R&D Planning at NIST

Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology

June 19-20, 2012

Dr. Willie E. May

Associate Director for Laboratory Programs and Principal Deputy

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Today, I’d like to continue that conversation ...

During our February 2012 VCAT meeting, aspects of NIST planning 

were briefly presented during the Director’s NIST Overview:

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Discussion Topics

• The Planning Environment at NIST - A Unique Federal Agency

• Overview of current priorities and resource alignment

• New Organizational Structure and how it facilitates better planning

• Roles of NIST Director, Associate Director for Laboratory Programs, 

and Laboratory Directors in Planning and Resource Allocation

• Steps being taken to strengthen planning at NIST

• Assessment of our Laboratory Program

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NIST (NBS) established in 1901

“It is therefore the unanimous opinion of 

your committee that no more essential aid 

could be given to 

• manufacturing

• commerce

• the makers of scientific apparatus

• the scientific work of Government

• schools, colleges, and universities 

than by the establishment of the institution

proposed in this bill.”

House Committee on Coinage, Weights and 

Measures ... on the establishment of the 

National Bureau of Standards (now NIST) 

May 3, 1900 

Organic Act of 1901; Updated in 2008

Functions and activities of the Institute include:

• custody and dissemination of national standards.

• determination of physical constants and the properties of materials, 

• comparison of US national standards with those of other nations

• solutions to measurement and standards problems of other government agencies

• providing (Innovation) assistance to industry

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National Institute of 

Standards and Technology (NIST)

• Non-regulatory 

 agency within 

 U.S. Department 

 of Commerce 

 

• Founded in 1901 as 

 National Bureau of 

 Standards

Article I, Section 8: The Congress shall have the power to 

...coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, 

and fix the standard of weights and measures

Unique Mission within the Federal Government ...

to promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing 

measurement science, standards, and technology

in ways that enhance economic security and improve our quality of life 5
National Institute of 

Standards and Technology (NIST)

• Non-regulatory 

 agency within 

 U.S. Department 

 of Commerce 

 

• Founded in 1901 as 

 National Bureau of 

 Standards

Article I, Section 8: The Congress shall have the power to 

...coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, 

and fix the standard of weights and measures

• Deep research expertise underpins technological innovation – e.g., new 

materials, advanced clinical diagnostics and therapies, advanced communications, etc.

• Non-regulatory status enables important role as a convener that facilitates 

collaboration between industry and government 6
1901 2012

Since our inception, in addition to maintaining the more traditional

National physical standards, we have also focused a significant

portion of our research and measurement services activities on

addressing contemporary societal needs.

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U.S. Innovation Agenda – NIST has an increasing role

Both the American Competitiveness Initiative & the America COMPETES Act 

called for substantially increased funding for NIST laboratory Programs NIST STRS As percentage of FY06

$648 M

$567 M

President’s

Request

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New NIST Structure and Planning Environment

 How does NIST do strategic planning? 

 How does NIST couple its existing base funds with new funds 

(through initiatives) to develop programs with maximum impact?

 How does NIST address new opportunities, build staff 

competency in new areas and adapt to new budgets and 

unfunded external mandates

 How does NIST plan so both its strategic focus areas and core 

competencies “stay relevant” and effective 

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NIST Planning “Environment”

NIST has the unique mission within the Federal Government: to promote U.S. innovation 

and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and 

technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve our quality of life

 Drivers for our planning include the Science and Technology Priorities from:

– each Congress

– each Administration

– industry

– other Federal Agencies

 Uncertainty of the Federal Budget process

– Very seldom get budget at beginning of FY

– Always working on three budgets at same time

 Due to our unique mission and broad responsibilities, effective planning at NIST cannot 

mimic other scientific laboratory-based organizations. Although we have some common 

attributes, NIST is not:

– a for-profit private sector organization (e.g., former Bell Labs)

– a contract research lab (e.g., Battelle, Southwest Research)

– an academic institution (e.g., Colorado, Duke, Stanford, UMD)

– a regulatory agency (such as EPA, FDA, FCC, ...)

