MAT

A

N

STAN

TERIA

Pa

AN AS

NATIO

NDAR

AL ME

FI

anel on Revie

Nation

Com

Divisi

A 

SSESS

ONAL 

RDS AN

EASUR

SCAL

ew of the Mat

nal Institute o

mmittee on N

Laboratory

on on Engine

Consensu

SMENT

INSTI

ND TE

REME

L YEAR

terial Measure

of Standards a

NIST Technic

 Assessments

eering and Phy

s Study R

T OF T

ITUTE

ECHN

ENT LA

R 2017

ement Labora

and Technolog

cal Programs 

s Board 

hysical Scienc

Report of 

THE 

E OF 

NOLOG

ABOR

7

atory at the 

gy 

ces 

GY 

RATORY 
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 

This study was supported by Contract No. SB1341-12-CQ-0036 with the National Institute of Standards and 

Technology. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not 

necessarily reflect the views of any agency or organization that provided support for the project. 

Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/24975 

Copies of this publication are available from 

Laboratory Assessments Board 

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 

500 Fifth Street, NW #928 

Washington, DC 20001 

Copyright 2017 by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. All rights reserved. 

Printed in the United States of America 

Suggested Citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. An Assessment of the 

National Institute of Standards and Technology Material Measurement Laboratory: Fiscal Year 2017. 

Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/24975.
The National Academy of Sciences was established in 1863 by an Act of Congress, signed by 

President Lincoln, as a private, nongovernmental institution to advise the nation on issues 

related to science and technology. Members are elected by their peers for outstanding 

contributions to research. Dr. Marcia McNutt is president. 

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964 under the charter of the 

National Academy of Sciences to bring the practices of engineering to advising the nation. 

Members are elected by their peers for extraordinary contributions to engineering. Dr. C. D. 

Mote, Jr., is president. 

The National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine) was established in 

1970 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences to advise the nation on medical 

and health issues. Members are elected by their peers for distinguished contributions to 

medicine and health. Dr. Victor J. Dzau is president. 

The three Academies work together as the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, 

and Medicine to provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation and 

conduct other activities to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions. The 

National Academies also encourage education and research, recognize outstanding 

contributions to knowledge, and increase public understanding in matters of science, 

engineering, and medicine. 

Learn more about the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine at 

www.nationalacademies.org.
Consensus Study Reports published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and 

Medicine document the evidence-based consensus on the study’s statement of task by an 

authoring committee of experts. Reports typically include findings, conclusions, and 

recommendations based on information gathered by the committee and the committee’s 

deliberations. Each report has been subjected to a rigorous and independent peer-review 

process and it represents the position of the National Academies on the statement of task. 

Proceedings published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and 

Medicine chronicle the presentations and discussions at a workshop, symposium, or 

other event convened by the National Academies. The statements and opinions contained in 

proceedings are those of the participants and are not endorsed by other participants, the 

planning committee, or the National Academies. 

For information about other products and activities of the National Academies, please 

visit www.nationalacademies.org/about/whatwedo. 
v 

PANEL ON REVIEW OF THE MATERIAL MEASUREMENT LABORATORY AT THE 

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY 

ELSA REICHMANIS, Georgia Institute of Technology, Chair 

NICHOLAS L. ABBOTT, University of Wisconsin, Madison 

RICHARD C. ALKIRE, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

KEVIN R. ANDERSON, Brunswick Corporation 

PHILIP A. BERNSTEIN, Microsoft Corporation 

LONG-QING CHEN, Pennsylvania State University 

BLYTHE G. CLARK, Sandia National Laboratories 

DENNIS E. DISCHER, University of Pennsylvania 

JENNIE S. HWANG, H-Technologies Group 

MICHAEL E. KASSNER, University of Southern California 

MUKUL KUMAR, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory 

YONG LI, Cleveland Clinic 

STEVEN H. MCKNIGHT, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University 

JEFFREY MORRIS, City University of New York, City College of New York 

C. BRADLEY MOORE, University of California, Berkeley 

WARREN C. OLIVER, Nanomechanics, Inc. 

ISAAC C. SANCHEZ, University of Texas, Austin 

ANTONIA R. SEPULVEDA, Columbia University 

SUBHASH C. SINGHAL, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory 

CLIFFORD H. SPIEGELMAN, Texas A&M University, College Station 

ANIL V. VIRKAR, University of Utah 

JAMES C. WYANT, University of Arizona 

QIAOBING XU, Tufts University 

Staff 

AZEB GETACHEW, Senior Program Assistant 

LIZA HAMILTON, Associate Program Officer 

EVA LABRE, Administrative Coordinator 

JAMES P. MCGEE, Director 

ARUL MOZHI, Senior Program Officer 
vi 

COMMITTEE ON NIST TECHNICAL PROGRAMS 

ELSA REICHMANIS, Georgia Institute of Technology, Chair 

MICHAEL I. BASKES, Mississippi State University 

LEWIS BRANSCOMB, University of California, San Diego 

MARTIN E. GLICKSMAN, Florida Institute of Technology 

JENNIE S. HWANG, H-Technologies Group 

CHRISTOPHER W. MACOSKO, University of Minnesota 

C. KUMAR PATEL, Pranalytica, Inc. 

BHAKTA B. RATH, Naval Research Laboratory 

ALICE WHITE, Boston University 

Staff

AZEB GETACHEW, Senior Program Assistant 

LIZA HAMILTON, Associate Program Officer 

EVA LABRE, Administrative Coordinator 

JAMES P. MCGEE, Director 

 
vii 

LABORATORY ASSESSMENTS BOARD 

ROSS B. COROTIS, University of Colorado, Boulder, Chair

C. WILLIAM GEAR, Princeton University 

WESLEY L. HARRIS, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 

JENNIE S. HWANG, H-Technologies Group 

W. CARL LINEBERGER, University of Colorado, Boulder 

C. KUMAR N. PATEL, Pranalytica, Inc. 

ELSA REICHMANIS, Georgia Institute of Technology 

LYLE H. SCHWARTZ, U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (retired) 

Staff

AZEB GETACHEW, Senior Program Assistant 

LIZA HAMILTON, Associate Program Officer 

EVA LABRE, Administrative Coordinator 

JAMES P. MCGEE, Director 

ARUL MOZHI, Senior Program Officer 

ix 

Acknowledgment of Reviewers 

This Consensus Study Report was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse 

perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and 

critical comments that will assist the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in 

making each published report as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets the institutional standards 

for quality, objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft 

manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the 

following individuals for their review of this report: 

Michael J. Carey, University of California, Irvine, 

G. Marius Clore, National Institutes of Health, 

George (Rusty) Gray III, Los Alamos National Laboratory, 

John Kozarich, ActivX Biosciences, Inc., 

Christopher W. Macosko, University of Minnesota, 

Michael Ladisch, Purdue University, 

Tresa M. Pollock, University of California, Santa Barbara, and 

Howard A. Stone, Princeton University. 

Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they 

were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations of this report nor did they see the final 

draft before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Frances S. Ligler, College of 

Engineering at North Carolina State University and School of Medicine at the University of North 

Carolina, Chapel Hill. She was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this 

report was carried out in accordance with the standards of the National Academies and that all review 

comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content rests entirely with the authoring 

panel and the National Academies. 

xi 

Contents 

SUMMARY 1 

1 THE CHARGE TO THE PANEL AND THE ASSESSMENT PROCESS 11 

2 APPLIED CHEMICALS AND MATERIALS 13 

3 BIOMOLECULAR MEASUREMENT 18 

4 BIOSYSTEMS AND BIOMATERIALS 26 

5 CHEMICAL SCIENCES 41 

6 MATERIALS MEASUREMENT SCIENCE 53 

7 MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING 62 

8 OFFICE OF DATA AND INFORMATICS 69 

9 OFFICE OF REFERENCE MATERIALS 73 

10 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 78 

APPENDIXES 

A Material Measurement Laboratory Staffing in Fiscal Year 2017 89 

B Acronyms 91 

1 

Summary 

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)1 Material Measurement Laboratory 

(MML) is the nation’s reference laboratory for measurements in the chemical, biological, and materials 

sciences. The staff2

 at the MML engages in fundamental and applied research on the composition, 

structure, and properties of industrial, biological, and environmental materials and processes. Its research 

also focuses on the development and dissemination of tools, including reference measurement procedures 

(RMPs), certified reference (RMs), critically evaluated data, and best practice guides that help to ensure 

measurement quality.3

At the request of the acting director of NIST, in 2017 the National Academies formed the Panel on 

Review of the Material Measurement Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology 

and established the following statement of task for the panel: 

The Panel on Review of the Material Measurement Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards 

and Technology will assess the scientific and technical work performed by the National Institute of 

Standards and Technology (NIST) Material Measurement Laboratory. The panel will review 

technical reports and technical program descriptions prepared by NIST staff and will visit the 

facilities of the NIST laboratory. The visit will include technical presentations by NIST staff, 

demonstrations of NIST projects, tours of NIST facilities, and discussions with NIST staff. The panel 

will deliberate findings in a closed session panel meeting and will prepare a report summarizing its 

assessment findings. 

The MML comprises six technical divisions and two offices. The two offices manage programs 

related to NIST standard reference materials (SRMs) and NIST data products. The technical divisions 

engage in research and development of the measurement science, standards, technology, and data required 

to support the nation’s need to design, develop, manufacture, and use materials. These divisions interact 

extensively with both industry and public institutions to advance the economy and provide tools for the 

creation of knowledge. 

The Applied Chemicals and Materials Division (ACMD) examines the thermophysical and 

mechanical properties of chemicals and materials, analyzes the reliability and performance of materials 

and structures, and creates information systems for chemical and materials engineering. Such analysis is 

executed with the intent of fostering innovation and confidence in the nation’s physical and energy 

infrastructures in order to enable advances in chemical manufacturing and electronics, as well as to 

promote sustainability. The Chemical Sciences Division (CSD) focuses on chemical composition and the 

chemical structure of gases and organic and inorganic species, and in the measurement of a wide variety 

of chemical properties and processes—including chemical reactivity and mechanisms and 

thermochemical properties. 

The Biosystems and Biomaterials Division (BBD) quantifies characteristics of complex biological 

systems, materials, and processes, from the nanoscale to the macroscale, with the intent of fostering 

 1

 A full list of acronyms is available in Appendix B. 

2

 Please see Appendix A for statistics on the MML’s overall staffing by divisions. 

3

 The NIST Material Measurement Laboratory, https://www.nist.gov/mml, accessed June 30, 2017. 
2 

innovation in biomedicine and health care, manufacturing, food safety, environmental health, and national 

security. The Biomolecular Measurement Division (BMD) develops measurement science and standards 

for biomolecules such as proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, lipids, and metabolites with applications 

to biopharmaceuticals, DNA forensics, biomedical and bioscience research, and health care. 

The Materials Measurement Science Division (MMSD) develops state-of-the-art instrumentation, 

analytical methods, models, and software to accurately and precisely measure materials properties, 

structure, and composition over a wide range of length and time scales for applications such as public 

safety, forensics, advanced materials characterization, homeland security, and nanotechnology. The 

Materials Science and Engineering Division (MSED) provides the measurement science, standards, 

technology, and data required to support the nation’s need to design, develop, manufacture, and use 

materials with the intent of advancing technology and facilitating manufacturing in industrial sectors such 

as energy, electronics, transportation, and the environment. 

The offices serve different functions than the divisions. The MML Laboratory Office houses the 

MML’s executive leadership (director, deputy director, and executive officer); scientific advisor detailees 

from the divisions; technical program directors; administrative professionals; and specialists for the 

functions of safety, communications, grants and contracts, information technology, and human subject 

protections. The Laboratory Office leads strategic planning,4

 solicits and funds exploratory research, 

coordinates cross-division scientific programs, develops the MML’s response to national initiatives, and 

directs top-level communications with stakeholders and the public. The Office of Reference Materials 

(ORM) provides business, administrative, product, and technical support for the NIST standard reference 

materials program. This includes the infrastructure to produce, package, inventory, and market SRM 

products and then sell them to customers worldwide. The Office of Data and Informatics (ODI), formed 

in 2014, aims to provide the capacity to handle large and information-rich data sources and transform 

such data into products, such as NIST standard reference data (SRD), that can be reliably and broadly 

shared. 

Several common themes emerged across the assessments of the MML divisions. MML scientists and 

engineers interact across disciplinary boundaries and participate in large-scale initiatives that require 

interdisciplinary collaboration within NIST and across the nation, including increased collaborations with 

academic, industrial, and other government organizations. The MML is continually refining methods for 

expanding, coordinating, and improving the efficiency of these interactions. The MML engages in 

strategic planning; however, communication surrounding strategic plans at the laboratory and division 

levels could be improved. Further, staff could be engaged more effectively during the strategic planning 

process. Also, the metrics by which successful performance is judged need to be articulated more clearly. 

The general caliber of technical expertise at the MML is competitive with the best large research 

institutions in the country, but the products generated are generally more varied, because SRD materials 

and methods are just as important at the MML as seminal publications or patents. The high-quality 

technical work at the MML—in activities that support the development of standards, SRMs, and SRD, as 

well as activities focused on performing research—are supported by an excellent equipment 

infrastructure, which is enabling the MML to meet its technical goals. However, the MML is in high 

demand by external stakeholders, its relevant technologies are leading edge and dynamically changing, 

and there is competition for individuals with the expertise required of its staff. The MML therefore faces 

challenges with respect to achieving an effective balance between maintaining its success in ongoing 

efforts and initiating new efforts that represent appropriate investment of MML resources in niches that 

will produce the best impact. These include appropriately allocating the resources of its staff, who are 

stretched thin in several areas; arranging for staff travel to and participation in activities that maintain and 

enrich its expertise; maintaining a proper ratio of scientists to supporting technicians; devising succession 

plans in anticipation of staff who will leave; maintaining an equipment infrastructure by applying 

 4

 The Material Measurement Laboratory’s Strategic Plan is located at 

https://mmlstrategy.nist.gov/sites/default/files/docs/MML_Strategic_Plan.pdf. 
3 

make/buy/borrow/share strategies that provide state-of-the-art capabilities within cost constraints; and 

ensuring that the mission priorities of MML scientists and NIST’s administrative and legal staff are 

aligned with respect to purchasing of equipment and other resources. 

The MML staff participates in many standards organizations and other professional organizations, 

and the research staff publishes papers in peer-reviewed journals. The MML disseminates its many 

products broadly and has increasing opportunities to expand its dissemination and outreach activities 

through improved Internet communications. The following findings and recommendations address key 

elements in common themes that focus primarily on opportunities to increase the productivity of the 

MML as a highly valuable and targeted national resource with the potential to play an even greater role in 

U.S. innovation and competitiveness and to provide an even more broadly based inventory of metrics for 

use by industry and regulatory agencies. 

The MML continues outstanding technical performance in areas related to NIST’s traditional 

endeavors—that is, producing reference materials and supporting the development of international 

standards. In some cases, the groups in the MML have reached their capacity to support production of 

reference materials. It is critical for national innovation and industrial competitiveness that leadership in 

standards development and production of reference materials be supported by first-rate staff and state-ofthe-art equipment. 

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 

General Conclusions and Recommendations 

Across the MML divisions, many salient themes were identified regarding the high technical quality 

of the research, excellence of the scientific staff, strong customer outreach and scientific collaboration, 

and strong publication and dissemination activities. 

While the recommendations below are grouped by divisions to provide actionable suggestions that 

address each division’s unique needs (a focal point of this review), several crosscutting themes, as well as 

suggestions and recommendations that are thematically similar, were also identified that pointed to 

opportunities across, or within, the divisions. Specifically, in some of the divisions, such as the ACMD, 

BMD, and the MMSD, there is an opportunity to take a closer look at balance between long-term 

goals/research and short-term projects. Such an analysis could help to establish a balanced portfolio of 

research, as well as maximize the division’s manpower and resources. In the case of the inclusion of longterm or high-impact research, it could also help to enable the next generation of measurement tools. 

Additionally, some of the NIST staff noted that there was a lack of sufficient technical staff within 

some of the divisions. This lack of technical support has caused some Ph.D. scientists to do routine tasks 

like equipment maintenance, which is a poor use of their skills and limits productivity. There was also a 

concern that postdoctoral fellows have to spend a lot of time learning equipment maintenance and 

troubleshooting. This can potentially lead to an inefficient use of the postdoctoral fellows, and may also 

impede their progress toward career goals in research. Also, administrative staff is limited in some areas, 

and this is causing Ph.D. scientists to do administrative tasks required for their research and development 

(R&D) work. 

It was also noted that the facilities in several divisions, such as the BBD, BMD, CSD, and MSED, are 

aging and outdated. Some of these facilities have leaking roofs and poor ventilation systems, which 

makes them inadequate for conducting particular experiments, and limits the range of research that can be 

performed in those laboratories. Routine requests for maintenance can, in some cases, also take a long 

time to be addressed. 

It was also identified that some divisions, such as the BBD, BMD, and MMSD, could benefit from 

expanding their working relationships with the Office of Data and Informatics (ODI). Substantial benefits 

related to data management, leveraging developments made by the divisions, and the establishment of 

best practices may be realized by pursuing efforts such as these that cross division boundaries. 
4 

The review also identified opportunities to better utilize the postdoctoral fellows as well as their 

network. For example, it was identified that CSD has the opportunity to increase the number and quality 

of National Institute of Standards and Technology and National Research Council (NRC) postdoctoral 

fellows within their division. Another opportunity that was identified was through leveraging the 

postdoctoral fellows’ network to improve connectivity across NIST. 

Along with suggestions throughout the report, several of the divisional recommendations below 

reflect these crosscutting or thematically similar topics. Recommendations 1 and 3 both address the theme 

of finding a balance between long-term goals and research and short-term projects within the ACMD and 

the BMD—a challenge that was also pointed out in the MMSD chapter. Recommendation 12 focuses on 

increasing technical and administrative staff in the CSD, which reflects a similar suggestion in body of 

the report that MMSD also increase technician support. Recommendations 7 and 10 both address facility 

maintenance in the BMD and the BBD, a topic that was highlighted in the CSD and MSED chapters. 

Recommendation 6 (which focuses on the BMD) and Recommendation 20 look at expanding the role of 

the ODI within divisions that have significant data science efforts, a suggestion that is also echoed in the 

BBD and MMSD chapters. Recommendations 13 and 15 both focus on improving the use of postdoctoral 

fellows in the CSD and the MMSD. Given that many of these recommendations and suggestions are 

thematically similar or crosscutting, it may be helpful for MML leadership (divisional leaders, etc.) to 

meet together to review these suggestions as a whole and to determine where solutions in other divisions 

may have already been rendered. 

Applied Chemicals and Materials 

The programs in the ACMD are well thought out and are starting to fit together as the division refines 

its focus. Some opportunities within the division, such as those in the Fatigue Fracture Group, are 

associated with finding research efforts that fit with the mature efforts in the group to allow a full 

spectrum of projects—from mature to high-risk. Further efforts to have a broader range of projects across 

the high-risk to mature continuum would better position the division to have the available resources and 

pathways to address critical problems. 

RECOMMENDATION 1: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider expanding 

its efforts in such a way that the Applied Chemicals and Materials Division’s projects will span 

the range of development—from high-risk research to mature support programs. 

While the ACMD is doing an excellent job with their dissemination efforts, one way they could 

facilitate more dissemination is through an exchange program between ACMD personnel and other 

organizations in industry, universities, and national laboratories. These exchanges could be both to and 

from the ACMD, with the ultimate goal of expanding dissemination and enhancing the staff. 

RECOMMENDATION 2: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider an 

exchange program between the Applied Chemicals and Materials Division personnel and other 

organizations in industry, universities, and national laboratories. 

Biomolecular Measurement 

The BMD excels at addressing the critical measurement needs of the United States in key areas 

involving biomolecular technologies, including mass spectroscopy, DNA forensics, and 

biopharmaceuticals. This impact is derived from close interaction with industry and federal agencies. It is 

important for the division to balance this immediate focus against the upsides of long-term and highimpact research aimed at enabling the next generation of measurement tools, which could lead to 
5 

potentially revolutionary advances in future measurement. It was evident that some groups within the 

BMD were pursuing this type of long-range research (e.g., efforts aimed at the development of methods 

for single-molecule protein sequencing), and these efforts could be expanded across all groups in the 

BMD. 

RECOMMENDATION 3: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider promoting 

a balanced portfolio of short-term and long-term activities in all groups across the 

Biomolecular Measurement Division. 

The BMD has identified the compelling need for new measurement standards and methods in the area 

of precision medicine. It is important to develop a clear set of goals concerning this research in precision 

medicine and a roadmap for achieving these goals. This roadmap would include the prioritization of target 

selection for relevancy (e.g., protein biomarkers) and maximizing opportunities for collaboration across 

NIST (e.g., with the BBD). 

RECOMMENDATION 4: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider developing 

a roadmap to realize a program in precision medicine that addresses short-term and long-term 

needs and maximizes opportunities for collaboration across the National Institute of Standards 

and Technology. 

The interactions of the BMD with the University of Maryland (UMD) through the Institute for 

Bioscience and Biotechnology Research (IBBR) have led to synergies between the UMD and NIST. A 

roadmap is needed to ensure that this productive interaction continues into the future in a manner aligned 

with the goals of the BMD. This roadmap needs to include the commitment of the UMD to place faculty 

with aligned research interests in the IBBR. It also needs to describe the role of the IBBR in the context of 

the strategic goals of the BMD in order to establish new capabilities and expertise to enable protein 

production, to contribute to the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals 

(NIIMBL), and to broadly impact biopharmaceutical manufacturing initiatives through improved 

measurement. 

RECOMMENDATION 5: The Material Measurement Laboratory and the Institute for 

Bioscience and Biotechnology Research (IBBR) should consider establishing a roadmap that 

describes the role of the IBBR in the context of the strategic goals of the Biomolecular 

Measurement Division. 

The multiple divisions of the MML have shared goals (e.g., precision medicine for the BMD and the 

BBD) and shared capabilities (e.g., genomics in the BMD and the BBD). Groups within the divisions 

have complementary expertise to address challenges related to data analysis and management. There are, 

however, relatively few examples of crosscutting interactions that realize these potential synergies 

between divisions and between the groups of the divisions. The BMD needs to consider creating 

incentives and mechanisms to stimulate cross-group and cross-division interactions that could create new 

and existing programmatic synergies between the informatics efforts of the BMD and the ODI, and 

between the genomic and precision medicine efforts of the BMD and the BBD. 

RECOMMENDATION 6: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider creating 

incentives and mechanisms to stimulate cross-group and cross-division interactions between the 

Biomolecular Measurement Division and the Office of Data and Informatics, and between the 

genomic and precision medicine efforts of the Biomolecular Measurement Division and the 

Biosystems and Biomaterials Division. 
6 

The laboratories in which the BMD is located on the main NIST campus are old, and there is a 

constant need for renovation and maintenance (e.g., to address leaking ceilings). Routine requests for 

maintenance take a very long time, in some cases months, to be addressed. NIST needs to further improve 

internal processes for approval and execution of requested maintenance needs in order to protect 

investments in complex and sensitive instrumentation within the BMD. 

RECOMMENDATION 7: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consult with 

management of the National Institute of Standards and Technology to consider improving 

internal processes for approval and execution of requested maintenance needs within the 

Biomolecular Measurement Division. 

The BMD’s website for SRMs is not currently organized around the needs of industry users. It could 

be reorganized to present SRMs grouped according to industries served by the SRMs (clinical 

diagnostics, biopharmaceutical, etc.). This has the potential to increase the use of SRMs, increase cost 

recovery for preparation of SRMs, and communicate to stakeholders the important role that NIST plays in 

enabling the competitiveness of U.S. industry and commerce. In addition, it will facilitate the adoption of 

SRMs that are new and not widely known to potential users. 

RECOMMENDATION 8: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider evaluating 

the benefits of an improved Biomolecular Measurement Division website that markets standard 

reference materials for specific industries and federal agencies. 

Biosystems and Biomaterials 

The BBD has many ongoing projects and achievements, conducted within and outside of NIST. The 

BBD staff works closely with other MML divisions. Overall, the division possesses a high level of 

technical skills and works on cutting-edge science that requires both RMs and standards. The 101 staff 

members perform work in many areas. The division overall is lean in technical staff but has a superb 

group of Ph.D. scientists at all levels, from junior to very senior fellows. BBD scientists are conducting 

outstanding science. Key technical expertise in specialized instrumentation, however, has been lost and 

not replaced. 

RECOMMENDATION 9: The Material Measurement Laboratory should make a concerted 

effort to maintain continuity in the staffing of critical positions within the Biosystems and 

Biomaterials Division. 

Some of NIST’s laboratory infrastructure is not adequate for conducting particular experiments 

crucial to the BBD mission, such as a cell culture up to Biosafety Level 2 (BSL-2) standards. This is 

owed to dust in older ducts and excess storage in laboratory space. 

RECOMMENDATION 10: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider engaging 

with NIST’s central operations to find ways to improve the Biosystems and Biomaterials 

Division’s building infrastructure. 

Equipment has an institutional overhead cost of 50 percent to pay for human resources and safety. 

BBD staff indicated that equipment taxes significantly reduce the amount of equipment they can 

purchase. 
7 

RECOMMENDATION 11: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider engaging 

with NIST’s central operations to find ways to minimize the Biosystems and Biomaterials 

Division’s overhead burden. 

Chemical Sciences 

In total, 115 scientific staff members and approximately 50 associates in the CSD are supported by 

only 4 technicians and 8 support staff. As a result, Ph.D. scientists are doing most of the laboratory work 

that could be done by technicians. They are also executing most of the administrative tasks required for 

their R&D work. To increase the productivity and satisfaction level of its scientific staff, the CSD could 

provide administrative support for nonscientific tasks and technician support for laboratory work and data 

analyses that do not require Ph.D. training. 

RECOMMENDATION 12: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider increasing 

the Chemical Sciences Division’s support staff both for administrative tasks and for technician 

support. 

The CSD could maximize the number and quality of NIST and NRC postdoctoral fellows arriving in 

the division. There are currently no NIST fellows in the CSD and only three of the CSD’s eight groups 

have an NRC postdoctoral fellow—three in one group, and one in each of the other two groups. The 

uneven distribution of these fellows among CSD groups and among MML divisions suggests that only a 

few people are utilizing the best methods for attracting excellent postdoctoral researchers. 

RECOMMENDATION 13: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider 

maximizing the number and quality of National Institute of Standards and Technology and 

National Research Council postdoctoral fellows within the Chemical Sciences Division. 

Materials Measurement Science 

The MMSD’s competency database is a good idea; however, the division needs to leverage other 

databases, such as publications and presentations, from which keywords could be extracted. 

RECOMMENDATION 14: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider leveraging 

other databases outside of the Materials Measurement Science Division’s competency database. 

Within the MMSD there needs to be transparency of how to succeed, especially for early career staff. 

One way to do so is to leverage NIST’s postdoctoral network with a professional development program. 

Such a program could help to improve connectivity across NIST. 

RECOMMENDATION 15: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider leveraging 

the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s postdoctoral network with a professional 

development program in order to improve connectivity across NIST. 

The MMSD largely excels in the rigor of the data it collects, through applying statistical analysis to 

optimize the quality of its data and conclusions. One challenge is in the consistency of applying 

experimental design and statistical analysis across all groups. Uniform application of experimental design 

(when the project is conducive to it) and statistical analysis is needed. Particularly for exploratory work, 

the design of experiments would improve efficiency in determining salient variables to explore. 
8 

RECOMMENDATION 16: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider making 

the application of the Materials Measurement Science Division’s experimental design and 

statistical analysis more uniform in order to improve the efficiency in determining salient 

variables to explore. 

Materials Science and Engineering 

The MSED is among the best in the world in terms of computational techniques and researchers. 

Although the staff is highly knowledgeable, laboratory equipment for making, processing, and to a lesser 

extent, preparing metallic alloys for testing are basic (with the exception of a new melt spinner for high 

solidification rate processing of metals). Numerous other facilities worldwide have better metallic 

processing laboratory equipment. 

RECOMMENDATION 17: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider updating 

the Materials Science and Engineering Division’s laboratory equipment used for making, 

processing, and preparing metallic alloys for testing. 

Office of Data and Informatics 

Since its conception, the ODI’s technical activities have been largely focused more on data than on 

informatics. Now that they have succeeded in improving data access, it is time to work on tools that make 

the data more useful and easier to analyze. A roadmap is now needed to show management the 

importance of increasing their resources to enable informatics work and to solicit feedback from their 

customers on their plans. The MML needs to prepare a 3-year roadmap for the ODI to develop 

information and analytics tools. A 3-year plan will enable the MML to show how the ODI will ramp up. 

In years 2 and 3, the ODI can obtain feedback from their customers that will enable them to do longer 

term planning. 

RECOMMENDATION 18: The Material Measurement Laboratory should prepare a 3-year 

roadmap for the Office of Data and Informatics to develop information and analytics tools. 

Data preservation is useless unless there is enough associated metadata to enable interpretation of the 

data years later. The same issue applies to publishing data to satisfy the open data mandate. However, it is 

tedious to capture and record that metadata manually. To avoid that manual effort and to free up scientists 

to do science, it would be beneficial if there were an automated system that captures the metadata from 

instruments and associates it with the data. Therefore, to facilitate data preservation and meet the open 

data mandate required for government agencies, the ODI needs to acquire or develop a Laboratory 

Information Management System (LIMS) in order to pull metadata with data from instruments. This 

would make such data easy to transform into publishable data. 

RECOMMENDATION 19: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider acquiring 

or developing a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) for the Office of Data 

and Informatics. 

There has been strong engagement between the ODI, the MSED, and the MMSD through the 

Materials Genome Initiative (MGI) program. However, there are many other significant data science 

efforts in divisions within the MML that could be engaged by the ODI. The ODI needs to coordinate and 

engage with other data science efforts within the MML to learn their best practices in data preservation, 

curation, and informatics, and to share that learning with all of the MML. 
9 

RECOMMENDATION 20: The Office of Data and Informatics should engage divisions within 

the Material Measurement Laboratory that have significant data science efforts in order to 

learn their best practices in data preservation, curation, and informatics, and to share that 

information with the rest of the Material Measurement Laboratory. 

Office of Reference Materials 

The ORM appears to be a highly successful operation that directly supports the mission of NIST and 

U.S. commerce overall. The ORM operates much differently from the other units within the MML and 

NIST. It does not conduct the type of research performed by MML divisions, and the majority of the 

ORM work involves managing and maintaining the SRM sales business that includes marketing, 

production, sales, quality control, e-commerce, packaging, and distributions. The emerging partnership 

with the UMD to examine marketing and customer engagement strategies, and similar efforts with other 

external institutions, is commendable. At the same time, the ORM needs to consider an external 

examination of its overall business practices, the adequacy of its e-commerce tools, the effectiveness of 

its marketing and sales operations, as well as other pertinent areas related to its operations. 

