Annual Report on Technology Transfer:

Approach and Plans, Fiscal Year 2019 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 Commercialization Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-404)

June 2020
ii

This page is intentionally left blank.
iii

FOREWORD

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

Commerce’s (DOC) federal laboratories for fiscal year (FY) 2019. 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) 

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

activities of these agencies.

This report has been prepared as required by 15 U.S.C. § 3710(f). All federal agencies that 

operate or direct one or more federal laboratories or conduct other activities under 35 U.S.C. §§

207 and 209 are subject to the requirements of this statute. 

 

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

summarized in this report. The report focuses on current year activities and accomplishments,

and provides statistical information from FY 2015 through FY 2019. 

NIST, NOAA, and NTIA’s 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: https://www.nist.gov/tpo/department-commerce.
iv

This page is intentionally left blank.
v

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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

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

Summary of Technology Transfer Activities FY 2015 – FY 2019........................................ 2

CHAPTER 2................................................................................................................................ 11

National Institute of Standards and Technology ..................................................................... 11

Approach and Plans for Technology Transfer..................................................................... 11

NIST Work Products and Collaborative Activities............................................................. 12

Downstream Outcomes from NIST Technology Transfer Activities................................. 34

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

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

Approach and Plans for Technology Transfer..................................................................... 40

NOAA Work Products and Collaborative Activities........................................................... 42

Downstream Success Stories from NOAA Technology Transfer Activities...................... 52

Other Activities, Performance Measures Deemed Important by the Agency................... 56

CHAPTER 4................................................................................................................................ 62

National Telecommunications and Information Administration: Institute for 

Telecommunication Sciences...................................................................................................... 62

Approach and Plans for Technology Transfer..................................................................... 62

ITS Work Products and Collaborative Activities................................................................ 62

Downstream Outcomes from ITS Technology Transfer Activities.................................... 66

SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................. 70

Appendix A.................................................................................................................................. 71

Appendix B.................................................................................................................................. 73
vi

This page is intentionally left blank.
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.

DOC is also responsible for organizing technology transfer activities across federal agencies. 

DOC coordinates the Interagency Work Group for Technology Transfer (IAWGTT) through 

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

learned from agency transfer programs.

1 NIST also serves as the host agency for the Federal 

Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC), which provides a forum for federal labs 

to develop strategies and opportunities for linking technologies and expertise with the 

marketplace, as well as serving as the Executive Secretariat for the National Science and 

Technology Council’s Lab-to-Market subcommittee. 

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

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

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

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

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 the Interior, 

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

Aeronautics and Space Administration.
2

Summary of Technology Transfer Activities FY 2015 – FY 2019

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

laboratories, including information regarding invention disclosures, intellectual property (i.e., 

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

technology transfer mechanisms. Examples of successful downstream results, such as 

commercially significant technologies from technology transfer activities, are also highlighted.

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

15 U.S.C. § 3710(f)) requires each federal agency that operates or directs one or more federal 

laboratories or conducts activities under 35 U.S.C. §§ 207 and 209 to report annually to the 

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on the agency’s technology transfer activities. The

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

the required data.

2

2 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 2019

has been adjusted, where necessary, to reflect the most accurate estimates for each year reported. 
3

Invention Disclosures and Patenting

In FY 2019, DOC researchers disclosed 60 new inventions. Of these, 54 invention disclosures 

were from NIST researchers and 6 were from NOAA researchers. There were 65 patent 

applications filed (63 for NIST and 2 for NOAA). NIST received 32 patents and NOAA received 

1 patent.3

Table 1 – DOC Invention Disclosure and Patenting

3 Note that the time required for a patent to be granted may be two years or more. Patents issued in FY 2019 were 

filed in prior years. 

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

Invention Disclosures

NIST 46 46 40 71 54

NOAA 15 18 3 6 6

ITS 0 0 0 0 0

Department Total 61 64 43 77 60

Patent Applications Filed

NIST 26 21 43 54 63

NOAA 6 4 3 2 2

ITS 0 0 0 0 0

Department Total 32 25 46 56 65

Patents Issued

NIST 19 15 31 28 32

NOAA 1 1 3 0 1

ITS 0 0 0 0 0

Department Total 20 16 34 28 33
4

In FY 2018 (the most recent year data is available), the top three technical areas covered by DOC

patents were Measurement (37%), Optics (10%), and Electrical Machinery, Apparatus, Energy

(8%).4

Figure 1 – Percent of USPTO Patents Granted to DOC, by Technology Area – FY 20185

Licensing

In FY 2019, DOC reported 74 active patent licenses (68 for NIST and 6 for NOAA). 

Table 2 – Profile of DOC Active Licenses

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

Data revealed that 33 of those active patent licenses were income-bearing. The income-bearing 

licenses comprised of 20 exclusive licenses, 12 non-exclusive licenses and one custody transfer 

agreement.

4 Technology areas are identified in Appendix A.

5 Patents are credited on a whole-count basis (i.e., each participating federal agency is credited one count). 

However, fractioning is used at the level of IPC codes to ensure that the sum of patents across technology areas 

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

one technology area. Prepared by Science-Metrix using USPTO data indexed in PatentsView accessed in June 

2019. Used with permission.

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

Active Patent Licenses(a)

NIST 40 50 61 60 68

NOAA 6 7 7 7 6

ITS 0 0 0 0 0

Department Total 46 57 68 67 74
5

Table 3 – Characteristics of DOC Income-Bearing Licenses

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

Total Income-Bearing Licenses 

NIST 25 26 28 30 27

NOAA 4 5 7 7 6

ITS 0 0 0 0 0

Department Total 29 31 35 37 33

Patent Licenses 

NIST 25 26 28 30 27

NOAA 4 7 7 7 6

ITS 0 0 0 0 0

Department Total 29 33 35 37 33

License Types

Exclusive

NIST 15 16 15 18 16

NOAA 1 4 4 4 4

ITS 0 0 0 0 0

Department Total 16 20 19 22 20

Partially Exclusive

Department Total 0 0 0 0 0

Non-Exclusive

NIST 8 8 11 10 10

NOAA 3 3 3 3 2

ITS 0 0 0 0 0

Department Total 11 11 14 13 12

Assignment

NIST 1 1 1 1 0

Custody Transfer

NIST 1 1 1 1 1
6

In FY 2019, DOC’s income-bearing licenses provided $136,205 in income. Of this amount, 

$68,970 came from NIST licenses and $67,235 came from NOAA licenses.

Table 4 – Income from DOC Licensing

Collaborative Relationships for Research and Development (CRADAs)

In FY 2019, there were 2,564 CRADAs involving DOC researchers. There were 493 traditional

CRADAs6 and 2,071 non-traditional CRADAs active during the year.7 Of the 493 traditional 

CRADAs, NIST was involved in 434, NOAA was involved in 42, and ITS was involved in 17. 

Table 5 – DOC Collaborative Relationships for Research and Development

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

NIST and ITS are involved together in Joint CRADA Agreements for FY 2015 through FY 2018. 

6 Traditional CRADAs involve collaborative research and development projects by a federal laboratory and nonfederal partners. 7 Non-traditional CRADAs involve laboratory accreditations, material transfer agreements, and calibration services.

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

Total Licensing Income

NIST $124,823 $137,662 $75,061 $111,743 $68,970

NOAA $39,633 $11,000 $65,810 $35,671 $67,235

ITS $0 $0 $0 $0 $0

Department Total $164,456 $148,662 $140,871 $147,414 $136,205

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

CRADAs

Department Total 2,670 2,940 2,933 3,363 2,564

Traditional CRADAs

NIST 329 294 370 476 434

NOAA 28 33 36 43 42

ITS 54 62 60 68 17

Department Total(a) 283 335 414 534 493

Joint CRADA Agreements (NIST and ITS) 128 54 52 53 0

Non-Traditional CRADAs

NIST 2,387 2,605 2,519 2,827 2,070

NOAA 0 0 0 2 1

ITS 0 0 0 0 0

Department Total 2,387 2,605 2,519 2,829 2,071
7

Trends in DOC Technology Transfer Activities

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

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

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

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

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

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

behind a CRADA. 

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

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

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

then multiplying by 100. 

IIIIIIIIII VVVVVVVV tt = VVVVVVVV tt

BB BB VVVVVVVV ii

× 100

The fixed base year chosen for this report is FY 2015. The index value for each metric in the 

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

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

To calculate the index value for patents issued in FY 2016, we divide the number of patents 

issued in FY 2016 by the number of patents issued in the base year (FY 2015) and then multiply 

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

FY 2016 is 80.

IIIIIIIIII VVVVVVVV FFFF2016 = 16

20

× 100 = 80

Because the index value of 80 is less than 100, we can interpret this as a 20% decrease in the 

number of patents issued between FY 2015 and FY 2016. In FY 2017, the index value for 

patents issued is 170, which we can interpret as a 70% increase between FY 2015 and FY 2017. 

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

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

metric, we plot a straight line in the middle of the plotted values for that metric.8 In the chart 

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

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

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

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

a given period of time. 

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

licenses (green), and traditional CRADAs (red). From this chart, we can see that since FY 2015, 

there has been an increase in DOC’s basic technology transfer activities with patents issued 

increasing 65%, active invention licenses increasing 61%, and traditional CRADAs increasing 

74%. Invention disclosures remained fairly stable, with a 2% decrease over the five-year period.

8 Trend lines in this report are plotted using Microsoft Excel.
8 

Figure 2 – Trends in DOC’s Technology Transfer Activities (FY 2015 – FY 2019)

Scientific and Technical Publications

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

licenses.

9

 Scientific and technical publications are also technology transfer. In FY 2019, NIST, 

NOAA, and ITS researchers published 3,302 scientific and technical papers in peer-reviewed 

journals. 

Table 6 – DOC Scientific and Technical Publications

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

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

Technical Publications

NIST 1,323 1,355 1,433 1,415 1,396

NOAA 1,860 1,697 1,678 1,794 1,895

ITS 22 4 10 11 11

Department Total 3,205 3,056 3,121 3,220 3,302
9

In calendar year (CY) 2018 (the most recent year for which data are available), the most frequent

technology areas covered by DOC publications are Geosciences, Atmospheric, and Ocean 

Sciences (29%), followed by Physics (20%) and Engineering (18%).

10

Figure 3 – Percent of Articles by Science and Engineering Fields 

Authored by DOC Staff in CY 201811

10 Appendix B identifies science and engineering fields. 11 Data are presented by calendar year as months of publication are not always available in Scopus. Taxonomy of 

Discipline (TOD) fields are used to classify articles. The TOD is a classification scheme developed by the National 

Science Foundation to suit its need for a unified scheme. Science-Metrix developed an alignment of its own 

classification scheme with the TOD and this alignment replaces the WebCaspar classification which was used in the 

past to produce bibliometric data for the Science & Engineering Indicators (SEI) reports. Journals are assigned to a 

unique TOD except for generalist journals, such as Science and Nature, for which articles are instead reclassified 

individually in TOD fields using an automated procedure based on machine-learning techniques. Articles are 

credited on a whole-count basis (i.e., each participating federal agency receives one count). Source: Prepared by 

Science-Metrix using Scopus (Elsevier) accessed in June 2019. Used with permission. 
10

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

articles authored by DOC staff. U.S. patents issued in FY 2018 cite 1,307 publications authored 

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

publications include Physics (33%), followed by Engineering (23%) and Computer and 

Information Sciences (14%).

12

Figure 4 – Percent of Articles by Science and Engineering Fields

Authored by DOC Staff and Cited in U.S. Patents in FY 201813

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

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

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

12 Appendix B identifies science and engineering fields. 13 Taxonomy of Discipline (TOD) fields are used to classify articles. The TOD is a classification scheme developed 

by the National Science Foundation to suit its need for a unified scheme. Science-Metrix developed an alignment of 

its own classification scheme with the TOD and this alignment replaces the WebCaspar classification which was 

used in the past to produce bibliometric data for the Science & Engineering Indicators (SEI) reports. Journals are 

assigned to a unique TOD except for generalist journals, such as Science and Nature, for which articles are instead 

reclassified individually in TOD fields using an automated procedure based on machine-learning techniques.

Citations are classified on a whole count basis (i.e., each participating federal agency on a cited article receives one 

count). Citation counts are based on an 11-year window with a 5-year lag (e.g., citations for 2012 are references in 

USPTO patents issued in FY 2012 to articles published in 1997–2007). Prepared by Science-Metrix using Scopus 

(Elsevier) accessed in June 2019 and PatentsView accessed in June 2019. Used with permission.
11

CHAPTER 2

National Institute of Standards and Technology

NIST has a broad mission: to promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by 

advancing measurement science, standards, and technology in ways that enhance economic 

security and improve our quality of life. 

Rapidly evolving sectors like nanotechnology, biotechnology, homeland security, information 

technology, and advanced manufacturing need sophisticated technical support systems in order 

to flourish and grow. Therefore, an important part of accomplishing NIST’s mission is to 

anticipate future measurement and standards needs of U.S. industry. NIST laboratories develop 

measurement techniques, test methods, standards, reference materials, reference data, and other 

technologies and services that support U.S. industry, scientific research, and the activities of 

many other federal agencies. In carrying out its mission, NIST works directly with industry 

partners (individual companies and consortia), universities, standards organizations, other 

domestic and foreign associations, and other government agencies.

Approach and Plans for Technology Transfer

NIST designs its technology transfer activities to disseminate the results of fundamental 

research, measurements, and standards research to industry and other interested parties. In order 

to provide leading-edge scientific and technical work, NIST is required to have expertise in 

multiple disciplines, maintain high levels of collaboration with organizations and people with 

diverse capabilities, and have highly specialized facilities and tools. For more than a century, 

laboratories at NIST (and its direct predecessor agency, the National Bureau of Standards) have 

successfully collaborated with others to provide the measurement techniques and technical tools 

needed by America’s innovators.14 

NIST broadly defines technology transfer as:

“... the overall process by which NIST knowledge, facilities, or capabilities in 

measurement science, standards and technology promote U.S. innovation and 

industrial competitiveness in order to enhance economic security and improve quality 

of life.”

NIST’s definition of technology transfer reflects the many ways NIST reaches its external 

partners. The definition includes, inter alia: 1) the act of transferring knowledge from one 

individual to another by means of mentoring, training, documenting, or collaborating; and 2) 

commercialization, which allows the adoption of a technology into the private sector through a 

business or other organization.

NIST has designed its technology transfer program to improve processes and work products

directly through collaborations. The following summarizes different technology transfer 

mechanisms NIST uses to promote innovation and to disseminate technologies that result from 

its research. 

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

http://www.nist.gov/tpo/index.cfm.
12

NIST Work Products and Collaborative Activities

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

NIST will generally seek patent protection when a patent: (1) enhances the potential for an 

invention’s commercialization; (2) has a positive impact on a new field of science or technology 

and/or the visibility and vitality of NIST; (3) furthers the goals of a CRADA or other agreement; 

(4) furthers U.S. manufacturing; or (5) could lead to a commercialization license. 

Chapter 1 of this report presented summary information on patenting and licensing. We include 

additional details on NIST’s licensing activities below.

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

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

and climate, information technology, manufacturing, materials science, nanotechnology, public 

safety and security, and transportation.