– an extramural funding Agency (such as NSF)

Our broad mission and the dynamic environment we live in requires us to be alert, be adaptive 

and develop and maintain a robust and agile R&D program

To prioritize AMONG these various external priorities, 

NIST planning includes a combination of internal topdown, middle-driven, and bottoms up input 

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CNST

CHCO

CFMO

CIO

CFO

ITL

BFRL

MEP

TS

CSTL

MSEL

MEL

EEEL

NCNR

BNQP

TIP

PL

Director

Deputy

NIST (circa 1992 – 2010) 

Congressional Appropriations provided as 

Line Items for various scientific disciplines

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Executive Officer for 

Administration

Management and Organization 

Administrative Support

NIST Director

and

Under Secretary of Commerce 

for Standards and Technology

Chief of Staff

Program Coordination

Public and Business Affairs

Congressional and Legislative Affairs

International and Academic Affairs

Associate Director for Laboratory 

Programs/Principal Deputy

Standards Coordination Office

Special Programs Office

Associate Director for Innovation 

and Industry Services

Technology Partnerships

Economic Analysis

Grants Management

Associate Director for Management 

Resources

Boulder Site Management 

Civil Rights and Diversity

Research Support Services

Strategic Resources

New NIST Organizational Structure

NIST Director is:

• responsible for Agency Policies and Priorities 

• directs the Development and Execution of NIST’s Scientific, Technical, Innovation, Industrial 

and Administrative Programs within guidelines set by the Secretary of Commerce

– is assisted in this role by:

o The ADLP who serves as Principal Deputy to the Director, assists in the overall 

direction of NIST and has specific responsibility for the Laboratory Program

o The ADMR who assists in the direction of NIST by managing and carrying out 

administrative and technical infrastructure and support programs essential for daily 

operations throughout NIST.

o The ADIIS who serves as the principal executive and advisor to the Director on all 

matters related to NIST’s innovation and industry services programs 12
Executive Officer for 

Administration

Management and Organization 

Administrative Support

Director

Under Secretary of Commerce 

for Standards and Technology

Patrick D. Gallagher

Chief of Staff

Program Coordination

Public and Business Affairs

Congressional and Legislative Affairs

International and Academic Affairs

Associate Director for Laboratory 

Programs/Principal Deputy

Willie E. May

Standards Coordination Office

Special Programs Office

Associate Director for Innovation 

and Industry Services

Phillip A. Singerman

Technology Partnerships

Economic Analysis

Grants Management

Material Measurement Laboratory

Laurie E. Locascio

Physical Measurement Laboratory

Katharine B. Gebbie

Engineering Laboratory

S. Shyam-Sunder

Information Technology Laboratory

Charles H. Romine

Center for Nanoscale Science and 

Technology

Robert Celotta

NIST Center for Neutron Research

Robert M. Dimeo

Associate Director for Management 

Resources

David Robinson

Boulder Site Management 

Civil Rights and Diversity

Research Support Services

Strategic Resources

Baldrige Performance Excellence 

Program

Harry S. Hertz

Hollings Manufacturing Extension 

Partnership

Roger D. Kilmer

Technology Innovation Program

vacant

Office of Facilities and Property 

Management

Stella S. Fiotes

Office of Financial Resource 

Management

George E. Jenkins

Office of Workforce Management

Susanne K. Porch

Office of Information Systems 

Management

Delwin Brockett

Office of Safety, Health and 

Environment

Richard F. Kayser

New NIST Organizational Structure

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Executive Officer for 

Administration

Management and Organization 

Administrative Support

Director

Under Secretary of Commerce 

for Standards and Technology

Patrick D. Gallagher

Chief of Staff

Program Coordination

Public and Business Affairs

Congressional and Legislative Affairs

International and Academic Affairs

Associate Director for Laboratory 

Programs/Principal Deputy

Willie E. May

Standards Coordination Office

Special Programs Office

Associate Director for Innovation 

and Industry Services

Phillip A. Singerman

Technology Partnerships

Economic Analysis

Grants Management

Associate Director for Management 

Resources

David Robinson

Boulder Site Management 

Civil Rights and Diversity

Research Support Services

Strategic Resources

New NIST Organizational Structure

Improves the efficiency and effectiveness of NIST in realizing its mission by:

• strengthening and stabilizing the Director’s Office by establishing a core Senior 

Career Leadership Team

• facilitating better coupling of “corporate level” strategic planning with agile R&D 

planning within each Laboratory 

• better integration of research and measurement service activities

• facilitating a stronger client-service model between the Management Resource 

Functions & the NIST Labs in carrying out the “Business of NIST”

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“Plans for Planning” in New Organizational Structure

1. Implementation of clearly defined organizational roles and 

responsibilities for NIST Leadership

2. Use of various diverse fiscal resources to direct an agile research 

program to maximize its effectiveness in support of NIST’s mission

3. Better integration of NIST wide and OU level Planning efforts

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Roles and Responsibilities in Planning