RECOMMENDATION 21: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider an 

external examination of the Office of Reference Materials’ overall business practices, the 

adequacy of its e-commerce tools, the effectiveness of its marketing and sales operations, and 

other pertinent areas related to its operations. 

The current allocation of working capital funds (WCFs) and service development funds is 

increasingly assigned to support recertification and production of existing product lines. This situation 

may present a risk to the ORM and its ability to produce new materials needed by emerging applications 

and industrial sectors. The MML needs to develop a strategy to optimize and prioritize the balance 

between existing product support and the research, production, and certification of new SRMs. 

RECOMMENDATION 22: The Material Measurement Laboratory should develop a strategy 

for the Office of Reference Materials to optimize and prioritize the balance between existing 

product support and the research, production, and certification of new SRMs. 

Packaging and distribution is a significant portion of the ORM operations. Appropriate packaging, 

handling, and long-term storage of SRMs are critical to the ORM mission. Existing capabilities are being 

stretched to their limit, and in some cases, may not be adequate for anticipated product offerings. NIST 

needs to undertake an effort to benchmark the state-of-the-art in industrial packaging and storage methods 

and develop a packaging modernization plan to support the ORM catalog of materials. 

RECOMMENDATION 23: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider 

undertaking an effort to benchmark the state of the art in industrial packaging and storage 

methods and develop a packaging modernization plan to support the Office of Reference 

Materials catalog of materials. 

As part of a business operations review, the MML needs to examine current staffing and benchmark it 

against comparable e-commerce operations. Such an analysis would be performed in order to craft a 

strategic workforce development and staffing plan. 

RECOMMENDATION 24: The Material Measurement Laboratory should examine current 

staffing in the Office of Reference Materials and benchmark it against comparable e-commerce 
10 

operations to create a strategic workforce development and staffing plan. 

The MML needs to examine current staffing structures in the ORM that are associated with the 

recertification of existing products and the development of new SRMs in order to more appropriately 

assign tasks to research and technician staff, and to encourage SRM-related work as part of the overall 

measurement science mission of the organization. 

RECOMMENDATION 25: The Material Measurement Laboratory should examine current 

staffing structures in the Office of Reference Materials that are associated with recertification 

of existing products and the development of new standard reference materials to more 

appropriately assign tasks. 

Many of the analytical instruments that are critical to the certification of SRMs within the ORM are 

dated and do not represent the state of the art. There are commercially available upgrades that may 

increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the analysis and characterization of SRMs. Many of these 

measurements and instruments lend themselves to automation, which may reduce the burden on the 

research staff to perform routine labor-intensive tasks. 

RECOMMENDATION 26: The Material Measurement Laboratory should conceive and 

implement a plan for replacing, refurbishing, and maintaining analytical laboratory 

instrumentation housed within the Office of Reference Materials that supports the certification 

of standard reference materials. 

The space and facilities in the ORM that are needed to store biological materials appears to be 

reaching a limit in the current warehouse. As the breadth and number of perishable biological items 

increases, finding appropriate storage facilities and containers may become a significant challenge. 

RECOMMENDATION 27: The Material Measurement Laboratory should develop and 

implement a plan to accommodate growth in the Office of Reference Materials’ storage needs 

that are associated with perishable biological materials. 
11 

1 

The Charge to the Panel and the Assessment Process 

At the request of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the National Academies 

of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has, since 1959, annually assembled panels of experts from 

academia, industry, medicine, and other scientific and engineering communities to assess the quality and 

effectiveness of the NIST measurements and standards laboratories, of which there are now seven,1

 as 

well as the adequacy of the laboratories’ resources. The context of this technical assessment is the mission 

of NIST, which is to promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement 

science, standards, and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve the quality of 

life. The NIST laboratories conduct research to anticipate future metrology and standard’s needs, to 

enable scientific and technological advances, and to improve and refine existing measurement methods 

and services. 

At the request of the acting director of NIST, in 2017 the National Academies formed the Panel on 

Review of the Material Measurement Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology 

and established the following statement of task for the panel: 

The Panel on Review of the Material Measurement Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards 

and Technology will assess the scientific and technical work performed by the National Institute of 

Standards and Technology (NIST) Material Measurement Laboratory. The panel will review technical 

reports and technical program descriptions prepared by NIST staff and will visit the facilities of the 

NIST laboratory. The visit will include technical presentations by NIST staff, demonstrations of NIST 

projects, tours of NIST facilities, and discussions with NIST staff. The panel will deliberate findings in 

a closed session panel meeting and will prepare a report summarizing its assessment findings. 

The acting director of NIST also suggested that the panel consider during its assessment the following 

factors: 

1. Assess the organization’s technical programs. 

 How does the quality of the research compare to similar world-class research in the technical 

program areas? 

 Is the quality of the technical programs adequate for the organization to reach its stated 

technical objectives? How could it be improved? 

2. Assess the portfolio of scientific expertise within the organization. 

 Does the organization have world-class scientific expertise in the areas of the organization’s 

mission and program objectives? If not, what areas should be improved? 

 1 The seven NIST laboratories are the Engineering Laboratory, the Physical Measurement Laboratory, the 

Information Technology Laboratory, the Material Measurement Laboratory, the Communications Technology 

Laboratory, the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, and the NIST Center for Neutron Research.
12 

 How well does the organization’s scientific expertise support the organization’s technical 

programs and the organization’s ability to achieve its stated objectives? 

3. Assess the adequacy of the organization’s facilities, equipment, and human resources. 

 How well do the facilities, equipment, and human resources support the organization’s 

technical programs and its ability to achieve its stated objectives? How could they be 

improved? 

4. Assess the effectiveness by which the organization disseminates its program outputs. 

 How well are the organization’s research programs driven by stakeholder needs? 

 How effective are the technology transfer mechanisms used by the organization? Are these 

mechanisms sufficiently comprehensive? 

 How well is the organization monitoring stakeholder use and impact of program outputs? 

How could this be improved? 

To accomplish the assessment, the National Academies assembled a panel of 23 volunteers whose 

expertise matched that of the work performed by the Material Measurement Laboratory (MML) staff.2

 

On May 9-11, 2017, the panel assembled at the NIST facilities in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and, 

concurrently, in Boulder, Colorado, for a two and a half day assessment, during which it received 

welcoming remarks from the MML director, heard overview presentations by MML management and 

presentations by researchers at the MML, toured portions of the MML facilities, and attended an 

interactive session with MML management. The panel also met in a closed session to deliberate on its 

findings and to define the contents of this assessment report.3

The panel’s approach to the assessment relied on the experience, technical knowledge, and expertise 

of its members. The panel did not attempt to report an exhaustive assessment of every project reviewed. 

Rather, the panel’s goal was to identify and report accomplishments and opportunities for further 

improvement with respect to the following: the quality of the technical programs at the MML; the 

portfolio of scientific expertise within the laboratory; the adequacy of the laboratory’s facilities, 

equipment, and human resources; and the effectiveness by which the organization disseminates its 

program outputs. The panel illustrated its conclusions with salient examples of programs and projects that 

are intended collectively to portray an overall impression of the laboratory, while preserving useful 

suggestions specific to projects and programs. 

To accomplish its mission, the panel reviewed the material provided by the MML prior to and during 

the review meeting. The choice of projects to be reviewed was made by the MML. The panel applied a 

largely qualitative approach to the assessment. Given the nonexhaustive nature of the review, the 

omission in this report of any particular MML project should not be interpreted as a negative reflection on 

the omitted project. 

 2

 See the NIST Material Measurement Laboratory website for information on Material Measurement Laboratory 

organization and programs, at https://www.nist.gov/mml, accessed May 30, 2017. 3

 The agenda for the assessment meeting is presented on the website of the National Academies, at 

http://www8.nationalacademies.org/cp/meetingview.aspx?MeetingID=9296&MeetingNo=1, accessed September 

25, 2017. 
13 

2 

Applied Chemicals and Materials 

INTRODUCTION 

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Boulder campus houses 76 staff members 

and associates from the Material Measurement Laboratory (MML) Applied Chemicals and Materials 

Division (ACMD). The division operations occupy multiple locations across the site, with its primary 

concentration in two buildings. 

The personnel at the ACMD characterize the properties and structures of industrially important fluids 

and materials. Their materials research efforts include the development of fundamental techniques, 

measurements, and models for analysis of materials structure and reliability. Their fluids research focuses 

on the characterization of complex mixtures and thermophysical properties. The division was recently 

reorganized to better align functions with their programmatic plans. Activities of the division are now 

conducted within the division office and with five research groups. 

The division office provides administration and oversight for the division’s personnel and resource 

allocations. The Thermodynamics Research Center compiles and critically evaluates thermophysical and 

thermochemical data and disseminates this information through a variety of software channels. The 

Fatigue and Fracture Group provides standard reference materials (SRMs), calibration and measurement 

services, property data, and predictive models to ensure materials reliability against fatigue and fracture—

especially for structural applications (e.g., buildings, bridges, pipelines, and medical devices). The 

Nanoscale Reliability Group develops and disseminates scientific information, standards, and technology 

for high-resolution measurements of material structure, chemistry, and physical properties, in order to 

ensure reliability of materials and devices with critical dimensions in the micrometer to nanometer 

regime.1

 The Fluid Characterization Group performs experimental research geared toward understanding 

how the composition of fluids—especially complex fluids—relates to chemical and physical properties, 

with the goal of property calculation from composition. 

The Thermophysical Properties of Fluids Group performs experimental, theoretical, correlative, and 

molecular simulation research on the thermodynamic and transport properties of fluids and fluid mixtures 

over wide ranges of temperature, pressure, and composition,2

 including regions of fluid-fluid and fluidsolid phase equilibria. 

 1

 NIST, Nanoscale Reliability Group, https://www.nist.gov/mml/acmd/nanoscale-reliability-group, accessed 

September 25, 2017. 2

 NIST, Thermophysical Properties of Fluids Group, https://www.nist.gov/mml/acmd/thermophysicalproperties-fluids-group, accessed September 25, 2017. 
14 

ASSESSMENT OF TECHNICAL PROGRAMS 

Accomplishments 

The ACMD has effectively started the process of refining its focus to align itself to the new (2015) 

strategic plan and 5-year program plan. That process was undertaken in response to the last National 

Academies Assessment in 2014. An example of further establishing this alignment is its exit from 

antibiotic testing by resonance methods, with a good plan for technology transfer to maximize the initial 

investment in this work. Although that effort was showing signs of success, it was clearly outside the 

scope of the division. 

The following illuminates several examples of outstanding accomplishments in the ACMD groups. 

The Nanoscale Reliability Group’s innovative research is developing techniques to expand the 

capabilities of scanning electron microscopes through the development of a method for detecting 

transmitted electrons, which has resulted in unprecedented levels of angular selectivity during 

transmission imaging. The technology transfer effort, through patents associated with this research 

activity, seems to be supporting the dissemination of the results to industry. The atom probe effort is a 

high-risk project that has promise to provide a unique measurement technology for atomic-level chemical 

identification of a wide range of materials, from liquids (by cryogenic methods) to solids. 

The Thermophysical Properties of Fluids Group has strong and rare expertise, which needs to be 

preserved. Their ability to measure the thermodynamic properties of fluids (gas and liquid) to a very high 

precision, as well as the coupling of this effort to the equation of state modeling for vapor-liquid 

equilibrium, is of essential value. 

Certain fluid mixtures, such as crude oil and many of the fuels that arise from it, are not readily 

characterized by the tools used for pure fluids. The ability of the Fluid Characterization Group to describe 

the properties of such materials, particularly their vapor pressure and solubility characteristics, is essential 

for fluids validation. The group has also impacted forensic science through the remarkable development 

of the porous layer open tubular cryoadsorption (PLOT-cryo) method, and its portable version. 

The Thermodynamics Research Center Group is dedicated to data and information accumulation and 

qualification efforts, historically more in the area of fluids, with initial inroads into metals. Their research 

relates to the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI). A number of methods to input and qualify vast amounts 

of data are under development. 

The Reference Fluid Thermodynamic and Transport Properties Database (REFPROP) standard 

reference data (SRD) is an essential component of the process simulators utilized globally by industry and 

has relevance to such areas as climate modeling. The application of the tools to the screening of millions 

of compounds for low-global warming potential (low-GWP) refrigerants is an excellent example. 

The Charpy Impact Machine Verification Program in the Fatigue and Fracture Group provides a very 

good example of a mature SRM program that is run very effectively. The importance of that effort to 

industrial quality control of structural materials cannot be overstated and needs to be maintained. The 

group is making an interesting effort to expand the capabilities of the test. This program is an exceptional 

example of the close connections that the ACMD has to industry. In addition, the measurement of fracture 

toughness in high-pressure hydrogen environments to study embrittlement of steels provides a one-of-akind capability/facility. The techniques that are being developed allow an order of magnitude more 

samples to be tested than other approaches. 

Opportunities and Challenges 

The opportunities in the ACMD are extensive—for example, the Nanoscale Reliability Group’s 

efforts to design very high speed atomic force microscopy (AFM) capabilities are high risk with equally 

high potential rewards. The Thermophysical Properties of Fluids Group has some exquisitely accurate and 

precise measurement techniques. One opportunity might be to dramatically increase the speed of some of 
15 

those techniques while minimizing the trade-off in lost precision on their results. Such an effort could 

lead to the development of new instrumentation useful to industry. The PLOT-cryo effort within the Fluid 

Characterization Group could yield products in the very near future. 

There appear to be groups in various divisions that are related in such a way that they might benefit 

from being within the same division—one example is the MML research in mechanical properties of solid 

materials. There are programs in the Materials Measurement Science Division (MMSD) that are also 

closely related to those in the ACMD. Some parts of the AFM effort in the Fatigue and Fracture Group 

and an effort concerning nanoindentation could be considered technologies that are related, but at 

different stages of maturity. 

It is not clear what formal programs exist to encourage collaboration between groups in different 

divisions working on related projects. Each division needs to encourage collaborations between divisions. 

The programs in the ACMD are well thought out and are starting to fit together as the division refines 

its focus. Some opportunities within the division, such as those in the Fatigue Fracture Group, are 

associated with finding research efforts that fit with the mature efforts in the group to allow a full 

spectrum of projects—from mature to high-risk. Expanding the efforts to have projects at various stages 

of development, from high-risk research to mature support programs, would further increase the cohesion 

in the division. There are diverse interests within the division, and focusing efforts has been a priority 

since the 2014 National Academies Assessment, with notable progress. 

PORTFOLIO OF SCIENTIFIC EXPERTISE 

Accomplishments 

The scientific staff has many accomplishments of which it can be proud. There are significant 

accomplishments yielding both external and internal awards. These include the first ever American Gas 

Association award and a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). Many 

products of the division are extremely important to a number of stakeholders. The division members are 

active in standards efforts, as well as publishing a significant number of articles in domain-appropriate 

peer-reviewed journals, including one article in Nature Communications. 

Retaining excellent personnel in research areas of high interest at the national and international level 

(such as in the electron microscopy effort and the AFM effort) can be challenging. While government pay 

scales are not always competitive, the division seems to have a high retention rate, even in such areas of 

keen technical interest. This speaks well of the ACMD efforts to promote an attractive combination of 

work environment and compensation. 

 The ACMD personnel publish substantially in the open literature, as demonstrated by the links to the 

Google Scholar sites from the online personnel biographies that are readily available. Publishing is one 

avenue to monitor stakeholder interest, and the citation rates associated with many of the ACMD 

personnel are very high. Additionally, ACMD staff members actively participate in seminars, workshops, 

and conference presentations. 

Opportunities and Challenges 

One general challenge is the acquisition of specialized personnel to support mature programs in 

technical areas that are not currently considered high interest at many educational institutions. Simply 

finding personnel with excellent measurement expertise in any area of research is becoming difficult. 

Clearly, the division effectively generates new hire opportunities through the National Research Council 

(NRC) Associateship Program and industrial exchange programs. 

The exchange of expertise and examples of collaboration between the two main sites (Gaithersburg, 

Maryland, and Boulder, Colorado) are somewhat isolated. It appears that the exchange program between 
16 

the Gaithersburg site and the Boulder site could be expanded with positive impact on the level of 

interaction between the sites. A formalization of that effort in an exchange or a sabbatical-type program 

could be useful. The physical aspects of an exchange process are important as well. Everything from 

designated office space and on-site housing could have an impact on the success of the exchange 

program. 

The staff in this division is excellent and compares favorably with the staff at other national 

laboratories. This division is heavily reliant on the retention of personnel from the National Research 

Council Associateship Program for permanent employees—this cooperation needs to be maintained and 

encouraged. A concerted effort to nominate staff for external awards could be an effective means to 

increase the profile of individuals as well as the laboratory itself. 

ADEQUACY OF FACILITIES, EQUIPMENT, AND HUMAN RESOURCES 

Accomplishments 

The combination of facilities available in the ACMD is quite unique. The scientific equipment within 

the ACMD facilities seems adequate for the mission in most cases, with some pointed exceptions 

regarding beyond life, critical equipment in the Fluid Characterization Group and the Thermophysical 

Properties of Fluids Group. 

Opportunities and Challenges 

There are some improvements in the building facilities since the 2014 National Academies 

Assessment; however, there are still significant issues. The management seems well aware of these issues 

and is making progress toward solving the problems; still, continued efforts are needed. Additionally, 

there are clear frustrations with some of the NIST administrative processes among the ACMD scientific 

staff. These frustrations were noted in the last report. Specifically, the purchasing process and legal 

assistance with contracts seems to still be a problem. Additional personnel have been hired to address 

purchasing process issues, which appears to have resulted in a significant reduction of the problem. 

Further training of the new administrative personnel associated with the purchasing problem, along with 

joint meetings between the scientific staff and the new personnel to brainstorm solutions to this issue 

seems to be in order. There are also some indications of insufficient technician assistance. There may be 

opportunities associated with further leveraging the uniqueness of the combination of expertise and 

equipment available in the division. Encouraging groups to extend beyond their comfort zone with regard 

to maturation of their technology focus may yield positive results. For instance, it may be worthwhile to 

look for additional new areas of research closely associated with the work being performed by the Fatigue 

and Fracture Group. In addition, it may be important to look for opportunities to develop standards 

associated with the Nanoscale Reliability Group’s work. 

One challenge is the maintenance expenses associated with some of the new equipment. This is an 

issue at most high-technology laboratories. It is clear that additional help from management with that 

problem is very important. Some equipment associated with best-in-the-world measurement expertise that 

has been developed over a significant time frame is clearly at or beyond its expected life. 

In general, the facilities and scientific staff are adequate to support the mission of the division. 

Structural inclusion of maintenance fees in the budget when high-performance equipment is purchased 

would be helpful. 
17 

DISSEMINATION OF OUTPUTS 

Accomplishments 

As mentioned above, the ACMD personnel publish substantially in the open literature, with 282 

archival journal publications, 69 conference proceedings, 24 NIST reports, and 37 books and chapters. 

This is one avenue to monitor stakeholder interest. ACMD staff members actively participate in seminars, 

workshops, and conference presentations. The ACMD has worked closely with a variety of agencies, such 

as with the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), in developing standards. The staff 

participates in many other standards committees as well—with at least 10 staff members assuming 

leadership positions on these committees. 

There are several favorable examples of programs driven by stakeholder needs that were discussed 

above—these include the Charpy Impact Machine Verification Program and the Thermophysical 

Properties of Fluids. A program for which there is significant anticipated stakeholder need is the hydrogen 

embrittlement testing using the unique high-pressure facilities for fracture toughness testing. The Charpy 

Impact Machine Verification Program serves over 1000 stakeholders, whose Charpy Testing Machines 

are being certified by the ACMD, and is an excellent example of monitoring stakeholder use of outputs 

through SRMs. 

The technology transfer office at NIST is available to assist with patent applications and personnel. 

This suggests that the office has been effective. The ACMD has been awarded 4 patents (and 6 patents 

pending) over the past 3 years. NIST does not receive financial compensation for patents and stakeholder 

activity surrounding the patents generated by the ACMD. These patents are monitored by contacts of 

NIST. NIST chemical property data sets expand capabilities, and in some cases may be an essential 

enabler of commercial process modeling software available to 45,000 corporate customers and widely 

taught in chemical engineering academic curricula. Sometimes, a NIST patent is licensed for no fee so 

that the company associated with technology transfer is protected. One such technology transfer has been 

pursued to help to efficiently wind down a live bacteria detection program that was outside the identified 

mission areas of the ACMD. 

One novel program, the NIST Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Program (N-STEP) is 

available and already utilized for entrepreneurial efforts by personnel and serves to transfer NIST 

activities to the general stakeholder community. 

Opportunities and Challenges 

Overall, the ACMD does an excellent job of disseminating the outputs of its technical work. One way 

to possibly facilitate and expand dissemination to more organizations, laboratories, and industries is 

through establishing an exchange program. Such an exchange program would be between ACMD 

personnel and other organizations in industry, universities, and national laboratories. These exchanges 

could be both to and from the ACMD. Making convenient and economic living space available for these 

exchanges would be valuable, particularly because the cost of housing in the Boulder area is very high. 

Other organizations, such as universities, have found these kinds of exchange programs very valuable in 

terms of facilitating and expanding dissemination and the enhancement of staff. 
18 

3 

Biomolecular Measurement 

INTRODUCTION 

The objective of the Biomolecular Measurement Division (BMD) is to develop measurement 

technology, standards, and data that can be used to determine the composition, structure, quantity, and 

function of biomolecules. The work focuses on applied genetics, bioanalytical science, biomolecular 

structure and function, bioprocess measurements, and mass spectrometry. 

The BMD has the following groups and focus areas: the Mass Spectrometry Data Center develops 

mass spectral libraries for small molecules, metabolites, peptides, glycans, and proteins; the Applied 

Genetics Group develops standards and technology for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing to aid human 

identification and to support biometric, law enforcement, and clinical applications of genetic information; 

the Bioanalytical Science Group has a research focus in precision medicine and develops protein-based 

standard reference materials (SRMs) such as urine albumin, C-reactive protein (CRP), and troponin I; the 

Bioprocess Measurements Group develops methods and SRMs for biophysical characterization of 

biological particles (protein aggregates and protein-particle surrogate materials as SRMs); and the 

Biomolecular Structure and Function Group performs crystallography, neutron scattering, and nuclear 

magnetic resonance (NMR) to determine the structure of biomolecules including protein reference 

materials and biotherapeutics. 

These five BMD research groups carry out their work at the National Institute of Standards and 

Technology (NIST) Gaithersburg campus and at the Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research 

(IBBR) in Rockville, Maryland. The five groups have distinct goals but also work on complementary 

research topics and technical themes directed at the forensics and diagnostics of nucleic acids (DNA), 

peptides, proteins, and macromolecules—in addition to small molecules. The staff of the BMD that is 

located at the IBBR carries out work on the characterization of protein and biomolecular structure, which 

is of relevance to biopharmaceutical measurement and engineering, as part of a collaboration between 

NIST and the University of Maryland (UMD). The work at the IBBR is enabled, in part, by a 900-

megahertz (MHz) NMR spectrometer housed in the W.M. Keck Structural Biology Laboratories. The 

NMR spectrometer is used for basic and applied research within the BMD related to the characterization 

of a range of proteins, nucleic acids, and nucleic-acid protein complexes. It is also used to develop 

models, standards, and databases. 

The number of people associated with the research groups of the BMD are given in parentheses: Mass 

Spectrometry Data Center (32); Bioprocess Measurements Group (22); Biomolecular Structure and 

Function Group (20); Bioanalytical Science Group (13); Applied Genetics Group (12); and the 

Biomolecular Measurement Division headquarters (11). A total of 110 people work in the BMD, of which 

79 are permanent federal employees (29 female and 50 male). Additional members of the BMD staff 

include guest researchers and postdoctoral fellows. Thirty-five percent of the division’s staff are guest 

researchers, and 65 percent are federal employees. The overall budget of the BMD in fiscal year (FY) 

2016 was $26.9 million, an increase of 15 percent since FY2014 ($23.3 million). Sales through the 

NIST/Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)/National Institutes of Health (NIH) Mass Spectral Library 

contribute roughly $6 million to $7 million annually. There are three primary products of the BMD: 
19 

measurement science and protocols disseminated through scientific publications, reference materials and 

reference data, and mass spectral libraries. 

ASSESSMENT OF TECHNICAL PROGRAMS 

Accomplishments 

The overall quality of the technical programs within the BMD is excellent. The BMD has a welldefined mission and focus comprising a portfolio of thrusts that blend established and recognized 

excellence in mass spectroscopic data libraries and DNA forensics with rapidly growing strengths in 

biopharmaceuticals and a vision for future impact in precision medicine. The division achieves its impact 

through an excellent balance between top-down alignment with the strategic goals of the MML and 

bottom-up freedom given to individual investigators to formulate their own programs consistent with the 

divisions goals. 

The BMD programs have positively impacted U.S. industry by addressing critical measurement needs 

related to biomolecular technologies. The BMD is achieving much of its success and high impact by 

working closely with the varied stakeholders to ensure the relevancy of its efforts. This aspect of the 

division is outstanding. 

The Mass Spectrometry Data Center Group is internationally recognized for its technical excellence 

and sets the gold standard for mass spectroscopy data libraries in the United States. In 2017 this group 

released and updated a library containing the spectra of more than 300,000 compounds. The group has 

also expanded its efforts from a historical focus on small molecules to immunoglobulin G (IgG) fragment 

libraries and peptides, including glycans. The latter focus on reference data sets to enable characterization 

of glycosylation patterns of proteins is timely and important, as patterns of glycosylation influence the 

functional properties of monoclonal antibody (mAb)-based pharmaceuticals and are notoriously difficult 

to characterize. A new initiative to develop libraries for federally controlled substances for forensics, 

which complements the leadership of the BMD in DNA forensics, is excellent. The large impact of this 

group is evidenced by the fact that the major U.S. manufacturers of mass spectrometry instrumentation 

sell the NIST mass spectrometry library installed on their instruments. The Mass Spectrometry Data 

Center Group is able to recover its costs through sale of the mass spectra reference data sets. 

The BMD works with many partners that are involved in regulated industries, including the in vitro 

diagnostics industry and the biopharmaceuticals industry, as well as federal and academic laboratories. As 

a neutral third party, the BMD plays two vital roles for these partners: First, because NIST is a 

nonregulatory agency, the BMD is able to interact with industry, providing objective feedback on 

precompetitive technologies, without regulatory implications. Second, the BMD enables interlaboratory 

interactions, as a neutral third party, through the creation of SRMs that can be shared between partners to 

permit interlaboratory evaluation of measurement methods. These are nationally unique and important 

roles played by the BMD, and they are exemplified by the Mass Spectrometry Data Center Group in the 

context of the BMD’s development of an SRM mAb (NISTmAb) RM8671. Specifically, the Mass 

Spectrometry Data Center Group has used the NISTmAb to enable an interlaboratory study of 

glycosylation analysis involving over 100 laboratories across the world. The study compared the accuracy 

of mass spectroscopic methods for characterization of glycans. The participating laboratories sent their 

protocols and results to BMD researchers for analysis and interlaboratory comparisons. The outputs of the 

study were shared by the BMD with the participating laboratories, which provided the opportunity for the 

participating laboratories to improve the accuracy of their measurement methods. This type of 

standardization of measurement methods, which is enabled by the BMD, has the potential to create large 

sets of self-consistent biological data. This greatly enhances the opportunities to mine the data for 

information. 

The Mass Spectrometry Data Center Group has achieved its impact through the measurement of 

fragmentation patterns and the dissemination of the results in libraries. The holy grail of mass 
20 

spectroscopy is the ability to predict how molecules will fragment. This capability is currently not 

possible, with the exception of peptides. This challenge, if solved, would be a breakthrough in mass 

spectroscopy. Tackling these sorts of high risk/high reward research veins would be an excellent 

complement to the more routine, yet important, development of mass spectroscopic libraries currently 

undertaken by the BMD at NIST. It would contribute to the division’s strategic goals of enabling the next 

generation of measurement tools. 

The Applied Genetics Group, whose research focus is in DNA forensics, has developed extensive 

collaborations with U.S. genomics reagent companies. The group plays a critical role for this U.S. 

industry by providing objective and neutral assessments of precompetitive technologies. As previously 

mentioned, the neutrality of the BMD as a nonregulatory agency is a key enabler of this important role. 

For example, the Applied Genetics Group characterizes, prior to their release, commercial STR profiling 

technologies for human identification. The Applied Genetics Group also works with, and is funded by, 

the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the 

Department of Justice (DOJ) to develop and validate methods for human identification. They also have an 

important impact through the dissemination of SRMs for the forensics genetics community. 

The Applied Genetics Group is leveraging its expertise toward DNA-based precision medicine, 

contributing to the strategic goals of the division related to enabling reliable measurements for precision 

medicine. The strong connections between this group and industry, in the context of DNA forensics, can 

serve as a potential model of best practices for the BMD’s nascent efforts in precision medicine. 

The unified focus of the BMD’s Bioprocess Measurements Group and the Bioanalytical Science 

Group is addressing measurement challenges in biopharmaceutical manufacturing—this focus has 

blossomed over the past 3 years. These groups have been highly effective in coalescing their efforts 

around a well-defined set of industry-centric measurement needs, including critical challenges for the 

U.S. pharmaceutical industry related to protein aggregation and the standardization of characterization 

methods for mAb production. A key accomplishment of these groups has been the creation of the 

NISTmAb, which was donated to NIST by Medimmune. As noted above, the existence of this SRM for 

the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry is enabling interlaboratory studies that are benchmarking 

analytical methods of characterization of mAbs during production. The outcomes of these studies are 

being broadly disseminated, as illustrated by the co-editing and co-authoring of a three-volume 

monograph on the characterization of the NISTmAb, State-of-the-Art and Emerging Technologies for 

Therapeutic Monoclonal Antibody Characterization,

10 which was published by the American Chemical 

Society (ACS) in 2015-2016. In addition, the BMD is developing reference materials to enable accurate 

measurement of protein particles in protein-based therapeutics. Overall, the impact of this thrust within 

the BMD is large and growing rapidly. Key enablers of the success of the BMD in achieving high impact 

and value are physical proximity to and close interaction with biopharmaceutical companies; proximity to 

federal agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and NIH; and participation in the 

National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL). The development of 

the mAb SRM has the potential to catalyze the development of biosimilars, decreasing the cost and 

increasing the availability of mAb-based therapeutics in the United States. 