In FY 2019, there were 68 active NIST patent licenses of which 15 were issued in FY 2019. Of 

these 68 active licenses, 37 licenses were issued to small companies (i.e., companies with fewer

than 500 employees). In FY 2019, a lack of Federal appropriations closed NIST’s technology 

transfer office for 35 days. During this time, technology transfer did not occur. This shutdown 

may explain the decrease in technology transfer activity for this fiscal year.
13

Table 7 – Profile of NIST Active 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 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

Total Number of Active Licenses(a) 40 50 61 60 68

 New Licenses Executed 11 12 19 11 15

Total Invention Licenses Active 40 50 61 60 68

 New Invention Licenses Executed 11 12 19 11 15

Total Patent Licenses Active(b) 40 50 61 60 68

 New Patent Licenses Executed 11 12 19 11 15

Total Material Transfer Licenses Active (Inventions) 0 0 0 0 1

 New Material Transfer Licenses (Inventions) 0 0 0 0 1

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

New Material Transfer Licenses Executed 

(Non-Inventions) 0 0 0 0 0

 

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

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

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

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

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

 New Copyright Licenses Executed 0 0 0 0 0

Active NIST Licenses Issued to Small Companies 4 14 19 23 37
14

In FY 2019, the average time to negotiate a patent license was 1 month. The minimum time to 

negotiate a license was 3 days (0.1 month), and the maximum time was 2 months. Overall, this 

represents, on average, an 85% decrease in the time required to negotiate a license since FY

2015. 

Table 8 – NIST Licensing Management

(a) License Negotiation Time is defined as the time between the date of license application and the date of license 

execution. The date of license application is the date the laboratory formally acknowledges the written request 

for a license from a prospective licensee and agrees to enter into negotiations.

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

Licensing income 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. Of the 68 active 

licenses that existed in FY 2019, 27 were income bearing. This included 16 exclusive licenses, 

10 non-exclusive licenses, and one custody transfer. 

Table 9 – Characteristics of NIST Licenses Bearing Income

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

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

Average (months) 7.0 5.0 4.0 2.0 1.0

Minimum (months) 0.2 1.0 2.0 0.3 0.1

Maximum (months) 38.7 14.0 6.0 4.0 2.0

Licenses Terminated for Cause

Invention Licenses (Patent Licenses) 0 0 0 0 0

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

Total Income Bearing Licenses 25 26 28 30 27

 Exclusive 15 16 15 18 16

 Partially Exclusive 0 0 0 0 0

 Non-Exclusive 8 8 11 10 10

Total Other Income Bearing IP Licenses

Assignment 1 1 1 1 0

Custody Transfer 1 1 1 1 1

Total Income Bearing Invention Licenses 25 26 28 30 27

 Exclusive 15 16 15 18 16

 Partially Exclusive 0 0 0 0 0

 Non-Exclusive 8 8 11 10 10

Total Other Income Bearing IP Licenses

Assignment 1 1 1 1 0

Custody Transfer 1 1 1 1 1

Total Royalty Bearing Licenses 25 26 28 30 27

Royalty Bearing Invention Licenses 25 26 28 30 27

Royalty Bearing Patent Licenses 25 26 28 30 27

Other Royalty Bearing IP Licenses 0 0 0 0 0
15 

In FY 2019, NIST received $68,970 from all active licenses. This is a 38% decrease from the 

prior year. The median amount received was $4,296. The minimum amount received was 

$1,000 and maximum was $20,000. 

Table 10 – Income from NIST Licenses

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

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

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

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

year. 

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

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

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

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

Total Income, All Active Licenses(a) $124,823 $137,662 $75,061 $111,743 $68,970 

 Invention Licenses (Patent Licenses)(b) $124,823 $137,662 $75,061 $111,743 $68,970 

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

Total Earned Royalty Income (ERI)(c) $124,823 $137,662 $75,061 $111,743 $68,970 

 Median ERI $1,600 $5,295 $2,679 $3,892 $4,296 

 Minimum ERI $640 $62 $320 $209 $1,000 

 Maximum ERI $62,833 $40,000 $40,000 $40,000 $20,000 

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

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

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

Invention Licenses (Patent Licenses) $124,823 $137,662 $75,061 $111,743 $68,970 

 Median ERI $1,600 $5,296 $2,679 $3,892 $4,296 

 Minimum ERI $640 $62 $320 $209 $1,000 

 Maximum ERI $62,833 $40,000 $40,000 $40,000 $20,000 

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

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

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

Other IP Licenses, Total Active $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 
16

Of the total licensing income received in FY 2019, 48% ($33,066) was distributed to the NIST 

inventor(s) and the remaining 52% ($35,904) was retained by the NIST inventor’s Operating 

Unit. 

Table 11 – Distribution of NIST Invention License Income

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

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

Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs)

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

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

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

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

laboratory and one or more partners to collaborate on defined R&D projects. They are a major 

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

governments to advance promising new technologies toward commercialization. These 

agreements are created under the statutory authority of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology 

Innovation Act of 1980, as amended by the Federal Technology Transfer Act of 1986 (P.L. 99-

502).

15

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

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

Total Income Received(a) $124,823 $137,662 $75,061 $111,743 $68,970 

Invention Licenses (Patent Licenses)(b)

 Licensing Income to Inventor(s) $44,936 $45,148 $34,673 $42,944 $33,066 

36% 33% 46% 38% 48%

 Licensing Income to NIST $79,887 $92,514 $40,388 $68,799 $35,904 

64% 67% 54% 62% 52%
17

In FY 2019, NIST was involved in a total of 2,504 active CRADAs; 434 were traditional 

CRADAs16 and 2,070 were non-traditional CRADAs.17 There were 1,986 new NIST CRADAs. 

This included 99 traditional and 1,887 non-traditional. 

Table 12 – NIST Collaborative Relationships for Research and Development

16 Traditional CRADAs involve collaborative research and development projects by a federal laboratory and nonfederal partners.

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

calibration services. 

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

NIST CRADAs

Total Active CRADAs 2,718 2,958 2,889 3,303 2,504

New CRADAs Executed 2,481 2,587 2,420 2,770 1,986

Total Active Traditional CRADAs 329 294 370 476 434

New Traditional CRADAs Executed 143 89 113 153 99

Total Active Non-Traditional CRADAs 2,389 2,664 2,519 2,827 2,070

New Non-Traditional CRADAs Executed 2,338 2,498 2,307 2,617 1,887

Other Type of Collaborative R&D Relationships

Guest Scientists and Engineers 3,125 3,273 3,181 3,221 3,180
18

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 2019, NIST staff wrote 1,396 papers in peer-reviewed journals,18 including 392 papers

(28%) published in "top tier" journals, which includes any journal with a Clarivate Analytics 

Impact Factor (IF) that falls within the top 10th percentile in its Web of Science Subject

Category.19 NIST researchers collaborated and co-authored with researchers from around the 

world, writing papers with 5,247 unique non-NIST authors from 1,142 institutions in 54

countries.20

Table 13 – NIST Scientific and Technical Publications

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

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

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

NIST issues a bi-weekly e-mail roundup of its latest news, called Tech Beat.

21

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

CRADAs, NIST researchers routinely transfer technological innovations through the following 

mechanisms. 

Participation in Documentary Standards Committees

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

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

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

concluded, “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.”22 

18 https://www.nist.gov/nist-research-library 19 For additional information see https://clarivate.com/essays/journal-selection-process/. 20 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. 21 https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/ 22 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.

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

Number of NIST Papers 1,323 1,355 1,433 1,415 1,396

Number of NIST Papers in Top-Tier Journals 384 329 406 367 392

Percentage of NIST Papers in Top-Tier Journals 29% 24% 28% 26% 28%

Number of Unique Non-NIST Co-Authors 4,585 5,116 5,464 5,277 5,247

Number of Unique Institutions 1,003 1,037 1,334 1,283 1,142

Number of Countries 63 46 67 59 54
19

During FY 2019, 440 members of the NIST staff were involved with more than 112 standards 

organizations. Such participation helps NIST respond to the needs of the private sector and 

enables its scientists and engineers to bring NIST technology and know-how directly into 

standards-setting bodies. 

Table 14 – NIST Participation in Documentary Standards

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

Participation Database for employees to report their participation, including leadership positions 

within standards organizations. The SCO is proactively expanding the database to collect

information regarding 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

NIST’s 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 extremely important in engineering structures, optimizing chemical 

processes, and other industrial applications. NIST extracts SRD from scientific and technical 

literature or develops them from measurements conducted at its laboratories that are carefully

evaluated for accuracy and reliability. NIST currently maintains 92 SRD databases that cover 

many areas of science, including analytical chemistry, atomic and molecular physics, 

biotechnology, and materials sciences.23

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

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

Number of Participating NIST Staff 469 445 440 423 440

Number of Standard Organizations with NIST 

Participants 165 120 119 116 112
20 

In FY 2019, the NIST SRD Program distributed 2,613 e-commerce orders, 9,880 units sold via 

distributor, 125 active distributor agreements, 30 active site licenses, 41 active internet 

subscriptions, 82 units shipped to the user, and 2,835 products downloaded from the NIST 

website (1,100 free downloads, 2,712 paid downloads). 

Table 15 – NIST Standard Reference Data Program

Standard Reference Materials

Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) are a definitive source for various measurements in the 

United States. Measurements made using SRMs can be traced to a common and recognized set 

of basic standards that provide the basis for measurement compatibility among different 

laboratories. The certified property values for SRMs often depend on the development of unique 

measurement capabilities within NIST.

24 In FY 2019, NIST made available 1,130 SRMs and 

from these, sold 29,955 units. 

Table 16 – NIST Standard Reference Materials

User Facilities – Research Participants

NIST operates two unique and valuable laboratory facilities that support U.S. industry, academic 

institutions, and other NIST and government laboratories.

25 These facilities, the Center for 

Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST) and the NIST Center for Neutron Research 

24 http://www.nist.gov/srm/index.cfm 25 Beginning October 1, 2018, CNST became part of the Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML). Merging CNST 

with PML enables more effective management of programs and resources that previously spanned both 

organizations. Research staff from the CNST NanoLab and PML have been combined to form two new divisions 

within PML. The CNST NanoFab user facility will largely remain unchanged and continue to serve both NIST and 

external users. 

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

Standard Reference Data

Products available (databases) 111 102 97 92 90

E-Commerce Orders 2,596 2,689 2,229 2,670 2,613

Units Sold via Distributor 9,807 10,573 7,995 8,413 9,880

Active Distributor Agreements 123 124 154 157 125

Active Site Licenses 57 59 36 17 30

Active Internet Subscriptions 38 49 40 50 41

Units Shipped via UPS 418 311 328 146 82

Products Downloaded from the NIST Website 5,751 6,208 3,119 3,910 3,812

Free Downloads 3,615 4,083 1,225 1,099 1,100

Paid Downloads 2,136 2,125 1,894 2,811 2,712

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

Standard Reference Materials

Units Available 1,240 1,194 1,182 1,140 1,130

Units Sold 33,490 31,938 32,348 31,503 29,955
21

(NCNR), allow NIST customers to tap directly into NIST measurement expertise to solve 

problems.

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

operates in a national shared-use nanofabrication and measurement facility (the NanoFab),

complemented by a multidisciplinary research staff creating next-generation tools for advancing 

nanotechnology. The NCNR is a national user facility that provides cold and thermal neutron 

measurement capabilities to researchers from academia, industry, and other government 

agencies.

26

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. For FY 2019, CNST reported the 

number of distinct facility users versus the previously reported number of research participants.

27

In FY 2019, there were 314 distinct facility users at CNST and 2,923 research participants at 

NCNR. 

Table 17 – NIST Research Participants

(a) In FY 2019, CNST reported distinct facility users instead of research participants due to organizational 

restructuring. CNST merged with the Physical Measurement Laboratory to more efficiently advance 

NIST’s mission.

26 https://www.nist.gov/labs-major-programs/user-facilities 27 The change in reporting is due to organizational restructuring. CNST merged with the Physical Measurement 

Laboratory in FY 2019. 

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

NIST Research Participants

CNST 2,434 2,917 3,215 3,415 314(a)

NCNR 2,436 2,536 2,769 2,742 2,923
22 

Postdoctoral Researchers

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

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

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

know-how.28 NIST uses the NSF’s description of a postdoctoral researcher,29 which is defined as 

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

degree to gain scientific, technical, and professional skills. In FY 2019, there were 165 NIST 

postdocs. Of these, 110 were located on the NIST campus in Gaithersburg, Maryland; 35 were 

located in Boulder, Colorado; and the remainder were located at five other NIST locations. 

Table 18 – NIST Postdoctoral Researchers

(a) Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA) was founded in 1962 as a joint institute of CU-Boulder 

and NIST. JILA is located at the base of the Rocky Mountains on the CU-Boulder campus in the Duane 

Physics complex. http://jila.colorado.edu/

(b) The Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) was founded in September 2006 as a collaboration between the 

University of Maryland and NIST, with additional support from the Laboratory for Physical Sciences, a 

government facility in College Park. http://jqi.umd.edu/

(c) The Hollings Marine Laboratory (HML) is a world-class research facility in Charleston, South Carolina. 

HML’s mission is to provide science and biotechnology applications to sustain, protect, and restore coastal 

ecosystems, with emphasis on links between environmental condition and the health of marine organisms 

and humans. http://www.nist.gov/mml/hml/index.cfm

(d) The Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research (IBBR) is a joint research enterprise created to 

enhance collaboration among the University of Maryland College Park, the University of Maryland 

Baltimore and NIST. https://www.ibbr.umd.edu//

(e) The Brookhaven National Laboratory’s National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) facility is co-led by 

DOE and NIST’s Material Measurement Laboratory (MML). MML's Synchrotron Science Group develops 

and disseminates synchrotron measurement science and technology needed by U.S. industry to measure 

nanoscale electronic, chemical, and spatial structure of advanced materials. 

https://www.nist.gov/mml/materials-measurement-science-division/synchrotron-science-group

(f) The Joint Initiative for Metrology in Biology (JIMB) is co-led by Stanford University and NIST and is 

designed to enable significant improvements in the accuracy and comparability of vital data used to make 

important research, regulatory, clinical, and manufacturing quality control decisions. 

http://jimb.stanford.edu/

28 http://www.nist.gov/iaao/postdoc.cfm 29 http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind12

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

NIST Postdocs, Total (NCR) 179 167 159 153 165

Gaithersburg campus 113 104 87 91 110

Boulder campus 49 43 47 44 35

Joint Institute for Laboratory 

Astrophysics (a) 5 9 12 10 13

Joint Quantum Institute (b) 2 2 3 3 1

Hollings Marine Laboratory (c) 2 2 2 1 3

Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology 

Research (d) 3 3 3 3 2

Brookhaven National Laboratory(e) 0 0 2 0 0

Joint Initiative for Metrology in Biology(f) 5 4 3 1 1
23

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

ends, they take what they have learned and apply it to projects outside of NIST. NIST begins

tracking postdocs once they depart NIST. NIST surveyed 60 researchers who were postdocs 

with the NIST National Research Council (NRC) program in FY 2019. Of these, 44% continued

research careers with NIST30, 25% moved to the private sector, 15% pursued other opportunities 

such as becoming independent researchers, 13% moved to academia, and 3% moved to other 

government agencies.

