VISITING COMMITTEE ON ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY 

National Institute of Standards and Technology 

FY 2006 Annual Report 

U.S. Department of Commerce 

Technology Administration 

National Institute of Standards and Technology 
VISITING COMMITTEE ON ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY 

National Institute of Standards and Technology 

PREFACE

The Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology (VCAT) of the National Institute of Standards 

and Technology (NIST) was established in its present form by the Omnibus Trade and 

Competitiveness Act of 1988. The VCAT reviews and makes recommendations regarding 

general policy for NIST, its organization, its budget and its programs within the framework of 

applicable national policies as set forth by the president and the Congress. This fiscal year 2006 

annual report covers the December 2005 (FY2006 Quarter 1) meeting through the September 

2006 meeting. 

The Committee reviews the Institute’s strategic direction, performance and policies, and provides 

the Secretary of Commerce, Congress, and other stakeholders with information on the value and 

relevance of NIST to the US science and technology base and to the economy. Over the past 

year, the Committee has been active in assessing NIST’s progress in the following: 

• Strategic direction and performance 

• Infrastructure and process in support of strategic needs 

• Outreach - Assessing and responding to external drivers 

• Organizing and executing with excellence 

Throughout the year, the Committee seeks to cover a significant portion of NIST programs 

through direct discussion with NIST leaders, scientists and engineers. Reactions and 

observations are discussed candidly with the NIST representatives and other guests at each 

meeting. This feedback is used to seed continuous improvement in key areas in the overall 

operation. At each quarterly meeting, the Committee also visits various NIST laboratories and 

discusses the research projects directly with the technical staff. These laboratory tours help the 

committee assess NIST’s progress vs. strategic plan and NIST infrastructure. 

Members of the Committee have careers in industry and in academia, and are selected solely on 

the basis of established records of distinguished service and eminence in their fields: research, 

engineering, business and other fields relevant to the NIST mission. Appointed by the NIST 

Director for staggered three year terms, the members have diverse backgrounds and provide a 

representative cross-section of traditional and emerging US industries. Two new members joined 

the Committee during 2006: Dr. Thomas Baer and Dr. Paul Fleury. 

One of the more important developments for FY2006 was the development of the American 

Competitiveness Initiative. The resulting budget increases for NIST are noteworthy, and need to 

continue in a manner that supports the appropriate strengthening of key areas. 

This report highlights the Committee’s findings and recommendations, along with a summary of 

observations. Detailed meeting minutes and presentation materials are available on the NIST 

web site at www.nist.gov/director/vcat. 

Members of VCAT: 

Ms. Deborah L. Grubbe, P.E., Chair 

BP International 

Mr. Gary D. Floss 

Marvin Windows and Doors 

Dr. Thomas M. Baer 

Stanford University 

Dr. Lou Ann Heimbrook 

Merck & Co., Inc. 

Dr. John F. Cassidy 

United Technologies Corporation (retired) 

Dr. Donald B. Keck 

Corning Incorporated (retired) 

Dr. Paul A. Fleury 

Yale University 

Mr. Edward J. Noha 

CAN Financial Corporation 

Mr. Thomas A. Saponas 

Agilent Technologies (retired) 

Dr. E. David Spong, VCAT Vice Chair 

Boeing Company (retired) 

Dr. James W. Serum 

SciTek Ventures 

Mr. Robert T. Williams 

Caterpillar, Inc. 

Mr. W. Wyatt Starnes 

SignaCert, Inc. 
VISITING COMMITTEE ON ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY 

National Institute of Standards and Technology 

FINDINGS and RECOMMENDATIONS

The VCAT thanks Dr. William Jeffrey for his efforts to elevate and to educate others on the key 

role of NIST in a vibrant and growing US economy. In his first full year of operation, Dr. Jeffrey 

has broadened the impact of NIST across key areas of need (homeland security, 

nanotechnology, biosciences) and has supported more outreach internationally. 

The VCAT would also like to recognize and thank Dr. Hratch Semerjian, as he moves from NIST 

Deputy Director to Chief Scientist. Dr. Semerjian’s consummate professionalism and credibility 

enabled a successful transition for Dr. Jeffrey and for the NIST Staff. 