Opportunities and Challenges 

Overall, the technical programs of the BMD are excellent. As noted above, key personnel and 

physical infrastructure in the BMD for protein physical characterization is located at the IBBR. The BMD 

has a clear vision and plan for the role of the IBBR in further development of measurement science and 

 10 J.E. Schiel, D.L. Davis, and O.V. Borisov, State-of-the-Art and Emerging Technologies for Therapeutic 

Monoclonal Antibody Characterization, Volume 1, Monoclonal Antibody Therapeutics: Structure, Function, and 

Regulatory Space, December 16, 2014, http://pubs.acs.org/isbn/9780841230262. 
21 

technology for biopharmaceutical manufacturing. Specifically, the BMD strategic plan identifies the 

opportunity to develop expertise and capabilities at the IBBR to produce mAbs from cell cultures, which 

are subsequently characterized at the IBBR. The vision is excellent and it integrates the role of NIST and 

the University of Maryland (UMD) in the NIIMBL. However, it remains unclear to what extent the 

leadership of the IBBR is committed to this shared vision. It will also be necessary to increase the 

engagement of UMD faculty with expertise relevant to the bioproduction of mAbs (or other biologics) to 

achieve the goals of the BMD at the IBBR in the thrust area of biomanufacturing. A roadmap is needed to 

ensure that this productive interaction between the BMD and UMD through the IBBR continues into the 

future in a manner aligned with the goals of the BMD. This roadmap needs to include the commitment of 

the UMD to place faculty with aligned research interests in the IBBR. It would also need to describe the 

role of the IBBR in the context of the strategic goals of the BMD in order to establish new capabilities 

and expertise to enable protein production, to contribute to the NIIMBL, and to broadly impact 

biopharmaceutical manufacturing initiatives through improved measurement. 

The rationale for focusing efforts within the BMD on precision medicine is compelling, as the 

development of robust, reproducible, and accurate in vitro assays for protein biomarkers remains an 

important, yet largely unresolved, challenge. The development of SRMs that can be used to benchmark in 

vitro assays is an important and meritorious goal for the Bioanalytical Science Group within the BMD. 

The Bioanalytical Science Group participates with national and international clinical chemistry 

organizations such as the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC) 

to identify and prioritize development of SRMs for biomarkers, including human serum/urine albumin, 

CRP, and troponin I. Although these biomarkers have clinical relevancy, the rationale for their choice as 

initial targets was not well articulated during the review and the Bioanalytical Science Group was not able 

to provide a prioritized list of future targets. For example, CRP is not recommended by the American 

Heart Association for the general screening of heart disease. The impact of the Bioanalytical Science 

Group in precision medicine can likely be increased by engaging more closely with the clinical 

community and the in vitro diagnostics industry. It is important to develop a clear set of goals for research 

in precision medicine and a roadmap for achieving those goals. Such a roadmap would include the 

prioritization of target selection for relevancy (e.g., protein biomarkers) and maximizing opportunities for 

collaboration across NIST (e.g., with the BBD). The Applied Genetics Group and the Mass Spectrometry 

Data Center Group of the BMD provide good examples of best practices for engaging industry and 

maximizing relevancy to industrial and federal agencies. Engagement of in vitro diagnostic companies 

making kits for detection of CRP would, for example, ensure relevancy of the efforts of the Bioanalytical 

Science Group related to the creation of SRMs for CRP. 

The Bioanalytical Science Group has been working to develop protein biomarker SRMs in simple 

buffers and complex matrices, such as patient-derived urine and serum. To date, it issued several protein 

SRMs in simple buffers, but it has not yet succeeded in developing SRMs based on patient-derived 

matrices. The accomplishments with simple buffers is good, but the challenge of making reference 

standards in urine and serum has not yet been overcome despite efforts ongoing since the previous 

National Academies Assessment in 2014. If the group does not succeed in making progress toward SRMs 

in complex matrices, an alternative approach would be to use defined, synthetic substitutes for complex 

matrices. Additionally, obtaining positive patient-derived samples in sufficient quantity for SRMs will be 

challenging. The use of SRMs based on recombinant proteins may also have merit. 

In terms of possible future directions for the Bioanalytical Science Group, two potential opportunities 

are (1) the development of reference standards for in vitro diagnostics of mAbs, as companions to mAbs 

that are the focus of the BMD groups who are working on biopharmaceuticals, or (2) the development of 

reference methods and SRMs that permit the evaluation of the functional properties of proteins in in vitro 

assays (e.g., by benchmarking in vitro assays against reference methods based on liquid chromatographymass spectrometry [LC-MS]). In addition, long-range research related to the development of functionstructure relationships has the potential to enable future measurement methods for precision medicine. 

The BMD also needs to continue investing in long-range research that enables future measurement 

materials, methods, and data—including high-risk research that could lead to potentially revolutionary 
22 

advances in future measurement. It was evident that some groups within the BMD were pursuing this type 

of long-range research (e.g., efforts aimed at the development of methods for single-molecule protein 

sequencing). 

A broad area of potential long-term impact for the BMD is nano-medicine. Some efforts within the 

division already fall into this area, including characterization of exosomes, field-flow fractionation, 

liposome characterization, vaccine characterization, and synthesis of reference nanoparticles based on the 

cross-linking of amino acids in a flow focusing device. 

Last, the BMD excels at addressing the critical measurement needs of the United States in key areas 

involving biomolecular technologies, including mass spectroscopy, DNA forensics, and 

biopharmaceuticals. This impact is derived from close interaction with industry and federal agencies. It is 

important for the division to balance this immediate focus against the upsides of long-term and highimpact research aimed at enabling the next generation of measurement tools. 

PORTFOLIO OF SCIENTIFIC EXPERTISE 

Accomplishments 

The quality of scientific expertise within the BMD is excellent. This excellence is evidenced by the 

awards they have received over the past three and a half years, including the Gold Medal Award of the 

Department of Commerce (DOC) and the Mike Lynch Award for the conception and development of the 

International Chemical Identifier (InChI)—a chemical identifier that was adopted by the International 

Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). The DOC has also awarded two Silver Medals—the first 

to the Applied Genetics Group in 2014 and the other to the Biomolecular Structure and Function Group in 

2016. In addition, between June 1, 2014, and February 28, 2017, 16 BMD staff members have been 

recognized for their work by external organizations, including election as fellows of the American 

Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) and the IUPAC. 

Opportunities and Challenges 

The BMD is particularly strong in the structural characterization of proteins. As identified in the 

strategic plan of the BMD, additional scientific expertise is needed to enable the establishment of proteinproduction capabilities at the IBBR. Meeting this need will require additional hiring in the BMD or 

engagement of faculty from the UMD, with expertise in cell culture and protein production. Expertise in 

cell culture and protein production exists in other divisions of the MML (e.g., the BBD). Interdivision 

collaboration may be a third element of an approach to address the challenge of establishing expertise in 

protein production. 

Expertise in data management, including analysis and dissemination, is critical to the BMD achieving 

its impact. Although there is expertise in data informatics within individual groups within the BMD, an 

opportunity exists to maximize the impact of this expertise and share new data mining approaches (e.g., 

machine learning-based methods) by creating cross-division sharing of data informatics expertise. 

Additionally, expertise within the MML Office of Data and Informatics (ODI) can be leveraged by the 

BMD. As the ODI transitions from being outwardly focused to engaging in internal interactions, 

substantial benefits related to data management may be realized by pursuing efforts that cross division 

boundaries. Cross-division interactions also have the potential to benefit the ODI, as best practices 

established within groups within the BMD can be disseminated across the MML through the ODI. 

Overall, as illustrated by the examples presented above related to cell culture expertise and data 

management expertise, there is an untapped opportunity to achieve impact within the BMD through 

enhanced intergroup (within the BMD) and interdivision interactions. 
23 

ADEQUACY OF FACILITIES, EQUIPMENT, AND HUMAN RESOURCES 

Accomplishment 

Human resource management within the BMD has been effective in retraining personnel, as the focus 

of research evolves within the division. For example, a staff member who worked previously on physical 

measurement standards has received training in biological science and engineering, and is now leading 

the development of SRMs for characterization of visible protein aggregates in biopharmaceuticals. In 

general, while requiring alignment with the strategic directions of the BMD, the leadership of the division 

has provided its scientists with sufficient freedom to define their own focus and contribution to the 

mission of the BMD. This is a highly effective management style, as evidenced by the high level of staff 

engagement and the ownership of projects expressed by the staff. 

Opportunities and Challenges 

The laboratory space occupied by the Bioprocess Measurements and Mass Spectrometry Data Center 

Groups in the BMD on the NIST campus in Gaithersburg, Maryland, was constructed in the early 1960s. 

In some of the facilities, evidence of leaking roofs was found. Accordingly, equipment in some 

laboratories used by the BMD is protected from potential damage from the leaking roofs by the placement 

of plastic sheets over the equipment. In other laboratory space occupied by the BMD, the ventilation 

system produces fine particles, which limit the range of research that can be performed in those 

laboratories. Until the BMD laboratory space is replaced by newer facilities, it can be expected that the 

laboratory space will require frequent repair and maintenance. 

Currently, the time that it takes for repairs and renovation to occur after submission of a request is 

unacceptably slow. In contrast to the laboratory space occupied by the BMD at this NIST facility, the 

laboratories at the IBBR are excellent. Given the quality of space at the IBBR, the BMD may wish to 

explore placement of additional research programs and NIST staff there. 

The equipment within the BMD is, in many cases, state-of-the-art for characterization of protein 

structure. This includes instrumentation for mass spectroscopy and NMR (e.g., the 900 MHz NMR, 

located at the IBBR). Some of the purchases, like the 900 MHz NMR, were enabled by one-time funding 

obtained through the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. 

There is excellent synergy between the Biomolecular Structure and Function Group within the BMD 

and the neutron scattering facilities of NIST. Both are particularly well suited to address characterization 

of concentrated protein solutions encountered during the production and formulation of protein-based 

therapeutics by the biopharmaceutical industry. The proposed purchase of cryogenic transmission electron 

microscopy facilities for single-protein structural analysis is excellent, and complementary to the neutron 

scattering and NMR capabilities at NIST. 

Discussions with the staff within the BMD revealed a high level of satisfaction with support for 

acquisition processes, and for the establishment of new contracts of various types, such as the bilateral 

Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs), Materials Transfer Agreements 

(MTAs), and nondisclosure agreements (NDAs). It was noted that some processes were slow, which 

reflected the requirements of the federal government, and not the inefficiency of processes within NIST. 

Overall, the staff expressed satisfaction with its work environment. 

In general, the staff articulated a clear understanding of the long-term vision of the BMD. A small 

number of postdoctoral researchers, however, commented that they did not fully understand how their 

own professional development is aligned with the overall vision for the future of the division. 
24 

DISSEMINATION OF OUTPUTS 

Accomplishments 

The BMD has made a large and tangible impact on U.S. industry and other federal agencies (e.g., the 

NIH, the FDA, and the FBI) by providing SRMs, RMs, and standard reference data sets. The division has 

developed and maintains 14 SRMs/RMs and 5 SRDs, including the NIST/EPA/NIH Mass Spectral 

Library with Search Program, SRD 1A; a humanized IgG1k mAb (RM 8671); a Bovine Serum Albumin 

(SRM 927e); a Human DNA Quantitation Standard (SRM 2391c); and a Human DNA Quantitation 

Standard (SRM 2372). The NISTmAb (RM 8671) can be highlighted as an example of the impact of an 

SRM developed by the BMD. The NISTmAb (RM 8671) was shared and characterized from 2013 to 

2015 by more than 100 participants from 11 biopharmaceutical companies, 5 instrument vendors, 5 

universities, and the FDA.11 As previously mentioned, the characterization data formed the basis of a 

three-volume ACS book series, State-of-the-Art and Emerging Technologies for Therapeutic Monoclonal 

Antibody Characterization, published in 2015-2016. 

Over 30 different analytical methods were used under industry best practices to characterize the 

NISTmAb (RM 8671). This partnership was highly successful and serves as a model for future SRM 

products. The NISTmAb (RM 8671) was issued on July 28, 2016, and as of April 4, 2017, over 350 units 

were purchased. The customers include nearly all top-20 global biopharmaceutical companies (30 

percent), major analytical instrument companies (30 percent), and private contract research and 

manufacturing organizations that support biopharma (15 percent). 

In addition to being assigned a concentration value traceable to ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UVVis) transmittance, assays were developed per International Council for Harmonization of Technical 

Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use guidelines for size, charge, identity, and stability that 

are included in the certificate for NISTmAb (RM 8671). The BMD has also disseminated important 

advances in measurement methods, through high-impact publications and presentations at conferences. 

Between June 1, 2014, and February 28, 2017, staff members in the BMD published 14 books and book 

chapters, 157 archival journals, 22 conference proceedings, and 13 NIST reports. As an example of the 

high impact of BMD publications, the BMD was the first to demonstrate that the structure of mAbs could 

be mapped by two-dimensional (2D) NMR techniques at natural abundance. The accomplishment was 

published in the journal Analytical Chemistry in 2015.12 Since the fall of 2014, the Applied Genetics 

Group has generated 39 publications and 86 oral presentations. 

The BMD achieves its high impact through close interactions with industry, which is evidenced by 

the large number of MTAs and CRADAs in which the BMD has participated. Between June 1, 2014, and 

February 28, 2017, the BMD executed a total of 177 total agreements (including 141 MTAs and 4 

CRADAs) with industry partners. 

Opportunities and Challenges 

Overall, the dissemination of outputs within the BMD are excellent. Four additional observations are 

offered. First, as noted above, the BMD reference standards have had an important impact on the 

measurement capabilities of the United States. This high impact has occurred with minimal marketing by 

NIST. In particular, the website for SRMs is not organized around the needs of industry users. The 

website could be reorganized to present SRMs grouped according to the industries served by the RMs 

 11 NIST, “Made to Measure Building the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Innovation in the Biological, Chemical, 

and Materials Sciences,” p. 116, 2017. 12 L.W. Arbogast, R.G. Brinson, J.P. Marino, Mapping monoclonal antibody structure by 2D C-13 NMR at 

natural abundance, Analytical Chemistry 87(7):3556-3561, 2015. 
25 

(clinical diagnostics, biopharmaceutical, etc.). This focus on marketing has the potential to increase the 

use of NIST SRMs, increase cost recovery for the preparation of SRMs, and communicate to stakeholders 

the important role that NIST is playing in enabling the competitiveness of U.S. industry and commerce. In 

addition, it will facilitate the adoption of SRMs that are new and not widely known to potential users. The 

potential exists for even greater impact through the optimized marketing of SRMs, in particular, to 

industry and federal agency stakeholders. An increase in the use of SRMs prepared by NIST, however, 

will also necessarily require additional investment of resources within NIST to ensure a reliable supply of 

SRMs (particularly, when they are integrated into regulated manufacturing processes) and the capacity to 

address customer problems and needs when they arise. Second, as SRMs produced by NIST are 

increasingly integrated into U.S. manufacturing processes, it will be important for NIST to provide 

sufficient infrastructure support to ensure that the supply of the standards is reliable. The absence of the 

timely provision of SRMs used in critical pharmaceutical manufacturing processes has the potential to 

halt production of important medicines. 

Third, a key output and impact of the Applied Genetics Group, whose research focus is in DNA 

forensics, revolves around the evaluation of new technologies for forensic analysis. Developers of new 

reagents and instrumentation send their technologies to NIST for independent and objective third-party 

evaluations. This service plays a critical role in establishing the high quality of forensic technologies in 

the United States; however, it also occurs through an informal process that involves collaboration. This 

informality potentially limits access to this valuable resource, as it may be unknown to new companies 

developing DNA forensic technologies. Last, the dissemination of the mass spectroscopic libraries by the 

BMD has an important impact on measurement by mass spectroscopy worldwide. Substantial income in 

the form of cost recovery is derived from the sales of these libraries, but the pricing of the libraries is 

largely historical and not based on a pricing or cost study. Additional cost recovery has the potential to 

provide additional resources that will enable further development of the libraries. 
26 

4 

Biosystems and Biomaterials 

INTRODUCTION 

The overarching goal of the Biosystems and Biomaterials Division (BBD)1

 is to develop and 

disseminate standards and measurement technology to support quantitative biological and biomaterial 

measurements. The BBD consists of four technical groups: the Microbial Metrology Group, the Bioassay 

Methods Group, the Biomaterials Group, and the Cell Systems Science Group. Additionally, the Joint 

Initiative for Metrology in Biology (JIMB) program, in partnership with Stanford University, reports 

directly to the MML. 

The BBD leverages cross-functional teams of material scientists, molecular biologists, engineers, 

chemists, physicists, statisticians, and data scientists who are some of the world’s best technical experts. 

These experts carry out fundamental research in biological measurement science and the development of 

reference methods, advanced analytical instruments, reference data, and methods. The BBD has 101 staff 

members—90 percent are scientists and associates, and the remainder are technicians and support staff. 

The activities of the BBD are focused on existing and anticipated applications of biological and 

biochemical science in products and processes that influence manufacturing, natural resources, and health 

care. The BBD approach is to develop technical excellence in core measurements that serve a number of 

applications, including regenerative medicine and advanced therapies, cancer diagnostics, the engineering 

of biological systems, nanoparticle safety, dental and oral health, and microbial identification and 

quantification. To achieve its mission, the BBD employs technical expertise in genomics measurement 

assurance; the quantitative measurements of cells; the development and deployment of imaging and 

spectroscopy technologies, including broadband coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (BCARS) 

microscopy and live-cell imaging; and in the development of biomaterials—particularly for dental 

applications. 

ASSESSMENT OF TECHNICAL PROGRAMS 

Accomplishments 

The Microbial Metrology Group develops advanced measurements and standards for the exploitation 

of microbes to promote human health, precision medicine, advanced manufacturing, and other industrial 

applications. The group uses genomic and metagenomic approaches to improve measurements on 

 1

 Some of the background information within this chapter was derived from the document NIST, “Made to 

Measure—Building the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Innovation in the Niological, Chemical, and Materials 

Sciences,” pp. 94-111. 2017. 
27 

microbiomes, and is also developing RMs for assessing the sensitivity and specificity of pathogen 

detection devices.2

 Additionally, the group utilizes advanced methods, including microfluidics, predictive 

modeling of engineered microbes, bioinformatics, and state-of-the-art imaging, which are being applied to 

critical areas, such as combating antibiotic resistance, food safety, clinical diagnostics, and engineering 

biology.3

The Microbial Metrology Group’s accomplishments include microbial community measurements, 

pathogen detection and identification, biothreat detection, and microfluidic development. 

The Bioassay Methods Group develops standards and methods for improving confidence in 

fundamental measurements in biology through new and improved techniques, methodologies, and 

standards based on optical and genomic methods. The group is focused on improving the quantitative 

measurements of the biological markers of gene expression in eukaryotic cells and biological fluids. It is 

providing tools that can be used for bioanalytical measurements pertinent to instrument calibration and 

analytical validation.4

 It is also working with stakeholders in the research and clinical analysis 

communities to determine their needs and opportunities, so that they can determine where to strategically 

focus their efforts. It has identified existing and future standards needs, ranging from device calibration 

and instrument performance to the development of biological RMs and procedures. 

The group has active projects in the development of genomic standards to support: cancer diagnostics 

and therapeutics, RMs for quantitative flow cytometry, development of genomic markers for cell line 

authentication, and measurements for assessing the results of genome editing.5

 Their accomplishments 

include the production of standard reference material (SRM) 2373, a human epidermal growth factor 

receptor 2 (HER2) genomic DNA standard for gene copy number produced from five breast cancer cell 

lines. This SRM is discussed in greater detail below. 

An ongoing project of the group is the analytical validation and quantitation of circulating tumor 

DNA (ctDNA) through liquid biopsy. This project is being developed in partnership with SeraCare, an 

industry partner, and in collaboration with Early Detection Research Network (EDRN)-funded 

laboratories. 

Projects in the planning phase include expanding a suite of RMs to include epigenetic markers, as 

well as liquid biopsy measurements of gene copy numbers, translocations, and other biomarkers. Other 

biomarker projects include quantitative flow cytometry assays for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) 

and myeloma markers for residual disease during therapy. Another project is to develop SRMs for cellfree DNA noninvasive prenatal screening. 

The Biomaterials Group develops advanced measurement capabilities and measurement assurance 

strategies for characterizing biomaterials, biological systems, and their interactions. The Biomaterials 

Group aims to provide quantitative measurements and the prediction of chemical, physical, structural, and 

mechanical properties on multiple length and time scales. One major focus is the development of 

nonlinear optical spectroscopy and imaging methods for extracting statistically significant information 

from biological and material systems.6

The Biomaterials Group has also developed and delivered a yeast surrogate biothreat test material, 

which is engineered yeast material containing a target DNA sequence as a surrogate for pathogenic agents 

that enables safe on-site training for first responders to increase confidence in biothreat detection. It has 

been used in field deployment exercises in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 

and the Army. The group is also addressing antibiotic resistance—a global health crisis—by developing 

 2

 NIST, Microbial Metrology Group, https://www.nist.gov/mml/bbd/microbial-metrology, accessed September 

25, 2017. 3

 Ibid. 

4

 NIST, Bioassay Methods Group, https://www.nist.gov/mml/bbd/bioassay-methods, accessed September 25, 

2017. 5

 Ibid. 

6

 NIST, Biomaterials Group, https://www.nist.gov/mml/bbd/biomaterials, accessed September 25, 2017. 
28 

microfluidic microenvironment devices that establish antibiotic concentration gradients to challenge 

bacteria and measure the evolutionary process. 

Additionally, the Biomaterials Group develops measurement assurance strategies to obtain highconfidence results when measuring cells (mammalian and bacterial), materials, and their interactions. 

Collectively, these efforts are expected to facilitate the development and translation of new diagnostics 

and advanced therapeutics (protein- and cell-based), enable better biothreat detection, and improve the 

performance of biomaterials.7

Recent developments within the Biomaterials Group include the rapid broadband coherent anti-Stokes 

Raman scattering (BCARS) microscopy of cells, tissues, and materials; novel spectroscopy for probing 

higher order molecular structures and orientation; and new methods for probing fast molecular dynamics. 

The projects integrate experimental and computational approaches to understand multiple material 

properties during polymerization in order to enable better materials design through chemical and 

processing controls. Additionally, the methods used by the Biomaterials Group have been applied to the 

quantitative imaging of stem cell populations and chemical imaging of cells and tissues with Raman 

spectroscopy—offering an innovative proteomics resource. 

The Cell Systems Science Group contributes to the new postgenomic era with research in 

measurements and models that support the understanding of complex biological phenomena at the cellular 

and subcellular levels. The group focuses on the cell as a system and on tools that can make 

measurements and characterize the system’s properties.8

 This is achieved through bioimaging and other 

cytometry techniques, measurements that assess protein and gene function within living cells, 

experimental design, and bioinformatics.

The group is focusing on measurements for assessing the process of creation, maintenance, and 

differentiation of pluripotent stem cells, in addition to cell lines and engineered cells, to better understand 

cellular dynamics. They are also emphasizing new measurement tool developments and protocols that 

ensure reliability and comparability of cell assay and imaging-based measurements, as well as appropriate 

data analysis and data handling pipelines. These efforts assist basic biomedical research, 

biomanufacturing of regenerative medicine products, nonanimal toxicology testing, drug development 

and testing, precision medicine, and other applications that depend on understanding and predicting 

complex cellular activities.9

 Recent projects include detecting and measuring single-molecule RNAfluorescence in situ hybridization (RNA-FISH) in bacteria, new approaches for cell counting and RMs, 

and new methods for flow cytometry. 

The JIMB is a joint venture between NIST and Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. The 

JIMB was conceived to connect NIST science, technology, and metrology to the creative power of 

Stanford University’s research, faculty groups, and medical school—embedded in the innovation hub of 

Silicon Valley. The JIMB is powered by the partnership of NIST with Stanford and Bay area commerce 

in bioscience and biomedical instrumentation. The JIMB’s current focus is on reading and writing DNA, 

a conscious nod to its Silicon Valley home and its legacy. JIMB arrives at Stanford at a time when Silicon 

Valley is poised for growth in biology. 

The JIMB’s accomplishments include the development of methods and tools for genomics and 

bioinformatics analyses and continuous collaboration with many stakeholders, such as public-privateacademic consortia. The JIMB hosts three consortia: the External RNA Controls Consortium (ERCC); the 

Genome in a Bottle Consortium (GIAB), and the Synthetic Biology Standards Consortium (SBSC). In 

total, there are more than 150 different partners in these consortia with varying degrees of engagement, 

working together to develop standards for RNA measurement, for genomic DNA measurement, and for 

various elements in the emerging synthetic biology community. 

 7

 Ibid. 

8

 NIST, Cell Systems Science Group, https://www.nist.gov/material-measurement-laboratorybiosystems-andbiomaterials-division/cell-systems-science-group, accessed September 25, 2017. 9

 Ibid. 
29 

ERCC measurement science products include the NIST SRM 2374 DNA Sequence Library for 

External RNA Controls, and the turn-key analysis software, erccdashboard, which evaluates the technical 

performance of any gene expression experiment. The ERCC is creating new standards and measurement 

science to support new and emerging quantitative evaluation of transcriptome measurements, ERCC 2.0.

In May 2015 NIST released an RM of a pilot GIAB sample, which has been widely used for 

technology development, optimization, and demonstration, as well as by clinical and research laboratories 

to assess performance. Specifically, this project produced the genome in a bottle RMs and includes RM 

8398 (a European ancestry genome), which was released in the spring of 2015; three new human genome 

RMs; and one microbial genome RM, which was released in the fall of 2016. These RMs are supporting 

the precision medicine initiative. 

The JIMB has held several public workshops highlighting the need to understand the quality of 

results from next-generation sequencing (NGS). At the September 2016 workshop, NIST announced the 

release of four additional extensively characterized human genomes as NIST RMs, and these cell lines are 

already included in several commercial products to meet additional reference sample needs. 

The JIMB has refined the SBSC strategy to focus on developing standards products that would 

improve the accuracy and efficiency of transactions in the synthetic biology workflow. Example 

transactions include nucleic acid sequence information standards to support the accurate use of nucleic 

acid materials, or technical standards to support the accurate transfer of an organism from a research and 

development (R&D) bench to an industrial-scale fermenter. 

The BBD’s regenerative medicine-related activities include cell counting, live cell imaging, flow 

cytometry, genome editing, tissue engineering (TE), standards leadership, and customer outreach. Cell 

counting and viability are key measurements that are critical for decision making—from R&D to 

manufacturing—but are known to have large measurement variabilities. The BBD recently developed an 

approach for evaluating the quality of cell counting measurements through experimental design and 

statistical analysis. The NIST approach represents a paradigm shift from traditional approaches that rely 

largely on highly specific RMs. In addition, the experimental design and statistical method is agnostic of 

the cell type and counting method, making it broadly applicable to many counting applications. A user 

interface is under development to allow broader adoption of this method as an international standard and a 

research tool.

Live-cell imaging tools allow the BBD to monitor spatial information and population heterogeneity 

on large numbers of individual cells. High-quality data obtained using benchmark materials may be used 

to develop predictive models based on stochastic fluctuations and may also provide reference data. Such 

data may have the potential to be used to validate putative molecular markers for pluripotency and 

differentiation, and for evaluating markers of product potency. The BBD is also developing advanced 

measurement capabilities, including quantitative label-free imaging, such as BCARS imaging, for 

characterizing cell state and cell-biomaterial interactions. 

Flow cytometry, while widely used in characterization of cell populations, is notoriously variable 

from instrument to instrument and location to location. The BBD works with stakeholders to make flow 

cytometry a quantitative tool that can provide comparable data across laboratories by developing 

benchmarking materials and protocols—including fluorescence standards for calibrating beads and 

lyophilized cell RMs. 

Genome editing products and processes need reliable methods to ensure sound results of the editing 

and to add confidence to the safety of the operation, and the likely effectiveness. The BBD is working 

with stakeholders, including through NIST-organized workshops, to identify precompetitive technology, 

measurement, and standardization needs and solutions. The current program focuses on evaluating assays 

and informatics tools and on the development of RMs. It is also in the process of establishing a NIST-led 

consortium to develop measurement solutions and standards to advance this technology space—

specifically, quantitative flow cytometry. 

Current efforts of the BBD also include the development, quantification, and modeling of polymeric 

and inorganic TE scaffolds, as well as quantifying cell-materials interaction. Through the study of many 

cell types for regenerative purposes, it has developed various methods to produce TE constructs, 
30 

including electrospinning. 

Standards are critically needed to assist in the development and regulation of advanced therapies. The 

BBD is working to develop documentary standards with key stakeholder input from the American Society 

for Testing Materials International (ASTMi) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). 

The BBD also coordinates broader industry discussion through administering and chairing the U.S. 

Mirror Committee to ISO/TC276: Biotechnology, and they also serve as convener of the Working Group 

on Analytical Methods within ISO/TC276. 

The BBD also has collaborations with industry (Lonza, Pluristem, Nexcelom, etc.), federal agencies 

(the National Institutes of Health [NIH] and the Food and Drug Administration [FDA]), and international 

metrology institutes (in the United Kingdom, Japan, etc.) on precompetitive measurements. Additionally, 

they have joint research projects with the FDA to address cell measurement challenges and flow 

cytometry. 

The BBD’s capabilities in metagenomics include microbial community measurements utilizing 

metagenomics approaches in the microbial community (microbiomes and biofilms). The BBD is also 

developing prototype RMs, reference data, and reference protocols to identify, understand, and eliminate 

measurement bias. Additionally, it is developing pathogen detection and identification utilizing 

metagenomic techniques, which are emerging as superior methods, as they alleviate the need for targeted 

approaches that are subject to bias in their design. In collaboration with the FDA Center for Devices, the 

BBD is also developing a mixed pathogen DNA RM that can be utilized to assess the analytical 

sensitivity and specificity of NGS-based pathogen detection devices in the clinical setting. Metagenomic 

methods for pathogen detection are also being adopted in the biomanufacturing industry, where 

determining the presence of a bioburden (microbial or viral contamination) is necessary for current Good 

Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) biomanufacturing. RMs for biothreat detection are also being developed 

under an interagency agreement with the DHS. As mentioned, a yeast-based material tagged with a 

specific genomic sequence served as a surrogate agent in a field test, and continues to be studied for 

further qualification. 

Custom-engineered microfluidic microenvironment devices that can establish chemical (antibiotic) 

concentration gradients are being used to challenge bacteria and measure the evolutionary process. The 

emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance is a global health crisis, and the BBD is developing novel 

measurement tools that will allow it to measure and better understand the process by which bacteria 

evolve resistance to existing and novel antibiotics. These new measurements can ultimately provide a new 

metric, known as the resistance potential, that describes the probability that a strain of bacteria can evolve 

resistance to an antibiotic. Ultimately, this new resistance potential metric can be used to develop novel 

antibiotics that are more resistant to resistance. Further, these new measurements could be used by health 

care providers to make better informed clinical decisions. 