Figure 5 – Tracking NIST Researchers after Initial Postdoc Tenure at NIST (FY 2019)

Guest Researchers

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

collaborative projects.31 NIST hosts many term appointment researchers and non-NIST 

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

researchers, many guest researchers seek career opportunities in academia, the private sector, or 

federal agencies after their tenure at NIST. While some guest researchers’ work at NIST may 

result in inventions, all guest researchers leave NIST with technical and research skills that place 

them on the cutting edge of their disciplines. Each researcher takes the skills and knowledge,

and aspires to apply them in innovative ways in their careers. Among these skills is the 

knowledge of how to collaborate with federal laboratories and what federal resources are 

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

30 Researchers who left their postdoc positions and stayed at NIST (44%) became career conditional / term 

employees (29%) or became non-career conditional or term employees (i.e. contractors or guest researchers) (15%). 31 http://www.nist.gov/tpo/collaborations/guestresearchers.cfm
24 

In FY 2019 there were 3,180 guest scientists and engineers working at NIST. 

Table 19 – NIST Guest Researchers

Accreditation Services

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

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

or calibrations.32 In FY 2019, NVLAP accredited 674 laboratories.

Table 20 – NIST Accreditation Services

Calibration Services

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

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

its calibration services to help manufacturers and users of precision instruments achieve the 

highest possible levels of measurement quality and productivity. NIST calibrations often serve 

as the basis for companies that provide commercial calibration services and calibration 

equipment.33 In FY 2019, there were 11,519 calibration tests performed by NIST. 

Table 21 – NIST Calibration Services

32 http://www.nist.gov/nvlap/ 33 http://www.nist.gov/calibrations/index.cfm

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

NIST Guest Researchers

Number of Guest Scientists and Engineers 3,125 3,273 3,181 3,221 3,180

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

NVLAP Accreditations

Number of NVLAP Accreditations 726 735 723 674 674

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

Calibrations

Number of Calibration Tests Performed 13,906 12,971 13,802 11,771 11,519
25

Education Outreach Programs and Partnerships

NIST has received recognition as a vital contributor to the efforts to improve science, 

technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in the United States. As part of its 

mission, and to help create a long-term and well-qualified workforce for standards and 

measurement research, NIST has several education outreach programs and partnerships that 

enrich basic research programs such as:

• the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program;

34

• the Summer High School Internship (SHIP) program;

35

• the Pathways Program;36

• the NIST Summer Institute for Middle School Science Teachers;

37 and

• the Professional Research Experience Program (PREP).

38

In FY 2019, there were 173 students enrolled in the SURF program, 55 students enrolled in the 

SHIP program, 71 students enrolled in the Pathways program, 24 participants in the Summer 

Institute for Middle School Teachers, and 360 students enrolled in the PREP program.

Table 22 – NIST STEM Education Participation

(a) The Summer Institute for Middle School Science Teachers was not held in FY 2018.

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. 

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

majoring in science, mathematics and engineering. http://www.nist.gov/surfgaithersburg/index.cfm 35 NIST’s Summer High School Internship (SHIP) program provides a summer intern program for high school 

students who are interested in scientific research. http://www.nist.gov/ohrm/staffing/ship.cfm 36 The Pathways Programs offers high school, college and trade school students paid opportunities to work in a 

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

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

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

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

laboratories. http://www.nist.gov/iaao/teachlearn/index.cfm 38 NIST’s Professional Research Experience Program (PREP) provides undergraduate and graduate students, as well 

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

https://www.nist.gov/iaao/nist-professional-research-experience-program-prep

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

SURF 206 213 212 212 173

SHIP 48 70 70 64 55

Pathways Program 97 85 111 85 71

Summer Institute for Middle School Science 

Teachers(a) 22 20 21 0 24

PREP 164 204 36 200 360
26 

In FY 2019, the NIST Conference Program arranged 78 conferences that attracted 8,596 

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

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

regulations, and standards, trained 665 weights and measures administrators, laboratory 

metrologists, and field enforcement officials during FY 2019. In addition to formal trainings, 

NIST staff answer email, telephone, and mail inquiries from researchers requesting information 

and details about NIST technical developments and research results. 

Table 23 – NIST Conferences, Seminars, and Workshops

Trends in Technology Transfer Office Activity

To better understand the year-over-year activity of its technology transfer office, NIST tracks the 

average number of days to both prepare a patent application and approve a CRADA. In FY 

2019, the average number of days between the receipt date of an invention disclosure and the 

filing date of the first non-provisional patent application was 408 days. The average CRADA 

approval time was 129 days. As noted in the reduced number of technology transfer activities for 

FY 2019, the lapse in appropriations may have contributed to increased times in preparing patent 

applications and approving CRADAs this fiscal year.

Table 24 – NIST Activity Trends

(a) The time between the receipt date of an invention disclosure and the filing date of the first non-provisional 

patent application filed by NIST. 

(b) The time between the receipt of the memo related to the award of a CRADA and the time of approval for the 

memo.

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

NIST Conference Center

Conferences and Workshops 118 102 108 101 78

Attendance 11,490 10,370 10,588 8,772 8,596

Office of Weights and Measures - Metrology Training 

Total Students 750 498 916 888 665

Seminar Attendance 457 342 466 451 433

Webinar Attendance 266 156 414 437 232

Workshop Attendance 27 0 36 0 0

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

Activity Trends

Average Number of Days to Prepare a 

Patent Application(a) 410 442 396 337 408

Average Number of Days to Approve a 

CRADA(b) 65 104 108 91 129
27

Small Businesses, Startups and Young Entrepreneurial Companies

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

businesses, startups, and young entrepreneurial companies. NIST and its joint institutes nurture 

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

In addition to financial support provided by the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) 

program and technical support through CRADAs, NIST recently implemented several new 

licensing options to aid innovators and lower developmental risk for potential partners who wish 

to obtain and use NIST technology. For example, the Science/Technology Advancement 

Research (STAR) license provides a no-cost, non-exclusive field-of-use research license to 

explore and advance NIST technologies for commercialization. 

In FY 2019, NIST patent licenses were held by 32 small businesses. There were 144 small 

businesses involved in traditional CRADAs and 623 small businesses involved in non-traditional 

CRADAs. NIST’s non-traditional CRADAs involve 17 small businesses involved with material 

transfer agreements and 606 receiving NVLAP accreditations.

39 There were also 12 small 

businesses that received Phase I SBIR awards and 7 small businesses that received Phase II 

SBIR awards. 

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)

NIST’s SBIR program funds science and technology based small businesses in the United States. 

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.

40 NIST has taken the following steps to improve its SBIR program:

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

needed to process and issue awards.

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

proposals while increasing the selection rate for worthwhile proposals. NIST 

Programmatic Investment Priority Areas in the NIST Three Year Programmatic Plan 

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

I 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 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 the time from close of solicitation to award issuance by 10%. 

39 Calibration services small business data not available at the time of report publication. 40 http://www.nist.gov/tpo/sbir/index.cfm
28 

Small and Young Businesses Interacting with NIST

The creation of companies by former NIST staff, NIST collaborators, licensees or others making 

use of NIST research is another way of transferring NIST’s technologies. NIST routinely 

interacts with and provides special consideration for small businesses (companies with fewer 

than 500 employees) in order to help them become more competitive and productive. NIST also 

nurtures small and young companies by transferring its technology and support through its SBIR 

program. 

Table 25 - Number of Small Businesses Interacting with NIST41 

NIST also identified 9 young companies (existing for five years or less) that received patent 

licenses, 32 young companies that collaborated with NIST via an active, traditional CRADA, and 

8 young companies that requested calibration services in FY 2019. 

41 Total estimates are preliminary. NIST is currently working on efforts to improve the tracking of interactions with 

small and young companies.

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

Number of Small Businesses Licensing NIST 

Technologies 4 14 19 23 32

Number of Small Businesses involved in 

Traditional NIST CRADAs 68 58 116 89 144

Number of Small Businesses involved in NonTraditional NIST CRADAs 795 823 903 742 814

Number of Small Businesses involved in 

Phase I SBIR Awards 14 12 12 12 12

Number of Small Businesses involved in 

Phase II SBIR Awards 6 7 9 10 7

Total 887 914 1,059 876 1,009
29

Economic Assessment

There are two types of metrics used to track technologies transferred from federal agencies: 

activity metrics and impact metrics. The metrics provided in this report are primarily activity 

metrics that track transfer activities within the DOC. NIST gathers the data through internal data 

calls and the data are presented here to show the activities that have occurred within the agency

over the past five years. Impact metrics are completely different. They track the impacts that 

occur outside of the DOC resulting from technologies developed within the DOC. Impact 

metrics are not gathered by data calls. They are derived by careful studies of the behavior of 

transferees (e.g., researchers, developers, producers, and end-users) who use the federal 

technologies to create or embellish products or services over time.

Unfortunately, there are relatively few economic studies that actually focus on identifying, 

isolating, assessing, and reporting the impact that federally developed technologies have on 

economies outside of the government.42 This is because the process of assessing impacts, which

has long been a goal of policymakers, is costly and complex, requiring detailed studies that

isolate and assess the dispersal of impacts over time. 

Nonetheless, there are many different approaches to measuring the impact of technology transfer 

activities. The most common approach provides a retrospective assessment of survey or publicly 

available data to measure the return on investment in terms of net present value, social rate of 

return, and/or the ratio of benefits to cost for given impact periods. Another retrospective 

approach employs a simulation model to estimate how changes in key variables (such as the 

number of licenses or the amount of license revenues) affect an economy in terms of changes in 

gross output, gross domestic production, employment, income, or other measures of economic 

activity. There are also prospective studies that attempt to forecast future impacts based on an 

assessment of survey data from qualified end-users.43

External researchers, funded by NIST, completed three studies in FY 2019:

1. Overview and Analysis of Technology Transfer from Federal Agencies and Laboratories

RTI International, funded by NIST, conducted a wide-ranging analysis of technology 

transfer from the federal government. This work has the stated purpose of presenting “a 

series of analyses of technology transfer activities across federal agencies and their 

research laboratories.” (p. ES-1) The authors conducted both “broad empirical analyses” 

and “agency-level mission-specific case studies” (p. 5-1) to analyze and describe 

technology transfer across the federal government.

The broad empirical analyses include descriptions of the geospatial distribution of 

CRADA partners, the relationship between CRADAs and firm revenues, and relationship 

between firm size and participation in CRADAs. These analyses used administrative data 

42 See Bozeman et al., “The evolving state-of-the-art in technology transfer research: Revisiting the contingent effectiveness 

model.” https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048733314001127 43 For discussions on how technology transfer impacts are measured see “Measuring the Impacts of Federal Investments in 

Research,” National Academies Press: https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2017/04/28/Measuring-the-Impacts-ofFederal-Investments-in-Research-2011.pdf, “Methods for Assessing the Economic Impacts of Government R&D,” Tassey: 

https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2017/05/09/report03-1.pdf, or “The Theory and Practice of Public-Sector 

R&D Economic Impact Analysis,” Link et. al: https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2017/04/28/report11-1.pdf
30

provided by agencies, which included data on patents, licenses, and completed CRADAs. 

These administrative data were combined with other data from sources like Walls and 

Associates and data from Dun and Bradstreet. The authors find that firms participating in 

CRADAs saw increases in inflation-adjusted revenues and that more smaller firms 

participated in CRADAs than large firms. 

The authors conducted nine case studies of technologies transferred from six federal 

agencies—DoD, DOI, DOC, DOT, HHS, and USDA. They found that in every case, the 

transfer of federal technology contributed to achieving the mission of the agency and that 

the public benefited either directly or indirectly from the transferred technology. They 

also found that in six of the nine cases, the agency was transferring a technology that had 

been developed for its own needs to the private sector, helping to bring additional 

resources and capacity to scale up the technology for commercialization.

2. Economic Benefits of the Global Positioning System (GPS)

This study, completed and published by RTI International in June 2019, quantified the 

economic benefits of GPS to the private sector due to federal laboratory research and 

technology transfer contributions. It examined 10 economic sectors in the U.S. economy 

that utilize GPS daily: agriculture, financial services, location-based services, mining, 

surveying, telecommunications, telematics, electricity, maritime navigation, and oil and 

gas industries. The study estimated that GPS has provided the private sector $1.4 trillion 

in economic benefits (as of 2017) since it became available to the private sector in the 

1980s. 

3. Maximizing Innovation and Technology Commercialization of Federal Research 

Investments

In March 2019, the University of Michigan’s Economic Growth Institute published best 

practices at innovation and economic prosperity (IEP) universities. “Fifty-nine IEP 

universities participated in the mixed-methods study, which included 51 faculty research 

interviews, 200 survey respondents, and 10 interviews with federal research labs”. (p. 3)

Researchers found that IEP universities produced an annual mean volume of invention 

disclosures, patents, start-ups, and exclusive licenses compared to other public 

institutions.44

Along with its quantitative findings, the study also identifies best practices for technology 

transfer at public universities in four main categories: culture, champions, incentives, and 

collaboration. These best practices can be incorporated into technology transfer offices to 

increase performance both within universities and federal laboratories. 

Efforts to Promote Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) Program

The NIST Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) Program began in 2013 to help the research staff and 

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

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

44 https://economicgrowth.umich.edu/lab-to-market/
31

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

Intermediary Agreement (PIA). Under the PIA, TEDCO vets and recommends suitable 

candidates for one-year appointments. In FY 2019, four NIST-TEDCO EIRs served on a 

voluntary basis without compensation. 

EIRs offer seminars to NIST employees that cover business formation, funding, protection of 

intellectual property, and conflict-of-interest issues. EIRs also counsel NIST postdocs and other 

temporary employees on efforts to identify and explore career opportunities in small and startup 

technology-oriented businesses. NIST provides additional one-on-one sessions to staff members 

interested in starting a company that will spin out a NIST technology. Over the past five years, 

more than 30 staff members have received one-on-one counseling and two are actively engaged 

in efforts to form a business venture to license a NIST technology for commercial purposes. The 

two individuals seeking to form a business venture also received guidance from the Office of the

Chief Counsel for NIST and from the Department of Commerce, Office of the General Counsel

Ethics Law and Programs Division, before undertaking their initiative, which is being pursued on 

their own time.

In FY 2019, EIRs were involved in a coordinated training program that focused on recognizing 

innovation and invention opportunities that spawn from mission-oriented research. This training 

was presented through a series of seminars at various NIST organizational levels and was made 

available to the research and technical staff and to NIST’s postdoctoral community. Also, in 

2019, the EIRs attended technology transfer events of the Federal Laboratory Consortium MidAtlantic Region as their voluntary time commitments allowed.

N-STEP Program

NIST launched the NIST Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Program (N-STEP)45 in 

November 2015 to provide opportunities for motivated researchers to build upon the experience 

they gained at NIST as they explore entrepreneurial careers that benefit the NIST mission. The 

program is focused on commercialization of research conducted at NIST by postdocs who are 

interested in forming companies to independently pursue further translational research and 

development of technologies specifically related to NIST’s mission. These technologies can 

then be commercialized as products or services to benefit the public.

In FY 2019, eight companies completed their N-STEP projects, and two companies are involved 

in ongoing projects. N-STEP is funded by NIST and administered by Maryland TEDCO but is a 

nationwide opportunity.

Challenge and Prize Competitions

Challenge.gov is a listing of challenge and prize competitions, all of which are run by more than 

102 agencies across the federal government. NIST participates in this program by offering cash 

prizes to the public for their help in solving perplexing mission-centric problems.

