President & CEO, MacroGenics 53
VCAT Meeting Agenda

Tues. 3:15 - Session IV: Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research 

(IBBR) & National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE)

 Context Setting, Willie E. May, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and 

NIST Director

 Tours of IBBR & NCCoE

Wed. 8:30 - Session V: Information Technology/Cybersecurity Review

 Context Setting, Willie E. May

 Review of NIST Research Programs and Activities, Chuck Romine, Director, ITL

 Panel of Internal NIST speakers 

− Metrology for Scientific Computing - Andrew Dienstfrey, Manager, Virtual Measurement 

Systems Program, ITL

− Big Data – Mark Przybocki, Leader, Multimodal Information Group, ITL

− Software Quality - Paul Black, Acting Leader, Software Quality Group, ITL

 Future Direction & Trends in Information Technology,

− Daniel A. Reed, Vice President for Research and Economic Development and the 

Professor of Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and 

Medicine at the University of Iowa

− Paul Ammann, Associate Professor, Software Engineering, George Mason University

54
Further Questions/Discussion??

55