On the matter of world renowned professional accomplishments, the Committee would like to 

offer its congratulations to Dr. John L. (Jan) Hall of NIST Boulder/JILA, for being awarded the 

2005 Nobel Prize in Physics. Dr. Hall was awarded the prize for his contributions to the 

development of laser-based precision spectroscopy, including the optical frequency comb 

technique. Outstanding research attracts world class researchers, and this is a NIST competitive 

advantage that must be retained. 

With a high quality portfolio of programs, NIST remains uniquely positioned to promote U.S. 

innovation and industrial competitiveness. Its advancement of measurement science, standards 

and technology are exemplar in today’s world, and must be continuously nurtured. NIST 

programs consist of the following: 

NIST Laboratories: providing measurements and standards for U.S. industry in these areas 

• Building and fire research

• Chemical science and technology

• Electronics and electrical engineering

• Information technology

• Manufacturing engineering

• Materials science and engineering

• Physics

• Technology services

Baldrige National Quality Program: promoting and recognizing organizational performance 

excellence. 

Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership: providing technical and business assistance 

to smaller manufacturers. 

Advanced Technology Program: partnering with the private-sector to develop broadly 

beneficial technologies. (This program is currently being phased out.) 

The Committee continues to believe that NIST’s measurement science, standards and 

technology underlie the nation’s technological and scientific infrastructure. Furthermore, as 

markets become more global and as global supply chains grow in number and in complexity, it 

becomes even more important that NIST maintains its leadership role in promoting more open 

and fair international dialogue on key measurement issues. US dominance in key industries, 

notably telecommunications and bioscience, could be at stake if this leadership is lost. 

The American Competitiveness Initiative represents a total of $1.3 billion in new Federal funding 

and an additional $4.6 billion in R&D Tax incentives. Specifically, the ACI doubles over 10 years, 

the funding for innovation enabling research at three key Federal agencies, including NIST. This 

year NIST saw a significant increase to its Laboratory funding. This increase follows years of 
VISITING COMMITTEE ON ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY 

National Institute of Standards and Technology 

tight and declining budgets, and the committee is supportive of the Federal action, and supports 

future appropriations in line with the original ACI commitment. 

The Committee is concerned about the continued downward pressure on MEP and ATP funding, 

as NIST also has a key role in supporting the existing industrial base. Good technology ideas are 

only sustainable if they can be turned into profitable businesses. Currently, ATP fills a niche very 

helpful to the successful development of new commercial technologies, and MEP facilitates the 

transferring of new industrial technologies and processes to small and mid size firms. It is the 

view of this committee that the US Government is perceived to be reducing its investment in the 

front end of the commercialization process of new technologies, and may want to consider NIST 

in a bridging role. In the future, this niche could be filled by more robust venture capital 

mechanisms in the private sector; however, stable mechanisms do not currently exist, access is 

difficult, and a systemic approach is indicated. 

Lastly, in FY 2006, the National Research Council completed its bi-annual independent peer 

review of NIST. The VCAT appreciates the additional effort and time that the NRC takes in 

communicating its observations and results, and finds their insights quite helpful and supportive. 

Strategic direction and performance 

Finding: NIST has been receptive to the Committee’s guidance on strategic planning, 

especially in the areas of: 

• developing more strategic partnerships and collaborations, 

• accelerating interdisciplinary efforts into newer research areas, 

• establishing mechanisms to support its role in measurement science, and 

• Supporting key national priorities, e.g. Homeland Security.

Recommendations: 

1. The Committee supports the addition of a national priorities element to the NIST 

strategic plan. Recent work has shown that NIST has expertise to help improve the 

nation’s economic recovery from both natural and man made disasters. For example, 

in addition to work with the Department of Homeland Security on threat detection and 

measurement, NIST is now supporting Hurricane Katrina clean up efforts with FEMA 

and NOAA. NIST is also supporting a Presidential initiative to develop a National 

Healthcare Information Network with the Department of Health and Human Services. 

In execution, the NIST senior leadership must work together to achieve the right 

balance of short term and long term effort.

2. NIST has done work this year to strengthen and to improve its research into the 

frontier areas of nanotechnologies and biosciences, and this work must continue. 