46 In FY 2019, 

NIST either launched or continued the following challenges:

1. Expanding the SIM Card Use for Public Safety Challenge;

45 See http://tedco.md/program/n-step/ 46 For more information see https://www.challenge.gov/about/ 
32

2. Tech to Protect Challenge;

3. Haptic Interfaces for Public Safety Challenge;

4. Agile Robotics for Industrial Automation Competition (ARIAC); and

5. Differential Privacy Synthetic Data Challenge.

Awards

NIST staff received the following awards during FY 2019:

ACM Fellow

• Ellen Voorhees and Rob Boisvert

Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Humboldt Research Fellow

• Frank DelRio

American Ceramic Society, Distinguished Life Member

• Winnie Wong-Ng

American Chemical Society Award in Chromatography

• Lane Sander

American Concrete Institute (ACI) Concrete Research Council Arthur J. Boase Award

• Long Phan

American Crystallographic Association Fellow

• Craig Brown

APCO Leadership in Advocacy Award

• Dereck Orr

Arthur S. Flemming Award

• R. Joseph Kline

ASHRAE Distinguished Service Award

• William Healy

ASME 2019 CIE Young Engineer Award

• William Bernstein

ASM International Fellow

• James Warren

B. Stephen Carpenter Award

• James Norris

Current Opinion in Colloid and Interface Science’s Outstanding Young Researchers in Colloid 

and Interface Science

• Yun Liu

Distinguished Poster Award at the Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS)

• Julie Haney, Susanne Furman, and Yasemin Acar

Early Career Leadership Intern Program to Serve Engineering (ECLIPSAE)

• Michael Brundage

Edward Uhler Condon Award

• Peter Mell and Dylan Yaga

Ernest E. Howard Award

• Therese McAllister

Federal 100 Award
33

• Lily Chen and Ron Ross

Fire Protection Research Foundation Medal

• Matthew Hoehler

Fullbright U.S. Research Scholar (DOS)

• Dilip Banerjee

GE Edge & Controls Symposium Award

• Ho Yeung

Gears of Government Award (GSA/OMB)

• Emil Simiu, Marc Levitan, Adam Pintar, Daniel Sunday, Joseph Kline, and Donald 

Windover

IEEE Rose 2019 Best Paper Award

• Robert Bostelman and Soocheol Yoon

IEEE-SA Standards Medallion

• Craig Schlenoff

INCITS Merit Award

• Sal Francomacaro

Institute of Refrigeration J&E Hall Gold Medal

• Mark McLinden

International Society for Neutron Instrument Engineers Logo Winner

• Lawrence Wroten

MAJR Medal

• Mina Seif

Maryland Science Center’s Outstanding Young Engineer

• Samantha Maragh and Jason Hattrick-Simpers

Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers

• Behrang Hamadani, Elijah Peterson, David Long, Edwin Chan, and Stephen P. Jordan

Presidential Rank Award

• Charles Romine and Donna Dodson

Portland Global Globe Award 2019

• Sokwoo Rhee

PHM Society Contributor of the Year

• Brian Weiss

Quality Information Framework (QIF) Challenge Coin

• John Horst

R&D 100 Award

• June Lau, Dale Newberry, Ryan Marinenko, John Small, Nicholas Ritchie, John Henry 

Scott, and Ed Vicenzi

Rising Star Award for Outstanding Early-Career Leaders (NARCO)

• Ellen Nadeau

SFPE Educational and Scientific Foundations Jack Bono Award

• Matthew Hoehler

Sigma Xi, NIST Chapter, Annual Postdoctoral Poster Presentation

• Ryan Murphy, Most Outstanding Poster

• Ryan Need, Outstanding Poster in Engineering and Physics

Washington Academy Excellence in Research in Computer Science Award
34

• Nader Moayeri

Washington Academy Excellence in Research in Mathematics and Computer Science

• Bonita Saunders

Washington Academy Excellence in Research in Applied Mathematics

• Alfred Carasso

Western Michigan University’s Alumni Achievement Award

• David Hoogerheide

William P. Slichter Award

• Nada Golmie and Kate Remley

Downstream Outcomes from NIST Technology Transfer Activities

FLOC Takes Flight: First Portable Prototype of Photonic Pressure Sensor47

In collaboration with industry, researchers from NIST 

have made the first portable prototype of the FixedLength Optical Cavity (FLOC), a device that uses light to 

measure pressure with higher accuracy and precision than 

most commercial pressure sensors. 

This newest version is a milestone on the journey toward 

the creation of a device that could revolutionize the way 

pressure is measured with potential uses by many 

industries, particularly semiconductor chip and aircraft 

manufacturing.

In 2017, NIST and MKS Instruments, Inc. of Andover, 

Massachusetts, signed a CRADA to take a laboratoryscale version of the FLOC and create a smaller, more 

robust prototype that more closely resembles a 

commercial product. Thanks to the CRADA work, the 

joint NIST and MKS team has now successfully 

demonstrated a prototype version small enough to fit into two suitcases, NIST physicist Jay 

Hendricks said.

“MKS Instruments brings over 50 years of pressure measurement, optical and laser experience to 

this project, and we are honored to have been selected by NIST to work with them on this 

important and prestigious development,” said Phil Sullivan, CTO of MKS’s Pressure and 

Vacuum Measurement Solutions business. “We anticipate that this work will lead to a new 

wide-range, compact pressure measurement standard.” 

Robust, portable FLOC sensors could potentially reduce the cost of producing semiconductor 

chips such as those used in smartphones, as well as decreasing the cost of air travel. This is 

because both the chip manufacturing and aerospace industries rely on pressure measurements.

47 Read the full story here: https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2019/02/floc-takes-flight-first-portableprototype-photonic-pressure-sensor

The compact FLOC cavity, only about 2.5 cm 

long, at the heart of the new portable prototype. 

This image reveals the two physical channels 

used for the pressure measurement. When 

connected to the rest of the FLOC system, one 

channel is kept in vacuum and the other channel 

is filled with a gas whose pressure is being 

measured. Credit: MKS
35

The FLOC measures pressure by measuring subtle differences in the frequency of light passing 

through two physical channels called optical cavities: a reference channel in vacuum and a test 

channel filled with a gas whose pressure is being measured.

In their partnership, NIST and MKS staff assembled the two-channel cavity at the heart of the 

prototype, while MKS managed the engineering of a miniaturized version of the system.

“We built the national standard version of the FLOC, which is designed to operate in a highprecision laboratory,” Hendricks said. “But we turned to industry under a CRADA to speed up 

the engineering and miniaturization work that needs to go into making something rugged, stable, 

transportable, low-power and able to work in a variety of different environments.

2019 Governor’s Award for High-Impact Research48

A technology based on innovative laser spectroscopy research 

at NIST and the University of Colorado has been ruggedized 

and commercialized here in Colorado for use in the field and 

can detect methane emissions as small as a quarter of a human 

breath from over a mile away.

“By working to create collaborations a) among experts in 

different fields, and b) between researchers and industry, the 

team produced extraordinary results that has resulted in the 

spinout company LongPath Technologies,” says Terri Fiez Vice 

Chancellor for Research & Innovation at the University of 

Colorado – Boulder. “These creative partnerships helped the 

team do the unthinkable: leverage Nobel Prize winning 

technology into something that the oil and gas industry could 

use daily to improve its environmental footprint, save lives and 

save money.” Dr. Marla Dowell, Director of NIST Boulder 

labs says, “This pathfinding achievement is a success story that 

could only have occurred in Colorado because of the nexus of extraordinary government and 

academic research and entrepreneurship.”

This work was captured under the CRADA with the University of Colorado – Boulder related to 

the ARPA-E grant. 

48 https://www.nist.gov/about-us/nist-awards/2019-governors-award-high-impact-research

Credit: R. Wright/University of Colorado
36

Researchers Explore Using SIM Cards for Secure Public Safety Data Transmission49

In April 2019, NIST's Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) 

division - in partnership with the First Responder Network Authority 

(FirstNet), IBM, and Nok Nok Labs - launched a prize challenge 

program targeted at exploring whether the SIM cards common in many 

commercial mobile phones could be used as storage containers for public 

safety application credentials.

Recognizing Public Safety's need for convenient, standards-based, twofactor authentication, PSCR engaged qualified contestants in a threephase Prize Challenge over the course of six months. Challenge teams completed the following 

phases:

• Phase 1 – Concept Paper: Successful contestants documented a clear understanding of the 

contest objectives and proposed an approach to securely store and then use first responder 

authentication credentials on a SIM card.

• Phase 2 – File Stored on SIM Card: Successful contestants demonstrated, via video 

webinar and screen share, their process of provision, storage of the file on the SIM card, 

and navigation through the SIM card file structure to the file’s location. 

• Phase 3 – Verified Authentication: Successful contestants demonstrated their mobile 

application's ability to access credentials stored on the SIM card and authenticate to 

FIDO2 services, which were provided in this prize competition by our challenge partners 

at Nok Nok Labs and IBM.

Participating teams were awarded prizes at each phase of the challenge with up to $100,000 in 

total available prizes. The judging panel announced challenge winners October 23, 2019, after 

performing the final evaluation of contestants' mobile applications, source code, hardware 

devices with SIM cards, and instructions. The judging panel and subject matter experts included 

individuals from APCO International, First Responder Network Authority, Motorola Solutions, 

Qualcomm, Texas Department of Public Safety and NIST PSCR.

NIST Presents First Real-World Test of New Smokestack Emissions Sensor Designs50

In collaboration with industry, 

researchers at NIST have completed 

the first real-world test of a potentially 

improved way to measure smokestack 

emissions in coal-fired power plants.

Each year, to meet requirements set by 

the Environmental Protection Agency 

(EPA), coal-fired power plants must 

have their smokestack emissions 

49 https://www.nist.gov/ctl/pscr/funding-opportunities/open-innovation-prize-challenges/2019-expanding-sim-carduse-public 50 Read the full story here: https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2019/06/nist-presents-first-real-world-test-newsmokestack-emissions-sensor-designs

NIST designed two new pitot probes (left and center), one whose sensing 

surface is cone-shaped and the other whose surface is hemispherical. The 

probes have five holes, or ports. Comparing pressure readings obtained in 

each of the five ports allows technicians to calculate the flow rate. An 

older type of pitot tube, called an S-probe (right), has two ports that face in 

opposite directions. Credit: NIST
37

audited, or checked by an independent third party. NIST researchers wanted to make this test 

quicker to save the plants money during their audits, while also improving accuracy of the 

sensors; therefore, a NIST team designed new probes for sensing emission flow rates and a new 

measurement method that could potentially speed up on-site audits by a factor of 10, researchers 

say.

NIST conducted this work as part of a CRADA with the Electric Power Research Institute 

(EPRI), an independent nonprofit organization whose members include electric utility 

companies, businesses and government agencies.

“Coal-fired electric generating units may benefit from the current NIST work by having 

improved standards and techniques to measure mass emissions more accurately, with increased 

confidence that all entities are reporting on a uniform basis,” said EPRI program manager Tom 

Martz. He added that the potential time savings “is not something we can accurately quantify at 

this time, but this will be a key objective of future work.”

NIST Team Shows Atoms Can Receive Common Communications Signals51

Researchers at NIST have demonstrated a new type of 

sensor that uses atoms to receive commonly used 

communications signals. This atom-based receiver has the 

potential to be smaller and work better in noisy 

environments than conventional radio receivers, among 

other possible advantages.

The NIST team used cesium atoms to receive digital bits 

(1s and 0s) in the most common communications format, 

which is used in cell phones, Wi-Fi and satellite TV, for 

example. In this format, called phase shifting or phase 

modulation, radio signals or other electromagnetic waves 

are shifted relative to one another over time. The 

information (or data) is encoded in this modulation.

“The point is to demonstrate one can use atoms to receive 

modulated signals,” project leader Chris Holloway said. 

“The method works across a huge range of frequencies. 

The data rates are not yet the fastest out there, but there are 

other benefits here, like it may work better than 

conventional systems in noisy environments.”

As described in a new paper, the quantum sensor received signals based on real-world phaseshifting methods. A 19.6 gigahertz transmission frequency was chosen because it was 

convenient for the experiment, but it also could be used in future wireless communications 

systems, Holloway said.

51 Read the full story here: https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2019/09/nist-team-shows-atoms-can-receivecommon-communications-signals

NIST researcher Chris Holloway adjusts a 

mirror to align a laser beam used in an atombased receiver for digitally modulated 

communication signals. Credit: Burrus/NIST
38

NIST Advances Gene Editing

Targeted genome editing, a method used to alter the DNA of living cells at desired locations, is 

poised to revolutionize science and medicine. To fight diseases, scientists are developing novel 

genome-edited therapeutics, including those for use in regenerative medicine and infectious 

diseases. Many commercial applications, including 

agriculture and chemical production, are also leveraging 

this technology. Whether genome editing will be used in 

healthcare, agriculture, or basic research, robust 

quantitative measurements are needed to enable high 

confidence characterization of DNA alterations. In FY

2019, NIST formed a new consortium to address this 

challenge, bringing together experts from across the 

genome editing field including stakeholders in industry, academia, and government to assess 

their measurement needs. These discussions have identified common pre-competitive 

measurements and standards needed to establish greater confidence in the characterization of 

genome editing outputs. The NIST-led Genome Editing Consortium was established to evaluate 

genome editing assay pipelines, develop benchmark materials, generate benchmark data, develop 

suggested minimal information reporting for public studies, and generate a common lexicon for 

genome editing studies. The consortium is comprised of 34 members, including 7 small 

businesses, 22 mid-sized to large companies, 2 hospitals, and 3 government agencies. 

NIST Advances Food Safety

Food contaminants can sicken consumers, cause outbreaks of disease, and result in costly 

investigations and recalls with subsequent loss of trust in manufacturers and suppliers. 

Consumer confidence and safety depend on sophisticated analysis and underlying metrology to 

both intentional and unintentional adulteration and to confirm the identity of food products. 

Food industry sales in the U.S. amounted to nearly $5.75 trillion in 2017. The Food Safety 

Program at NIST was established in FY19 to provide analytical chemistry and quantitative 

biology to ensure that food is free of contaminants and allergens and is authentic, promoting U.S. 

manufacturer’s participation in domestic and foreign markets and safeguarding the health of 

consumers. Key to the program’s future success is collaboration with other government agencies 

and industry, leading to a 2019 workshop with over 200 

attendees including representatives from agribusiness, food 

and beverage providers, regulators, and instrumentation 

vendors. In FY 2019, NIST also developed new reference 

materials for the food industry. This included Standard 

Reference Material 1565, which can be used by laboratories 

to reliably detect poisonous compounds in corn that are 

produced by mold, known as mycotoxins. Mycotoxins can 

cause economic losses for farmers and food producers if 

left undetected and allowed to spread. Humans ingesting 

these mycotoxins can develop flu-like symptoms, with 

some extreme cases proving deadly. 
39

A Safer Way for Police to Test Drug Evidence52

Before fentanyl became a common street drug, police often tested evidence by scooping a bit of 

powder into a solution that would change color if 

any drug was present. These tests are now 

discouraged for safety reasons (fentanyl can be 

dangerous if even a small amount is inhaled), and 

suspected drugs have to be sent to a crime lab 

before arrests can be made. In FY 2019, NIST 

scientists developed a way for police to quickly and 

safety test whether a package contains illegal drugs 

without having to handle any suspicious contents 

directly. This method, which involves an external 

swipe from the outside of the package, was 

validated by state forensic laboratories in Maryland 

and Vermont and can reliably predict whether a package contains fentanyl, even if mixed with 

cocaine, heroin, or other chemical substances. This swipe technique will do more than help 

police get faster answers when investigating drug crimes. It will also help at crime labs, which 

still rely on color tests to get an idea of what is in a container so that they chose the right type of 

laboratory analysis; however, those color tests don’t detect many of the new designer drugs that 

make up an increasing fraction of their caseloads. The swipe test developed by NIST will work 

for this, however, optimizing workflow at crime labs across the U.S.