In reference to the BBD’s customer outreach, the International Metagenomics and Microbiome 

Standards Alliance (IMMSA) is a nonhierarchical association of microbiome-focused researchers from 

industry, academia, and government that is hosted by NIST. The IMMSA brings together a broad and 

diverse community of stakeholders who all have a vested interest in improving confidence in microbiome 

measurements. IMMSA was formed for the mutual benefit of the entire microbiome and metagenomics 

community and focuses specifically on coordinating crosscutting efforts that address microbiome and 

metagenomic measurement challenges. IMMSA members are representative experts for all major 

microbiological ecosystems (e.g., human, animal, built, and environment). These experts are from various 

scientific disciplines, including, but not limited to: microbiology, ‘omics, epidemiology, bioinformatics, 

and statistics.10

In terms of the BBD’s achievements and impact on the scientific community, the BBD was 

represented on the Fast-Track Action Committee on Mapping the Microbiome, which was organized and 

 10 NIST, Biosystems and Biomaterials Division, “IMMSA Mission Statement,” updated January 5, 2017, 

https://www.nist.gov/mml/bbd/immsa-mission-statement. 
31 

hosted by the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). This committee 

published a report that was an assessment of microbiome research in the United States and identified gaps 

or needs for translating basic research to commercial applications for health care and agriculture. This 

committee found, nearly unanimously, that there is a need for standards and RMs to increase 

interlaboratory comparability and confidence in microbiome measurements.

The BBD develops RMs for cancer biomarkers that improve measurements in basic and clinical 

research. The RMs are developed in consultation with cancer experts from industrial, academic, and 

government laboratories. As mentioned, the BBD developed a NIST SRM for the HER2, gene, which is 

frequently amplified in breast cancer. The standard consists of purified genomic DNA from five breast 

cancer cell lines with different amounts of HER2 gene amplification. This RM is available from NIST as 

SRM 2373.11

The BBD is also currently preparing an RM for measuring the receptor tyrosine kinase for protooncogene MET and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) genes. This new standard, when completed, 

will be available as RM 8366. The standard consists of purified genomic DNA from six different cancer 

cell lines. The program will enable new diagnostics and therapeutics for cancer to be made by developing 

robust and reliable tools for measurement assurance, which includes RMs, protocols, and analysis 

pipelines. 

The BBD supports the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI’s) EDRN as a Biomarker Reference 

Laboratory by efficiently validating the measurement of specific cancer biomarkers as identified by the 

EDRN discovery laboratories. It also identifies critical areas where improvements in the measurement 

infrastructure will significantly impact the quality of the biomarker measurements. An interlaboratory 

testing program using candidate RMs for ctDNA is in progress to improve the accuracy and reliability of 

the measurements of new biomarkers for early cancer detection. 

The BBD has a long-standing relationship with the NIH/NCI/EDRN, where NIST acts in a network 

of Biomarker Reference Laboratories. The BBD works with this network of partners by piloting 

interlaboratory studies in microRNA (miRNA) measurements and measurements of genomic mutations 

(including in ctDNA), and in evaluating a mitochondrial deletion biomarker of prostate cancer. 

The BBD collaboration with SeraCare Life Sciences to advance the development of ctDNA 

diagnostic assay RMs is ongoing. Under the agreement, NIST will manage an interlaboratory testing 

program of the EDRN cancer biomarker discovery using RMs developed by SeraCare. NIST is also 

working with the Foundation for the NIH to plan a much larger testing program of clinical laboratories 

and commercial testing laboratories using RMs developed by multiple suppliers. The testing program will 

begin with analytical validation of the methods used in the clinical and commercial laboratories and will 

be extended to include clinical validation of cancer biomarkers used to determine treatment. 

An informal collaboration is ongoing with the Molecular Characterization Laboratory (MCL) at the 

Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research. The MCL is one of four laboratories that does the 

measurements for the precision medicine NCI, Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice (NCI-MATCH) 

clinical trial. The BBD is collaborating in the application of NIST cancer biomarker standards and in 

developing new standards based on cancer diagnostic and therapeutic needs in order to improve the 

accuracy and reliability of their measurements. As mentioned, they are also in the process of developing 

the NIST RM 8366, and have three publications in peer-reviewed journals. 

An interlaboratory assessment of ctDNA samples in the EDRN discovery laboratories is also in 

progress. The initial study includes five leading academic cancer research centers. The BBD will 

coordinate the samples, data, analysis, and publication of data. More assessments are planned and will 

include additional materials and laboratories. 

The BBD also serves as a reference laboratory for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) project on 

the development of RMs for validation of clinical measurements of ctDNA in cancer patients. This 

 11 NIST, Cell Systems Science Group, https://www.nist.gov/material-measurement-laboratorybiosystems-andbiomaterials-division/cell-systems-science-group, accessed September 25, 2017. 
32 

project has been approved, and is now in the proposal development and funding stage. Working group 

members include stakeholders in pharmaceutical companies, the FDA, the College of American 

Pathologists, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the NCI, the NIH, the Association for 

Molecular Pathology, and NIST. 

As part of the BBD’s engineering and synthetic biology-related activities, the BBD is also working to 

develop standardized measurement assays and reporting characteristics for genetic circuit elements. It is 

also working to establish reference strains and materials to support predictive design—by ensuring 

comparability of data between different research laboratories and by enabling absolute quantitation of 

engineered biological functions. The measurement methods that the BBD is developing include flow 

cytometry, single-molecule RNA-FISH (a single-molecule counting approach that has enabled the BBD 

to demonstrate measurements of the number of mRNA molecules in each bacterial cell12), as well as other 

quantitative microcopy approaches. 

The BBD research has led to more quantitative measurements for the performance of engineered 

microbial organisms. This will ultimately lead to improved predictability and reduced trial-and-error in 

the engineering of biology. It has also developed measurements to characterize the growth and phenotype 

of genomically minimized bacterial strains during the genome minimization process. Additionally, it is 

developing predictive capability with genome scale modeling to address questions regarding the 

sensitivity of promoter activity to the biological response of cells to changes in the environment. It is also 

supporting Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in high risk program development 

through a staff detail. 

Opportunities and Challenges 

With the awarding of the Manufacturing USA Institutes, NIIMBL, and the Advanced Tissue 

Biofabrication Manufacturing Innovation Institute (ATB-MII), and the passage of the 21st Century Cures 

Act, the active role that the BBD division has been playing in supporting regenerative medicine products 

is poised to ramp up even more. Stakeholder interest in NIST’s contributions to regenerative medicine 

products has been increasing rapidly over the past few years, but these new activities specifically tag the 

BBD with additional responsibilities. BBD leadership is needed in laboratory activities that advance 

measurement science in this field, in educating and coaching practitioners on how to apply measurement 

assurance principles and materials in their facilities, and in working with them on the development of 

standards. BBD stakeholders include academic research laboratories, cell manufacturers, biotechnology 

and pharmaceutical companies, instrument and equipment manufacturers, the FDA, and other federal 

agency partners. The BBD is working with these communities in several diverse, but related, activities, 

including cell characterization assays, flow cytometry, microbiome, and genomic editing evaluation. 

Since increased federal funding is not predicted, the BBD is looking toward forming collaborations 

and consortia with instrument manufacturers (such as the producers of cell counting instruments and flow 

cytometers); developers of ancillary materials and therapies (including establishing a consortium with 

many of the companies developing or using genome editing technologies); the FDA (by collaborating 

with them to address their responsibilities dictated by the 21st Century Cures Act and in standards 

development); and research laboratories—particularly in the CAR-T cell therapy area. Consortia and 

collaborations will hopefully provide resources and enhance impact. Additional federal funding would 

increase the efficiency with which the BBD can provide these services. 

The NIST Strategic and Emerging Research Initiatives (SERI) program provided two-year funding 

that helped to initiate a technically advanced and scientifically sophisticated program on engineering 

biology. That funding has allowed several successes to be achieved. Significant laboratory and modeling 

 12 A.K. Neilsen, B.S. Der, J. Shin, P. Vaidyanathan, V. Paralanov, E.A. Strychalski, D. Ross, D. Densmore, and 

C.A. Voight, Genetic circuit design automation, Science 352(6281):aac7341, 2016. 
33 

collaborations with the J. Craig Venter Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the 

University of Maryland (UMD) were established. Two significant co-authored publications have appeared 

in Science.

13 A robust internal program of advanced measurements and theory for engineering biology has 

been initiated. This program, while currently focused on the analysis and modeling of bacterial systems, 

has wider implications that include mammalian systems. And so it has potential to greatly impact 

synthetic biology and regenerative medicine. 

The MML is working with the Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML) to identify pan-NIST 

interests and develop cross-divisional programs in biological-related measurement science. Two areas of 

synergy include expertise in imaging and interest in precision medicine. The MML has significant work 

in imaging at the cellular and subcellular scale, and PML has advanced expertise in medical-scale 

imaging—including phantom development for MRI and other clinical modalities. To help establish 

collaborative projects that could be built on a request for additional budget authority, NIST’s MML, 

PML, the Information Technology Laboratory (ITL), and the Center for Nanoscale Science and 

Technology (CNST) units are holding a workshop to bring NIST scientists together to discuss ongoing 

and future work in imaging technologies. Bringing the various laboratories within NIST together (there 

are already significant interactions between MML and ITL in imaging) will expose those technical 

opportunities that NIST is uniquely positioned to tackle. This effort is in anticipation of a future NIST 

initiative in precision medicine. 

A major challenge is to bridge the intellectual and lexicon gaps between biological needs and physical 

science capabilities. Although imaging has been identified as an important crosscutting area for the PML 

and MML laboratories, it will be critical to identify what other crosscutting areas may exist between the 

laboratories. Having staff members serve as liaisons between the laboratories has been useful for 

identifying potential in-house collaborations. More postdoctoral support may be required to focus on the 

powerful measurement science that could emerge from these two laboratories. It is critical for the BBD to 

productively engage other laboratories at NIST in biorelated activities for two reasons: (1) to take 

advantage of advanced technological capabilities at NIST in order to address unmet measurement needs 

in biology, and (2) to increase the appreciation and understanding of the role that NIST needs to play in 

supporting measurements of biological systems. 

Additionally, given the observed high-content and high-throughput biodata (in matter genomics, next 

generation sequencing, and synthetic biology) that is being generated and accumulated by the BBD, the 

division needs to expand its working relationships with other NIST divisions that focus on informatics, 

specifically within the ODI. 

A combination of a hiring freeze and anticipated severe reduction in funding will have substantial 

impact on NIST’s ability to serve stakeholders, carry out its mission, and retain an engaged workforce 

that can carry out state-of-the-art technical research in measurement science. Since the budget scenario 

for FY 2018 and on is still largely theoretical, it is difficult to project what responses need to be prepared 

for. At the moment, the BBD is reviewing programs to identify the highest priorities in a climate where 

priorities may be changing. Every research area for which the BBD is developing standards, measurement 

science, and validation of methodology is of great value to the biological and life science arenas. 

The ability to identify and retain excellent scientists who can be engaged in interdisciplinary research, 

including engineers, statisticians, physicists, chemists, and biologists, will be critical to navigate this 

rapidly advancing field, leverage NIST-wide expertise, and manage resource challenges. 

Initiatives that support biological measurement science are not the most widely supported at NIST. 

Biological measurement science has the potential to be highly impactful in the coming decades, but 

translation from basic research to application requires strong biological measurement science and 

reliability. 

 13 These two publications were: Hutchison, C. A. et al. “Design and synthesis of a minimal bacterial genome” 

Science 351, (2016) and Nielsen, A. A. K. et al. “Genetic circuit design automation” Science 352, 53-+, (2016). 
34 

The microbiome field, as tested by NGS technologies, is challenging given the multitude of testing 

and informatics analyses pipelines, and such challenges present an opportunity for the Microbial 

Metrology Group to improve cohesiveness and develop standards. The Microbial Metrology Group and 

the Biomaterials Group have developed advanced measurements and standards for human pathogen 

detection and have been valuable partners for the FDA and the DHS by providing NIST mixed microbial 

DNA RMs and S. cerevisiae NE095 in lieu of biothreat agents. Recent advancements in microbial 

research supports the idea that the human microbiome plays a major role in human health and disease and 

represents an understudied diagnostic and therapeutic target. The group is well positioned to provide 

standards materials and methods to promote human microbial detection as diagnostic and therapeutic 

biomarkers. 

The JIMB, partnered with Stanford University, has many opportunities for collaboration with small 

and large biotechnology companies in the San Francisco Bay Area, which are diverse and numerous. This 

group can serve as a conduit for many NIST laboratories that are considering locating staff in the Bay 

Area to leverage the fast-paced technology development there. The opportunity to hire postdoctoral 

researchers from Stanford and other eminent research universities to work for NIST, without their having 

to relocate to the East Coast, provides an advantage with respect to bringing in new talent from the West 

Coast. This advantage, however, comes with the higher cost of living in the Bay Area. 

The BBD noted that there is an urgent need for standard materials for testing and/or calibrating deepsequencing equipment, procedures, and analyses. In collaboration with their stakeholders (federal 

agencies or industrial partners), the BBD needs to expedite the development of RMs pertinent to NGSbased biomarkers for precision medicine. Such RMs could be used in diagnostic, prognostic, and 

predictive markers for therapy. These RMs could also be utilized to assess the metrological and analytical 

sensitivity and specificity for disease detection and classification (e.g., circulating tumor DNA reference 

materials). 

PORTFOLIO OF SCIENTIFIC EXPERTISE 

Accomplishments 

Based on the recent developments by the BBD technical groups, as outlined in the previous sections, 

the BBD evinces scientific expertise on par with that of leading researchers in the areas being researched 

and developed. The BBD appears to have deep technical expertise in the measurement of biological 

systems and is developing the same capacity for bioengineering. The caliber of the science being 

performed at the BBD is excellent. The staff members are very motivated, highly trained in their 

respective fields, and enjoy working at NIST. The groups are working well together, and morale appears 

to be high. They choose programs and projects in a strategic manner by integrating strong stakeholder 

input and aligning outside capabilities to their internal strengths. A good example is the JIMB 

collaborative program at Stanford University on advances in biological and medical measurement. 

The group leaders appear to communicate and work well together. They are respected and admired by 

the scientists and technicians at the BBD. Their knowledge of what is going on in many fields and their 

network of scientists outside of NIST is impressive. They know that they have to attend external 

meetings, deliver presentations, and publish as well as patent their findings. There is a can-do atmosphere, 

especially on the innovation and entrepreneurial bench-to-bank side of the equation, to meet societal 

needs. 

The Microbial Metrology Group is highly visible and represents NIST on the Fast Track Action 

Committee on Mapping the Microbiome that was organized and hosted by the White House’s OSTP. The 

group has the expertise and connections to fulfill the unmet need for standards and RMs to increase 

interlaboratory comparability and confidence in microbiome measurements. 

The Bioassay Methods Group is highly trained and motivated to bring quality assurance and quality 

control standards and methods for both qualifying and quantifying biological activity, wellness, and 
35 

disease. This group has impressive researchers who are doing cutting-edge research. They effectively 

collaborate within and outside of the group to leverage needed talent. 

The Biomaterials Group is focusing on areas that are cutting-edge in bioimaging and biotechnology. 

The group possesses a highly qualified staff and a strong external network of collaborators at federal 

agencies and in industry and academia. The group is poised to develop, and potentially commercialize, 

rapid BCARS microscopy of cells, tissues, and materials. 

The Cell Systems Science Group has a focus on the cell as a system and tools in medical research, 

and is at the center of many of the major research programs being undertaken by NIST, NIH, and 

pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. The group has extensive expertise in developing 

measurement tools and protocols to ensure the reliability and comparability of cellular and imaging 

assays. 

Some noteworthy examples of Department of Commerce (DOC) and NIST-named awards won by the 

BBD staff include the 2015 Bronze Medal for establishing reliability in flow cytometry measurements to 

improve clinical disease diagnosis, cell therapy manufacturing, and biomedical research, and the 2014 

Bronze Medal for the development of a “clinically relevant measurement and standardization program for 

the critical evaluation of photo-polymerized dental restoratives.”14 One external award won by the BBD 

was the 2016 Judson C. French Award for the development of the first ever cancer gene copy number 

diagnostic SRM, NIST SRM 2373. Additionally, one of the JIMB bioengineers was recognized in 

January 2017 with a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). 

Opportunities and Challenges 

The JIMB establishes a footprint of NIST on the West Coast and will attract new talent to work on 

genomic metrology, which is in great need of RMs, measurement science, and validation. The highly 

creative and trained NIST group at Stanford continues to try to include the NIST staff at the Gaithersburg 

campus in many platforms and in developing and expanding their capabilities. 

Key technical expertise in specialized instrumentation has been lost and not replaced. There needs to 

be concerted effort to maintain continuity in the staffing of critical positions within the BBD. 

ADEQUACY OF FACILITIES, EQUIPMENT, AND HUMAN RESOURCES 

Accomplishments 

The BBD laboratories that were visited during the review are well-stocked with the latest and best 

equipment for doing research in biotechnology. In addition, the scientists are very good at tweaking the 

instruments to do more, and at integrating systems and creating new instruments. Biotechnology is a 

rapidly evolving technology, and the BBD has been trying to anticipate emerging measurement needs, in 

addition to hiring and training experts to provide results that have an impact in biotechnology standards 

and measurements. The division has overall done an excellent job of acquiring the best tools in their 

respective space to advance the understanding of complex biological systems on many fronts and at many 

levels. 

The facilities visited were designed for maximum output and were very well kept with respect to 

clean laboratory benches, well-stocked supplies, and a good flow of laboratory capabilities. The 

equipment of the BBD is state-of-the-art. However, some laboratory infrastructure is not adequate for 

 14 NIST, “National Institute of Standards and Technology Presents 2014 Awards to Outstanding Employees,” 

updated August 15, 2016, https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2014/12/national-institute-standards-andtechnology-presents-2014-awards. 
36 

conducting particular experiments, such as a cell culture up to Biosafety Level 2 (BSL-2) standards. This 

is owed, in part, to aging building infrastructure and excess storage in laboratory space. 

Additionally, equipment purchases are difficult, in part due to an institutional overhead for equipment 

of 50 percent. This equipment tax significantly reduces the amount of equipment that the BBD can 

purchase. Given that the tools in the biotechnology space are continually being redesigned for more 

quantitative analysis in order to remain competitive, purchasing new equipment or retrofitting existing 

equipment will be high on the BBD investigators’ list. Partnering with instrumentation companies is 

something that the BBD already does extremely well. It is important that it continue to seek companies 

that have developed the next generation of biotechnology tools for alpha and beta testing and obtain the 

instruments at a reduced cost. 

With respect to human resources, the BBD is a highly productive division. It is effective and efficient 

regarding output, especially considering it has such a lean staff. The BBD manages to achieve its stated 

objectives with its small staff, diverse thrust focus areas, four major programs, and its role in the JIMB. 

The ratio of Ph.D.’s to technicians is high, and in some applications more technicians could be employed 

to carry out some of the required maintenance of reference standards. The BBD management needs to 

consider adding more staff to the four divisions if it is going to continue to lead. It also needs to consider 

forming strategic partnerships for measurement standards, RMs, and validation within the many and 

varied areas of biotechnology. 

Opportunity and Challenges 

Working mainly in the biotechnology arena, the BBD has both challenges and opportunities. This 

unique group of scientists (whose expertise includes biology, chemistry, mathematics, computation, 

engineering, and physics) is addressing the complex biological sciences that are continually in flux and 

driven both by policy and regulatory issues that seem to change frequently. 

Recognizing that there is a need for better measurements and standards for data sharing, 

reproducibility, scale-up, and commercialization, the BBD is working on the right things at the right time. 

For example, it is working in metagenomic microbial measurements, genomics standards, cell 

manufacturing and therapies, synthetic biology, and predictive biology. However, given the broad space 

of biological systems, a critical mass of staff and resources may hinder the pace of development that some 

of these areas demand. Additionally, with respect to human resources, there appear to be some delays in 

the replacing of critical staffing positions. 

DISSEMINATION OF OUTPUTS 

Accomplishments 

The BBD has hosted a series of NIST-led workshops aimed at engaging with key stakeholders to 

identify pressing measurement challenges in the regenerative medicine and advanced therapies sectors. 

These workshops were the Strategies to Achieve Measurement Assurance for Cell Therapies Products 

Workshop (May 2015); CAR-T Biomanufacturing Symposium (February 2016); Genome Editing 

Standards Workshop (May 2016); and the NIST-FDA Cell Counting Workshop (April 2017). 

The Standards for Microbiome Measurements Workshop was jointly hosted by NIST, the NIH 

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and the Human Microbiome Project 

(HMP) in August 2016. The Microbial Metrology Group played a leading role in the workshop, which 

assembled microbiome researchers from federal agencies, academia, and industry in a precompetitive 

space to prioritize needs and form an action plan to move microbiome standards development forward. 

The workshop began as an effort to gather input on defining RMs, reference data, and RMs for human 

microbiome community measurements. While the scope of the workshop was applicable for anyone 
37 

involved in microbiome-based R&D, there was an emphasis placed on DNA-based measurements of the 

human microbiome as it pertains to the development of new clinical diagnostics, microbiome 

therapeutics, epidemiological investigations, and the associated regulatory challenges. 

NIST also hosted a series of three workshops—the NIST-FDA Standards for Pathogen Detection 

Workshop—over the last 3 years, which were also organized by the Microbial Metrology Group. These 

workshops have focused on standards for pathogen detection and identification and on the use of NGS 

technologies for clinical diagnostics and biothreat detection. The consensus outcome from the NIST-FDA 

workshop on microbial NGS-based standards for pathogen detection was for NIST and the FDA to jointly 

develop a mixed pathogen RM and associated data that will allow the community to assess the 

performance of their microbial detection systems and enable regulators to vet the performance claims 

made by the laboratories and companies creating and using these systems. NIST will be hosting its fourth 

workshop in this series in the summer of 2017, and that workshop will focus on the clinical diagnostics 

for infectious disease and biothreat detection communities. 

As previously mentioned, the JIMB has also held several public workshops that have highlighted the 

need to understand the quality of results from next-generation sequencing (NGS). 

The division has been very productive, with over 140 publications that include top scientific journals 

such as Science and Nature. These high-impact publications reflect a substantial contribution of BBD 

scientists in consortia and collaborative groups. Standards activities count the release of 16 SRMs/RMs, 8 

SRDs, participation in 44 standards committees, 6 awarded patents (and 11 patents pending), and a 

number of leadership positions. 

The BBD’s engineering and synthetic biology-related activities have produced 148 archival journals, 

23 conference proceedings, 23 NIST reports, 13 books, and 7 book chapters. Some noteworthy examples 

include the following: 

 Hutchison, C.A., Chuang, R., Noskov, V.N., Assad-Garcia, N., Deerinck, T.J., Ellisman, M.H., 

Gill, J.et al. 2016. Design and synthesis of a minimal bacterial genome. Science, Volume 351, 

Issue 6280, aad625, DOI: 10.1126/science.aad6253. This paper reports a systematic process of 

genome minimization, so that a bacterium is engineered to have only 473 genes—the smallest 

genome of any freely living organism. This organism is an important milestone in biotechnology 

and evolutionary biology, because it provides a simplified platform to add genes back into the 

genome one by one to study their effects. 

 Nielsen, A.A.K., Bryan S. Der, B.S., Shin, J., Vaidyanathan, P., Paralanov, V., Strychalski, E.A., 

Ross, D. et al. 2016. Genetic circuit design automation. Science, Volume 352, Issue 6281, 

aac7341, DOI: 10.1126/science.aac7341. This paper describes a programming language, called 

Cello, for cellular logic to compile high-level functional specifications into DNA sequences that 

can be inserted into bacterial cells, giving them new sensing and response capabilities. 

 Camp C.H., Lee Y.J., Heddleston J.M., Hartshorn C.M., Hight Walker A.R, Rich J.N., Lathia 

J.D., Cicerone M.T. et al. 2014. High-speed coherent Raman fingerprint imaging of biological 

tissues. Nature Photonics 8:627-634, DOI: 10.1038/nphoton.2014.145. This paper describes the 

development of a new BCARS microscopy platform that acquires spectra with unprecedented 

speed, detection limit, and spectral breadth. 

 Elliott J.T., Rösslein M., Song N.W., Toman B., Kinsner-Ovaskainen A., Maniratanachote R., 

Salit M.L. et al. 2016. Toward achieving harmonization in a nano-cytotoxicity assay 

measurement through an interlaboratory comparison study. ALTEX, 34(2):201-218. doi: 

10.14573/altex.1605021 This manuscript illustrates the application of advanced measurement 

science tools such as in-process controls and interlaboratory comparisons to a conventional MTS 

(3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium) 

cell viability assay protocol. 

 Stulberg, E., Fravel, D., Proctor, L.M., Murray, D.M., LoTempio, J., Chrisey, L., Garland, J., et 

al. 2016. An assessment of U.S. microbiome research. Nature Microbiology. Article number: 
38 

15015, doi:10.1038/nmicrobiol.2015.15 This paper summarizes the assessment of the status of 

U.S. microbiome research by a team of govermental scientists from fourteen governmental 

organizations. This study has implications for the funding of future microbiome research, in both 

the United States and internationally. 

The BBD has also disseminated key position papers on measurement assurance strategies, including 

perspective papers in Cell Therapy and Stem Cells Translational Medicine on quality attributes for cell 

therapy products and on improving measurement assurance. 

Outside of workshops, some of the BBD’s impact includes delivering measurement solutions to 

Lonza, a leading cell contract manufacturing organization, to enable comparison cell enumeration by 

automated and manual methods. The BBD’s customer outreach includes collaboration with Chris Voigt’s 

laboratory at MIT to develop measurements and reference objects for synthetic biology. As mentioned, 

they also have collaborations with the J. Craig Venter Institute and MIT to characterize the phenotype of 

genomically minimized cell strains and to inform the potential for the minimal cell to serve as a tool for 

fundamental research and biomanufacturing. 

The BBD has also elevated NIST’s profile through the its regenerative medicine-related activities, 

specifically through the administration of the U.S. Technical Advisory Group (U.S. TAG) for 

ISO/TC276: Biotechnology, as well as through their leadership in ASTM FO4 on Tissue Engineered 

Medical Products. The U.S. TAG to ISO/TC276 Biotechnology group is a way for NIST to coordinate 

national and international standards activities for existing and emerging biotechnology sectors. The 

primary goal of this technical advisory group is to enhance the global competitiveness of U.S. business 

and quality of life by promoting and facilitating voluntary consensus standards and ensuring their 

integrity in biotechnologies. It has developed innovative approaches for evaluating the quality of cell 

counting measurements through experimental design and statistical analysis. These methods have been 

implemented by industrial and academic clinical centers to improve the confidence of their critical cell 

counting measurements and are the basis for an international standard under development in ISO TC 276. 

As part of its regenerative medicine-related activities, the BBD has also presented webinars and highprofile lectures to key industry and regulatory stakeholders. It has also established a Memorandum of 

Understanding (MOU) with the Standards Coordinating Body (SCB) for gene, cell, and regenerative 

medicine and cell-based drug discovery in order to coordinate standards development for regenerative 

medicine and advanced therapies. 

The BBD’s engineering and synthetic biology-related activities include strong customer engagement. 

In partnership with the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) and other consortium members, the 

BBD is working to design tools, establish data sets, and further develop and standardize NIST’s patented 

authentication method through the use of NIST-identified short tandem repeat (STR) markers for mouse 

cell lines. The goal is to develop a commercially available assay kit based on the STR markers and the 

method for mouse cell line authentication. 

NIST is also collaborating with manufacturers of microparticles to develop RMs. These include 

reference fluorophore solutions and biological RMs. They also include reference data and RMs for 

assigning an equivalent number of reference fluorophores (ERF) values, and assessing the associated 

uncertainties and utilities. 

The BBD also established interagency agreements between NIST and other federal agency partners: 

NCI/EDRN; DHS; DARPA; NIH/National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR); and 

the FDA. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was established between NIST and the SCB for 

gene, cell, and regenerative medicine and cell-based drug discovery to help coordinate standards 

development for regenerative medicine and advanced therapies. 

NCI’s clinical trials reference laboratories have used NIST SRM 2373 to improve the confidence of 

the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) Gene Copy Number. This SRM has enabled test 

manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies to produce the secondary RMs required to ensure accurate 

and reliable clinical measurements of HER2. 
39 

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is also using NIST-developed technologies for 

the measurement of metabolites in processes that employ engineered organisms to convert corn stover to 

useful chemical products. The BBD is working with the NREL to facilitate this transfer of capabilities. 

Another BBD dissemination activity has been through the NIST SRI Program Standard Reference 

Instrument (SRI) Tensometer, which is a cantilever beam-based tensometer to measure the 

polymerization stress, polymerization exotherm via temperature monitoring, degree of conversion, and 

kinetics. This instrument has been made available to industry and university researchers through the NIST 

SRI program. In addition, NIST has conducted measurements for recent NIDCR U01 grantees to ensure 

comparability of results. This method is also under consideration as an international standard or technical 

specification through ISO/TC106 Dentistry. 

Some noteworthy examples of BBD’s 17 patents and patents pending include the following: 

 J. Almeida and K. Cole. 2016. U.S. Patent No. 9,556,482: Mouse Cell Line Authentication. An 

authentication method using NIST-identified noncoding STR markers. 

 M. Halter Peterson and A. Plant. 2015. U.S. Patent No. 20150168300 A1: Article and Process for 

Modifying Light. This invention enables high spatial resolution surface plasmon resonance 

imaging (SPRI) through a microscope objective, where no commercialized product yet exists. 

SPRI allows for the measurement of intrinsic physical properties of materials (refractive index, 

mass, thickness) at a surface interface in a real-time, label-free format. 

 J. Elliott and A. Christopher. 2016. Non-Provisional U.S. Patent Application: Process for Making 

an Asymmetric Fluorophore. This invention relates to a process for synthesizing a small molecule 

asymmetric boron-containing fluorophore. The asymmetric fluorophore was designed to aid in 

cellular membrane permeability while retaining aqueous solubility. The fluorophore can be 

conjugated to proteins within live cells or fixed cells and provides whole-cell staining of such 

cells. 

The BBD also maintains leadership of and contributions to roadmaps, planning groups, and policy forums 

including the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Regenerative Medicine 

Forum and the National Cell Manufacturing Consortium (NCMC). They also interface with the NIIMBL, 

which is funded by the DOC and the Department of Defense (DOD) Advanced Tissue Biofabrication 

Manufacturing Innovation Institute-awarded Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute (ARMI). 