The establishment of the concept of the NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and 

Technology (NCST) is a very important accomplishment. The committee encourages 

NIST to complete the concept development and to ensure funding as soon as 

practical. Defining what success looks like at the outset will be one key to an 

effective overall effort. 

3. The Committee spent a large portion of one meeting addressing NIST’s role in the 

biosciences, and encourages NIST to carefully select its fundamental work based on 

what will be important to the future of this overall technology. For example, NIST 

could have a major impact on innovation in healthcare through support of 

measurement science for overcoming barriers related to cancer screening and 

diagnosis. 
VISITING COMMITTEE ON ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY 

National Institute of Standards and Technology 

4. The VCAT encourages NIST to continue to address the need for the US 

Measurement System (USMS) Effort. While substantial progress has been made in 

the past year with an assessment of 728 measurement needs and an interim report, 

it is critical to fit the whole USMS into a robust management system to ensure “fit for 

purpose.” 

5. Each operating unit of NIST currently manages its own strategic planning process. 

While the committee understands the different nature of the laboratories’ place in the 

overall value chain, the committee encourages NIST senior leadership to develop a 

methodology to assess these various planning processes for completeness and 

relevance to the overall NIST mission. The committee suggests that actions be taken 

where needed to strengthen the analysis and the benchmarking aspects. 

6. As the Committee looks forward, there are a few topics looming that may benefit from 

having NIST attention: sustainability, alternative energy and global warming. All 

three areas hold potential opportunity for US business and economic health. The 

Committee commends NIST for their current activity in transportation energy arena, 

and suggests a potential review for broadening. 

7. NIST has historically had tremendous expertise in Information Technology (IT). This 

has traditionally included software quality, cryptography and applied IT security 

methods. Also, NIST has been tasked with new IT related methods relating to the 

Help America Vote Act (HAVA). As IT is increasingly crucial to nearly all sectors of 

the US economy, the committee recommends that the Director and staff take a 

renewed look at the strategic opportunities for NIST to assert its IT expertise, 

especially in emerging areas such as Trust-Based computing (which is the backbone 

of HAVA) and where commercial standards are just emerging. Future benefits could 

be in the form of better best practices and methods for both industry and government 

users, e.g. FISMA or Common Criteria. 

Infrastructure and process in support of strategic needs 

Finding: NIST has made substantial progress in the area of improving infrastructure to 

support the strategic direction. Key areas of accomplishment include: 

• New and improved physical facilities at both Gaithersburg and Boulder

• Shifting VCAT processes to focus on strategic needs

• Establishing methodologies to leverage similar research activities with 

non governmental bodies external to NIST

Recommendations: 

8. NIST has done a good job improving the physical facilities at its Boulder and 

Gaithersburg campuses. There is more work to be done, and ongoing attention to 

upcoming capital requirements is indicated. The VCAT recommends that the 

ongoing review of the existing Gaithersburg infrastructure be updated annually for 

relevance and fitness. 

9. The Committee spent a large portion of two meetings addressing NIST’s role in the 

biosciences, and is pleased to see expanding expertise in its own ranks in this key 

subject area. It will be critical in the future to have VCAT expertise across the 

breadth of NIST activities and needs, and the NIST Director is asked to ensure a full 

complement of VCAT membership. 
VISITING COMMITTEE ON ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY 

National Institute of Standards and Technology 

10. With the new interdependencies required of the OU directors, the VCAT has been 

pleased to provide input to NIST in the form of two discussion panels over the past 

year. The topics were: “Best Practices for Strategic Planning: Lessons Learned 

from Managing Organizations with Multiple Business Units and Customer Bases,” 

and “How to Maximize NIST Impact on US Innovation.” The committee encourages 

that agenda time be spent periodically in this kind of dialogue. Senior NIST staff 

obviously valued and derived benefit from this form of benchmarking. 

11. NIST continues to reach out to other non-government entities for collaboration. The 

committee is very supportive of this approach and is heartened by some key activities 

this year that included exploring how best to support a state funded nanotechnology 

center, and identifying new ways to help small manufacturers to be more competitive. 

The Committee recommends that NIST do an analysis of its non governmental 

partnerships to date, and seek understanding and learning from those that are no 

longer functioning well. 