Start-Up Company Set to Commercialize Unique Binding Proteins

In FY 2019, NIST announced the discovery of a set of proteins that bind specifically to different 

N-terminal amino acids. These binding proteins could form the basis for a new, revolutionary 

approach for proteomics research, single-molecule protein sequencing. A patent application was 

filed in April 2019 and a start-up company was granted a license for commercialization of the 

NIST technology. The company is developing innovative approaches and technologies for nextgeneration protein analysis.

52 See the full story here: https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2019/09/safer-way-police-test-drug-evidence
40

CHAPTER 3

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) mission is to understand and 

predict changes in climate, weather, oceans, and coasts; to share that knowledge and information 

with others; and to conserve and manage coastal and marine ecosystems and resources. This 

mission will become ever more critical in the 21st century as national issues related to climate 

change; limited freshwater supply, ecosystem management, and homeland security intensify. 

The NOAA technology and innovation enterprise consists of more than 50 laboratories, 

programs, and offices headquartered in Silver Spring, MD, and staffed across the United States, 

supporting NOAA’s four service-based Line Offices: the National Marine Fisheries Service, the 

National Ocean Service, the National Weather Service, and the National Environmental Satellite, 

Data, and Information Service, as well as thematic programs including Climate, Aquaculture, 

Arctic, Ocean Exploration and Research, Weather and Air Quality, and Ocean Acidification. 

While the service-based Line Offices each have an R&D component, the entire enterprise is also 

supported by a dedicated R&D Line Office: The Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research.

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 

freshwater 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 routinely transitioned to NOAA’s operational 

components to improve prediction, management, and other mission activities.

Approach and Plans for Technology Transfer

The vast majority of NOAA’s transfer of technology outside of the organization happens through 

peer-reviewed scientific publications and the provision of data and software-based decisionsupport tools which are delivered directly to the public and stakeholders in service to the NOAA 

mission of protecting lives and property. The remainder of NOAA’s technology transfers are the 

result of partnerships, grants, and other formal technology transfer mechanisms such as patent 

license agreements. 

Program and Portfolio Management

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

and Atmospheric Research (OAR), manages a central technology transfer program for all NOAA 

Labs, Centers, Programs, and external partners. 

In 2017, the TPO developed a revised five-year strategic plan to ensure the program is 

effectively serving its customers and management. TPO refined the plan in 2018 to more closely 
41

align with the Department of Commerce Strategic Plan and was included in the annual report. 

The following are selected progress to plan updates for 2019:

Goal 1: Increase Innovation within NOAA and the Nation

Activity 3: Conduct T2 and Intellectual Property Training for NOAA staff 

Progress Update:

The Technology Partnerships Office and NOAA’s Office of General Counsel launched 

an Intellectual Property Road Tour of NOAA’s Labs and Science Centers in 2019. Full 

training was provided to NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, 

Colorado, and the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Oklahoma. The 

training was broken into two segments, one for federal employees at the Labs and one for 

university staff from the NOAA Cooperative Institutes. Both sessions focused on the 

requirements of the Bayh-Dole Act and the rules and regulations related to the public 

release of software and models. The sessions were very well received, and the activity 

has generated badly needed policy discussions on software release and licensing at the 

NOAA management level. 

Goal 2: Enhance Job Creation within the U.S. Economy

Activity 1: Kick-off annual NOAA Innovation Fairs to increase the adoption rate for 

NOAA technologies in the U.S. private sector

Progress Update:

The Technology Partnerships 

Office successfully executed its 

first iNOAAvation Center at 

Blue Tech Week in San Diego, 

California. The NOAA exhibit 

featured five of NOAA’s SBIR 

Phase II companies, two NOAA 

Investigators from the National 

Marine Fisheries Service, as well 

as a broad selection of NOAA’s 

innovative technologies. Staff 

from the TPO were on hand to 

guide visitors to the most 

(Credit: NOAA)

appropriate technologies and meetings. Staff from the International Trade 

Administration’s U.S. Export Assistance Center were also included in the Center to 

provide assistance with export-related questions. 

Blue Tech Week attracts a growing audience from across the United States and globally 

for a series of intimate executive-level events that bring together representatives of 
42

academia, industry, and policymakers ("the Triple Helix"). Both the NOAA reps and 

NOAA’s SBIR company representatives were able to participate in the many sessions 

provided by the organizers. 

Goal 3: Enhance Resilience and Security

Task 3: Facilitate the private use of NOAA data to develop new commercial products 

and services

Progress Update:

The TPO worked closely with staff from NOAA’s Big Data Program to successfully 

transition NOAA’s Big Data CRADA partners to longer-term, sustainable agreements in 

2019. This transition was the culmination of the 4-year CRADAs with the major U.S. 

Cloud Service Provers (Google, Amazon, IBM, Microsoft, and the Open Cloud 

Consortium) to investigate the value of making NOAA’s data products more accessible to 

the public through Cloud platforms. NOAA’s Big Data Program will now continue to 

push these efforts forward under the new structure. A key focus for the Program will be 

to expand the availability understanding of NOAA’s ocean data. As with the original 

CRADA’s the goal of these activities will be to increase the commercial use and value of 

these vast data sets.

Goal 4: Improve Integration, Function, and Profile of the NOAA TPO

Task 2: Revise and issue NOAA T2 Policy Guidance

Progress Update:

In 2019, NOAA’s TPO began socializing a broad update to NOAA Administrative Order 

(NAO) 201-103, which governs all NOAA’s technology transfer activities. This will 

constitute the first comprehensive re-write of the NAO since it was originally developed 

in 1992. Among other outcomes, the new NAO will streamline the CRADA 

development and approval process in NOAA, which is a key objective under the 

Administration’s Return on Investment Initiative. Approval for the rewrite is a multimonth project but will ideally result in a flexible framework that will allow for more 

timely adjustments to NOAA’s processes in the future. 

NOAA Work Products and Collaborative Activities

Data Products and Services

NOAA data support a wide range of multibillion dollar economic sectors in the U.S. and the 

global economy and is possibly the most impactful example of technology transfer we provide. 

Express couriers, rail systems, retailers, and third-party weather forecasts rely on this free and 

publicly available information to determine routes, weather risks, seasonal merchandising, and 

scheduling. Ocean and coastal data give the fishing industry tools to determine prime fishing 

locations through private forecasters who build fishing reports using archived data. NOAA has 

continued to improve and expand public access to its data. The NOAA Big Data Project is a 

prime example of these efforts.
43

NOAA Partners with 3 Big Cloud Providers to Disperse Environmental Data53

NOAA has announced a set of collaborations with major cloud providers, promising to 

“generate untold opportunities for scientific and economic advances.”

NOAA’s new multi-year agreements with Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, and 

Microsoft will dramatically expand “rapid and reliable” no-cost public access to NOAA 

data, which accumulates at a rate of tens of terabytes per day, gleaned from satellites, 

radar, weather models, and more. The providers’ contracts require them to provide free 

and open access to the data, but also allow them to charge for additional services related 

to the data, such as computational power.

“NOAA’s wealth of world-class environmental data will now be more accessible through 

partnerships with commercial cloud providers, which will allow the agency to better 

manage a rapidly increasing volume of data going forward,” said Neil Jacobs, NOAA’s 

Acting Administrator. “Cloud-based storage and processing is the future. Not only will 

this improved accessibility enhance NOAA’s core mission to protect life and property, 

but it will also open up new and exciting areas of research at universities and significant 

market opportunities for the private sector.”

These new agreements are part of NOAA’s Big Data Project, which is the first publicprivate partnership of its kind in U.S. government. The Big Data Project received a Best 

in Class 2019 Government Innovation Award last month in the category of Public Sector 

Innovation, recognizing “innovative ways that government applies technology to better 

meet its mission and serve the public.”

 

Decision Support Tools

NOAA’s labs and programs develop a wide variety of dedicated software tools and websites that 

bring data to the public in a user-friendly format to enable effective decision support. In many 

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

OceanReports App Answers Aquaculture Siting Questions in Seconds54

Imagine you could draw a box anywhere in the ocean and instantly decide whether it 

might be a suitable site for aquaculture. Thanks to a new tool, OceanReports, 

aquaculture stakeholders—including seafood farmers, coastal managers and regulators, 

and environmental organizations—can now do just that. 

53 The full story is here: https://www.fedscoop.com/noaa-cloud-providers-environmental-data/ 54 https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/new-app-answers-aquaculture-siting-questions-seconds
44

Developed by NOAA’s National 

Ocean Service and partners, the app 

can query more than 100 marine 

datasets. Within seconds, it 

generates custom spatial reports and 

infographics for any ocean space or 

“neighborhood.” These datasets 

include everything from ocean 

current speed to deep-sea corals and 

sponge observations in that area.

Coastal net pens off the coast of Maine. (Credit: NOAA)

Though intended for all ocean industries, the development team built the app specifically 

with aquaculture in mind. “OceanReports is helping pave the way for sustainable 

aquaculture development in coastal areas,” said Nicole LeBoeuf, National Ocean Service 

Acting Assistant Administrator. “It exemplifies how powerful, easy-to-use tools will 

play an increasing role in ensuring the security and health of our ocean.”

Cooperative Institutes

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

institutions across 23 states and the District of Columbia. Some Cooperative Institutes are 

located near NOAA laboratories or science centers, creating a strong, long-term collaboration 

between federal and university scientists. The work done through the Cooperative Institutes 

directly supports NOAA’s mission activities and results in similar technology transfer 

opportunities. NOAA’s Technology Partnerships Office works closely with the technology 

transfer offices from the Institutes to jointly manage intellectual property and seek out licensing 

partners.

NOAA and University Partners Educating the World through Science on a Sphere 

ExplorerTM and SOS ExplorerTM Mobile

The Science on a Sphere (SOS) ExplorerTM and SOS ExplorerTM Mobile - developed by 

Federal and University staff with the Global Systems Division (GSD) of the Earth 

System Research Laboratory in Boulder, CO - are free and low-cost software and apps 

that share earth science data with a global audience using visually stunning movies on a 

virtual globe. 
45 

(Credit: NOAA)

SOS ExplorerTM and its mobile companion leverage the expansive data catalog from the 

NOAA’s patented Science on a Sphere®, also developed at GSD. SOS ExplorerTM and 

its mobile companion were developed to expand SOS’s reach to a far greater audience 

comprising educators, students, small museums, and the public. 

SOS ExplorerTM was released in 2017, as a low-cost software system that has museumquality stability and usability while providing an interactive globe on a flat panel 

computer or TV display. It incorporates immersive virtual reality hardware, 3D beyondearth objects such as satellite locations and Aurora Borealis, as well as flat mapping, 

which are not attainable with the room-sized Science on a Sphere®. The SOS 

ExplorerTM is currently reaching thousands of viewers per year through its 30 

installations in museums and schools since its first release in 2017. 

SOS ExplorerTM Mobile is an interactive globe that can be downloaded to a mobile 

device and was released as a free app in 2019. These versions successfully provide over 

115 popular Science on a Sphere® datasets to users. SOS ExplorerTM Mobile has been 

downloaded over 20,000 times since its release on Sept 1, 2019. GSD estimates the SOS 

ExplorerTM Mobile will have over 50,000 downloads in its first year ending September 

2020. 

Inventions, Patents, and Licenses

NOAA was awarded U.S. Patent No. 10,438,788 - SYSTEM AND METHODOLOGY FOR 

EXPRESSING ION PATH IN A TIME-OF-FLIGHT MASS SPECTROMETER in 2019. This 

is the second patent awarded for this invention. 

Additionally, NOAA researchers disclosed two software innovations, one biological discovery, 

and three hardware inventions. Two of the innovations are owned by NOAA partners under 

Bayh-Dole, one other was returned to the inventor in cooperation with the funded university. 

NOAA filed provisional patent applications on two of the remaining innovations, while the last 

of the six is still being evaluated.
46

Table 26 – NOAA Invention Disclosures and Patents55

NOAA now maintains an active patent portfolio of 18 technologies, ten of which are being 

marketed for licensees or are being actively commercialized. 

NOAA currently manages 6 active licenses. In addition, two licenses are under the direction of 

its university partners, and one more temporary research license is currently in place. In total, 

NOAA’s licensing portfolio consists of nine (9) active licenses.

Table 27 – NOAA Licenses56

55 Values include software and hardware IP, but do not include Bayh-Dole disclosures from NOAA grantees or 

contractors

56 Totals do not include R&D licenses. Science of a Sphere installations are not included in license totals.

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

Invention Disclosures 

Inventions Disclosed 15 18 3 6 6

Patents 

U.S. Patent Applications Filed 6 4 3 2 2

U.S. Patents Received 1 1 3 0 1

Foreign Patent Applications Filed 0 0 0 0 0

Foreign Patents Received 0 1 0 0 0

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

Licenses 

Total Active Licenses 6 7 7 7 6

 Total New Licenses 2 3 0 0 1

Income Bearing Licenses

Total Active Income Bearing Licenses 4 5 7 7 6

 New Income Bearing Licenses 3 3 2 0 0

Total Active Invention Licenses 4 7 7 7 6

 New Invention Licenses 0 3 1 0 0

Exclusive Licenses 1 4 4 4 4

Partially Exclusive Licenses 0 0 0 0 0

Non-Exclusive License 3 3 3 3 2

Elapsed time for Granting Licenses

Average (months) 3 9 3 n.a. n.a.

Minimum (months) 0 5 1 n.a. n.a.

Maximum (months) 0 14 5 n.a. n.a.
47

Table 28 – NOAA License Income57

57 For FY 2017, total income reflects two licenses from NOAA Cooperative Institutes, which earned income but did 

not include royalty distributions to federal staff.

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

Income from Licenses

Total Income, All Active Licenses $39,633 $11,000 $106,394 $35,671 $67,235

Invention License Income $39,633 $11,000 $106,394 $35,671 $67,235

Total Earned Royalty Income (ERI) $39,633 $11,000 $46,184 $35,671 $67,235

Minimum ERI $39,633 $1,000 $2,000 $250 $1,000

Maximum ERI $39,633 $7,000 $33,684 $33,321 $58,535

Median ERI $39,633 $5,000 $10,500 $2,100 $3,850

ERI from Top 1% of Licenses $39,633 $7,000 $33,684 $33,321 $58,535

ERI from Top 5% of Licenses $39,633 $7,000 $33,684 $33,321 $58,535

ERI from Top 20% of Licenses $39,633 $7,000 $44,184 $33,321 $58,535

$12,588 $4,000 $1,736 $13,643 $25,070

32% 36% 4% 38% 37%

$27,045 $7,000 $3,864 $22,028 $42,165

68% 64% 8% 62% 63%

Licenses Terminated for Cause 0 0 0 0 0

ERI to Inventor(s)

ERI to NOAA
48

Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs)

NOAA’s Labs, Centers, and Programs executed 10 new CRADAs in FY 2019. Five of these 

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

NOAA CRADA portfolio sits at 43 active CRADAs. 

Table 29 – NOAA Cooperative Research and Development Agreements58

Return on Investment - Economic Impact of NOAA’s CRADA Activity

NOAA’s CRADA activity languished in the early 2000s due to staffing shortages in the 

Office of Research and Technology Applications. In 2009, a new program manager was 

appointed, and the office was renamed to the Technology Partnerships Office (TPO). 