Their leadership positions in relevant societies and organizations include the Society for Biomaterials, 

Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society-Americas (TERMIS-AM), ASTM, 

and ISOs. They also contribute to interagency activities through the Multi-Agency Tissue Engineering 

Science (MATES) Working Group with the NIH, FDA, DOD, NSF, and the White House OSTP. They 

will be assuming the chair of this working group in spring 2017. 

The BBD also helped to nucleate and participate in IMMSA, which was founded to identify and 

disseminate developments related to improving microbiome measurements. The Microbial Metrology 

Group participated in this alliance. 

Opportunities and Challenges 

One concern is that the BBD has a relatively limited reach in its communication with a broad 

customer base and with its stakeholders. While the BBD has developed websites (its current website 

reflects a significant improvement from its previous one), held workshops, and creates and contributes to 

consortia, stakeholder outreach currently remains limited, and the BBD needs to pursue and explore 

mechanisms for reaching its stakeholders. 
40 

5 

Chemical Sciences 

INTRODUCTION 

In achieving the overarching goals of National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the 

Material Measurement Laboratory (MML) for measurements on complex chemical systems, the Chemical 

Sciences Division (CSD)1

 provides an essential set of tools for the work of all chemical scientists and 

engineers, contributes to a large segment of the nation’s production of goods and energy, and enables 

quantitative measurements of the contents of the atmosphere and waters that can provide warnings when 

impurity levels in the air or water may negatively impact the health of Earth’s natural environment and its 

inhabitants. A concise statement of the CSD mission is as follows: 

Supports future developments in the chemical sciences by creating state-of-the-art chemical 

measurement capabilities, theories and computational methods for quantitative measurements, and 

methods for sensing of solids, liquids, gases, plasmas, transient species, and multicomponent matrices. 

The division also formulates and disseminates reference materials and critically evaluates reference 

data used in a wide range of applications, including chemical manufacturing, clinical health 

assessment, food and nutritional assessment, and exposure science.2

For most of a century NIST’s compilations of evaluated chemical data, structures of molecules and 

materials, spectroscopic and thermochemical properties, and mechanisms and rates of chemical reactions 

have provided essential tools for the work of almost all chemical scientists and engineers. 

The CSD works in partnership with other organizations within NIST, with other government 

laboratories, and with institutions throughout industry and academia. This optimizes the creation and 

dissemination of new, state-of-the art technologies, which enables chemical science, technology, and 

engineering enterprises. It encourages innovation and provides the basis for high confidence levels in 

measurements and technologies that are used in a wide range of applications. These applications include 

chemical analyses and separations that support environmental stewardship, health care diagnostics and 

therapies, detection of explosives or poisons, and advanced chemical and solid-state device manufacturing 

(and much more). 

The CSD staff is approximately one-fifth the size of the MML’s and is comparatively as large as the 

MMSD and MSED, which each make up 19 percent of the MML. The staff members include 8 office 

staff and eight technical groups that range in size from 8 to 36 members and work over a broad range of 

scientific and engineering areas. These groups are the Chemical Informatics Research Group, the 

 1

 Some of the background information within this chapter was derived from the document NIST, “Made to 

Measure—Building the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Innovation in the Biological, Chemical, and Materials 

Sciences,” pp. 131-152, 2017. 2

 NIST Material Measurement Laboratory, “Made to Measure: Building the Foundation for Tomorrow’s 

Innovation in the Biological, Chemical, and Material Sciences,” read-ahead to the panel, May 9, 2011, p. 13.
41 

Chemical Process and Nuclear Measurements Group, the Environmental Chemical Sciences Group, the 

Environmental Specimen Bank Group, the Gas Sensing Metrology Group, the Inorganic Measurement 

Science Group, the Marine Biochemical Sciences Group, and the Organic Chemical Measurement 

Science Group. The eight CSD groups contribute to its five division-wide program areas in chemical 

sciences for biomedical and health research and applications, nutrition science, advanced chemical 

metrology for natural resources monitoring, atmospheric chemical sciences, and advanced chemical 

manufacturing. 

There are 8 people providing administrative support with an average load of 22 technical staff 

members per person. There are also 13 technical staff members that have some managerial 

responsibilities. The CSD facilities are located in Gaithersburg, Maryland, with the exception of 30 

people at the Hollings Marine Laboratory (HML) in Charleston, South Carolina, and one person in 

Hawaii. 

ASSESSMENT OF TECHNICAL PROGRAMS 

Accomplishments 

The Inorganic Measurement Sciences Group conducts research on the measurement science that 

underpins the identification and quantification of inorganic chemical species in support of manufacturing 

and environmental stewardship. Additionally, the group develops, critically evaluates, and applies an 

unusually broad range of analytical methods. It also 

Investigates fundamental physical and chemical processes to develop new analytical techniques and to 

improve existing analytical methodology; applies the results of this research to the certification of 

SRMs and other RMs important to U.S. industry and government agencies; maintains and develops 

inorganic SRMs for commodities and for calibration of basic chemical quantities including: pH, 

electrolytic conductivity, and concentration; provides advice and measurement services; and serves on 

the committees of eighteen international standards organizations.3

The scope and significance of this group’s projects are striking. The Avogadro project, which is pursued 

in collaboration with several other national standards institutions, is designed to measure the Avogadro 

constant, about 6 × 1023, to an accuracy of 20 parts per billion, and to redefine the kilogram as of next 

year in terms of Planck’s constant. The standard kilogram in Paris will then be the final physical artifact 

to be retired from service as a fundamental SI base unit. 

Its work on the creation of pH standards for the ocean and other high-ionic-strength environments is 

particularly impressive. At the high concentrations of salts in the ocean, the chemical potentials of water 

and indicator dyes, and of their ions, are shifted from those in pure water by the presence of near-neighbor 

ions. This significantly alters apparent pH. Such research requires a deep understanding of complex 

chemical processes, meticulous and systematic design, execution in the laboratory, and a thorough and 

sophisticated analysis of the generated data. This is an impressive piece of research. These standards are 

critical for important industrial processes and required for measuring ocean acidification over the years. 

These standards are also important for anticipating industry impact on ocean life, on the environment, and 

on the resources available to humans. 

It is also working on the production and documentation of long-lived standard reference materials 

(SRMs) for pure inorganic and organometallic materials, for single-element and single-anion solutions, 

and for many practical materials such as alloys, cements, nanomaterials, and catalysts. It is providing 

highly reliable standards that are important in a wide range of industries and research laboratories. This 

 3

 Ibid., p. 132. 
42 

major and sophisticated effort makes extensive use of NIST’s broad range of powerful analytical tools 

and is clearly excellent work. 

Engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) have started being produced and used in an empirical way on an 

industrial scale for many types of products and processes. This group is developing a suite of methods for 

defining the physical and chemical properties of these particles as they are synthesized and prepared for 

application. It is also starting to study the release of ENPs from commercial products and the potential for 

environmental health and safety consequences of their release during both the manufacturing and the use 

of products containing ENPs. 

The Organic Chemical Measurement Science Group quantitatively evaluates and then improves 

methods for the identification, quantification, and traceability of organic species. It has built up a 

laboratory with modern analytical equipment based on at least seven different molecular properties. From 

a knowledge of the fundamental principles of each method, of the variation in properties of types of 

analytes, and of the resolving power of different chromatographic substrates and changes in instrument 

designs, the group improves the resolution and sensitivity of its instrumentation to meet programmatic 

needs—or designs new methods as required. Based on this work, the group provides critically evaluated 

RMPs, 29 for biomedical and health research alone, as well as 250 SRMs. It also provides advice and 

measurement services to U.S. industry and manufacturing, federal and state government agencies, and 

scientific organizations. It interacts with international standards organizations and other National 

Metrology Institutes to establish comparability of measurement capabilities. This year, a fundamental 

chemical metrology standard, NIST PS1: Primary Standard for Quantitative NMR (Benzoic Acid) will be 

released as the highest metrologically ordered standard for SI traceability of organic chemical 

measurements. The benzoic acid is 99.992±0.005 mass fraction percent pure. 

Additionally, the Organic Chemical Measurement Science Group is providing standard substances to 

law enforcement for training dogs to smell explosives and illegal drugs and is setting up a Novel 

Psychoactive Substances Data Hub. It also contributes to crosscutting programs in nutrition science, 

metabolomics, and biomedical and health research. 

The Gas Sensing Metrology Group is responsible for 

Critically evaluating, developing, and applying high-accuracy, amount-of-substance measurement techniques, 

generating reference data and the dissemination of SI-traceable standards for the identification and 

measurement of gaseous species in atmospheric media (urban, rural, and pristine), process streams (automobile 

and stack emissions), and long-path observations (remote sensing and greenhouse gas monitoring).4

It has developed state-of-the-art laser spectroscopy equipment for detecting and quantifying trace 

gases down to a fraction of a part per trillion. This is a substantial advance in the science and technology 

of trace gas detection and measurement. Its power is dramatically exemplified by the measurement of 14C 

(~5000 year half-life) carbon dioxide concentrations to distinguish combustion products from modern 

carbon sources, such as cornstalks or biofuel (1 parts per billion [ppb]) or from fossil fuel (coal or oil, 0 

ppb). The instrumentation is now working and is being developed for field studies. Once patented, it will 

be suitable for commercial production. It promises to replace the much more expensive and bulky 

accelerator mass spectrometric technology and make these 14C measurements more widely available and 

less expensive. 

Accurate spectroscopic measurements of concentrations of gases using satellites (e.g., for 

atmospheric greenhouse gases) or ground-based lasers (e.g., aimed through stack gas plumes or 

automobile exhausts) require precise measurements of line positions and line shapes as they are 

broadened by collisions with ambient gas molecules. Using the Gas Sensing Metrology Group data, 

molecular collision theorists have successfully verified methods for calculating line-shapes, so that the 

detailed laboratory measurements are not required for every possible ambient gas and temperature (e.g., 

 4

 Joseph T. Hodges, NIST, “Gas Sensing Metrology,” presentation to the panel on May 9, 2017, p. 2. 
43 

flames). These molecular concentrations are then used directly by atmospheric modelers. The group has 

already provided the key spectroscopic data for six of the most important atmospheric molecules. It also 

standardizes equipment for atmospheric ozone and mercury measurements. 

The methods, data, and services provided by this group are critical enablers of the measurements of 

atmospheric gases that monitor air pollution and the progress of global warming. The data from these 

measurements allow predictions of the long-term impacts on the environment and existing populations 

and therefore provide a basis for national and international policy-making and corrective action. Both the 

quality of the scientific work and its importance to humanity strengthen NIST’s position as a leader 

among international standards-setting institutions. 

The group is also in the process of developing another half-dozen promising optical sensing 

technologies for air metrology of our changing atmosphere. Their development of optical sensing 

technologies includes a focus on frequency-stabilized cavity ring-down spectroscopy, frequency-agile 

rapid scanning spectroscopy, photoacoustic spectroscopy, and multi-heterodyne spectroscopy with optical 

frequency combs. One patent has been awarded and another is pending for these novel applications of 

optical devices. 

The production of SRM gas mixtures in cylinders containing accurately known and traceable 

compositions is an important program that supports research, environmental monitoring, and industrial 

production. For example, carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in mixtures for greenhouse gas calibration 

are determined to ±0.1 ppm at 400 ppm. SRMs are prepared from >125 different gases and, during the 

previous 6 years, annual gas SRM sales fluctuated between 283 and 399 cylinders and averaged 328—a 

bit more than one-quarter of the SRMs produced in the MML. 

The Chemical Informatics Research Group develops, validates, and applies methods in computational 

chemistry (quantum chemistry), molecular simulation (statistical mechanics and thermodynamics), and 

informatics to study, predict, and evaluate the chemical and physical properties of molecules, gases, 

fluids, solids, and fluid/solid interfacial systems. It uses the Department of Energy (DOE) advanced 

supercomputer facilities at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) in 

Berkeley. 

The group works closely with experimental groups to explore the underlying mechanisms of observed 

phenomena and to extend data sets into experimentally inaccessible regions. Two striking examples 

illustrate how effectively theory can deal with important, messy, and practical industrial problems. 

Specifically, the group’s calculations on high-concentration protein solutions are helping pharma 

understand how to prepare and administer protein therapies, in which the protein molecules do not form 

inactive protein clusters and do not fragment when forced through a syringe needle. The group has also 

taken on the challenge posed by the American Chemical Society (ACS) to reduce the energy intensity of 

chemical manufacturing industries. 

Half of the energy of chemical manufacturing industries is used for distillation—it accounts for 10 

percent of the total energy consumed worldwide—a major target for conservation. ACS-organized road 

mapping workshops identified membrane and adsorbent-based processes as prospects to reduce energy 

requirements by a factor of 4 to 5. This led NIST and the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy 

(ARPA-E) to add new features to their Adsorption Database. A close and effective collaboration with 

industry and other laboratories can be expected to strongly accelerate the development of viable 

processes. 

This relatively new group has quickly focused on important applied problems where theory and 

computation can make a strong contribution. State-of-the-art theory and modeling can guide experimental 

research and focus pilot plant work in productive directions. The group won a large grant of computer 

time for the next phase of this work. 

The Facility for Adsorbent Characterization and Testing (FACT) laboratory was created at NIST in 

partnership with ARPA-E. It was created to advance sorption measurement science and techniques for in 

situ characterization of the bonding of adsorbed molecules in order to enable rational design of new 

materials optimized for sustainable energy and environmental processes. Specific examples include 

storage of hydrogen and methane fuels, gas separations for carbon capture or natural gas purification, and 
44 

catalytic reactions. A group of 10 universities and businesses is involved in round-robin testing of the 

reliability of the measurement protocols created in the FACT laboratory. 

The Chemical Process and Nuclear Measurements Group conducts “state-of-the-art chemical and 

physical measurements to advance measurement science and the fundamental understanding of timedependent phenomena,”5

 such as rate constants, reaction mechanisms, and transport properties. The group 

has built an extensive array of excellent experimental equipment. They have produced chemical kinetics 

and photochemical data for use in atmospheric studies that provide the basis for understanding the fate 

and impact of anthropogenic additions to the atmosphere. Among these additions are the organic 

molecules that react together, and with oxygen and water, to form “secondary organic” aerosol particles. 

The group has begun to measure the composition of these particles and to provide analyses of organic 

aerosol compositions. 

It is important to understand the composition of aerosol particles in the atmosphere, how they react 

chemically, and their impact on human health and the natural environment. This chemistry is very 

complex and challenging to study. Ultimately, these studies will lead to measurement standards for the 

quantitative tracking of substances that need to be eliminated and the optimization of human activities 

that will minimize the detrimental effects of such particles on health and the environment. 

The group also provides inorganic analyses of materials used in neutron activation. Recently, it has 

conducted neutron depth profiling (NDP) to measure, in operando, the movement of Lithium-ions (Lions) in the solid electrolytes of Li-ion batteries. There are wide-ranging opportunities to expand this 

work, since solid electrolytes provide potentially higher ionic conductivity, and as a result, better 

batteries. The anticipated future of emerging technologies in Li-ion batteries using solid electrolytes and 

the NDP research shows high promise, along with significant scientific challenges. The proposal for 

three-dimensional (3D) elemental imaging in materials by prompt gamma ray emission tomography will 

undoubtedly be useful in this project and in many other applications. 

The rapid growth of the nation’s use of electrically powered vehicles, the impending introduction of 

autonomous vehicles, the need for storage capacity on the nation’s electric grid, and the construction of a 

major Li-ion battery factory make the optimization of this technology an urgent priority. The new 

instrumentation for observing Li-ions in an operating battery will rapidly accelerate the process. These 

experimental tools create an opportunity to make major contributions to the national transportation and 

energy infrastructures, to energy conservation, and to environmental protection. In view of the prospects 

for major deployment of battery-powered energy and transportation systems, the CSD needs to prepare to 

fully exploit and share the new tools it has developed for studying and improving the performance of Liion batteries. 

The HML, founded in 2000, was occupied in 2002 through an agreement between NIST and the 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), together with the Medical University of 

South Carolina, the College of Charleston, and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. 

Research at the HML is also supported by the National Sea Grant College Program. The HML is home to 

the Environmental Specimen Bank Group, the Environmental Chemical Sciences Group, and the Marine 

Biochemical Sciences Group. 

The Environmental Specimen Bank Group’s facility is staffed by 8 NIST scientists who are 

responsible for developing protocols for the entire operation to ensure that marine samples are collected, 

transported, prepared, analyzed, and placed in a liquid-nitrogen-cooled storage facility in order to provide 

data that can be meaningfully compared worldwide and over time. A staff member supervises every step 

of the process. Ultimately, these materials, combined with those in other facilities, will support work to 

understand the effects of changes in the environment on marine life forms. As the world’s fisheries 

become increasingly depleted and fish migrate toward the poles, there will need to be a better 

understanding of how to manage them, as well as how to design and manage fish farms that produce highquality seafood. This research fills an important part of the NIST mission. 

 5

 Pam Chu, “Chemical Process and Nuclear Measurements Group,” presentation to the panel, May 9, 2017, p. 2. 
45 

The Environmental Chemical Sciences Group seeks “to provide measurement science, standards and 

technology to support the nation’s goals for assessing environmental exposure and effects of natural and 

man-made chemicals in air, water, soil and biota.”6 With 11 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees and a 

few students at the HML, the group has undertaken an enormous set of programs. These programs include 

(1) performing a complete and extremely important analysis of waste water from hydraulic fracturing—

also known as fracking—operations (a subject of intense environmental concern being discussed in the 

absence of complete data); (2) creating an SRM for the sediment of the significantly polluted Great Lakes 

to aid in developing monitoring systems and cleanup processes (given the enormous geographical area 

and its variety of pollution sources and natural environments, sediments from a range of representative 

locations may be required); (3) developing comprehensive methods for simultaneously determining 

multiple human hormones from different classes, and creating advanced mass spectroscopic diagnostic 

methods for clinical disorders of glycosylation using 100 microliters (μLs) of human blood; (4) 

measuring, with the Medical University of South Carolina, urinary phthalate metabolites in a racially 

diverse population of pregnant women; (5) promulgating the use of Serotransferrin (as developed by the 

group) for a marker of clinical disorders of glycosylation using a proteomics method for screening along 

with the SI-traceable SRM created for the method; and (6) producing data on the accumulation of 

Gadolinium (Gd) in the brains of patients examined by MRI using a Gd contrast agent. Another halfdozen projects of substantial interest are also in progress. 

The Marine Biochemical Sciences Group’s goal is to perform 

State-of-the-art bioanalytical measurements, in order to provide reference data, develop standards, and advance 

measurement sciences in support of the nation’s needs for knowledge of the identity, quantity and biochemical 

properties of marine organisms, particularly those that have an impact on human health.7

This is clearly a very complex area of major importance. Working with its colleagues, NIST’s group of 

five at the HML will be able to make valuable contributions. Its project to apply metabolomics metrology 

in order to assess aquaculture practices deserves emphasis in view of its possible impact on the 

availability of high-quality seafood for human consumption. 

NIST and the University of Colorado created the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA) at 

the Boulder campus in 1962. Following up on this model for preeminent success, the MML has 

established, since 2000, five similar collaborations: (1) as mentioned, in 2000, the founding agreement for 

the HML in Charleston, South Carolina, was signed, and the Environmental Specimen Bank Group, the 

Environmental Chemical Sciences Group, and the Marine Biochemical Sciences Group have been 

working together with NOAA and three South Carolina institutions since the first labs were completed in 

2002; (2) in 2014, the Joint Initiative for Metrology in Biology (JIMB) with Stanford University was 

launched on Stanford’s Palo Alto, California, campus; (3) also in 2014, the Center for Hierarchical 

Materials Design (CHiMaD) was formed and located at the Northwestern University campus—it included 

Chicago universities, the Argonne National Laboratory, QuesTek LLC (a 1997 start-up from 

Northwestern University that designs specialty metal alloys), and ASM International (a century-old 

professional society that produces information and data handbooks for the design and manufacturing of 

metal alloys); (4) in 2010, the Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research (IBBR) was created 

with the University of Maryland (UMD), on the foundation of the NIST/UMD collaborations in biology 

that were initiated three decades ago; and (5) in 2017, the newly established National Institute for 

Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL) will join the IBBR. NIIMBL is the 11th 

institute to be created in the Manufacturing USA Network. It is the first of these institutes with a focus 

area chosen by industry and the first with funding, $70 million, from the Department of Commerce 

 6

 John Kucklick, “Environmental Chemical Sciences Group,” presentation to the panel, May 9, 2017, p. 2. 

7

 Frank Mari, “Marine Biochemical Sciences Group,” presentation to the panel, May 9, 2017, p. 2. 
46 

(DOC). Other members of the consortium, 103 companies and nonprofit organizations and 41 educational 

institutions have provided an additional $129 million. 

This expansion of collaborative activities broadens the scope of application of NIST standards and 

measurements work and strengthens its connections to, and value in, industry. These strategic area 

partnerships connect NIST to new industries developing in the Middle West and on the Pacific coast, 

regions previously without a NIST presence. The scope and speed with which these collaborations have 

been developed is remarkable. The magnitude of the NIIMBL and the industrial connections that it makes 

available provide an unparalleled opportunity for NIST to accelerate the progress of U.S. industry. 

The Chemical Sciences Division (CSD) is continuing NIST’s long-established tradition of developing 

measurement technologies, standards, and essential data to enable progress in industry, engineering, and 

science. The CSD and the MML are strategically pushing forward on creative and important initiatives. 

The steady creation of new technologies promises to bring NIST a continuing flow of opportunities to 

define valuable new standards and methods of measurement in order to make important contributions to 

the overall progress of science, engineering, technology, industry, and, as a result, to the overall economic 

productivity and to quality of life. 

At this time, the originality, insightful selection of problems, technical prowess, and analysis in 

exquisite detail exhibited in CSD research is both impressive and essential to the NIST mission. The staff 

has used, and in many cases created, the most powerful experimental and theoretical tools for advancing 

its projects. The complexity of the natural systems that it investigates is daunting and the analyses are 

impressive. That only a few individual projects are discussed earlier is intended to avoid overloading the 

reader and by no means suggests that the other projects are unworthy. The CSD’s contributions continue 

to support NIST’s position as a leader among international standards-setting institutions and serve as an 

important contributor to national strength in science, engineering, and technology. 

Opportunities and Challenges 

Batteries are critical components for new technologies and for many ongoing uses in society. 

Applications are making increasingly high demands on the performance of batteries. When it comes to 

creating batteries that approach 100 percent efficiency, are safe and rechargeable for years, and are 

economical and lightweight, there are many complicated chemistry and materials problems that remain to 

be solved. NIST has a dramatic start to solving such problems through CSD’s work on 3D imaging of Liions in operating batteries. What roles NIST could play in the future of batteries is a question that needs to 

be deliberated upon and addressed. 

There are many universities and government laboratories in the Washington, D.C., metro area that 

share interests with NIST. By establishing a regional seminar series or occasional workshops on a topic or 

set of topics of broad interest (such as atmospheric or marine chemistry) or an efficient, high-quality 

regional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) facility, a group or division could attract researchers and 

students to visit NIST. Such activities could ultimately develop joint research programs or shared 

instrumentation facilities, or identify a promising new staff member to recruit. This could be particularly 

helpful in attracting a more diverse group of candidates for the National Research Council (NRC) 

Associateship Program and for positions on the NIST scientific staff. NIST’s recent track record in 

research collaborations bodes well for future success in this vein. 

In reference to the CSD’s collaborations with industry, the CSD staff described the extensive 

utilization of NIST’s standards and data products and listed the industries interested in each project 

presented. However, it was less clear during the review whether there were temporary exchanges of 

personnel, or technology transfer by NIST scientists moving to industry, or congressional testimony by 

industry leaders citing their substantial investment in, or the major impact on, the corporate goals of an 

NIST project. It was subsequently learned that 1 of the 55 visitors to CSD laboratories came from 

industry. The number of industry visitors to NIST and NIST staff visits to industry could be substantially 
47 

increased. The recent creation of the NIIMBL, with its $200 million budget, provides a major opportunity 

for meaningful collaboration between NIST and industry. 

In some areas of chemical biology research, NIST is a relatively small contributor. In these areas, 

collaborations with user communities and publications are particularly important for NIST to become 

recognized and utilized, and to be able to attract excellent new staff members in chemical biology. 

PORTFOLIO OF SCIENTIFIC EXPERTISE 

Accomplishments 

During the reorganization of the MML four years ago, NIST’s chemical sciences expertise was 

integrated into a single division, the CSD, by combining two groups from the former Chemical and 

Biochemical Reference Data Division with the Analytical Chemistry Division. This process brought 

together experts in measurement sciences, RMs, reference data, theory, and chemical informatics. The 

result of this change is that the division’s programs now have a balance between measurement services 

and fundamental research. During the past 3 years, the division created eight groups in order to solidify 

technical expertise, optimally satisfy stakeholder needs, take on the nation’s technical challenges, and 

optimize relationships for CSD’s crosscutting program areas. 

The division’s scientific personnel are both talented and productive. They have been recognized 

within MML, NIST, and the DOC for their excellent professional contributions. The MML Awards 

Committee organizes the preparation of nominations for a series of internal MML awards, while the 

MML Accolades Committee accepts nominations from staff, associates, and collaborators. 

During 2016, the MML Accolades Committee awarded Accolades to 13 CSD staff members. The 

CSD has done an excellent job attracting NIST and NRC postdoctoral fellows in chemistry to the 

laboratories. These fellowships attract applications from the top new Ph.D.’s in the chemical sciences and 

are rigorously vetted by the National Research Council’s experts in their fields. The successful candidates 

bring fresh science into NIST, are productive during their tenures, and provide an exceptional pool from 

which to recruit permanent staff members. 

Opportunities and Challenges 

To be recognized and appreciated by one’s colleagues and employer through MML awards is an 

excellent morale builder. There does not, however, appear to be a systematic process for successfully 

nominating CSD’s scientists for external awards. For the reputation of the institution and its ability to 

attract outstanding professional staff, to earn recognition in the scientific community nationally and 

internationally, and to convince funding agencies and corporations of its worth, the CSD could focus on 

awards and fellowship honors from major professional societies, academies, and foundations. These 

honors are also important morale builders and quite useful for preemptive retention of star staff members. 

As part of this focus, the CSD could establish a committee with an administrative assistant who 

facilitates and tracks every step of the nomination process for each external award. Since there are many 

awards (each with its own deadlines, requirements, procedures, and eligible individuals), an awards 

database could be constructed and maintained for awards that scientific staff members might be eligible 

for. Prospective candidates would prepare and maintain current descriptions of major accomplishments, a 

résumé with helpful supplementary materials, and a list of prominent people in the field who could be 

asked to write a supporting letter. With this information, the committee could identify candidates for 

nomination. The committee’s main charge would be to bring in as many of the best awards as possible to 

the benefit of NIST. The CSD can do much better for its best staff members. Awards and the presence of 

NIST fellows enhance the CSD’s status within NIST, nationally, and internationally. 
48 

Given the outstanding accomplishments of CSD staff members, it was surprising to find that there are 

no NIST fellows within the division. Currently there are NIST fellows in the ACMD (1), BMD (1), 

MMSD (3), and MSED (2). The NIST fellow status as well as the DOC medals are important precursors 

to winning major external awards. It is also a concern that only three of the CSD’s eight groups report 

currently having an NRC postdoctoral fellow—3 in one group, and 1 in each of the two groups. The 

uneven distribution of these fellows among CSD groups and among MML divisions suggests that only a 

few people are utilizing the best methods for attracting excellent postdoctoral researchers. The CSD could 

maximize the number and quality of NIST and the National Research Council Associateship Programs’ 

postdoctoral fellows arriving in CSD through good networking with the university faculty members that 

produce the best Ph.D.’s in the fields of interest and a systematic process to ensure that attractive projects 

with outstanding candidates are submitted to the NRC. To identify candidates, the practice of sending 

letters describing the projects and project leaders to as many leading professors in the field of research as 

can be identified has been successful. 

Systematic networking with university faculty members doing the best work relevant to NIST 

programs is essential for bringing in outstanding new Ph.D.’s as NIST and NRC postdoctoral fellows. 

The CSD’s relationships with universities through JIMB, CHiMaD, IBBR, and NIIMBL will also create 

additional recruiting opportunities. This will enable graduate students to come into NIST laboratories for 

collaborative projects, as well as the hiring of finishing postdoctoral students from university research 

groups. 

The key to creating and maintaining an organization of outstanding and productive scientific 

professionals is to enable them to do the best work that they can possibly do in their chosen field and to 

recognize and reward their outstanding accomplishments. The basic requirements are (1) outstanding 

colleagues who are accessible, are always encouraging and helping each other to do their best, and are 

able to collaborate when research directions converge; (2) physical facilities that are fully functional and 

well maintained; (3) the best available equipment with technical staff members who can help create 

something even better; (4) supportive, experienced, and expert administrative staff members who get 

equipment and supplies purchased, renovate or alter laboratories to accommodate new work, process 

grants and contracts swiftly, track and report on budgets monthly, appoint and pay research laboratory 

personnel, and take care of the many distracting, nonscientific tasks that arrive on the researcher’s desk; 

and (5) a working environment that values and nurtures diversity. These are challenging requirements, 

especially with buildings in their second half-century of service, a lean support staff, and budgets built 

more for subsistence than to build excellence. That NIST continues to accomplish important work, 

including exceptional, groundbreaking progress in science, is a great credit to the organization. 

Nevertheless, there is ample room for improvement, especially regarding items 2, 4, and 5 in the 

preceding list. 

ADEQUACY OF FACILITIES, EQUIPMENT, AND HUMAN RESOURCES 

Accomplishments 

The CSD’s equipment of all sizes, from National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) beam lines 

to tiny diode lasers, is quite excellent and supports the work of the entire laboratory well. The MML is 

encouraged to maintain the quality of equipment required to keep the MML state-of-the-art for standards 

work into the future. 

Opportunities and Challenges 

The CSD’s aging and outdated building infrastructure cannot support the missions of the division and 

of NIST into the future. Standards work requires flawless performance of the most exacting precision 
49 

experiments. With 10 percent of MML space up to modern standard and another 10 percent only 

modestly compromised, MML researchers have managed to make progress by pasting band aids over 

problems as they work and by crowding too many instruments into those few spaces that provide proper 

conditions for sensitive instrumentation. As these buildings and their infrastructures continue to decay, it 

will become increasingly difficult, expensive, and, for some important purposes, impossible to work. If 

action is not taken to rebuild these facilities, the most capable staff members will begin to leave NIST—

and recruiting scientists that can do this exacting work would become difficult. Ultimately, the nation 

could lose this institution, which is so vital for its scientific and technological progress. Although it is not 

possible to replace most of the MML research facilities during the term of its current 5-year strategic plan, 

the process for creating a long-range plan for facilities renewal for the MML, or even better, a NIST-wide 

plan, needs to begin promptly so that implementation toward a coherent whole can proceed in stages.