 Strategic Planning for the NIST Laboratory Program

– Identify and garner support for Strategic Focus Areas over a 3 to 4 year 

horizon

• led by ADLP with assistance f rom PCO and Lab Directors

 R&D Planning and Capacity Building in the NIST Labs

– Maintain the scientific foundation/core competencies required to support 

the NIST mission in a constantly changing environment ; ongoing, but 

looking forward 5-10 years

• Responsibility of Laboratory Directors in each of their respective submission areas

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The Associate Director for Laboratory Programs (ADLP) 

as Principal Deputy to the Director, assists in the overall direction of NIST 

and has specific responsibility for

 direction and operational guidance for the laboratory programs, 

including

o program and budget development 

o allocation of Laboratory Program resources: 

– laboratory base

– budget initiatives

– short term discretionary nonbase

o oversight of the delivery of measurement services to meet the needs of 

industry, academia, and other government agencies

 representing and describing the NIST Laboratory Program to external 

audiences

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Laboratory Directors

In their role as members of the Leadership Team, assist and work with the ADLP 

to ensure the health and effectiveness of NIST Laboratory Program Activities

The Laboratory Directors have specific responsibility -- within their assigned 

Sub Mission Space -- for

 establishing and maintaining an effective R&D program with the agility to 

respond to current and future measurement, standards and technology 

needs 

 responsible stewardship and accountability of entrusted resources

 effective implementation of the programs/projects of the Laboratory

 delivery of measurement services to meet the measurement standards and 

technology needs 

 representing and describing their Laboratory program to internal and 

external audiences

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1. Implementation of clearly defined organizational roles and 

responsibilities for NIST Leadership

2. Use of various diverse fiscal resources to direct an agile research 

program to maximize its effectiveness in support of NIST’s 

mission 

3. Better integration of NIST wide and OU level Planning efforts

“Plans for Planning” in New Organizational Structure

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Scientific and Technical Research and Services (STRS) 

Congressionally-Appropriated Funds for Lab Program 

 Laboratory Base Funds: Support for long term R&D capacity building and 

maintenance

 Budget Initiatives: Base Augmentation from Congress to support new NIST 

programs; typically $2.0 to $20 M/yr

 Strategic and Emerging Research Initiatives (SERI): 1 to 3 yr term funding 

(currently $5.7M) from the NIST annual appropriation for specific projects to

– jump-start efforts in selected new proposed initiative areas

– support “unfunded mandates” from the Administration or Congress

– augment current underfunded new initiatives

 Innovations in Measurement Science (IMS): 3-5 yr term funding (from $22 M 

revolving fund) for innovative and creative ideas from NIST scientists and 

engineers

– bottom-up input 

– $0.25 to 1.5 M/yr per award

 Director’s Reserve: 1-yr term funding from prior year carryover for short-term 

program needs within a given OU

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NIST STRS 

As percentage of FY06

$648 M

$567 M

President’s

Request

 Base Growth by Focus Area (2006 - 2012) $ Millions

• Advanced Manufacturing + 24.8

• Advanced Materials + 4.0

• Bioscience and Health + 14.7

• Cybersecurity and IT + 39.0

• Energy + 21.2

• Greenhouse Gas Measurement + 15.2 

• Measurement Science/Service + 9.0

• Nanotechnology + 17.8

• NCNR capacity increase + 16.3

• Physical Infrastructure and Construction + 12.4

• Quantum Science + 10.8

• STEM Activities + 3.0

STRS FY06-FY12

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FY12 Appropriated Funds for NIST R&D

FY2012 Enacted 

 STRS $567.0 M

– Laboratory Programs 518.0

– Corporate Services 18.5

– Stds Coord. and Spec. Programs 30.5

Laboratory Program STRS $518.0 M

 National measurement and standards laboratories 424.74

 User Facilities (CNST and NCNR) 74.56

 Strategic and emerging research initiative fund 5.67

 Postdoctoral Research Associateship Program 13.00

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Portfolio of NIST Laboratories STRS

Goal: Establish a snapshot of the NIST Lab Program STRS Portfolio (investment profile)

Process:

 The funds of each Laboratory STRS cost center (project) were allocated by the relevant 

lab among 10 specified “bins” (i.e., funds could be attributed to 1 category, or 2 or 3 .....

• there was no “double counting”. 