The number of CRADAs has grown steadily from that time and has now stabilized in the 

40-50 agreement range. 

In 2018, the TPO contracted with Eastern Research Group (ERG) to deliver an economic 

valuation report for NOAA’s SBIR Program and a limited selection of NOAA’s CRADA 

portfolio. The CRADA portfolio analysis was limited by the fact that many agreements 

were newly initiated or were ongoing when the study was conducted. The TPO 

determined these agreements were not mature enough to be considered, so they were 

excluded from the scope. In 2019, ERG delivered its final valuation report. Following is 

a summary of the CRADA results.

Survey

ERG implemented a survey of SBIR awardees and CRADA collaborators which covered 

several aspects of the participants’ involvement in the NOAA programs, including:

• The focus and/or target market of the SBIR/CRADA project;

• Commercial status of the product/service (SBIR);

58 Non-traditional CRADAs include Facilities Usage Agreements.

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

CRADAs 

Total Active CRADAs 28 33 37 45 43

New CRADAs Executed 14 10 15 11 10

Active CRADAs with Small Businesses 0 18 26 22 24

Small Businesses in Active CRADAs 0 18 26 22 24

Traditional CRADAs

Active Traditional CRADAs 28 33 36 43 42

New Traditional CRADAs Executed 14 9 14 10 10

Non-Traditional CRADAs

Active Non-Traditional CRADAs 0 0 0 2 1

New Non-Traditional CRADAs Executed 0 1 0 1 0
49

• Revenues earned from the project from various sources;

• Non-monetary benefits;

• Other funding associated with the project;

• Satisfaction with the NOAA program; and

• Perceived success of participating in the program.

Table 4 summarizes the total surveys sent and received for each program, starting with 

the total number of in-scope companies. ERG was able to obtain 49 SBIR responses and 

nine CRADA responses; these numbers translated to response rates of 49 percent and 45 

percent for the SBIR and CRADA programs, respectively. 

Table 4. Summary of Survey Response Counts

Explanation of Recipient Counts SBIR CRADA

Initial Count of Survey Recipients 132 25

Removed Due to Infeasibility of Participation 33 5

Total Possible Survey Responses 99 20

Total Responses Received 49 9

Response Rate 49% 45%

The focus of CRADA projects included in the survey is presented in Figure 6, below. 

Respondents were able to select more than one focus area; thus, the total percentage 

exceeds 100 percent. 

Figure 6: CRADA Focus Areas

Revenue from New Products and Services
50

Three respondents (13%) indicated that a focus of their CRADA was developing new 

products or services (including data) that their company would be able to sell to 

customers (See Figure 2). Of these respondents, two indicated that their

product/service was under development, and the other indicated that their product/service 

was undergoing pre-market testing and was not currently being sold. No company who 

responded to the survey was currently selling their CRADA-developed product/service of 

focus in the CRADA. Given that the products/services were not currently commercially 

available, the responses for current and expected sales values for these products/services 

were zero dollars.

Revenue from Improving Existing Products and Services

Four respondents (17%) indicated that a focus of their CRADA was aimed at improving 

existing products/services that could be sold commercially or used internally at their 

company (See Figure 2). Two of these respondents indicated that their product/service is 

currently being sold. Companies reported that approximate sales over the last year of 

these improved products/services ranged from $25 to $2.5M for the collaborating 

companies. One respondent indicated that the improved product/service led to a 100 

percent increase in sales over the last year, with the other company indicating that 50 

percent of sales were attributable to the improved product/service. Expected sales for the 

two improved products/services were estimated at $50 and $10M, respectively.

Revenues from Internal Products and Services

Of the four respondents (17%) who indicated that the focus of their CRADA was aimed 

at improving existing products/services, one indicated that the CRADA led to 

improvements or changes to products or services that are currently being sold. The 

approximate sales of this product/service were estimated to be between $25,000-$35,000. 

The respondent indicated that 100 percent of sales over the last year were attributable to 

the improved product/service.

Non-Monetary Benefits

When asked if there were any non-monetary benefits the participating company gained 

from being involved in the CRADA agreement with NOAA, six of the nine survey 

participants described specific benefits:

• Testing and confirmation of product performance;

• Supporting native aquatic species and supporting ecosystem restoration;

• Publicity;

• New data collection methods;

• Accelerated research and development cycles; and

• Increasing public awareness and safety related to hazardous events.

Leveraged Funding

Two CRADA collaborators received additional resources (investment funding) from 

external sources (e.g., venture capital) to assist with conducting their CRADA. One 

received $90 million and the other received $4.36 million.
51

Satisfaction and Success

Survey results show that the majority of respondents felt that their CRADA project was 

beneficial to their company's commercial success. Respondents could rate the impact of 

the CRADA as “very beneficial,” “beneficial,” “marginally beneficial,” or “not 

beneficial.” Of the nine respondents, seven rated their CRADA as “beneficial,” one rated 

it as “very beneficial,” and one rated it as “not beneficial.”

Eight respondents described the level of collaboration between NOAA and their company 

in conducting their CRADA project as “very collaborative”; the other respondent 

described their level of collaboration as “moderately collaborative.” In addition, eight 

respondents also indicated that they were “very satisfied” with interactions with NOAA 

under their CRADA agreement with the remaining respondent being “somewhat 

satisfied” with their NOAA interactions.

Table 30 – NOAA Involvement with Small Businesses, Startups, and Young Companies

Publications59

In FY 2019, peer-reviewed publications by NOAA federal scientists totaled 1,895. The 

following charts show the breakdown of publications, including publications from NOAAfunded sources. 

59 NOAA publications data for 2019 were derived on December 2, 2019, 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 

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

Total Number of Small Businesses Supported 0 23 30 22 24

Total Number of Startup and Young 

Companies Supported 1 2 1 0 0
52 

 NOAA Authored 

Publications

NOAA Funded 

Publications

NOAA Funded 

Publications All NOAA 

(including authored Publications

pubs)

(excluding authored 

pubs)

Q1 500 731 486 986

Q2 380 475 287 667

Q3 418 577 368 786

Q4 597 764 459 1,056

Total 1,895 2,547 1,600 3,495

Figure 7: Publications per Lab/Division60

ST

Downstream Success Stories from NOAA Technology Transfer Activities

Saildrone: Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV), Alameda, CA

all NOAA publications. This reporting includes only those publications by NOAA scientists that were captured by 

the search queries. Publications authored by multiple divisions or assigned to multiple subjects have been counted 

multiple times in these tables. 60 Number of publications by research unit as a percentage of all NOAA-authored publications in FY 2019. A single 

publication with authors from one or more line office is counted as a publication for each line office.
53

Scientists and researchers have traditionally relied upon large research vessels for oceanographic 

data collection and monitoring activities. The data these vessels provide improve the scientific 

understanding of physical and biological aspects of the ocean. It also contributes to scientific 

disciplines whose work intersects with ocean processes, 

such as meteorology and climatology. The data has an 

array of practical applications, such as improving 

weather forecasts and aiding in species management.

However, these vessels can be costly and have other 

drawbacks as well. For example, they require time for 

scheduling and planning voyages and can cause research 

restrictions due to their size and maneuverability.

Despite these drawbacks, the information these vessels 

provide is imperative, so the search for a better method 

ensued. 

The California-based company, Saildrone, sought collaboration with NOAA’s Pacific Marine 

Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) to maximize the scientific applications of the wind-powered, 

unmanned surface vessel (USV) they developed.

Project

PMEL foresaw the potential for their USV technology to expand NOAA’s ocean 

observing research capabilities. After Saildrone produced a prototype of an autonomous 

sailing vehicle the seeds of a collaborative relationship were planted. The goal of the

CRADA was to combine NOAA PMEL’s experience implementing large-scale observing 

networks with an enhanced version of a Saildrone able to attain high-quality scientific 

observations that would be accepted by the global scientific community. The ongoing 

CRADA is a collaborative process between PMEL and Saildrone resulting in multiple 

waves of technology/product development focusing on NOAA’s data collection or 

monitoring missions. These waves include:

• A meteorological and oceanographic sensor package, where the focus was on the 

development of sensors to capture a range of ocean (e.g., ocean currents, pH) and 

atmospheric (e.g., wind speed, air temperature) measurements;

• Active acoustics to monitor marine mammals;

• A carbon sensor, where the focus was on a high-precision carbon dioxide (CO2) 

sensor; and

• A surface flux sensor to measure air and water turbulence.

With the potential for additional waves of product development, the Saildrone team 

conveyed that the future roadmap for sensor development will be driven, in part, by the 

Global Ocean Observing Network’s Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs), which help 

prioritize and maximize data across ocean observing platforms and networks.

Photo Credit: Saildrone
54

Benefits

The data collected by Saildrones generates a variety of ecosystem service benefits. For 

example, the data can be used to enhance NOAA fisheries’ capabilities, allowing better 

management of fisheries for species health, preservation, or public consumption. The 

data improves geospatial coverage of carbon in the ocean, which can be used to inform 

processes like ocean acidification and its impacts on plants and animals. Also, Saildrones 

can augment the ability to detect oil spills; helping spur spill response to minimize 

negative impacts to ocean organisms and ecosystems.

The development of the Saildrone has generated significant economic impacts for the 

company and the State of California that filter out to the country. Internally, the CRADA 

helped Saildrone increase private investment due to the perceived scientific rigor 

associated with NOAA’s involvement in product development, helping achieve over $90 

million in direct, private investment into the technology. The influx of product interest 

and sales helped Saildrone expand its workforce from 8 to over 100 employees since June 

2014. The manufacturing of Saildrones, which occurs entirely in the US, has also created 

jobs stretching from advanced manufacturing to advanced engineering, and the economic 

impact trickles outward to supply chains across the nation.

NOAA Support

Saildrone credits the CRADA knowledge-sharing process with accelerating company 

research and development. The collaboration with NOAA has also added a layer of 

product legitimacy for investors, given the agency’s reputation for conducting rigorous 

science.

Shellfish Research and Living Marine Resource Restoration in Puget Sound

In Puget Sound of Washington, Olympia oysters, 

kelp, and pinto abalone serve as ecosystem 

engineers; building and maintaining habitat critical 

for not only themselves, but numerous other species 

who rely upon the ecosystems that they create. 

Through their existence, these organisms also 

generate an array of benefits for humans that span 

from food production to employment to storm 

protection and recreation. However, each of these 

critical organisms is teetering on the brink of 

endangerment or disappearance in the Puget Sound. 

Currently in Puget Sound, less than five percent of dense Olympia oyster beds remain at the 

intertidal area; floating kelp beds have nearly disappeared from the southern portion of the 

Sound; and the pinto abalone population has been on a steep decline, decreasing 98 percent 

between 1992 and 2017 according to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

In 2011, The Puget Sound Restoration Fund (PRSF) approached NOAA with the idea of 

expanding their hatchery capacity in order to increase their production of oyster seed, kelp, and 

abalone.

Photo Credit: NOAA
55

Project

A CRADA between PSRF, the NOAA Manchester Native Shellfish Hatchery, and the 

Northwest Fisheries Science Center Manchester Laboratory was established in 2014. 

NOAA provided dedicated facilities having key attributes for project work (e.g., shellfish 

hatchery access with adequate flows of seawater) and technical expertise (e.g., species 

genetics) and PSRF was responsible for securing project staff and implementing project 

activities. With the aim to increase the scale of research and restoration activities focused 

on the Olympia oyster, kelp, and pinto abalone in Puget Sound, PSRF and NOAA 

focused project research and restoration activities in three areas: 

• Producing Olympia oyster larvae and seed that is planted to restore native oyster 

beds;

• Establishing a kelp lab for further applied research; and

• Establishing new pinto abalone operations at NOAA’s Manchester Research Station 

to increase the number of abalone able to be produced and, subsequently, introduced 

into the wild.

Since the inception of the CRADA, over 10 million oyster seeds have been produced and 

planted in priority areas. Olympia oysters are the only oyster species native to the Pacific 

Northwest region of the US and they are critical to the delicate ecosystem as they help 

regulate water quality, cycle nutrients, and create habitat for seagrasses and fish. The 

kelp lab and research efforts enabled PSRF to secure a 5-year grant worth $1.5 million 

from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation to investigate seaweed cultivation as a 

potential strategy for mitigating ocean acidification through the removal of carbon 

dioxide (CO2). 

Operations made possible through the CRADA have tripled the production of pinto 

abalone, the only abalone species native to Puget Sound, when compared to pre-CRADA 

volumes. The abalone grazing, digesting, and excreting micro- and macro-algae clear

habitat space for settlement of new organisms, improve nutrient cycling, and provide 

food to prey species. 

The CRADA also has also resulted in economic benefits from oyster product sales. PSRF 

indicated that product sales over the last year totaled $25,000, all of which can be 

attributed to work done through the CRADA.

NOAA Support

PSRF Executive Director, Betsy Peabody, described the CRADA with NOAA as being 

“life-changing.” She articulated that NOAA has worked with PSRF step-by-step to 

accomplish a shared vision. NOAA’s support for PSRF’s work has come in several 

forms. NOAA has provided the facilities needed to conduct research and restoration 

activities, technical assistance critical to advancing the work being conducted, and an 

influx of resources as PRSF has grown, or outgrown various situations or circumstances, 

throughout their CRADA experience.
56

NOAA Hosts Earth Prediction Innovation Center (EPIC) Community Workshop61

NOAA is working closely with entities in the weather enterprise (public, private, and academic) 

to inform the planning, development, and strategy for an Earth Prediction Innovation Center 

(EPIC) with the goal of accelerating community-developed scientific and technological 

advancements into the operational applications for Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP). 

To engage the community and inform the 

next steps for the EPIC Program, NOAA’s 

Office of Weather and Air Quality (OWAQ) 

hosted the EPIC Community Workshop at the

University of Colorado, Boulder University 

Memorial Center from August 6-8, 2019. 

The objectives of the workshop were to cocreate a vision for EPIC to accelerate the 

transition of research to operations; share the 

current status and future of community-based 

Earth System Modeling; understand NOAA’s 

developmental process for EPIC; create 

shared next steps in the development of EPIC

and identify emerging technologies for Earth 

System Modeling. 

Over twenty NOAA staff from multiple

Offices assisted in executing the Community 

Workshop which had over 180 in-person 

attendees. While government employees made up a majority of the Community Workshop 

participants, we had individuals from academia (60 participants), as well as the private sector (35 

participants), join us in the discussion. The Community Workshop was streamed via webinar 

and was attended by 113 individuals. In total, we engaged nearly 300 participants.

Other Activities, Performance Measures Deemed Important by the Agency

Science On a Sphere®

Science on a Sphere® (SOS) is a room-sized, global display system (US Patent 6,937,210) that 

uses computers and video projectors to display planetary data onto a six-foot diameter sphere, 

analogous to a giant animated globe. Researchers at NOAA developed Science on a Sphere® as 

an educational tool to help illustrate Earth System science to people of all ages. Animated 

images of atmospheric storms, climate change, and ocean temperature can be shown on the 

sphere, which is used to explain complex environmental processes in a way that is 

simultaneously intuitive and captivating.