The CSD staff is approximately 20 percent of the MML staff; however, none of the MML NIST 

fellows or administrative staff are in the CSD. In total, 115 scientific staff members and approximately 50 

associates in the CSD are supported by only 4 technicians and 8 support staff. This situation results in 

Ph.D. scientists doing most of the laboratory work that could be done by technicians, as well as most of 

the administrative tasks required for their research and development (R&D) work. 

Additionally, there is substantial room for improving the efficiency and quality of the administrative 

support services for research. The procedures for purchasing supplies and equipment and for obtaining 

approvals continue to require too much time and effort on the part of the researcher and take too long for 

administrative action. The processes for requisitioning, approving, contracting, and completing 

maintenance repairs or alterations in buildings that are required for research function very poorly, if at all. 

In response to these perennial NIST problems and to the findings of the 2014 National Academies 

Assessment, the MML assigned some members of its technical staff to work 20 percent of the time on 

these processes affecting the CSD as well as other MML groups. 

Some research institutions have made good progress for both the administrators and the researchers 

by keeping data on the accuracy, turnaround times, and costs for administrative processes. Such data are 

valuable for benchmarking the quality and cost of administrative work, for planning improvements, and 

for setting performance goals and standards in discussions with administrative staff. Tracking and sharing 

the data over time can build confidence in the groups and can enable both groups and individuals to be 

rewarded on the basis of quantitative standards. 

The division has expressed concerns that access to costly pieces of equipment is limited to members 

of the group, or even just to the individual, that originally obtained it. Better access to equipment is 

achieved in many research institutions by establishing instrumentation centers, especially for 

commercially available instruments. Such centers include a technical staff member (or members) who 

educates and assists users, maintains upgrades, and ultimately replaces equipment. The economics of such 

service facilities depends on having enough of a variety of equipment and expert staff to satisfy the needs 

of the user base that fully utilizes such resources. 

For some purposes, a group within the CSD has enough customers of its own. More often, the 

facilities will need to serve, and possibly be located, within other divisions or laboratories within NIST, or 

other research institutions within the greater Washington, D.C., metro area. Alternatively, the CSD may 

be able to satisfy some of its needs by purchasing time at existing facilities located elsewhere. 

DISSEMINATION OF OUTPUTS 

Accomplishments 

The CSD’s scientific staff members, NRC postdoctoral fellows, and graduate research associates 

produce many valuable types of outputs, each with its own unique variety of impacts. Specifically, the 
50 

CSD lists 335 journal articles (18 percent of the MML total) and 59 NIST reports (42 percent of the MML 

total) published since the 2014 National Academies Assessment (from April 1, 2014, to May 5, 2017).8

This amounts to 1.96 journal papers per scientific staff member per year—or 2.3 including NIST reports. 

This is overall quite good considering that some scientific staff have duties, such as the creation and 

maintenance of SRMs, that rarely lead to publications. 

The CSD is also responsible for the creation, documentation, production, and support of 60 percent of 

NIST’s 1300 SRMs. This is a major contribution to industry and to all chemical scientists and engineers. 

The MML delivered 90,000 SRMs to customers during the last 3 years.9

 From May 2015 through March 

2017 CSD staff responded to over 850 technical inquiries regarding the use of NIST SRMs that came 

from scientists in 62 nations and 46 states.10 

The NIST Chemistry WebBook is an immense compendium of carefully documented and verified data 

on the properties of 80,000 chemical species used by more than 13,000 unique users per day. The NIST 

mass spectrometry database is incorporated into the software package for nearly every commercial mass 

spectrometer. The income from this product alone has averaged $6.8 million per year for the past 3 years. 

The Inorganic Crystal Structure Database (ICSD) is currently second in sales for the MML at $0.65 

million per year. The chemical reactions database makes it possible to calculate the rate at which products 

are formed in a chemical factory, in an automobile engine, or in the atmosphere. 

Standard instruments, calibration samples, and methods are provided for by the CSD and include 

many types of spectroscopy used for basic research and applications; a data hub that supports the 

spectroscopic identification of novel psychoactive substances; RMs used to train dogs to detect explosives 

and illicit drugs by smell; the calibration of quantitative determinations in many types of hospital blood 

tests (including the latest metabolomics and gene sequencing techniques); and the measurement of the 

concentrations of noxious gases (carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases) in the atmosphere of a city, 

or of ozone, in order to understand, predict, and protect humanity from lung disease, skin cancer, and 

global warming. Neutrons are being used to study the behavior of lithium ions in operating batteries, with 

potential major impact on the use of batteries on the national electric grid, in transportation systems, and 

with almost any electronic or electrical device. 

The CSD’s collection of marine specimens from the Marine Environmental Specimen Bank are 

collected, processed, and stored to provide valid historical comparisons for 50 to 100 years. These 

specimens will support building a detailed understanding of the evolution of ocean environments into the 

future and its impact on fisheries, coral reefs, and other ocean resources. 

The CSD scientists also serve on 80 national and international standards committees and hold 

leadership positions on 6. They have many collaborations and information exchanges with other 

organizations, which constitute a substantial part of CSD’s impactful output. The division works with the 

Centers for Disease Control (CDC), NOAA, the U.S. Navy, NASA, National Institutes of Health (NIH), 

the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) of the Arctic Council, as well as with a wide 

range of industries. Continuing to expand these activities selectively will enhance NIST’s impact. 

Opportunities and Challenges 

To better enhance NIST’s impact on the success of U.S. industry, the CSD can initiate personnel 

exchanges with key industries so that the CSD staff can have a deeper understanding of their needs. That 

would also enable industry personnel to learn of NIST measurement technologies, research methods, data 

sets, and other capabilities. This is one way that the CSD can apply its available research directly to 

industries’ needs and to discuss additional ways in which NIST could be helpful. The CSD could also 

 8

 NIST Material Measurement Laboratory, “Made to Measure,” p. 156. 9

 Ibid., p. 25. 

10 Ibid., p. 148. 
51 

seek out start-up companies who are forging new directions that may require new standards and reference 

data. Additionally, it could serve on the committees of industry standards setting bodies. In doing so it 

could report on the acceptance and use of NIST standards in specific industries and on any needs for new 

standards. 

The CSD could also adopt a collaborative approach with industry for setting goals and defining 

metrics for the value of NIST’s work to industry and documenting the impact of NIST’s work on 

industry. This could make a convincing case for funding to industrial leadership, to the DOC, and to 

Congress. 

Additionally, it could take full advantage of the opportunities, industrial contacts, and resources 

available through the NIIMBL. They could both contribute to and monitor the programs and progress of 

the work at NIIMBL. 

Finally, the CSD could ensure that early progress is reported as an editorial or as news in professional 

and industrial magazines and journals, in addition to the usual journal articles and NIST reports the CSD 

publishes in. 
52 

6 

Materials Measurement Science 

INTRODUCTION 

The Materials Measurement Science Division (MMSD) is one of the largest divisions within the 

Material Measurement Laboratory (MML), with a total of 179 members: 99 National Institute of 

Standards and Technology (NIST) scientists, 5 technicians, 7 support staff, 3 fellows, and 65 NIST 

associates. Owing to the NIST and then the MML reorganizations in 2011, the MMSD was formed via 

the merger of three independent entities: the Ceramics Division from the Materials Science and 

Engineering Laboratory (MSEL); the Surface and Microanalysis Science Division (SMSD) from the 

Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory (CSTL); and a section of the Office of Law Enforcement 

Standards (now the Security Technologies Group). While most of the MMSD staff and facilities are in 

Gaithersburg, Maryland, the Synchrotron Science Group is located at the new National Synchrotron Light 

Source II (NSLS-II) facility at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York. This group is 

responsible for the technical development, construction, and maintenance of three NIST beam line 

instrumental end stations. From a funding perspective, the MMSD is unique within the MML in that the 

division receives approximately 25 percent of its support from seven U.S. government agencies outside 

the Department of Commerce (DOC). 

The MMSD conducts a mixture of priority-based fundamental research, standards production, and 

applied science that couples well with metrology efforts to address stakeholder needs. The MMSD 

maintains a very broad scientific portfolio encompassing five program areas: the Materials Genome 

Initiative (MGI); advanced materials; nanometrology; safety, security, and forensics; and synchrotron 

science. The strategic plan is to ensure that project goals and deliverables are clearly tied to NIST, MML, 

and stakeholder programmatic needs. Such goals are in place in order to provide managers the ability to 

analyze division and group portfolios to facilitate strategic and informed decision making. They also 

allow managers and staff to view competencies in a manner that permits the MMSD to become even more 

agile and effective in responding to NIST and MML priorities. 

ASSESSMENT OF TECHNICAL PROGRAMS 

Accomplishments 

The Microscopy and Microanalysis Research Group performs fundamental research, develops 

metrological methodologies, and disseminates results toward the compositional and morphological 

characterization of materials—from the mesoscale to the atomic scale—using electron, ion, and photon 

interactions with matter. Through detailed measurements, comprehensive analysis and modeling,1

 1

 NIST, Microscopy and Microanalysis Research Group, https://www.nist.gov/mml/materials-measurementscience-division/microscopy-and-microanalysis-research-group, accessed September 25, 2017. 
53 

theoretical methods, and multidisciplinary microscopy, this group advances and promotes microanalysis 

to address stakeholder needs in diverse arenas of materials science. 

The Nano Materials Research Group develops innovative metrology to advance nanomaterial 

research and applications for the benefit of U.S. commerce. Best-in-the-world measurement science is 

both developed and used to determine the physical and chemical properties of a wide variety of organic, 

inorganic, biomolecular, and hybrid systems, where materials of interest fall within the nanoscale 

regime.2

 The resulting standards, methods, reference methods (RMs), and measurement data advance a 

wide range of technologies and stimulate innovation. 

The Materials for Energy and Sustainable Development Group conducts research and develops and 

disseminates measurement science, data, standards, and technology that pertain to energy-related 

materials, and materials for sustainable development. Using the MGI approach, the group explores and 

evaluates the efficient use of materials in manufacturing, transportation, infrastructure, and water. Its 

activities encompass materials efficiency (conservation, use of earth-abundant elements, substitution, 

reusing, repurposing, recycling, and lightweighting), materials life cycle assessment, critical materials, 

materials flow analysis, and mitigation of undesirable impacts on the environment and on human health. 

The Surface and Trace Chemical Analysis Group develops, improves, and standardizes analytical 

techniques used for the elemental, organic, isotopic, radiological, and morphological characterization of 

surfaces, thin films, and particles. It also develops novel methods of chemical analysis based on optical 

microscopy, mass spectrometry, chromatography, ion mobility spectrometry, spectroscopy, 

autoradiography, nuclear counting, and nuclear track methods.3

 It also conducts research in generation 

and size calibration of particle standards. Additionally, the group researches fundamental aspects of the 

trace detection of explosive and narcotic particles (including the use of computational fluid dynamics and 

advanced flow visualization). It also develops standard test materials by application of advanced inkjet 

dispensing technologies, and it applies multiple surface, trace chemical, and nuclear analysis methods to 

problems in forensics, additive manufacturing, materials science, semiconductor technology, bioscience, 

and homeland security. 

The Synchrotron Science Group develops and disseminates measurement science and technology 

pertaining to the measurement of the structure, including chemical and electronic, of advanced materials 

by synchrotron methods. The group provides, maintains, and supports synchrotron measurement 

capabilities as part of the DOE User Facility Program,4

 which is primarily located at the NSLS-II. 

The Materials Structure and Data Group develops and disseminates measurement science, standards, 

and technology for determination of the structure of advanced materials. The group determines, compiles, 

evaluates, and disseminates key data and computational tools tools (such as those for the 

prediction/interpretation of spectroscopy data) needed to establish the relationships between the structure 

and performance of inorganic and hybrid materials and devices.5

 

The Nanomechanical Properties Group develops and disseminates measurement science, standards, 

and technology pertaining to the measurement of mechanical properties of advanced materials and 

structures at the nanoscale. The group determines, compiles, evaluates, and disseminates key data needed 

to establish the relationships between structure, mechanical properties, and the performance of inorganic 

and hybrid materials and devices. 

 2

 NIST, Nano Materials Research Group, https://www.nist.gov/mml/materials-measurement-sciencedivision/nano-materials-research-group, accessed September 25, 2017. 3

 NIST, Surface and Trace Chemical Analysis Group, https://www.nist.gov/mml/materials-measurementscience-division/surface-and-trace-chemical-analysis-group, accessed September 25, 2017. 4

 NIST, Synchrotron Science Group, https://www.nist.gov/mml/materials-measurement-sciencedivision/synchrotron-science-group, accessed September 25, 2017. 5

 NIST, Materials Structure and Data Group, https://www.nist.gov/mml/materials-measurement-sciencedivision/materials-structure-and-data-group, accessed September 25, 2017. 
54 

The Securities Technology Group conducts research and develops and disseminates the measurement 

science to support the development of performance-based standards and to promote the advancement of 

their technologies. Such technologies are used in trauma-mitigating materials and material systems; the 

sensing of concealed threats and contraband; advanced composites; high-performance materials; and 

safety, security, and forensics. 

Opportunities and Challenges 

The technical programs within the MMSD are excellent and there are many talented staff members 

and enthusiastic postdoctoral researchers. It is clear there is a strong culture around the NIST mission 

with a strong commitment to technology and knowledge transfer. The staff clearly understands that it is 

uniquely positioned to satisfy national needs, and it works effectively with industry. It is clear there is a 

willingness to engage with customers, as illustrated by its diverse set of partners and collaborators. It is 

unclear, however, what the core strategy of the division is and how the different groups fit into the 

division. How are future program trajectories determined, and how does that align with where the division 

sees itself in 1, 5, or 10 years? 

There seems to be uneven awareness of overlapping expertise and equipment across the groups and 

divisions. Also, being spread over eight buildings creates some barriers to natural interactions. The 

MMSD leadership will need to break down silos and create opportunities and incentives for the staff to 

connect. There are current grass-roots efforts to keep connected by having teas, seminars, and picnics, but 

it is not clear how well this is working. 

It is questionable how the MMSD focus on ballistics work fits into the core NIST mission. The 

MMSD needs to make sure there is a good connection between the Security Technologies Group and the 

division. It also needs to connect the ballistic body armor work to similar work at Department of Energy 

(DOE) and the Department of Defense (DOD) laboratories. Similarly, there is work in trace chemical 

detection and sensors at other DOE laboratories, and it is unclear whether it is leveraging or 

communicating with those other efforts.

As an organization, the MMSD is recognized and valued, nationally and internationally, for its 

technical excellence. Building core competencies at this high-performance level is, by nature, often a 

career-long endeavor. Yet, as the pace of change in scientific discoveries and technological advancements 

accelerates, the ability to quickly respond to new materials science problems is increasingly important to 

MMSD’s stakeholders. The rapid response challenge is twofold: the ability to quickly adapt existing 

measurement competencies to meet new needs, and the timely development or acquisition of new 

competencies to address novel measurement science problems. Such challenges exist at both the 

programmatic and business-of-NIST (procurement) levels. 

Program leaders within the MMSD are faced with an ever-increasing need to rapidly assess 

stakeholder needs, prioritize these needs, assemble (and acquire, if necessary) the required expertise, and 

develop and complete new programs and projects. Developing the necessary agility to deliver to 

customers and stakeholders without compromising excellence will require NIST to adopt a new 

operational culture that integrates a focus on rapid response to stakeholder needs, recruiting the required 

expertise, and developing new programs. 

The MMSD needs to ensure that it not only maintains the high levels of expertise expected of a 

national metrology institute but also can deploy necessary competencies quickly and effectively. 

Balancing the need for a long-term research program to maintain excellence in core competencies that 

serve the existing customer base with the ability to be responsive to new customers’ needs is a challenge. 
55 

PORTFOLIO OF SCIENTIFIC EXPERTISE 

Accomplishments 

The MMSD staff consists of 99 NIST scientists, 5 technicians, 7 support staff, 3 fellows, and 65 

NIST associates. The staff members are scientific leaders in the areas of X-ray methods, electron 

microscopy, and surface analysis. Materials measurement science in the MMSD is applied at multiple 

time and length scales, and spans a diverse range of scientific expertise. 

The Synchrotron Science Group at the Brookhaven NSLS-II is noteworthy for its leadership and 

innovation in synchrotron spectroscopy and imaging methods, particularly in the regime of soft Xrays. 

The successful execution of its long-range plan to develop cutting-edge and, in some cases, one-of-a-kind 

end stations is to be commended. The investments and developments there are enabling cutting-edge 

methods that will provide new capabilities in measurement science. 

The expertise in the Materials Structure and Data Group is strong in local structure and subnanoscale 

measurements, including point defects and complex real-world structures. For complex, real-world 

structures, the group develops first-principles-based methods for prediction of atomic arrangements and 

properties and also studies advanced ceramics and inorganic materials, which are critically enabling 

elements in real-world devices and complex systems across many technology sectors, such as 

telecommunications and energy. Collaborations with external industry partners appear to be fruitful and 

are strengthening the impact of the groups. The expertise in crystallographic and phase equilibria 

databases remains among the best in the world and exemplifies a key role that NIST plays in supporting 

industry and the larger scientific community. 

In the Microcopy and Microanalysis Research Group, the expertise in metrology and compositional 

and morphological characterization of materials is creating advances with tangible impact to measurement 

science. Advances in measurement science instrumentation for atom probe and multimodal microscopy 

are highlights of this group’s expertise. 

The Surface and Trace Chemical Analysis Group shows NIST’s role in both measurement science 

and real world impact. The group has the expertise to push measurement science for trace chemicals and 

surface analysis with tangible connection to detection needs for security and forensics. 

The Materials for Energy and Sustainment Group has expertise in energy-related materials; materials 

for sustainable development; the efficient use of materials in manufacturing, transportation, infrastructure 

and water and material efficiency (conservation, use of earth-abundant elements, substitution, reusing, 

repurposing, recycling, and lightweighting); materials life cycle assessment; and mitigation of undesirable 

impacts on the environment and human health. 

The Nanomechanical Properties Group has developed special expertise in the technology pertaining 

to the measurement of mechanical properties of advanced materials and structures at the nanoscale. The 

group has the ability to determine, compile, evaluate, and disseminate key data needed to establish the 

relationships between structure, mechanical properties, and performance of inorganic and hybrid 

materials and devices. 

The Security Technologies Group has expertise in the development of performance-based standards 

and the advancement of the technologies used in trauma-mitigating materials (such as those used in 

helmets to decrease the incidence of traumatic brain injuries) and material systems and the sensing of 

concealed threats and contraband. 

The Nano Materials Research Group has established expertise in nanoparticle separation and analysis. 

The nanometrology of particles for development of NIST standards is well aligned with NIST’s mission. 

The applied research in this group is good, and the structure and chemical characterization expertise is 

excellent. It is encouraging to see the integration of the scientific staff with the broader community in 

areas that are too big for one group or institution to tackle. 

From speaking with the MMSD postdoctoral fellows and early career staff, it is exciting to see the 

level of diversity both in breadth of expertise as well as with regards to representation from 

underrepresented groups. 
56 

Opportunities and Challenges 

While the MMSD work on nanoparticle separation and high-throughput analysis is very good (it 

includes measurements and standards for scanning probe microscopy, nanoscale strength, and nanoscale 

stress), it is not evident that the MMSD nanoparticle expertise is equally strong in all areas of this broad 

and rapidly expanding field. What innovations are being considered in anticipation of the near-future 

needs is also not evident. The Materials and Structure Data Group might benefit from increased 

collaboration with the Synchrotron Science Group at Brookhaven. 

The through-barrier radar systems (a pulse-Doppler system using a narrow-band swept-frequency 

source operating between about 500 MHz and 3.2 GHz, which supports measurement science test 

methods, test artifacts, and data analysis) are becoming available and the work being performed by the 

MMSD to develop standards for their performance is extremely timely and important. 

The competency database is a good idea for identifying scientific expertise; however, there is a risk in 

relying on individual input to populate it. The MMSD needs to leverage other databases from which key 

words could be extracted, such as from publications and presentations. 

The junior staff is excellent and reflects the success of the National Research Council (NRC) 

Associateship Program to attract energetic researchers to the division. They appear very happy with the 

research environment and are well mentored by the senior staff. Most would like to stay in a permanent 

position, but they have expressed concern about the increasing demands of paperwork and restrictions on 

travel. 

Because of the dearth of technicians, it appears Ph.D. scientists do routine tasks like equipment 

maintenance, which is a poor use of their skills and resources and limits productivity. There is a strong 

need for technician support also in the area of information technology (IT), particularly in view of the 

mandate to make all data public. More technicians would make the staff more efficient. The postdoctoral 

fellows are not meant to be primary equipment maintainers. 

Long-term process improvements and sound decision making will be required. Additionally, the 

MMSD needs to leverage other laboratories (the DOE Office of Science and the National Nuclear 

Security Administration [NNSA], in particular) and universities (the University of Michigan, Stanford 

University, etc.). There needs to be transparency of how to succeed, especially for early career staff. The 

MMSD needs to leverage NIST’s postdoctoral network with a professional development program in order 

to improve connectivity across NIST. 

While the staff is excellent, it receives few external awards and has little professional society 

engagement. External awards for NIST staff bring visibility to the caliber of work and the contribution of 

NIST to the scientific community. While the MMSD personnel win some external awards, they do not 

win the number they deserve for the quality of the people and the quality of the work that they do. 

External awards won by the MMSD include the following: the IEC’s 1906 award, the Roon Foundation 

award, Fellow of the ACS, Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, ASTM Committee F12 Award of 

Excellence, the International Centre for Diffraction Data (ICDD) Distinguished Fellow Award, American 

Ceramic Society (ACS) Robert B. Sosman Award and Lecture, and the ACS James I. Mueller Award and 

Lecture. Of these awards only two—the ASTM Committee F12 Award of Excellence and the ICDD 

Distinguished Fellow Award—were won in 2017; the rest were won in 2014. With more organized 

internal effort, more personnel could become fellows and award winners of the professional societies. 

There needs to be more of a push for external awards, and involvement in professional societies needs to 

be more encouraged. 
57 

ADEQUACY OF FACILITIES, EQUIPMENT, AND HUMAN RESOURCES 

Accomplishments 

Overall, the quality and quantity of the equipment at the MMSD is excellent, consistent with the 

MMSD mission to pursue state-of-the-art metrology, microscopy, and spectroscopy. Within the division, 

there are a number of capabilities to measure and characterize materials that are unique, either to NIST or 

to the broader international research community. 

The Safety, Security, and Forensics program within the MMSD strives to provide the underpinning 

measurement science needed to advance threat detection, improve the accuracy of forensics 

measurements, and ensure the reliability of protective technologies and materials in ways that enable 

homeland security, the safety of public servants, and effective law enforcement. Chemical microscopy 

and particle characterization techniques have been developed in the MMSD to evaluate the threat 

signatures associated with trace explosives detection. A database of the attributes and morphologies of 

particles in fingerprints and other residues associated with the handling of explosive powders and 

formulations has been assembled, thereby setting realistic criteria for materials used in technology 

development and testing. The MMSD has developed several new ambient ionization mass spectrometry 

techniques that allow, for the first time, chemical analysis of both inorganic and organic explosive and 

narcotic compounds on surfaces. This development expands the analysis of contraband materials to the 

analytically challenging but critically important area of homemade explosive formulations—which are 

difficult to detect with currently deployed technology. 

The MMSD maintains two through-barrier sensing and imaging capabilities: (1) a narrow-band 

doppler-radar-based system (≈3.6 GHz) that can sense humans located inside buildings, buried in rubble, 

or obscured by foliage, thereby targeting applications in law enforcement and emergency response; and 

(2) a broadband (≈200 MHz to 5 GHz) holographic imaging system, with a large aperture size (≈20 m 

4.5 m) to provide large-area images of objects behind walls. In addition, the MMSD, in collaboration with 

the Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML), has developed a state-of-the-art video-rate passive 

submillimeter-wave imager for detecting threats concealed on a person up to 20 miles away. This imager 

holds great promise for standoff threat detection. Further, a testbed is maintained for evaluating the 

imaging performance of the portable X-ray systems used by domestic and military bomb squads, the 

ubiquitous carry-on baggage X-ray inspection systems, and the backscatter and transmission X-ray 

systems for body screening. These provide the basis for the development of test artifacts, objective and 

automated image analysis routines, and international documentary performance standards. 

The main objective of the Nanometrology program is to develop or create new measurement 

techniques and applicable standards to meet the needs of various stakeholders that rely on high-quality 

nanometer-scale material characterization and associated technologies. 

A key measurement capability for advanced materials involves the use of contact resonance atomic 

force microsocopy (AFM) to measure the mechanical properties (elastic modulus) of surfaces at the 

nanoscale. Recent MMSD efforts have focused on refining models, calibration, and standards—extending 

the range of applicability to a wider range of harder materials. It has also focused on the development of a 

new technique—intermittent contact resonance atomic force microscopy—to provide additional depthsensing capability on nanostructured materials. 

The Surface and Trace Chemical Analysis Group has an excellent set of commercially based 

instruments, including secondary ion imaging and tomographic atom probe analysis coupled with laser 

excitation of surface atoms. 

NIST and the DOE have had a 35-year ongoing partnership at the National Synchrotron Light Source 

(now NSLS-II) developing advanced synchrotron measurement methods and delivering excellence in 

material science. NIST is currently constructing an NSLS-II spectroscopy suite of three state-of-the-art 

high-throughput beam lines (with X-ray diffraction capability); soft and tender X-ray spectroscopy and 

microscopy (100 eV to 7.5 kEv) and hard X-ray absorption spectroscopy and diffraction (4.5 kEv to 22 

kEv). The suite is expected to be completed in 2017. The NIST NSLS-II Spectroscopy Beamline Suite 
58 

will be able to measure the electronic, chemical, and structural properties of almost any material, often at 

the nanoscale. This facility will provide unique opportunities for collaborative research within the 

MMSD, with MML personnel across divisions (including the Boulder, Colorado, facility), and with the 

broader user community—including numerous industrial partners. 

Opportunities and Challenges 

Across the MMSD, the majority of facilities were in excellent condition. In contrast with some other 

divisions, the MMSD has facilities that largely match the needs of its staff and instruments. One 

challenge is that facilities are distributed across eight buildings, which can require more effort to make the 

groups aware of each other’s capabilities. Also, for new capabilities that are at another site (such as at 

NSLS-II), it will be important to raise awareness across the MML of new capabilities that could be 

leveraged by other groups. 

During the past three years, NIST has made large investments in two important MMSD-led research 

facilities that were developed in partnership with the DOE. These facilities are the NIST NSLS-II beam 

lines, which are located at Brookhaven National Laboratory and the Facility for Adsorbent 

Characterization and Testing (FACT) laboratory, which was developed by funding from the DOE’s 

Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) and is located at the NIST campus in 

Gaithersburg, Maryland. NIST’s NSLS-I beam line suite of instruments has been very successful in 

accelerating the development of new materials into devices and systems with advanced capabilities. The 

NIST’s NSLS-I user community has averaged about 100 users per year. Building on this success, the goal 

for the new NSLS-II is to grow that community as new instruments come on line later in FY 2017. DOE 

infrastructure is in place to support the process of hosting users, and the MML Laboratory Office has 

provided support to increase internal and external outreach efforts. The MMSD will maximize the use of 

this facility by NIST staff and associates, and has been reaching out to additional external users. The 

challenge for both facilities involves growing the user community with existing staff resources (i.e., 

without devoting additional resources). If successful, this will provide the opportunity to further extend 

the MMSD outreach into the materials science community. 

The scientific instrumentation is generally of extraordinary quality across many of the groups. Some 

pieces of equipment are unique, with cutting-edge capabilities, and some are among the best in the world, 

matching the quality of the staff. There is a lot of high-end capital equipment, and there are questions 

about how to maintain that investment and maintain or upgrade the facilities infrastructure. For example, 

how does the MMSD decide what to invest in next, what to replace, and what to let go of? One of the 

challenges here will be continued investment in maintaining and replacing key instruments. 

The human resources are highly accomplished, collaborative, and effective in their equipment usage. 

The MMSD has been very successful with recruiting diverse, early career scientists, but there are some 

concerns around intentional fostering for retention. A challenge for the MMSD will be in how to invest in 

staff members to position them for professional growth and to nurture their retention at NIST. 

Exemplifying careers that bridge fundamental science up to tech transfer is a good idea. Additionally, the 

MMSD could use workshops to help raise knowledge of all staff. Having a stable workforce is positive, 

but it also makes it more difficult for staff promotions. Additionally, the MMSD needs to improve 

succession planning. 

DISSEMINATION OF OUTPUTS 

Accomplishments 

During the last 3 years, the MMSD personnel have published 467 papers in archived journals, 44 

conference proceedings, 21 NIST reports, and 18 books and book chapters. The division’s publications 
59 

are in a broad range of fields, reflecting its diverse research activities, and over the past year, have 

included publications in high-impact journals such as Nature Materials, Nano Letters, ACS Nano, 

Advanced Energy Materials, Advanced Functional Materials, Chemistry of Materials, and Small. Many 

of the papers are coauthored with researchers outside of NIST—an indicator of successful collaborations. 

Patenting is secondary to many other success metrics for almost all MMSD staff researchers, and 

during the last 3 years there was only 1 patent issued, 1 published, and 3 more filed. 

The MMSD works closely with industrial partners. During the last 3 years, it has held 21 workshops, 

including one workshop on the Qualification of Uncertainties in Material Sciences, another one on 

Measurement Needs in Adsorption Sciences, and a third workshop on a focused ion beam scanning 

electron microscope (FIB SEM). There have been one Cooperative Research and Development 

Agreement (CRADA) and 42 interagency agreements with seven different agencies. 

The division has developed three commercial swipe technologies, and three printer systems have been 

commercialized. It sells approximately 1700 RM units per year, of which there are almost 80 different 

types. These materials cover a variety of needs, including X-ray diffraction characterization and 

calibration, particle size (including nanoparticle sizing), glass viscosity, refractive index, surface area, and 

chemical composition. About 20 percent of the customers are from academia; 20 percent from state, local, 

and federal governments; and 60 percent from industry. 

Examples of new MMSD products include SI-traceable standard reference materials (SRMs) for 

calibration of varying diffraction measurement methods. This product is highly effective, and there is 

hardly an X-ray diffractometer in the world that does not use the NIST standard—roughly a third of new 

instruments sold worldwide include a NIST standards diffraction package. 