 For each project, Labs provided a brief text description of the focus and expected outputs 

of project activities for each funded bin 

Status: 

Currently undergoing review and quality 

assurance

Caveats:

 These data are “one snapshot in time”

 Some activities fit equally into more 

than one category, e.g., Healthcare IT 

could have been put in Healthcare or in 

Information Science; in the guidelines 

provided, Labs were told to put these 

activities under Healthcare

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FY12 STRS appropriation increased $69.6M over FY11

 Congressionally Mandated Allocation $ M 

– National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence: + $ 10.0

– Support for NSTIC + $ 16.5 

 Remaining +$43.1M allocated at NIST Director’s Discretion, guided by NIST 

3-year Plan

– $19M to support manufacturing-related activities

• Advanced Materials for Industry (Materials Genome) (MML) $ 4.0 

• Innovation for 21st Century Manufacturing (EL) $ 4.0 

• Biomanufacturing (MML) $ 4.0 

• Nanomanufacturing $ 7.0 

• Nano Fab recap (CNST) $ 5.0 

• Nano EHS (MML, PML, EL) $ 2.0

– Cloud Computing and Wireless Interoperability research (ITL) $ 3.8 

– Strengthening Meas. Services in time & electrical measurements (PML) $ 5.0 

– Advanced Infrastructure and Resilience—Adv. Fire Lab (EL) $ 2.0 

– Net-Zero Energy Buildings Initiative – (EL) $ 2.5 

– Expansion of NIST Post Doc program $ 2.0 

– ADLP nonbase reserve $ 8.8 24
 Research and Measurement Services for Other Government 

Agencies (OA) 

 Reimbursable Services provided through SRMs, calibration and 

testing services, reference data, Laboratory Accreditations, etc. (E&I)

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

FY 2006 FY 2007 FY 2008 FY 2009 FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012

STRS

OA

E&I

NIST FY06-FY12 ($ M)

OA and E&I estimates for FY2012; others actual

Other Sources of Income

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“Plans for Planning” in New Organizational Structure

1. Implementation of clearly defined organizational roles and 

responsibilities for NIST Leadership

2. Use of various diverse fiscal resources to direct an agile research 

program to maximize its effectiveness in support of NIST’s mission

3. Better integration of NIST wide and OU level Planning efforts

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Planning Processes

 discussed the roles/functions of the ADLP and the Laboratory Directors 

 discussed the availability of funds as relevant to R&D

 Planning Process

How does NIST decide “which mountains to climb (or continue climbing)”? 

How do we best allocate our resources (fiscal, staff, facilities, ...) among these?

− We are in the second year of our realigned organization structure 

− For FY11&12, the historical allocation was basis for allocating STRS base to the 

Laboratories

− Operational processes are being discussed and implemented for enhanced, 

coordinated, strategic planning at the NIST “Corporate Level” with that among the 

Laboratories and within each Laboratory

− An LP Offsite was held in which each Laboratory Program Director presented an 

overview of the R&D planning processes currently used in that Laboratory

− For new FY12 Initiative funding, Program Plans and Spend Plans for each were 

prepared and reviewed.

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R&D Planning for Laboratory Activities

 Drivers

− Administration and Congressional Priorities

− Industry needs and trends

− Trends and developments in academia

− Needs of other federal/governmental agencies

 Inputs

− Workshops

− Advisory Boards

− Planning Studies

− Program Reviews and Assessments

− Market Analysis and Investment Data

 Planning Outputs

− OU R&D Plans

− Equipment and Facilities needs

− Input to Budget Initiatives 31
Steps Taken to Better Couple 

NIST and OU Planning Processes

 Over the past several years NIST has done a better job of defining 

investment priority areas and developing and updating multiyear 

programmatic plans in each of these areas

– improved multi-OU coordination

– enabled a more agile planning posture given the heightened uncertainty 

of recent years.

 This past fiscal year NIST instituted OU business plan reviews, and 

spend plan reviews for all new Initiative activities launched in FY12.

– planning for end-of-year progress reviews is underway

 Formalization and standardization of these efforts is an ongoing 

process; NIST is working to establish an integrated process that 

encompasses both short (0-3 year) strategic planning and longer 

range R&D planning (to provide the cutting edge measurement 

science capabilities to support programmatic thrusts).

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Assessment

 Assessment is a critical element of both planning and management.

– How can NIST be more effective in meeting its mission?

– Are we “choosing the right mountains” to climb?

– Is the quality of our technical research appropriate?

– Are we successfully maintaining existing core competencies still needed 

and developing new ones needed to support our Mission?

– How is our performance, our relevance, and the impact of our work? 

– What are our weaknesses? Vulnerabilities?

 Establishing appropriate metrics and assessment tools is complex.

 Need a balance among planning, implementation, and assessment.

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Thanks for Your Attention 

Willie E. May

Associate Director for Laboratory Programs & Principal Deputy 

National Institute of Standards and Technology

100 Bureau Drive

Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899-1000

(301) 975-2300

wem@nist.gov

Questions and Comments?

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