61 https://owaq.noaa.gov/Resources/News/ArtMID/446/ArticleID/54/An-Overview-The-Earth-PredictionInnovation-Center-EPIC-Community-Workshop

Photo Credit: NOAA
57

“Science on a Sphere” Ribbon Cutting Ceremony 

From left to right: Mark Auslander (MSU Museum Director), 

Diane Byrum (MSU Board of Trustees Chair), 

April Clobes (MSU Federal Credit Union President and CEO), 

Teresa Sullivan (MSU Interim Provost) (Credit: MSU)

Table 32 – NOAA’s SOS Installations

NOAA-Funded (Extramural) R&D

NOAA Sea Grant

The National Sea Grant College Program was established by the U.S. Congress in 1966 

and works to create and maintain a healthy coastal environment and economy. The Sea 

Grant network consists of a federal/university partnership between NOAA and 33 

university-based programs in every coastal and Great Lakes state, Puerto Rico, and 

Guam. The network draws on the expertise of more than 3,000 scientists, engineers, 

public outreach experts, educators, and students to help citizens better understand, 

conserve and utilize America's coastal resources.

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

SoS Installations

Total Number in Operation 126 135 144 155 165

 New Domestic 6 3 6 3 7

 New International 10 6 3 8 8

 Total New Installs 16 9 9 11 15
58

U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System Program (IOOS®)

IOOS is a national-regional partnership working to provide new tools and forecasts to

improve safety, enhance the economy, and protect our environment. Integrated ocean 

information is available in near real-time, as well as retrospectively.

IOOS Funds a Study of US Business Activity in Ocean Measurement, 

Observation, & Forecasting62

The ocean enterprise (for-profit and not-for-profit businesses that support ocean 

measurement, observation, and forecasting) is a critical component of maritime 

commerce and the blue economy. These businesses develop the infrastructure 

necessary to generate new data and to work with publicly available data to deliver 

value-added products and services to ensure the safe, responsible, and successful 

running of maritime commerce. From the instruments that make strides in ocean 

observing every day to the app that tells a tourist whale-watching expedition if 

today is a safe day to go out, the ocean enterprise is a significant component of 

maritime industry. The Ocean Enterprise is rarely recognized as its own because 

the work they do is widely distributed across a range of disciplines not typically 

classified as maritime operations. The objective of its publication is to raise 

visibility and awareness of this important industry cluster and to better understand 

62 https://ioos.noaa.gov/project/ocean-enterprise-study/
59

its linkages with NOAA and the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System 

(IOOS®) program.

The study63 encompasses private sector enterprises that are:

• Providers of infrastructure including:

o Manufacturers of sensors, instruments, and platforms

o Those building, deploying, and operating observing systems

o Providers of the data infrastructure that manages and communicates 

ocean data

o Organizations that develop and maintain the data management 

systems, software tools, and models that are used to turn these data 

into useful information

• Intermediaries that make use of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes 

measurements, observations and models as an input to the creation of valueadded information products

Characterizing business activity within this sector is important to understanding 

the scope and scale of business activity supporting public missions and private 

sector growth within the overall economy. There were no major surprises, but 

many interesting findings including the locations, size, and functions of firms in 

this sector, including:

• Identifying more than 400 firms in the United States as operating in the sphere 

of Ocean Enterprise.

o This includes businesses inland (e.g. Nebraska, Kansas, and Montana) 

all contributing to the ocean enterprise, but not previously captured by 

regional studies.

• The Ocean Enterprise generated $7 billion (USD) in revenue annually

• 86% of businesses have been operating five or more years in the Ocean 

Enterprise. More than 54% of them expect growth in their Ocean Enterprise 

business in the next year.

Climate Program Office

The Climate Program Office (CPO) manages the competitive research program in which 

NOAA funds high-priority climate science to advance understanding of Earth's climate 

system and its atmospheric, oceanic, land, and snow and ice components. This science 

contributes to knowledge about how climate variability and change affect our health, 

economy, and well-being. CPO supports research that is conducted in regions across the 

United States, at national and international scales, and globally. 

Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISA) program team and partners 

win 2019 Colorado Governor’s Award for High-Impact Research64

63 Full Report: https://cdn.ioos.noaa.gov/media/2017/12/oceanenterprise_feb2017_secure.pdf 64 https://cpo.noaa.gov/News/News-Article/ArtMID/6226/ArticleID/1808/CPO-RISA-team-and-partners-win-2019-

Governor%e2%80%99s-Award-for-High-Impact-Research)
60

In the last 100 years, the leading cause of dam failure and the resulting loss of life has 

been overtopping due to inadequate or improperly designed spillways. With increases in 

severity and frequency of extreme precipitation events, current modeling practices for 

rain and snowfall have shown to be inadequate for assessing possible public safety issues 

regarding dams and spillways.

Leveraging 21st century scientific and 

engineering advances and applying 

creative approaches, a unique federalstate-private sector team of nationally 

recognized scientists, engineers, 

public safety officials, and dam 

owners designed and implemented an 

innovative scientific approach to 

understanding extreme precipitation 

in the Rocky Mountain region. 

Left to right: Eric James of CIRES and ESRL GSD, Kelly Mahoney of ESRL PSD, Rob Cifelli of ESRL PSD, and Jeff 

Lukas of CPO's Western Water Assessment RISA team and CIRES (Trevor Alcott of ESRL GSD, absent) (Credit: 

NOAA).

The effort was part of a larger project sponsored by the Colorado Division of Water 

Resources and the New Mexico Office of the State Engineer to update decades-old 

extreme precipitation estimates using modern technical methods and current scientific 

understanding. The team developed engineering and decision support tools that provide a 

scientifically defensible basis for determining the risk of extreme precipitation events to 

guide dam spillway design and to enhance community resilience in a changing climate.

Education and Outreach

NOAA Environmental Literacy Program instructs Maine’s coastal communities to 

use NOAA data to help prepare for sea-level rise65

In July, over 60 residents of Cumberland County, Maine, packed into a room in the local 

Cliff Island Post Office. There, the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) led them 

through an exploration of Maine’s climate past, using it as an entry point to help the 

residents better understand their state’s climate present and future.

65 https://www.noaa.gov/education/stories/maine-s-coastal-communities-use-noaa-data-to-prepare-for-sea-level-rise
61

(Credit: NOAA)

Most people in Maine, including the attendees of this event, live along the Gulf of Maine, 

where coastal waters have warmed more than anywhere else in the United States. This 

warming water and the ensuing sea level rise contribute to severe storms and king tides 

(the highest high tides of the year) that hurt the community’s residents, industries, and 

ecosystems.

To help Maine residents understand and prepare for these threats, GMRI sought out 

assistance from NOAA’s Environmental Literacy Program (ELP), which supports the use 

of education as a tool to help people and their communities become more resilient to 

extreme weather and climate events. Through an ELP grant, GMRI created an interactive 

learning experience called “Preparing coastal communities for sea-level rise.” This 

program integrated NOAA data into story maps—interactive digital tools that combine 

geographic data and narrative—to engage people in understanding sea-level rise, its 

causes, its future projections, and its impacts on local communities.

 

NOAA Technology Transfer Awards

NOAA selected one project to receive the Agency’s Technology Transfer Award in 2019. This 

project exemplified the highest standard for developing new technology in cooperation with 

private sector partners in the service of NOAA’s mission. 

Gabriel Brooks - For leadership in implementing technology transfer for Passive 

Integrated Transponder (PIT) tag detection in fish across the Pacific Northwest.
62

CHAPTER 4

National Telecommunications and Information Administration: Institute for 

Telecommunication Sciences 

The Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS) is the research and engineering laboratory 

that provides technical engineering support to NTIA. ITS also serves as a principal federal 

resource for solving telecommunications concerns of other federal agencies, state and local 

governments, private corporations and associations, and international organizations through 

Interagency Agreements and CRADAs. Roughly three-quarters of ITS research programs are 

undertaken under such agreements. 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 R&D;

• Technical publications, sample data sets, and software tools available on the ITS website 

and GitHub; 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 

CRADAs 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 2019, as it has for decades, ITS participated in CRADAs with private sector organizations 

to design, develop, test, and evaluate advanced telecommunication concepts. CRADAs provide 

ITS with insights into industry’s needs for productivity growth and competitiveness. This 

enables ITS to adjust the focus and direction of its programs for effectiveness and value. The 

private industry partner benefits by gaining access to the results of research in commercially 

important areas that it would not otherwise be able to undertake.

To date, major contributions to citizens achieved through CRADAs include broadband 

commercial radio service (including testing and evaluation of spectrum access systems and 

environmental sensing capability sensors), personal communication services (PCS), local 

multipoint distribution service (LMDS), ultra-wideband (UWB), objective audio and video 

Quality of Experience (QoE) metrics, advanced antennas for wireless systems, remote sensing 

and global position (GPS) technologies, high resolution laser radar (LADAR), autonomous 
63

networks for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and broadband air-interface and core network 

capabilities for Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile communications. These have aided U.S. 

efforts to rapidly introduce new socially constructive communications technologies. 

ITS was a partner in the original Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) program with 

the NIST Communications Technology Laboratory (CTL). That program focused on improving 

first responder communications and interoperability through the development of communication 

standards and through research, development, testing, and evaluation (RDT&E) of mission 

critical communication systems. This joint program operated for over two decades on behalf of 

sponsors at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ). 

Public Safety 700 MHz Broadband Demonstration Agreements (CRADAs) protected the 

intellectual property of vendors and manufacturers while operating 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. The Broadband II 

Consortium expired in late FY 2018 and has not been renewed; since the vast majority of 

CRADAs ITS entered into in prior reporting years related to the Consortium, total number of 

CRADAs in FY 2019 were significantly lower.

Table 33 – Collaborative Relationships for Research & Development

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 ITS technical 

publications—both reports and monographs published by NTIA and peer-reviewed articles in 

scientific journals—have become standard references in several telecommunications areas. 

Technical publication remains a principal means for ITS technology transfer; software releases 

are becoming increasingly important and publication downloads have been decreasing as 

software downloads increase. Technical publications are released after going through an internal 

peer review process managed by the ITS Editorial Review Board (ERB). In FY 2019, 56% of 

manuscripts released through the ERB process were published in scientific journals or 

conference proceedings and 44% were published as NTIA reports. While official NTIA 

publications allow greater in-depth analysis of research results, journal articles and conference 

papers have equal, and sometimes greater, reach in transferring new tools and discoveries.

Technical Publications Downloaded

ITS makes all of its publications available to the public through its Web site and provides online 

users with advanced search capabilities that will locate relevant publications by keyword. To 

ensure a meaningful and realistic metric, ITS counts actual downloads of publication PDFs rather 

than pageviews of the bibliographic summaries. In FY 2019, ITS technical publications were 

downloaded 4,895 times.

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

Number of Active CRADAs 54 62 60 68 11

Number of Newly Executed CRADAs 53 12 8 13 8

Number of Active CRADAs with Small Businesses Involvement 15 17 17 18 4

Number of Small Businesses Involved in Active CRADAs 15 17 17 18 4
64

Transfer of Technical Methods

High-precision measurements are key to creating and validating radio propagation models. ITS 

and its predecessors have been collecting measurement data for more than a century, creating a 

unique expertise in measurement science and techniques. In FY 2018, ITS published a Technical 

Handbook that described the principles of collecting accurate spectrum measurements. In FY 

2019, ITS published on YouTube a series of 20 videos on Spectrum Measurement Theory and 

Techniques that combine theory and hands-on demonstration, which were viewed 1,083 times.

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

Increasingly, technology transfer occurs through the publication of software rather than 

traditional technical reports. 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. Video quality metric (VQM) downloads were reported for the first time in FY 

2013 and other downloads were reported for the first time in FY 2014. In FY 2017, ITS 

increased its use of the GitHub open source code hosting platform, and in FY 2019 ITS had 21 

public repositories. While this allows more interaction with potential users of the software and 

can perhaps be said to broaden the audience, the open source paradigm also makes it more 

difficult to understand the impact of the software. While there is presently no generally accepted 

impact metric for GitHub repositories, ITS has added a count of the number of public 

repositories as a proxy until a more meaningful impact metric is determined. ITS continues to 

explore the development of metrics for GitHub-posted code.

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. In FY 2017, ITS made 

public the first important software implementation of a propagation model to be released via the 

GitHub platform. ITS used the C++ implementation of the Extended Hata (eHata) Urban 

Propagation Model to inform regulation, and the repository was forked by the Wireless 

Innovation Forum (WInnForum), which redistributed it to industry member for use in developing 

the Spectrum Access Systems (SAS) that will enable spectrum sharing using the three-tier 

architecture proposed for the 3.5 GHz (CBRS Band).

Audio Quality Testing: Two ITS-developed objective estimators of speech intelligibility that 

follow the paradigm of the Modified Rhyme Test (MRT) are freely available for download from 

the ITS web site. The Articulation Band Correlation MRT (ABC-MRT), released in 2013, 

consumes a tiny fraction of the resources required by MRT testing and provides excellent 

estimates of MRT intelligibility results (Pearson correlations of .95–.99) for narrowband speech 
65

transmissions. ABC-MRT16, released in FY 2017, not only updated the audition model, but also 

extended the estimator to wideband, superwideband, and fullband speech systems as well as 

narrowband. ABC-MRT and ABC-MRT16 tools and MRT databases are available for download 

through the ITS web site and were downloaded 144 times in FY 2019. A variety of sample clips 

for audio quality testing are also made available and were downloaded 140 times in FY 2019.

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 the 

American National Standards Institute (ANSI), to estimate the quality of video impairments, 

providing users an inexpensive alternative to viewer panels for testing new transmission 

technologies. During FY 2019, ITS transferred the VQM software to GitHub as compiled binary 

files; combined downloads from the ITS web site and GitHub totaled 194. Downloads of this 

package have been steadily decreasing as its age makes it less relevant; work is underway to 

produce a modernized version. The Web-Enabled Subjective Test (WEST) software package 

facilitates gathering subjective testing data from multiple locations and multiple portable or 

computing devices. The compiled software is also freely available for download from the ITS 

web site and the source code is available from a public GitHub repository, whence it has been 

forked several times.

Consumer Digital Video Library Users Downloading Clips

In FY 2010, ITS began development of the Consumer Digital Video Library (CDVL), 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 staff. ITS launched the site with 1,000 clips and clips continue to 

be added by ITS and other collaborators. Significant recent additions include: a collection of 

public safety video clips filmed during training exercises and so free of privacy concerns; 4K 

sports content uploaded by Sky Broadcasting in the UK; and studio quality original test 

sequences uploaded by Netflix. Over 2,460 different video clips were downloaded from the 

library in FY 2019. 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; annual rates of around 200 users are consistent with the target audience 

for this library.

Table 34 – Other Performance Measures Deemed Important by the Agency

Development of Telecommunication Standards

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 

FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019

Technical Publications Released 22 4 10 11 11

Technical Publications Downloaded 9,048 8,748 6,214 5,513 5,980

Consumer Digital Video Library Users Downloading 212 169 202 260 258

Video Quality Metric Software Users Downloading 507 496 372 332 194

Propagation Modeling Software Downloads 798 781 1,160 1,325 1,352

Other Software/Data Downloads 493 591 819 661 714

Public GitHub Repositories 3 4 8 17 21
66

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), the 3rd Generation Partnership Project 

(3GPP), the IEEE Standards Association, and various Federal public safety groups to develop, 

interpret, analyze, and implement 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-Radio Communication Sector

(ITU-R), a treaty organization, are based on research conducted at ITS. Also, key national 

quality-of-service standards developed under the 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, 3GPP, and other telecommunication standards 

organizations, providing technical leadership that is trusted by the commercial-sector 

participants.