The MMSD also provides SRDs covering crystallographic and structural information, phase 

diagrams, surface spectroscopy, ceramic properties, and X-ray and image analysis, all of which are used 

worldwide. These standards are a major resource for researchers, and the MMSD expends enormous 

efforts to incorporate image processing and theoretical/statistical methods within materials databases to 

expedite experimental data standardization and evaluation. 

The MMSD representation on standards-setting committees is outstanding and is a significant output 

of the division. Many MMSD staff members actively participate on committees in 130 international 

standards organizations (primarily American Society for Testing and Materials [ASTM] and International 

Organization for Standardization [ISO]). This participation includes standards committee leadership. 

Noteworthy examples of standards activities include the following: 

1. Absolute Intensity Calibration Standard for Small-angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS; SRM 3600). 

SAXS measurements characterize the microstructure and nanostructure of heterogeneous material 

systems—specifically, size distributions of microscale and nanoscale features, volume fractions 

or number concentrations, and surface areas. 

2. The Securities and Technology Group led a significant revision of the internationally used 

documentary performance standard for cabinet X-ray systems used for carry-on baggage at 

airports and other security checkpoints. 

3. The suite of six X-ray diffraction (XRD) SRM’s provide SI-traceability for calibration of all 

diffraction measurement methods. All of the manufacturers of the XRD instruments worldwide 

include a NIST diffraction SRM(s) as the calibration standard. 

4. The Fachinformationszentrum Karlsruhe (FIZ)/NIST Inorganic Crystal Structure Database (ICSD; 

SRD 84) is a collection of crystal structure data for nonorganic compounds including inorganics, 

ceramics, minerals, pure elements, metals, and intermetallics. 

5. The MMSD initiated a collaborative effort with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and 

industry members to develop a new standard test method for size measurement using dynamic 

light scattering. 

Finally, the MMSD has generated for other agencies significant outputs that, for security reasons, are not 

included in its list of publically available publications. 
60 

Opportunities and Challenges 

Across the MMSD, the internal assessment of output seems satisfactory and recognizes the different 

expectations placed on different individuals. Communicating tailored expectations of output based on the 

role and projects of each staff member needs to be continued. Staff members need to feel empowered 

knowing the output requirements of each activity they undertake—whether it is authoring a publication, 

developing an SRM, or developing a new instrument or technique. Staff members need to feel secure 

knowing that those outputs will be valued in merit reviews and decisions, and ongoing efforts to 

communicate the various paths to success at NIST need to be continued. 

The MMSD has a solid publication rate. For future National Academies laboratory reviews, it would 

be good to see the author list separated by visiting faculty versus staff to see what is NIST-driven and 

what is external collaborator-driven. While both first authorship and coauthorship of publications appear 

to be valued, it seemed that the former was regarded as having higher value. In characterization work, it 

can be that the paper was largely enabled by the contributions of one author, regardless of final author 

order. And so, discerning value of the author’s contribution to the paper could enable staff members to 

directly articulate the impact of their work. 

One other aspect of output is the rigor of the data collected. The MMSD largely excels in this area, 

applying statistical analysis to optimize the quality of data and conclusions. One challenge here though is 

in the consistency of applying experimental design and statistical analysis across all groups. The uniform 

application of experimental design (when the project is conducive to it) and statistical analysis is needed. 

Particularly for exploratory work, making the design of experiments more uniform (when the project is 

conducive to it) would improve efficiency in determining salient variables to explore. Additionally, the 

MMSD needs to reach out to other parts of NIST to access statistical expertise that already exists. 

Many workshops have been held at NIST, and this is highly beneficial for dissemination of 

information. Connection to the Office of Data andInformatics (ODI) needs to be encouraged to leverage 

what the MMSD is developing. More consistency is also needed in the design of experiments. Particularly 

for exploratory work, the uniform application of experimental design (when the project is conducive to it) 

would improve efficiency in determining salient variables to explore. 
61 

7 

Materials Science and Engineering 

INTRODUCTION 

Within the Materials Science and Engineering Division (MSED), there are a total of 194 staff 

members, which includes permanent staff, postdoctoral fellows, associates, and administrative support. In 

2014, the staff was 182, and so the total staff count has grown by 12 over the past 3 years. The MSED 

staff represents about 19 percent of the total MML staff. The budget for 2017 is $27.3 million, and this 

includes indirect costs. 

The MSED covers a broad range of activities in five research areas: additive manufacturing, dynamic 

measurements for materials manufacturing, the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI), the foundry for 

functional materials measurement, and infrastructure renewal. The MSED made six presentations during 

the review, which focused on the Polymer Processing Group, the Thermodynamics and Kinetics Group, 

the Mechanical Performance Group, the Polymer and Complex Fluids Group, the Functional Polymers 

Group, and the Functional Nanostructured Materials Group. 

ASSESSMENT OF TECHNICAL PROGRAMS 

Accomplishments 

The Thermodynamics and Kinetics Group consists of 12 permanent staff and 11 research associates. 

The group is to be commended for its excellent progress since the last review. It is highly competent and 

working well together. Its engagement in the Center for Hierarchical Materials Design (CHiMaD) 

program with Northwestern University and the University of Chicago appears to be very strong. The 

group has made many computational tools and software available to a diverse range of users. The group is 

involved in computational materials science from the atomistic level to the continuum level—often 

bridging scales. Its ability to bridge scales is important because it enables the group to compare 

theoretical predictions with experimental results. The quality of computational materials science, 

particularly in Computer Coupling of Phase Diagrams and Thermochemistry (CALPHAD), density 

functional theory (DFT), multicomponent diffusion, atomistics, and phase field, are among the best in the 

world in computational modeling and alloy development in metals. These tools are branching out into, 

and complementing, computational tools in soft materials. An example of this core competency is 

validated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) leadership role in the MGI, where 

for example, the objective of the Thermodynamics and Kinetics Group is to develop materials informatics 

and computation tools to advance the initiative, with accomplishments such as the Customized DSpace, 

Interatomic Potential Repository, JARVIS-FF, and JARVIC-DFT to name a few. The materials design 

toolkit is providing value for the entire computational materials community. 

The group is also studying some very complex problems such as multicomponent alloys systems. It is 

predicting properties and experimentally verifying them. An example is the Al-Co-W system. The 

prediction of the diffusion coefficient and its verification by experiments is an important accomplishment. 
62 

Also, its studies on changes in material structure after thermal treatment following additive manufacturing 

of IN625 alloy is a good accomplishment. Design of Cu-Ni-Zn alloy as a replacement for nickel 

(requested by the U.S. Mint) is an excellent example of materials design and experimental demonstration. 

This switch to an alloy is expected to significantly lower the cost of a nickel. 

The Mechanical Performance Group demonstrates best-in-the-world work on highly quantified 

mechanical performance in multiaxial stress state applications. The cruciform tester has high industrial 

relevance for fabrication and end product reliability and safety. It would be good to evaluate the 

mechanical performance capability at the NIST Boulder, Colorado, facility for a complete perspective of 

testing capability. One indicator of best-in-the-world human resource expertise is that the group has been 

asked to give its consultation on national-level failure analysis issues such as the World Trade Center 

collapse. 

Automotive lightweighting is highly important to our nations’ energy use profile and global CO2 

reduction goals. The cruciform testing work being performed at the MSED directly impacts the 

lightweighting of automotive body closure sheet. An example is Ford’s F-150 lightweighting efforts as 

well as General Motors’s (GM’s) steel lightweighting efforts. There were strong signs of the group’s 

industrial engagement as evidenced by interaction with Ford Motor Company on C-fiber and GM on 

ultra-high-strength steel sheet for transportation lightweighting. There was also clear evidence of an open 

source focus of tools, such as Python, which aids adoption by the technical community. Two notable, 

innovative projects that are drawing closer to completion are coinage (patents pending) and co-based 

super alloy development, which is essential to jet engine fuel efficiency. 

Collaboration with six other organizations on additive manufacturing, with respect to the role of 

accurate measurements in this highly active field, demonstrates the philosophy of providing value and not 

just researching in a hot field. This is a clear niche where NIST brings value to the additive manufacturing 

community. The NIST-founded Additive Manufacturing Benchmark Test Series (AM Bench) and its 

depth of expertise in physical metallurgy are other areas that differentiate NIST from other laboratories in 

additive manufacturing. 

Substantial leadership on the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and other 

standards committees is viewed by industrial reviewers as highly advantageous. NIST staff members are 

unbiased and provide sound perspectives, particularly when committees are composed of other members, 

such as suppliers and users of materials that can financially benefit from specific wording within 

specifications. 

The Functional Nanostructured Materials Group is to be commended for its excellent progress. 

Extreme bottom-up superfilling is a high-visibility contribution, which has been carried out over more 

than a decade. It is used by industry to guide the development of advanced superfilling systems of 

different geometry and materials, and offers an opportunity to focus more on scientific mechanisms. Selftermination electrodeposition used to deposit mixed-metal thin catalytic films with superior catalytic 

properties is another example of a notable achievement. 

The group is conducting work on electrochemical microscopy, which is an established method. 

However, the group is using it in a novel way. Still, it would be useful to highlight how this differs from 

traditional electrochemical microscopy. In situ stress measurements such as short-term and long-term 

stable methods are valuable. Linking to wider applications would require collaborative interactions to 

build on NIST’s fundamental scientific accomplishments. 

 The group’s research on the electrocatalysis of formic acid oxidation to produce CO2 formation 

without CO poisoning is an advance that builds on in situ experiment and theory. The group also 

maintains a close connection between modeling and surface analysis. The transmission electron 

microscopy (TEM) tracking of the Li-ion battery and moving to DYNAMIC observations are good 

examples of its other accomplishments. 

Accomplishments within the Polymer Processing Group, the Polymers and Complex Fluids Group, 

and the Functional Polymers Group are discussed later. These include the synthesis of near-perfect short 

branch spacing polyethylenes (which may become the basis for some new and needed polyolefin standard 

reference materials [SRMs]) and the synthesis of model networks using cyclic polymers that produce 
63 

cross-linked networks with no dangling ends. Other examples of significant accomplishments include the 

control of surface exchange between a surfactant and DNA; the NIST on a chip initiative using 

holography in collaboration with CHiMaD; the development of the ZENO tools for the calculation of 

several polymer properties (some aspects have very recently become publicly available); a new approach 

to course graining of polymer dynamics, the use of quasi-elastic neutron scattering to quantify electrolyte 

dynamics in solid polymer electrolytes; and the use of fluorescence probes to locate water invasion into 

composite materials. 

Four projects within the MSED—the additive manufacturing of metals, mechanical standards, 

performance under extreme conditions, and automotive lightweighting—are highly pertinent to achieving 

national goals throughout the materials innovation continuum. The MSED’s leadership in the digital 

image correlation for strain measurement is also establishing needed best practices worldwide. The 

scientific expertise necessary to achieve technical goals and make major advances is excellent. 

Additionally, computational modeling and characterization of materials within the MSED is clearly 

among the best in the world, and there is substantial value in both validating and balancing computational 

modeling with experiments. NIST could foreseeably reestablish its role as the leader among government 

agencies. 

The strategic planning process as well as the first strategic plan are viewed as a positive experience by 

the MSED. There are additional questions concerning the level of individual and group training in the 

tactical implementation of plans, as well as the facilitation of this process. It appears, however, that the 

group is now learning how to best develop and implement tactical plans that flow from the strategic plan. 

Strategic and tactical planning takes years to internalize into an organization and this is a positive start. 

The researchers within the MSED also articulated that bringing technical value and being wise about 

spending taxpayer dollars is a key concept that drives many of their program (and equipment) decisions. 

These decisions include crosscutting collaboration between groups and other branches of government; 

scientific and technical recognition; a learning environment; an angel investing program; science, 

technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) participation with local high schools and community 

colleges; and alternative career path options; among others. 

Opportunities and Challenges 

Opportunities to improve technical programs within the MSED include conducting more 

experimental work in conjunction with modeling to verify predictions across a number of systems. This 

may be better achieved by using model systems, which are easier to model with computational methods, 

and also may be easier to fabricate experimentally. The current focus seems to be on rather complex 

systems. The complex nature of these materials may make it difficult to truly design materials from the 

ground up, especially when the processing conditions are far from thermodynamic equilibrium. Under 

such circumstances, researchers may need to use multiple fitting parameters to compare with the 

experimental results. If the actual processing is under conditions far from thermodynamic equilibrium, the 

use of kinetic and transport parameters would be needed to achieve congruence between theory and 

experiments. 

The work on magnetic nanoparticles is excellent. There is a potential opportunity to apply this 

research in the field of medicine. The group may want to consider linking to medical community users 

and researchers, both within and outside of NIST. 

There is worldwide activity in magnetic materials, energy storage, nanowires, and Li-ion research. 

Given the limited manpower and resources, it would be useful to reevaluate where the MSED can make 

unique contributions to such activities to ensure that it is not spreading itself too thin. 

The modeling capabilities within the MSED are good. One opportunity could be to make modeling 

superfill codes reusable by others, so that they could both be useful to investigate different mechanisms, 

and to compare with modeling. Additionally, the field of electrochemistry has an enormous physical 
64 

property database that could be utilized by NIST. For example, there is a property database on molten 

salts. 

There is also an opportunity to work with the MGI to participate in the discovery of new 

electrocatalysts and other materials with potentially unique properties. 

Also, given the limited manpower and resources, it would useful to reevaluate the balance between 

long-term goals and short-term projects approaching maturity. 

Routine methods are available for tracking error bars in experimental and computational studies. 

Their use is encouraged for uncertainty quantification when data and numerical results are combined in 

composing predictions for more complex systems. Tracking error sources and modeling uncertainty can 

assist in helping researchers decide where to invest their energies, in order to make improvements (i.e., 

more experimental data, improved assumptions, empirical corrections that reduce methodological errors, 

or better management of basis set truncation errors) in a complex system. 

While there is considerable expertise in electrochemistry and engineering processing at NIST, it 

seems to be dispersed among other programs. Synergies might be possible for building new research 

directions. Examples include the pH measurements conducted and collaboration with the Marine 

Biochemical Sciences Group. Other examples include exploring the use of solid electrolytes in chemical 

science for nuclear chemistry. Collaborations can be envisioned with the Functional Polymers Group for 

work on various transport membranes. 

New initiatives from bottom-up ideas can help to maintain a dynamic balance as top-down projects 

mature. Small projects can help to sustain technical programs, as their objectives are achieved, and new 

directions present themselves. 

Finally, in future reviews, the use of poster sessions would provide direct contact between staff and 

reviewers. Such activities are useful for assessing the depth of expertise brought to bear on projects, and 

also for assessing the knowledge of whom else in the field, past and present, is highly regarded. 

PORTFOLIO OF SCIENTIFIC EXPERTISE 

Accomplishments 

There is a very good mix of theorists and experimentalists within the MSED. Many of the scientific 

staff and postdoctoral fellows have strong backgrounds in fundamental sciences and engineering. Several 

have degrees in physics, applied physics, chemical engineering, and materials science and engineering. 

Postdoctoral fellows and staff have opportunities to attend professional meetings, present their work, and 

gain exposure to the work of other researchers. This also helps them to grow professionally, as well as 

make changes in their career paths—for example, some have recently joined academia. 

Many MSED researchers have excellent citations to their published work, which shows that their 

work is recognized by the scientific community at large. It was noted that there are at least five 

researchers with over 4000 citations. Many have received prestigious NIST internal awards (bronze and 

silver medals). 

One example of organizational expertise concerning human resource issues was the hiring of bachelor 

of science-level and master of science-level engineers into technician roles to improve productivity. This 

close partnering of senior researchers with technicians has been very fruitful for improving testing 

throughput and improving the quality of the output of the tests themselves in a very cost effective manner. 

This organizational model may have utility in other groups. 

There has been an expansion from a pure science focus toward an engineering focus that provides 

additional short-term and long-term value for the United States. It is important to note that the quality of 

pure science did not suffer from this expansion of focus into engineering, which is a testament to the 

collective openness of the members of the MSED. There exists a positive employee culture within the 

MSED. There are many components to job satisfaction, and there is extensive management thought and 

action given to nonfinancial factors that impact job satisfaction. 
65 

Opportunities and Challenges 

The scientific staff within the MSED is first rate. Many have received internal awards and 

recognitions. It is important that the MSED management put a structure in place that will, on a regular 

basis, nominate scientific staff for external awards—such as awards from professional societies. Many 

societies have junior-level awards, and several also have high-profile external awards (e.g., the American 

Physical Society [APS] Fellowship; the American Chemical Society [ACS] Fellowship; The Minerals, 

Metals, and Materials Society [TMS] William Home-Rothery Award and Brimacombe Medal; and the 

American Society of Materials [ASM] Gibbs Award). Enacting such a structure needs to be made a 

priority. 

One of the challenges is how to utilize postdoctoral fellows more effectively in ways that will help 

both them and also the institute. There was a concern that postdoctoral fellows have to spend a lot of time 

learning equipment maintenance and troubleshooting. They are not experienced in this, and are typically 

only in their positions for a couple of years. This can potentially lead to inefficient use of the postdoctoral 

fellows, and may also impede their progress toward career goals in research. It may be better to hire some 

engineer-level permanent staff to maintain the equipment. This may actually lead to increased research 

productivity, which is already very good. Additionally, staffing for the facilities would benefit from 

training, technical maintenance, and modernization. 

There is high reliance on postdoctoral candidates for succession planning of top-level researchers. 

And so, succession planning opportunities exist within the MSED. 

Linking with the Boulder Statistics Group may be beneficial, since that group reviews the literature, 

and evaluates and sells data. It also scans publications to assess the quality of the data and stores this data. 

NIST’s Joint Army Navy Airforce (JANAF) Thermochemical Tables are valuable collective data 

compilations. Last, the MSED also needs to look across other programs to develop a collaborative effort 

and utilize available expertise. 

ADEQUACY OF FACILITIES, EQUIPMENT, AND HUMAN RESOURCES 

Accomplishments 

Despite difficulties related to old buildings and infrastructure (e.g., the facility used to perform highstrain-rate testing, which had issues with a leaking roof), the staff has done an excellent job of 

maintaining equipment in working order. It has also improvised equipment for its specific needs. Some of 

the facility is rather old, but it is still functional. The facility also includes state-of-the-art electron 

microscopy. The Split Hopkinson Bar (for both tension and compression) is a state-of-the-art instrument, 

which also has fast recording capability (an infrared camera) for temperature measurements during rapid 

loading. Its Advanced Photon Source facility as well as its specialized mechanical testing of automotive 

parts is unique. This facility also has the ability to use X-ray beams directed at the center of a metal plate 

that is being deformed. This is particularly important to the automotive industry. Additionally, a liquid 

metal source X-ray instrument that uses liquid Ga-In alloy is among the key instrumentation within the 

MSED. There has also been great collaboration on X-ray synchrotron beam line use at different 

government facilities, primarily in the Department of Energy (DOE). 

State-of-the-art instrumentation developments within the polymer-side of MSED include the resonant 

soft X-ray small angle scattering instrument; the modified MakerBot 3D printer; a novel three-in-one 

instrument that allows for correlations of polymer rheology with underlying microstructure and 

composition; an automated multifiber fragmentation machine; a microcapillary rheometer; and a layer-bylayer method for the highly controlled fabrication of model membranes for water purification. 

In terms of human resources, the administrative support within the MSED consists of at least three 

highly experienced employees with 27 years of experience. 
66 

Opportunities and Challenges 

Aging structures and leaking roofs in some of the facilities is a major issue. Some strategic planning 

may be necessary to address these continuing issues. Building facilities need improvement in order to 

both improve safety and protect valuable equipment. Researchers have taken steps to do this by building 

metal shelters within rooms to protect equipment and experiments from rainwater damage and drastic 

humidity excursions during rain events. The issue of facility infrastructure is a challenging topic in 

buildings that are over 50 years old and during time periods of constrained budgets. 

Additionally, the equipment for the empirical synthesis of materials is substantially less than best in 

the world. It would be advantageous to upgrade experimental (fabrication) capability and metallographic 

capability to match the MSED’s computational and more advanced characterization capabilities. Last, the 

process of acquiring laboratory and computer equipment is still a challenge since the 2014 National 

Academies Assessment. 

DISSEMINATION OF OUTPUTS 

Accomplishments 

The MSED staff members have been active in publishing in peer-reviewed high-impact journals. 

Based on the number of papers, and their publications in these journals, it is clear that the research work 

is being disseminated in an effective way. They are publishing in journals such as the Journal of the 

American Chemical Society, Advanced Energy Materials, Nature-Scientific Reports, Advanced Materials, 

Physical Review Letters, ACS Nano, and Langmuir. The Functional Nanostructured Materials Group has 

81 reviewed research publications—which is an outstanding record of public dissemination of scientific 

results. In the polymers research focus, 27 permanent MSED staff produced approximately 240 

publications in peer-reviewed journals and conducted 300 invited talks. This excellent productivity has 

been greatly enhanced by the presence of the National Research Council (NRC) postdoctoral fellows and 

research associates from all over the world. The Functional Polymers Group, the Polymers and Complex 

Fluids Group, and the Polymers Processing Group appear to be on the cutting edge in several 

technological areas and are best in the world in some. They have been able to maintain the excellent 

reputation of NIST in polymer science and engineering. 

Other MSED dissemination activities include making and supplying standard materials, work 

delivered through Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs), and achieving several 

external and internal recognitions. MSED leadership is very active in external organizations. 

Collaboration with the University of Chicago through CHiMaD seems to be going very well in several 

projects. There continues to be an excellent interaction of theory and modeling efforts with experiments. 

The MSED’s contact and interaction with industrial and academic partners is also excellent. Active 

participation as leaders in standards organizations and specialized conferences has been especially notable 

and needs to be continued and encouraged. 

There has also been substantial progress since the 2014 National Academies Assessment on 

improving external attendance at national and international conferences from both a financial and an 

administrative approval process perspective. 

Opportunities and Challenges 

It would be useful to link with other electrochemical activities on other project teams. It would also 

be useful to utilize the postdoctoral network within NIST to identify linkages. There also appear to be 

opportunities to collaborate across many areas within the MSED, the MML, and other parts of NIST. 
67 

The quality of work within the MSED appears to be very good; however, during the review no 

information was given in some of the presentations and talks (e.g., the Thermodynamics and Kinetics 

Group’s presentation) on how many papers were published, patents applied for, and presentations given at 

professional society meetings. A publications list was received upon request. Additionally, the 

presentations did not have citations to similar work (at other places). This makes it difficult to put the 

uniqueness of the MSED work in the correct context. It is important that citations to other work outside of 

NIST be included in the slides, as this omission was across the board. 

Additionally, one of the main missions of NIST is to collaborate with outside researchers. The unique 

facilities and the expertise of NIST researchers are a clear draw and benefit for others. This leads to many 

collaborative papers. It is recommended that for the next National Academies Assessment, the published 

papers be listed in three categories: (1) papers solely authored by NIST researchers; (2) collaborative 

papers with outside researchers where the NIST researchers are major contributors; and (3) collaborative 

papers where NIST researchers have a supporting role. Such an approach will allow proper attribution 

representing the various roles that NIST plays in advancing the nation’s science and technology. 
68 

8 

Office of Data and Informatics 

INTRODUCTION 

The Material Measurement Laboratory (MML) established the Office of Data and Informatics (ODI) 

in 2014 right before the last National Academies Assessment in 2014. As a service-oriented organization, 

it focuses on creating a modern environment for data and informatics for the MML, as well as for its 

customers. The mission of the ODI is “to build the infrastructure for next-generation data science tools 

and the management of complex data sets needed to support scientific innovation and advance open data 

concepts.”1

 The ODI serves several functions which include the following: supporting national needs, 

such as the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI) and biological and chemical data integration, as well as 

the modernization of current NIST reference data services for use in state-of-the-art computer paradigms 

(i.e., virtual computing, parallel analysis, interoperability, semantic web, etc.) and the development of 

next-generation NIST reference data services. The ODI also facilitates MML’s adherence to the 

government’s open-data policy by providing guidance and assistance in the best practices for archiving 

and annotating research and data outputs. It also builds, concentrates, integrates, and coordinates 

capabilities needed to meet data challenges and leverage data-driven research opportunities (including Big 

Data and data.gov), particularly those that relate to the biological, chemical, and materials science 

communities within MML and, as the ODI grows, for all of NIST.2

 The 2014 National Academies 

Assessment recommended that the MML provide resources to the ODI as rapidly as possible. The MML 

management did an outstanding job adopting this recommendation and established data science and data 

management capabilities as one of the five goals for the MML. The ODI started with 5 dedicated staff 

members and limited dedicated funds. The ODI now has 22 staff members and a $3 million budget. It is 

organized into two groups: the Data Services Group and the Data Sciences Group. The ODI is currently 

focused on four interrelated functional areas: modernization and curation of standard reference data 

(SRD); research data preservation and dissemination; in-house consultation services on informatics and 

analytics methods and tools; and open data/open science community engagement. 

 1

 NIST Material Measurement Laboratory, “Material Measurement Laboratory Strategic Plan” 

https://mmlstrategy.nist.gov, accessed September 25, 2017. 2

 NIST Material Measurement Laboratory, “Office of Data Informatics,” https://www.nist.gov/mml/odi, 

accessed October 11, 2017. 
69 

ASSESSMENT OF TECHNICAL PROGRAMS 

Accomplishments 

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) SRD program has been a successful 

example of data generation, curation, and distribution in the chemical, biological, and materials sciences. 

The ODI has contributed to SRD delivery by modernizing the existing NIST reference data services, 

providing community consultation and support, and participating in the global open data science 

community. The ODI has provided guidance and assistance to the MML for archiving research data in 

order to meet government-mandated rules and regulations on open data. While some tools are MMLspecific, others will be available to the broader scientific community. For example, it has already 

accomplished 10 percent of SRD modernization (and another 30 percent to come at the end of 2017) to 

improve user interfaces for web-based SRDs. Such improvements would make it possible for web-based 

SRDs to work on all computer platforms, would implement more consistent functionality, and would add 

application programming interfaces (APIs). It has also initiated internal reviews and solicited customer 

feedback on the entire SRD and special databases portfolio to set priorities for updating the remaining 

SRDs and eliminating obsolete products or products that can no longer be properly supported. 

Additionally, it has engaged the Department of Commerce (DOC) Data Service Team for an SRD 

impact study, which is due in September 2018. It has also brought in Socrata to help build user interfaces 

and APIs, and it is making those available to research staff. This will enable the staff to make NIST 

reference data sets easier to search and download, both internally and externally, via the Internet. It has 

funded seven SRD enhancement projects for science groups with one-year seed money, with delivery 

expected in the summer of 2017. 

The ODI developed a NIST-wide tool with the Office of Information Systems Management (OISM), 

called the Management of Institutional Data Assets (MIDAS), to simplify compliance. It captures key 

metadata and offers exports in standard formats, such as the Digital Object ID, uniform resource locator 

(URL), and enterprise data inventory record. 

MIDAS supports automatic preservation to a NIST data repository that runs on NIST’s Amazon 

cloud enclave. The ODI is also leading the effort in developing the NIST Data Science Portal for the 

dissemination of NIST’s public data. Last, the ODI has been a representative for NIST in the International 

Chemical Identifier (InChI) Trust. The ODI established a consulting group for in-house consultation 

services on informatics and analytics methods and tools. In the areas of open data and open science 

community engagement, the ODI is an active contributor to many standards bodies and consortia and is 

starting to assume a leadership position in scientific data community. 

Opportunities and Challenges 

Considering that the ODI was established only 3 years ago, it has made impressive progress. Since its 

conception, the ODI’s technical activities have been largely focused more on data than on informatics. 

That is, their initial focus has been on implementing tools for producing curated, discoverable data sets, 

and ensuring their preservation. Now that they have succeeded in improving data access, it is time to 

work on tools that make the data more useful and easier to analyze. The MML needs to prepare a 3-year 

specific plan (roadmap) for the ODI to develop information and analytics tools. A roadmap will show 

management the importance of increasing their resources to enable informatics work and to solicit 

feedback from their customers on their plans, and a 3-year plan will enable the MML to show how the 

ODI will ramp up. In years 2 and 3, the ODI can obtain feedback from their customers that will enable 

them to do longer term planning. 

More data sets and increasingly large ones are available in many science and engineering fields. 

Although data science has been around for quite some time, the tools and processes to learn from such 

scientific research data sets leave much to be desired. For example, there is a great need to enhance and 
70 

optimize the usability, discoverability, and interoperability of data. These needs create enormous 

opportunities for the ODI to establish NIST as a leader in data science and machine learning in biology, 

chemistry, and materials science. For example, one of the main projects in which the ODI is engaged is 

the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI) with the Materials Science and Engineering Division (MSED). 

Other projects and activities within the MML are also producing large amounts of data from which useful 

information could be extracted for learning. The ODI is in a great position to develop data informatics 

tools for manipulating complex data, as well as for mining that data to produce knowledge. 

There is a lot of data and informatics activity in the majority of divisions within the MML (MSED, 

MMSD, CSD, BMD, and the ACMD). Right now, it appears that the MSED and MMSD have the most 

intimate engagement with the ODI through the MGI. It is a challenge to coordinate activities among 

different divisions within the MML to avoid duplicate efforts and different formats for the same 

information. On the other hand, coordinating and engaging with other data science efforts within the 

MML represents an opportunity for the ODI to learn the best practices and tools used by different 

divisions in handling data problems, and to share what they learn with all MML divisions. 

The ODI is modernizing the delivery and e-commerce of SRD products to allow more automated 

access for customers. The experiences and knowledge learned through the modernization and curation of 

the SRD could be used to update other NIST products, such as the NIST Chemistry WebBook, which has 

been heavily utilized but still lacks an API that would make it easier to search and download, both 

programmatically and via a web browser. 

In response to the federal policy mandate on open data, the ODI is helping to develop data 

management plans (DMPs) for the MML and building an infrastructure for data preservation and 

curation. The ODI could become directly involved in other major NIST programs, such as the 

Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), to engage the internal and external customers for data 

challenges, including data plans, data preservation, and curation. 

The ODI has made important progress in the modernization of SRDs for easy access and delivery. As 

soon as SRD projects are under control, the ODI could start developing a repertoire of analytics tools. 

PORTFOLIO OF SCIENTIFIC EXPERTISE 

Accomplishments 

The ODI has assembled a strong team with complementary expertise in scientific data management, 

materials science, informatics, and analytics. In particular, the director of the ODI is a recognized 

authority in scientific data management for astronomy, which is a poster child for state-of-the-art 

scientific data management. He brought two members of his team from the Virtual Observatory at Johns 

Hopkins. 

Opportunities and Challenges 

The ODI currently has only two people available to develop and support the data informatics effort, 

while there are extensive needs for such efforts in the MML. The completion of SRD modernization will 

free up some staff for this activity. However, even more staff members will be needed to devote their 

efforts to informatics. 