Outreach -- Assessing and responding to external drivers

Finding: NIST has been very active in responding to external drivers, especially in the 

following areas: 

• Natural disasters and emergencies

• Opportunities presented in the form of Executive branch and 

Congressional actions 

• Global dynamics for measurement science

Recommendations: 

12. The Committee applauds the efforts of NIST to support key national needs like 

hurricane relief support. The needs are obviously acute, and NIST has a strong 

contribution to make with its expertise. NIST involvement and the resulting publicity 

will aid in the education of the public as to NIST’s potential capabilities and to the 

skills that are resident within NIST. The Committee recommends that NIST continue 

to look for and to investigate ways to leverage itself with specialized contractor 

partners, with the goal of perhaps developing other service delivery mechanisms to 

prevent from efforts becoming too diluted. 

13. The NIST leadership is to be commended for their outreach to others in Federal, 

State, and Local Governments. The list of interactions with the White House, other 

Executive Branch agencies, and the US Congress is impressive. However, more 

work needs to be done. For example, the VCAT encourages NIST to be proactive in 

its partnership with NCI and NIH related to measurements in the biological sciences. 

Better efficiencies and outcomes in healthcare, and potentially lower healthcare 

costs, are a potential result. Most outreach has been frequent, relevant and mutually 

supportive of NIST growth. Some examples include: 

a. Many governmental leaders visited NIST facilities in FY2006 

b. NIST Director testified at a joint hearing held by the House Committee on 

Science and the Committee on House Administration regarding voting machine 

standards 

c. Ensuring that NIST is one of the 3 key agencies mentioned in the ACI. 

14. While there has been much discussion about the role of international measurement 

and standards bodies in the future of NIST, the committee recommends that the 

NIST Director commission a formalized initiative to outline, to investigate and to 
VISITING COMMITTEE ON ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY 

National Institute of Standards and Technology 

execute an in depth analysis of the other global bodies that are currently undertaking 

NIST like activities. Items to be considered could look like, but not necessarily be 

limited to the following: 

a. Nations that could pose a threat to NIST dominance 

b. Models of more effective government, academic, and industrial collaboration, and 

their key elements of differentiation 

c. The role of centralized government planning and stated national initiatives, e.g. 

Singapore and biotech research 

d. Potential collaboration with the National Science Foundation around the 

educational dynamics of the developing world, knowing that the planning horizon 

for this activity will far exceed the timeline for any planning activity within a NIST 

operating unit. 

e. Engagement with multinationals from all regions on how they see measurement 

science affecting their business 

Organizational Excellence

Finding: While the NIST Director has focused the VCAT on strategic needs for FY2006, the 

VCAT charter also involves making clear recommendations regarding general policy and 

organization. Our time was limited in this area; however, we have two findings. 

• Emphasis on safety as an indicator of organizational health

• Continuous improvement as an organizational value

Recommendations: 

15. NIST has made solid improvements over the years to improve its laboratory safety. 

There is an active safety committee and a yearly safety day is held to encourage 

workforce awareness and participation. However, there are still inconsistencies in 

application of safety procedures across the laboratories. Safety is a leadership 

activity that the senior NIST leadership must be actively involved in. The Committee 

believes that attention to and excellence in safety can bring benefits in ensuring the 

ongoing safety and health of the workforce, which could mean the difference in 

completing some key research initiatives on time and within budget. Good safety 

practices on the road also ensure that personnel are not injured or lost during special 

operations like hurricane or terrorism relief efforts. Impressing industrial visitors in 

this area will add credibility to NIST and to its mission, as many potential partners 

work in industries where application is tighter. 

16. NIST has done an outstanding job leading and managing the Baldrige National 

Quality Program. The Committee recommends that NIST take two actions with 

respect to the Baldrige effort. First, NIST internally embrace the Baldrige spirit of 

continuous improvement and discipline, as a matter of “practicing what one 

preaches.” Secondly, that NIST commission a special study into the general 

business condition of Baldrige awardees at the 5, 10 and 15 year levels from their 

award. The root causes of such a study can be used to improve the program, as it 

would be looking at outcomes over time. Such a study could be very supportive of 

the overall notion of the American Competitiveness Initiative, but from a different 

viewpoint.