In FY 2019, ITS staff held 21 positions in six standards bodies, including 9 Chair/Co-chair/Vicechair positions. ITS staff filled key leadership positions in the ITU-R, including Head of the 

U.S. Delegation to Study Group (SG) 3 (Radio Propagation), International Chair and U.S. Chair 

of SG3 Working Parties 3K and 3L (Point-to-area and ionospheric propagation), and U.S. Chair 

of Working Party 3J (Propagation fundamentals). ITS also continued its technical leadership and 

contributions to communications standards for emerging 5G technologies through participation 

in 3GPP. 

Downstream Outcomes from ITS Technology Transfer Activities

Innovative Commercial Services

ITS research, technology transfer, and testing were critical to the recent initial commercial 

deployments of the new Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS). When the FCC, in 

consultation with NTIA, created an innovative new three-tiered access and authorization 

framework to accommodate shared Federal and non-Federal use of the 3.5 GHz band, no 

roadmap existed for creating and authorizing the new Sharing system between high power 

Federal radars and commercial mobile services. ITS research and publications on 

electromagnetic compatibility between LTE and radars, LTE hotspot emission measurements, 

on-shore detections of off-shore radars, and effects of high-power radars on low noise amplifiers 

informed the development of technical requirements. 

Initial estimates indicated that geographically very large exclusion zones would be needed to 

protect Federal maritime radars from harmful interference from commercial wireless networks, 

precluding access to new services for nearly 60% of the U.S. population. ITS, working with 

NTIA’s Office of Spectrum Management (OSM), conducted analyses to decrease the initial 

exclusion zones by 77%. ITS worked closely with the WInnForum to analyze the methodology 

they proposed to further facilitate dynamic protection and sharing, opening up more populationdense coastal geographic areas where commercial services could co-exist with Federal radars and 

making a commercial service in the band economically viable. 
67

ITS worked with the industry-led standards organization on development of technical standards 

for a technology-neutral commercial broadband service, including providing critical propagation 

software through publication of the C++ implementation of the eHata propagation model. At the 

request of the FCC, ITS developed a certification testing system for environmental sensing 

capability sensors (ESCs) critical for protection of Federal radar systems, and conformance tests 

for the spectrum access systems (SAS) that leveraged the WInnForum SAS certification system. 

ITS published a technical memorandum detailing procedures and processes for ESC testing and

published a SAS test software-based study guide via GitHub. Under CRADAs with industry 

partners, ITS conducted certification testing on ESCs and SASs. These test reports paved the 

way for the FCC, after consultation with the DoD and NTIA-OSM, to authorize initial 

commercial operations at 3.5 GHz on September 16, 2019. 

Telecommunication Standards

Models used to predict wireless propagation are fundamental to enabling spectrum sharing. The 

ITU-R’s primary objective is to ensure interference-free operations of radiocommunications 

systems. The ITU-R publishes internationally standardized propagation prediction models that 

are used to harmonize spectrum assignments internationally and to manage space-related 

spectrum assignments. Increasing spectrum crowding demands increased accuracy and 

granularity of these models, which are developed through the participation of technical 

committees from all the treaty nations. 

ITS leads efforts at ITU-R Study Group 3 (Radiowave Propagation) to ensure that U.S. interests 

and policy objectives are given due consideration by international technical experts and to 

promote informed decisions founded on physics and mathematics. ITS holds two of the four 

International Chairs of Study Group three and acts as Head of the US Delegation to the Study 

Group 3 meetings. In May of 2019, ITS employees participated in the final meeting of ITU-R 

Study Group 3 leading up to the 2019 World Radio Conference (WRC19), in which nations of 

the world gather to make critical decisions regarding the global regulation and use of spectrum.

Of particular interest for this WRC were: 5G analysis and discussions on modeling millimeterwave propagation, which is growing in importance as mid-band spectrum becomes increasingly 

congested and countries look to deploy millimeter-wave bandwidth systems; air-to-ground 

propagation modeling needed to coordinate the exponential expansion of satellite 

communications systems; and examination of radio noise, including analysis of different 

measurement datasets. As a technical contribution from the U.S., ITS employees submitted a 

substantial revision to Recommendation P.528, A propagation prediction method for 

aeronautical mobile and radionavigation services using the VHF, UHF and SHF bands. This 

revision replaced static curves requiring manual interpolation with a purely mathematical model 

for arbitrary inputs. ITS also provided a software implementation of the model and publicly 

released the source code at github.com/NTIA/p528, a compiled DLL at 

github.com/NTIA/p528/releases, and a pre-built executable that launches a graphical front end 

for this software implementation at github.com/NTIA/p528-gui. The ITS software 

implementation was adopted by the ITU-R as integral to the revised Recommendation P.528.
68

Direct participation by ITS in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the dominant 

cellular communications standards development organization, allows NTIA to advance U.S. 

commercial, economic, and government interests by providing technical input to promote strong 

unbiased standards that support fair competition in next generation/5G cellular technologies. For 

a number of years, ITS has provided technical guidance to other government agencies in

advocating for standardization of service features specific to public safety, emergency 

communications, and transportation. A particular focus in FY 2019 was to ensure that NTIA and 

other interested agencies obtained a comprehensive understanding of the 3GPP New Radio (5G 

NR—the global standard for the air interface of 5G networks) capabilities, the services 5G NR 

was built to deliver, and deployment scenarios in both licensed and unlicensed spectrum for the 

evolution to 5G.

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 2019, additional capabilities were added to the Table Mountain test facilities in 

support of NOAA’s Radio Frequency Interference Monitoring System (RFIMS) program. 

ITS helped NOAA develop the technical specifications for a Request for Proposals to 

develop, produce, install, and maintain a radio frequency interference monitoring system 

to mitigate the risk of potential interference by commercial wireless carriers that are 

slated to begin sharing the spectrum with NOAA satellite operations in 2020. Work 

began on the installation of a 6.5 m Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite 

(GOES) receiver dish to support Meteorological Satellite Testbed activities. A 2.4 m

Earth Station satellite dish capable of capturing Polar Operational Environmental Satellite 

(POES) satellite imagery was previously installed to test the degree of interference that 

could be tolerated, with a robust command and control system to command, verify, and 

log interference transmitted to RFIMS candidate solutions under test. A Spectrum 

Survey System (SSS) has been used over the past two years to prototype near-real time 

monitoring, data collecting, and reporting methods that might be used by RFIMS. This 

system can also be used to analyze potential sharing concerns in other frequency bands.

• In FY 2019, several companies used the Table Mountain site under a CRADA to safely 

test and demonstrate LADAR technologies under development in atmospheric conditions 

and at distances relevant to potential applications, to fully test the functionality of new 

antenna designs during product development, and to safely and accurately test an 

Adaptive Tactical Laser System (ATLAS) compensated beacon adaptive optics (CBAO) 

system under development. Applications for these technologies include detection and 

tracking of wind shear and wake vortices, remote wind measurements for the offshore 

wind energy industry, mission-critical communications, electronic warfare, direction 

finding/geolocation, and sensing of hazardous liquids and gases.

• For the past eleven years, the University of Colorado’s Research and Engineering Center 

for Unmanned Vehicles safely and accurately tested collective and autonomous sensing 

and communication technologies to facilitate 4D sight through a ground-to-space sensing 

column with unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) operating in the atmosphere integrated 
69

with ground-based and space-based observation systems. These capabilities are intended 

to be applied for myriad of purposes ranging from improved climate and weather 

forecasting to better-informed government policymaking.

Video Quality Research

Industry and academia use both CDVL and the VQM tools for research into new techniques for 

transmitting video. Lack of access to video footage appropriate for testing new video 

distribution technologies had been a significant impediment to video processing R&D until the 

launch of CDVL. The clips may be used to test codecs, to evaluate new display technologies, or 

for validation testing of new standards. For example, ITU-T Study Group 12 has used CDVL 

clips for research into the development of parametric models and tools for multimedia quality 

assessment and the MPEG committee opened a conversation with ITS about using the CDVL 

video clips for validation testing of new video coding standards. Currently, simulated public 

safety content comprises 40% of CDVL’s content. Real public safety content is nearly 

impossible to obtain due to litigation concerns, and first responders use consumer grade 

electronics. Access to this simulated content promotes development and standardization of 

commercial video technologies that meet public safety’s requirements.
70

SUMMARY

Technology transfer is an essential mission of the Department of Commerce and uses our 

nation’s innovation and investment in science and technology to strengthen our economy and 

competitiveness in world markets. This report details the results of collaborative technology 

activities originating from the Department’s federal laboratories. Federal research is a complex 

process that provides the opportunity for new ideas and innovations to achieve practical 

application for the benefit of U.S. citizens. The success stories in this report provide examples of 

how society benefits from technology transfer activities across the Department’s federal

laboratories. As knowledge advances and the needs of the economy change, the Department of 

Commerce, through its federal laboratories, will continue to play a role in keeping America at

the forefront of innovation and supporting our economy by aiding in the transfer and 

commercialization of innovative technologies.
71

Appendix A

Technology Area Classifications

Mapping of International Patent Classifications to Technology Area66

Audio-Visual Technology – Includes but is not limited to: advertising, signs, labels or nameplates, seals, arrangements or circuits for control of indicating devices using static means to 

present variable information, scanning details of television systems, color television systems, still 

video cameras, loudspeakers, microphones, stereophonic systems, and printed circuits. 

Basic Communication Processes – Includes but is not limited to: generation of oscillations, 

modulation, amplifiers, control of amplification, impedance networks, tuning resonant circuits, 

pulse technique, and general coding, decoding, or code conversion.

Computer Technology – Includes but is not limited to: digital computers in which all the 

computation is affected mechanically, digital fluid-pressure computing devices, optical 

computing devices, electric digital data processing, analog computers, recognition of data, 

counting mechanisms, image data processing or generation, speech analysis or synthesis, speech 

recognition, and static stores. 

Digital Communication – Includes but is not limited to: transmission of digital information, 

selective content distribution, and wireless communication networks.

Electrical Machinery, Apparatus, Energy – Includes but is not limited to: incandescent 

mantles, lighting devices or systems, nonportable lighting devices or systems, cables, conductors, 

insulators, magnets, inductances, transformers, capacitors, electric switches, electric discharge 

tubes or discharge lamps, electric incandescent lamps, spark gaps, emergency protective circuit 

arrangements, dynamo-electric machines, electric heating, static electricity, and generation of 

electric power by conversion of Ingra-red radiation, visible light, or ultraviolet light.

Measurement – Includes but is not limited to: measuring linear dimensions, measuring 

distances, surveying, navigation, gyroscopic instruments, measuring volume, weighing, 

measurement of mechanical vibrations, measurement of intensity or velocity, measuring 

temperature or quantity of heat, measuring force, testing static or dynamic balance of machines 

or structures, sampling, investigating strength properties of solid materials by application of 

mechanical stress, investigating density or specific gravity of materials; investigating flow 

properties of materials, investigating or analyzing materials by use of optical or thermal means, 

and investigating or analyzing materials by the use of nuclear magnetic resonance, electron 

paramagnetic resonance or other spin effects.

66 Derived from The World Intellectual Property Organization’s International Patent Classification (IPC) 

Correspondence Table (http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/ipstats/en/statistics/patents/xls/ipc_technology.xls) 

and IPC Searchable Classification Database, Version 2016.01 (https://www.wipo.int/classifications/ipc/ipcpub/
72

Micro-Structural and Nano-Technology – Includes but is not limited to: micro-structural 

devices or systems, processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment of 

micro-structural devices or systems, specific uses or applications of nano-structures, and nanostructures formed by manipulation of individual atoms, molecules, or limited collections of 

atoms or molecules as discrete units. 

Semiconductors – Includes semiconductor devices and electric solid-state devices not otherwise 

provided.

Telecommunications – Includes but is not limited to: transmission systems for measured 

values, waveguides, resonators, aerials, transmission, broadcast communication, multiplex 

communication, secret communication, jamming of communication, telephonic communication, 

and scanning, transmitting, or reproducing documents.
73

Appendix B

Fields and Subfields of S&E Publications Data67

Agricultural Sciences: agronomy and agriculture; dairy and animal science; food science; 

horticulture

Astronomy and Astrophysics: astronomy and astrophysics

Biological and Biomedical Sciences: anatomy and morphology; biochemistry and molecular 

biology; bioinformatics; biophysics; biotechnology; developmental biology; ecology; 

entomology; evolutionary biology; genetics and heredity; immunology; medicinal and 

biomolecular chemistry; microbiology; microscopy; mycology and parasitology; nutrition and 

dietetics; ornithology; physiology; plant biology and botany; toxicology; virology; zoology

Chemistry: analytical chemistry; general chemistry; inorganic and nuclear chemistry; organic 

chemistry; physical chemistry; polymers

Computer and Information Sciences: artificial intelligence and image processing; computation 

theory and mathematics; computer hardware and architecture; distributed computing; 

information systems; networking and telecommunications; software engineering

Engineering: aerospace and aeronautics; automobile design and engineering; biomedical 

engineering; building and construction; chemical engineering; civil engineering; design practice 

and management; electrical and electronic engineering; environmental engineering; geological 

and geomatics engineering; industrial engineering and automation; logistics and transportation; 

mechanical engineering and transports; mining and metallurgy; nanoscience and 

nanotechnology; operations research; optoelectronics and photonics

Geosciences, Atmospheric, and Ocean Sciences: geochemistry and geophysics; geology; 

marine biology and hydrobiology; meteorology and atmospheric sciences; oceanography; 

paleontology

Health Sciences: allergy; anesthesiology; arthritis and rheumatology; cardiovascular system and 

hematology; complementary and alternative medicine; dentistry; dermatology and venereal 

diseases; emergency and critical care medicine; endocrinology and metabolism; environmental 

and occupational health; epidemiology; gastroenterology and hepatology; general and internal 

medicine; general clinical medicine; geriatrics; gerontology; health policy and services; legal and 

forensic medicine; medical informatics; neurology and neurosurgery; nuclear medicine and 

medical imaging; nursing; obstetrics and reproductive medicine; oncology and carcinogenesis; 

ophthalmology and optometry; orthopedics; otorhinolaryngology; pathology; pediatrics; 

67 The fields are based on the Taxonomy of Disciplines (TOD) developed by the National Science Foundation 

(NSF). Science-Metrix used its own classification of 176 subfields developed more than a decade ago and worked 

with NSF to align its subfields to the TOD scheme. Details about the process can be found at https://www.sciencemetrix.com/sites/default/files/science-metrix/publications/bibliometric-indicators-for-the-sei-2020-technicaldocumentation.pdf.
74

pharmacology and pharmacy; psychiatry; public health; rehabilitation; respiratory system; 

speech-language pathology and audiology; sport sciences; substance abuse; surgery; tropical 

medicine; urology and nephrology; veterinary sciences 

Materials Science: materials

Mathematics and Statistics: applied mathematics; general mathematics; numerical and 

computational mathematics; statistics and probability

Natural Resources and Conservation: Environmental sciences; fisheries; forestry

Physics: acoustics; applied physics; chemical physics; fluids and plasmas; general physics; 

mathematical physics; nuclear and particle physics; optics

Psychology: behavioral science and comparative psychology; clinical psychology; experimental 

psychology; general psychology and cognitive sciences; human factors; psychoanalysis; social 

psychology

Social Sciences: Agricultural economics and policy; criminology; cultural studies; development 

studies; econometrics; economic theory; economics; education; family studies; gender studies; 

geography; international relations; languages and linguistics; political science and public 

administration; science studies; social sciences methods; sociology; urban and regional planning