While the data infrastructure is being built, the logical next step is to fully utilize the infrastructure for 

data-driven science. Therefore, the ODI needs to ramp up its effort to build the data informatics and 

analytics capabilities to handle increasingly complex and data-driven research challenges. There are many 

data and informatics activities among the different divisions. Therefore, to address these research 

challenges, the ODI needs to take advantage of informatics, analytics, and statistics expertise in these 

other groups at NIST. 
71 

ADEQUACY OF FACILITIES, EQUIPMENT, AND HUMAN RESOURCES 

Opportunities and Challenges 

Data preservation is useless unless there is enough associated metadata to enable interpretation of the 

data years later. The same issue applies to publishing data to satisfy the open data mandate. However, it is 

tedious to capture and record that metadata manually. To avoid that manual effort and to free up scientists 

to do science, it would be beneficial if there were an automated system that captures the metadata from 

instruments and associates it with the data. Therefore to facilitate the data preservation and meet the open 

data mandate required for government agencies, the ODI needs to acquire or develop a Laboratory 

Information Management System (LIMS). Such a system could pull metadata with data from instruments, 

which would make such data easy to transform into publishable data. 

The ODI also needs to be provided with sufficient office space for staff, and with the support 

necessary to modernize its computing facility. 

DISSEMINATION OF OUTPUTS 

Accomplishments 

The ODI is on the verge of delivering some of its first major products. For example, it has developed 

initial capabilities for data preservation and dissemination in the Open Access to Research (OAR) project. 

As part of the NIST MGI effort, it is operating the Material Measurement Laboratory Repository Server,3

which is a data repository for data sharing. It is also developing the NIST Materials Resource Registry, a 

federated network of catalogs containing information about materials science resources that will be 

delivered in the summer of 2017. Furthermore, in collaboration with the Information Technology 

Laboratory (ITL), it has deployed and released several versions of the Materials Data Curation System 

(MDCS) for capturing, sharing, and structuring the materials data. 

Opportunities and Challenges 

The ODI needs to invest time in standards activities and consortia to establish NIST as a leader in 

scientific data management. 

 3

 For the repository, go to “Material Measurement Laboratory Repository Server,” updated October 29, 2013, at 

http://materialsdata.nist.gov/. 
72 

9 

Office of Reference Materials 

INTRODUCTION 

The Office of Reference Materials (ORM) is the unit within the Material Measurement Laboratory 

(MML) that provides the marketing, sales, and distribution of all the National Institute of Standards and 

Technology (NIST) standard reference materials (SRMs) and standard reference instruments (SRIs). The 

office conducts all business-related functions to support this mission for NIST. These include the 

administration, product packaging, customer and technical support, quality control and assurance, 

management of e-commerce infrastructure, and all related documentation associated with SRMs and 

SRIs. Customers use NIST SRMs to support measurements in industrial manufacturing processes, clinical 

genomics, environmental analysis, health measurements, and basic measurements in science and 

metrology. Industry adoption and reference to NIST SRMs is a vitally important mechanism for 

supporting measurement traceability in the United States. The ORM currently offers a catalog of 

approximately 1,200 SRMs that possess well-characterized and well-needs to bedocumented composition 

and properties. ORM customers purchase these products to perform instrument calibrations, verify the 

accuracy of specific measurements, and support the development of new measurement methods as part of 

their overall quality assurance programs. The ORM client base includes industry, academia, and 

government. The ORM bins their SRMs into 31 separate categories including environmental, metals, 

high-purity materials, fuels, forensics, health and clinical, and industrial hygiene. The ORM has a very 

important and public-facing role for NIST that enables the organization to fulfill its measurements and 

standards mission. 

The organization of the ORM resembles a structure similar to an e-commerce organization. The office 

director and staff provide oversight of all ORM operations and group activities and serve as the primary 

interface with the MML division chiefs to construct and execute the SRM development strategy. The 

division director also administers the service development (SD) and working capital funds (WCFs) that 

support the creation and production of new SRM product offerings. Several groups in the ORM report to 

the office director, including the Business Application Development, Support, and Security Group 

(BADSS), which oversees sales, cataloging, and inventory systems and is responsible for cybersecurity 

and compliance with all applicable Department of Commerce (DOC) and federal government regulations 

regarding the use of information technology (IT) for sales and support of the SRM program; the Materials 

and Physical Services Group, which is responsible for sample and product preparation, homogenization, 

packaging, order support, and shipping of all SRM products; the Sales and Customer Services Group, 

which manages customer orders received by phone, e-mail, Internet, and fax, and is also assigned matters 

and country-specific requirements pertaining to export requirements associated with international sales; 

the Publication and Web Services Group, which has the responsibility for all documentation of products, 

including SRM certificates contained on the NIST SRM website, and also for maintaining expertise in the 

accurate labeling of ORM products and conformity to the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) rules for 

labeling hazardous materials; and the Business and Quality Management Group, which oversees and 

implements quality processes that document the quality system, produces quality reports (quarterly) to the 

NIST quality manager, and maintains ORM adherence to ISO 9001. 
73 

ASSESSMENT OF TECHNICAL PROGRAMS 

Accomplishments 

Due to the nature and mission of the ORM, the assessment of its technical programs needs to adopt a 

different lens from those used to examine the MML research divisions. The office largely functions as a 

self-supporting e-commerce activity housed within a research organization. The organization of the ORM, 

its staff, and its facilities are structured to efficiently and effectively produce, maintain, sell, and ship 

SRMs and SRIs. Its scientific and technical programs associated with the development of new SRMs and 

production of existing SRMs are performed in partnership with NIST research entities in the MML. The 

metrics used for assessing its activities necessarily need to be different from those used to assess the 

research divisions. 

Using these measures, the ORM can list a number of accomplishments that are aligned with its 

mission and programmatic goals. The number of sales of SRM products totals approximately 32,000 units 

per year, resulting in roughly $19.5 million in income. The sales group of six people and one group leader 

fields more than 50,000 customer inquiries per year, including requests for quotes and technical 

information. The top five sales products include the following: 2092 Low-Energy Charpy V-Notch, 2096 

High-Energy Charpy V-Notch, 1196 Standard Cigarette for Ignition Resistance, 84L Potassium Hydrogen 

Phthalate, and 1849A Infant/Adult Nutritional Formula. The customer base for ORM products consists of 

50.1 percent U.S. industry; 43.5 percent international industry; 2.3 percent U.S. federal government; and 

2.7 percent state and local governments across all major industrial sectors. International sales have been 

increasing steadily and now account for nearly half of all sales. The customer satisfaction appears high, as 

exemplified by the fact that less than 0.5 percent of items sold are returned for any reason. 

Proper labeling and hazard assessment for ORM products is a significant and important technical 

responsibility of the office. The shipped products need to comply with the GHS for labeling materials. 

Further, this new regulation requires that the staff of the ORM publications and Internet services also 

maintains expertise in these labeling requirements. The ORM deployed two of its Ph.D. inorganic 

chemists and an expert in Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations to produce new GHScompliant labels for over 800 products. 

The ORM conducts an extensive quality assurance program to support its operations. It has 

appropriately deployed the necessary staff and processes in their organization to make its quality 

assurance programs successful. The quality assurance program is extensive and extends to every facet of 

the operations. The group is ISO 9001 certified and well connected to the NIST-wide Quality Manager. 

Opportunities and Challenges 

The group is highly focused, customer-centric, and very aligned with NIST’s fundamental mission. 

Its SRM products are valued by industry customers and directly contribute to U.S. commerce. The truth 

in a bottle that is produced by the ORM through its SRM portfolio provides the necessary market 

confidence in the production and sale of products across nearly every sector of the economy and has 

worldwide impact. The interfaces to NIST research divisions provide access to measurement science 

capabilities that are among the best in the world, as well as the ability to create new reference methods 

(RMs) as they are needed by industry. Further, the team recognizes the ORM’s growth in international 

sales and has identified opportunities to partner with licensed distributors to better serve these customers 

in more effective and efficient ways. The office also uses its ability as a convener to bring industry 

interests together to solve common issues facing a specific product type or measurement need, as 

exemplified by the work performed on infant nutritional formula SRMs. 

At the same time, the ORM faces several challenges and possible risks. For example, the office 

receives the vast majority of its sales from a very small number of products (Charpy Bars, Standard 

Cigarettes, Potassium Hydrogen Pthalate, etc.). Any significant disruption in demand for these popular 
74 

products will have an adverse effect on the operations of the ORM, and more importantly, on the ability 

to develop new SRMs for emerging industries and applications. This risk is accompanied by the fact that 

the current allocation of WCFs and service development (SD) funding given to the research divisions is 

already limited and increasingly used to support recertification of existing products versus developing 

new SRMs. 

The ORM appears to be a highly successful operation that directly supports the mission of NIST and 

U.S. commerce overall. Yet, the ORM operates much differently from the other units within MML and 

NIST overall. It does not conduct the type of research performed by MML divisions, and the majority of 

ORM work involves managing and maintaining the SRM sales business that includes marketing, 

production, sales, quality control, e-commerce, packaging, and distributions. The emerging partnership 

with the University of Maryland (UMD) and similar efforts with other external institutions to examine 

marketing and customer engagement strategies is laudable. At the same time, the ORM needs to consider 

an external examination of its overall business practices, the adequacy of its e-commerce tools, the 

effectiveness of its marketing and sales operations, and other pertinent areas related to its operations. 

The current allocation of WCFs and service development funds is increasingly assigned to support 

recertification and production of existing product lines. This situation may present a risk to ORM and its 

ability to produce new materials needed by emerging applications and industrial sectors. The MML needs 

to develop a strategy to optimize and prioritize the balance between existing product support and the 

research, production, and certification of new SRMs within the ORM. 

Packaging and distribution is a significant portion of ORM operations. Appropriate packaging, 

handling, and long-term storage of SRM materials are critical to the ORM mission. Existing capabilities 

are being stretched to their limit, and in some cases may not be adequate for anticipated product offerings. 

In particular, biomaterial SRMs will have unique and important shelf-life considerations that need to be 

examined for these products. The MML needs to undertake an effort to benchmark the state of the art in 

industrial packaging and storage methods and develop a packaging modernization plan to support the 

ORM catalog of materials. 

PORTFOLIO OF SCIENTIFIC EXPERTISE 

Accomplishments 

The portfolio of expertise of the ORM is aligned with its mission as a stand-alone business unit and is 

not easily compared to other MML divisions. Of the 38 staff members in the ORM, 34 percent are 

scientists, 24 percent are technicians, and 34 percent provide administrative or other program support. 

And so, the majority of ORM staff cannot be measured using similar metrics or measures. At the same 

time, the scientific and technical staff housed in the ORM work closely with peers in research divisions to 

produce and document existing SRMs and perform the necessary research and measurements to create 

new SRM products as they are needed by industrial customers. By all indications, the ORM technical 

staff is highly qualified, enthusiastic, and able to perform its jobs very well. This interface is important 

and provides a significant link between the research divisions. It also provides an important mechanism 

for NIST to have a positive impact on industrial commerce through measurement science and standards. 

Opportunities and Challenges 

Business-to-business commerce is rapidly evolving across the economy as advances in technology 

affect business practices ranging from marketing, to online sales, to distribution. The ORM is not immune 

to these macro-level effects that may alter the expectations of its customer base. At the same time, the 

increased level of international sales places new and unique challenges on the ORM staff, who navigate a 

variety of issues associated with exporting ORM products all over the world. The use of overseas licensed 
75 

vendors to market and distribute ORM SRM products is commendable and presents a real opportunity to 

expand its international sales. Further, these macro-level operations may motivate an examination of 

current staffing strategies; emerging demand for new knowledge, skills, and abilities aligned to modern ecommerce operations; and possible opportunities for reengineering positions when positions become 

vacant. 

The development of new SRMs is a lengthy and arduous process that requires great effort over 

several years. The ORM develops new SRM products with very limited resources in partnership with the 

research divisions. Effective and efficient use of ORM researchers and research staff from the research 

divisions are essential to the process. These partnerships have been, and continue to be, largely effective, 

as evidenced by the adoption of new SRMs on a frequent basis. Yet, the research performed to create 

these new products rarely results in highly cited publications in archival journals. And so, researchers 

may view SRM work as misaligned with their performance incentives within the divisions. Further, it 

appears that highly qualified research scientists may often perform much of the necessary yet laborintensive and lower-level laboratory work associated with these efforts that may be better performed by 

laboratory technicians. These issues may discourage outstanding research staff to work on the 

development of SRMs and hinder the ORM’s ability to provide new products as demand emerges from 

industry. 

As part of a business operations review, the MML needs to examine current staffing and benchmark it 

against comparable e-commerce operations to create a strategic workforce development and staffing plan. 

The MML also needs to examine current staffing structures associated with recertification of existing 

products and the development of new SRMs to more appropriately assign tasks to research and technician 

staff, and to encourage SRM-related work as part of the overall measurement science mission of the 

organization. 

ADEQUACY OF FACILITIES, EQUIPMENT, AND HUMAN RESOURCES 

Accomplishments 

The ORM relies on the analytical and research facilities in the research divisions to make appropriate 

measurements in support of the production and sale of SRMs. This includes a variety of analytical 

instrumentation needed to quantitatively measure the properties of SRMs and the associated uncertainties 

in those measurements. Further, the ORM operates a very large warehouse and distribution operation that 

entails storage, packaging and labeling, and shipping of SRMs to customers located around the globe. The 

variety of packaging and storage facilities varies greatly to match the breadth of products in the ORM 

catalog. These include warehouses for bulk chemical and metal storage as well as environmentally 

controlled containers to store perishable biological materials safely. 

Opportunities and Challenges 

Many of the analytical instruments that are critical to the certification of SRMs are dated and do not 

represent the state of the art. While these instruments are still able to perform their functions, there are 

commercially available upgrades that may increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the analysis and 

characterization of SRMs. Additionally, many of these measurements and instruments lend themselves to 

automation, which may reduce the burden on research staff to perform routine labor-intensive tasks. 

The MML needs to conceive and implement a plan for replacing, refurbishing, and maintaining 

analytical laboratory instrumentation housed within the research divisions that support the certification of 

SRM materials. 

Further, the space and facilities needed to store biological materials appears to be reaching a limit in 

the current warehouse. As the breadth and number of perishable biological items increases, finding 
76 

appropriate storage facilities and containers may become a significant challenge. The MML needs to 

develop and implement a plan to accommodate growth in storage needs associated with perishable 

biological materials. 
77 

10 

Conclusions and Recommendations 

GENERAL CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 

Across the MML divisions, many salient themes were identified regarding the high technical quality 

of the research, excellence of the scientific staff, strong customer outreach and scientific collaboration, 

and strong publication and dissemination activities. 

While the recommendations below are grouped by divisions to provide actionable suggestions that 

address each division’s unique needs (a focal point of this review), several crosscutting themes, as well as 

suggestions and recommendations that are thematically similar, were also identified that pointed to 

opportunities across, or within, the divisions. Specifically, in some of the divisions, such as the ACMD, 

BMD, and the MMSD, there is an opportunity to take a closer look at balance between long-term 

goals/research and short-term projects. Such an analysis could help to establish a balanced portfolio of 

research, as well as maximize the division’s manpower and resources. In the case of the inclusion of longterm or high-impact research, it could also help to enable the next generation of measurement tools. 

Additionally, some of the NIST staff noted that there was a lack of sufficient technical staff within 

some of the divisions. This lack of technical support has caused some Ph.D. scientists to do routine tasks 

like equipment maintenance, which is a poor use of their skills and limits productivity. There was also a 

concern that postdoctoral fellows have to spend a lot of time learning equipment maintenance and 

troubleshooting. This can potentially lead to an inefficient use of the postdoctoral fellows, and may also 

impede their progress toward career goals in research. Also, administrative staff is limited in some areas, 

and this is causing Ph.D. scientists to do administrative tasks required for their research and development 

(R&D) work. 

It was also noted that the facilities in several divisions, such as the BBD, BMD, CSD, and MSED, are 

aging and outdated. Some of these facilities have leaking roofs and poor ventilation systems, which 

makes them inadequate for conducting particular experiments, and limits the range of research that can be 

performed in those laboratories. Routine requests for maintenance can, in some cases, also take a long 

time to be addressed. 

It was also identified that some divisions, such as the BBD, BMD, and MMSD, could benefit from 

expanding their working relationships with the Office of Data and Informatics (ODI). Substantial benefits 

related to data management, leveraging developments made by the divisions, and the establishment of 

best practices may be realized by pursuing efforts such as these that cross division boundaries. 

The review also identified opportunities to better utilize the postdoctoral fellows as well as their 

network. For example, it was identified that CSD has the opportunity to increase the number and quality 

of National Institute of Standards and Technology and National Research Council (NRC) postdoctoral 

fellows within their division. Another opportunity that was identified was through leveraging the 

postdoctoral fellows’ network to improve connectivity across NIST. 

Along with suggestions throughout the report, several of the divisional recommendations below 

reflect these crosscutting or thematically similar topics. Recommendations 1 and 3 both address the theme 

of finding a balance between long-term goals and research and short-term projects within the ACMD and 

the BMD—a challenge that was also pointed out in the MMSD chapter. Recommendation 12 focuses on 

increasing technical and administrative staff in the CSD, which reflects a similar suggestion in body of 
78 

the report that MMSD also increase technician support. Recommendations 7 and 10 both address facility 

maintenance in the BMD and the BBD, a topic that was highlighted in the CSD and MSED chapters. 

Recommendation 6 (which focuses on the BMD) and Recommendation 20 look at expanding the role of 

the ODI within divisions that have significant data science efforts, a suggestion that is also echoed in the 

BBD and MMSD chapters. Recommendations 13 and 15 both focus on improving the use of postdoctoral 

fellows in the CSD and the MMSD. Given that many of these recommendations and suggestions are 

thematically similar or crosscutting, it may be helpful for MML leadership (divisional leaders, etc.) to 

meet together to review these suggestions as a whole and to determine where solutions in other divisions 

may have already been rendered. 

Applied Chemicals and Materials 

The programs in the ACMD are well thought out and are starting to fit together as the division refines 

its focus. Some opportunities within the division, such as those in the Fatigue Fracture Group, are 

associated with finding research efforts that fit with the mature efforts in the group to allow a full 

spectrum of projects—from mature to high-risk. Further efforts to have a broader range of projects across 

the high-risk to mature continuum would better position the division to have the available resources and 

pathways to address critical problems. 

RECOMMENDATION 1: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider expanding 

its efforts in such a way that the Applied Chemicals and Materials Division’s projects will span 

the range of development—from high-risk research to mature support programs. 

While the ACMD is doing an excellent job with their dissemination efforts, one way they could 

facilitate more dissemination is through an exchange program between ACMD personnel and other 

organizations in industry, universities, and national laboratories. These exchanges could be both to and 

from the ACMD, with the ultimate goal of expanding dissemination and enhancing the staff. 

RECOMMENDATION 2: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider an 

exchange program between the Applied Chemicals and Materials Division personnel and other 

organizations in industry, universities, and national laboratories. 

Biomolecular Measurement 

The BMD excels at addressing the critical measurement needs of the United States in key areas 

involving biomolecular technologies, including mass spectroscopy, DNA forensics, and 

biopharmaceuticals. This impact is derived from close interaction with industry and federal agencies. It is 

important for the division to balance this immediate focus against the upsides of long-term and highimpact research aimed at enabling the next generation of measurement tools, which could lead to 

potentially revolutionary advances in future measurement. It was evident that some groups within the 

BMD were pursuing this type of long-range research (e.g., efforts aimed at the development of methods 

for single-molecule protein sequencing), and these efforts could be expanded across all groups in the 

BMD. 

RECOMMENDATION 3: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider promoting 

a balanced portfolio of short-term and long-term activities in all groups across the 

Biomolecular Measurement Division. 
79 

The BMD has identified the compelling need for new measurement standards and methods in the area 

of precision medicine. It is important to develop a clear set of goals concerning this research in precision 

medicine and a roadmap for achieving these goals. This roadmap would include the prioritization of target 

selection for relevancy (e.g., protein biomarkers) and maximizing opportunities for collaboration across 

NIST (e.g., with the BBD). 

RECOMMENDATION 4: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider developing 

a roadmap to realize a program in precision medicine that addresses short-term and long-term 

needs and maximizes opportunities for collaboration across the National Institute of Standards 

and Technology. 

The interactions of the BMD with the University of Maryland (UMD) through the Institute for 

Bioscience and Biotechnology Research (IBBR) have led to synergies between the UMD and NIST. A 

roadmap is needed to ensure that this productive interaction continues into the future in a manner aligned 

with the goals of the BMD. This roadmap needs to include the commitment of the UMD to place faculty 

with aligned research interests in the IBBR. It also needs to describe the role of the IBBR in the context of 

the strategic goals of the BMD in order to establish new capabilities and expertise to enable protein 

production, to contribute to the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals 

(NIIMBL), and to broadly impact biopharmaceutical manufacturing initiatives through improved 

measurement. 

RECOMMENDATION 5: The Material Measurement Laboratory and the Institute for 

Bioscience and Biotechnology Research (IBBR) should consider establishing a roadmap that 

describes the role of the IBBR in the context of the strategic goals of the Biomolecular 

Measurement Division. 

The multiple divisions of the MML have shared goals (e.g., precision medicine for the BMD and the 

BBD) and shared capabilities (e.g., genomics in the BMD and the BBD). Groups within the divisions 

have complementary expertise to address challenges related to data analysis and management. There are, 

however, relatively few examples of crosscutting interactions that realize these potential synergies 

between divisions and between the groups of the divisions. The BMD needs to consider creating 

incentives and mechanisms to stimulate cross-group and cross-division interactions that could create new 

and existing programmatic synergies between the informatics efforts of the BMD and the ODI, and 

between the genomic and precision medicine efforts of the BMD and the BBD. 

RECOMMENDATION 6: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider creating 

incentives and mechanisms to stimulate cross-group and cross-division interactions between the 

Biomolecular Measurement Division and the Office of Data and Informatics, and between the 

genomic and precision medicine efforts of the Biomolecular Measurement Division and the 

Biosystems and Biomaterials Division. 

The laboratories in which the BMD is located on the main NIST campus are old, and there is a 

constant need for renovation and maintenance (e.g., to address leaking ceilings). Routine requests for 

maintenance take a very long time, in some cases months, to be addressed. NIST needs to further improve 

internal processes for approval and execution of requested maintenance needs in order to protect 

investments in complex and sensitive instrumentation within the BMD. 

RECOMMENDATION 7: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consult with 

management of the National Institute of Standards and Technology to consider improving 

internal processes for approval and execution of requested maintenance needs within the 

Biomolecular Measurement Division. 
80 

The BMD’s website for SRMs is not currently organized around the needs of industry users. It could 

be reorganized to present SRMs grouped according to industries served by the SRMs (clinical 

diagnostics, biopharmaceutical, etc.). This has the potential to increase the use of SRMs, increase cost 

recovery for preparation of SRMs, and communicate to stakeholders the important role that NIST plays in 

enabling the competitiveness of U.S. industry and commerce. In addition, it will facilitate the adoption of 

SRMs that are new and not widely known to potential users. 

RECOMMENDATION 8: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider evaluating 

the benefits of an improved Biomolecular Measurement Division website that markets standard 

reference materials for specific industries and federal agencies. 

Biosystems and Biomaterials 

The BBD has many ongoing projects and achievements, conducted within and outside of NIST. The 

BBD staff works closely with other MML divisions. Overall, the division possesses a high level of 

technical skills and works on cutting-edge science that requires both RMs and standards. The 101 staff 

members perform work in many areas. The division overall is lean in technical staff but has a superb 

group of Ph.D. scientists at all levels, from junior to very senior fellows. BBD scientists are conducting 

outstanding science. Key technical expertise in specialized instrumentation, however, has been lost and 

not replaced. 

RECOMMENDATION 9: The Material Measurement Laboratory should make a concerted 

effort to maintain continuity in the staffing of critical positions within the Biosystems and 

Biomaterials Division. 

Some of NIST’s laboratory infrastructure is not adequate for conducting particular experiments 

crucial to the BBD mission, such as a cell culture up to Biosafety Level 2 (BSL-2) standards. This is 

owed to dust in older ducts and excess storage in laboratory space. 

RECOMMENDATION 10: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider engaging 

with NIST’s central operations to find ways to improve the Biosystems and Biomaterials 

Division’s building infrastructure. 

Equipment has an institutional overhead cost of 50 percent to pay for human resources and safety. 

BBD staff indicated that equipment taxes significantly reduce the amount of equipment they can 

purchase. 

RECOMMENDATION 11: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider engaging 

with NIST’s central operations to find ways to minimize the Biosystems and Biomaterials 

Division’s overhead burden. 

Chemical Sciences 

In total, 115 scientific staff members and approximately 50 associates in the CSD are supported by 

only 4 technicians and 8 support staff. As a result, Ph.D. scientists are doing most of the laboratory work 

that could be done by technicians. They are also executing most of the administrative tasks required for 

their R&D work. To increase the productivity and satisfaction level of its scientific staff, the CSD could 

provide administrative support for nonscientific tasks and technician support for laboratory work and data 

analyses that do not require Ph.D. training. 
81 

RECOMMENDATION 12: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider increasing 

the Chemical Sciences Division’s support staff both for administrative tasks and for technician 

support. 

The CSD could maximize the number and quality of NIST and NRC postdoctoral fellows arriving in 

the division. There are currently no NIST fellows in the CSD and only three of the CSD’s eight groups 

have an NRC postdoctoral fellow—three in one group, and one in each of the other two groups. The 

uneven distribution of these fellows among CSD groups and among MML divisions suggests that only a 

few people are utilizing the best methods for attracting excellent postdoctoral researchers. 

RECOMMENDATION 13: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider 

maximizing the number and quality of National Institute of Standards and Technology and 

National Research Council postdoctoral fellows within the Chemical Sciences Division. 

Materials Measurement Science 

The MMSD’s competency database is a good idea; however, the division needs to leverage other 

databases, such as publications and presentations, from which keywords could be extracted. 

RECOMMENDATION 14: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider leveraging 

other databases outside of the Materials Measurement Science Division’s competency database. 

Within the MMSD there needs to be transparency of how to succeed, especially for early career staff. 

One way to do so is to leverage NIST’s postdoctoral network with a professional development program. 

Such a program could help to improve connectivity across NIST. 

RECOMMENDATION 15: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider leveraging 

the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s postdoctoral network with a professional 

development program in order to improve connectivity across NIST. 

The MMSD largely excels in the rigor of the data it collects, through applying statistical analysis to 

optimize the quality of its data and conclusions. One challenge is in the consistency of applying 

experimental design and statistical analysis across all groups. Uniform application of experimental design 

(when the project is conducive to it) and statistical analysis is needed. Particularly for exploratory work, 

the design of experiments would improve efficiency in determining salient variables to explore. 

RECOMMENDATION 16: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider making 

the application of the Materials Measurement Science Division’s experimental design and 

statistical analysis more uniform in order to improve the efficiency in determining salient 

variables to explore. 

Materials Science and Engineering 

The MSED is among the best in the world in terms of computational techniques and researchers. 

Although the staff is highly knowledgeable, laboratory equipment for making, processing, and to a lesser 

extent, preparing metallic alloys for testing are basic (with the exception of a new melt spinner for high 

solidification rate processing of metals). Numerous other facilities worldwide have better metallic 

processing laboratory equipment. 
82 

RECOMMENDATION 17: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider updating 

the Materials Science and Engineering Division’s laboratory equipment used for making, 

processing, and preparing metallic alloys for testing. 

Office of Data and Informatics 

Since its conception, the ODI’s technical activities have been largely focused more on data than on 

informatics. Now that they have succeeded in improving data access, it is time to work on tools that make 

the data more useful and easier to analyze. A roadmap is now needed to show management the 

importance of increasing their resources to enable informatics work and to solicit feedback from their 

customers on their plans. The MML needs to prepare a 3-year roadmap for the ODI to develop 

information and analytics tools. A 3-year plan will enable the MML to show how the ODI will ramp up. 

In years 2 and 3, the ODI can obtain feedback from their customers that will enable it to do longer term 

planning. 

RECOMMENDATION 18: The Material Measurement Laboratory should prepare a 3-year 

roadmap for the Office of Data and Informatics to develop information and analytics tools. 

Data preservation is useless unless there is enough associated metadata to enable interpretation of the 

data years later. The same issue applies to publishing data to satisfy the open data mandate. However, it is 

tedious to capture and record that metadata manually. To avoid that manual effort and to free up scientists 

to do science, it would be beneficial if there were an automated system that captures the metadata from 

instruments and associates it with the data. Therefore, to facilitate data preservation and meet the open 

data mandate required for government agencies, the ODI needs to acquire or develop a Laboratory 

Information Management System (LIMS) in order to pull metadata with data from instruments. This 

would make such data easy to transform into publishable data. 

RECOMMENDATION 19: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider acquiring 

or developing a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) for the Office of Data 

and Informatics. 

There has been strong engagement between the ODI, the MSED, and the MMSD through the 

Materials Genome Initiative (MGI) program. However, there are many other significant data science 

efforts in divisions within the MML that could be engaged by the ODI. The ODI needs to coordinate and 

engage with other data science efforts within the MML to learn their best practices in data preservation, 

curation, and informatics, and to share that learning with all of the MML. 

RECOMMENDATION 20: The Office of Data and Informatics should engage divisions within 

the Material Measurement Laboratory that have significant data science efforts in order to 

learn their best practices in data preservation, curation, and informatics, and to share that 

information with the rest of the Material Measurement Laboratory. 

Office of Reference Materials 

The ORM appears to be a highly successful operation that directly supports the mission of NIST and 

U.S. commerce overall. The ORM operates much differently from the other units within the MML and 

NIST. It does not conduct the type of research performed by MML divisions, and the majority of the 

ORM work involves managing and maintaining the SRM sales business that includes marketing, 
83 

production, sales, quality control, e-commerce, packaging, and distributions. The emerging partnership 

with the UMD to examine marketing and customer engagement strategies, and similar efforts with other 

external institutions, is commendable. At the same time, the ORM needs to consider an external 

examination of its overall business practices, the adequacy of its e-commerce tools, the effectiveness of 

its marketing and sales operations, as well as other pertinent areas related to its operations. 

RECOMMENDATION 21: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider an 

external examination of the Office of Reference Materials’ overall business practices, the 

adequacy of its e-commerce tools, the effectiveness of its marketing and sales operations, and 

other pertinent areas related to its operations. 

The current allocation of working capital funds (WCFs) and service development funds is 

increasingly assigned to support recertification and production of existing product lines. This situation 

may present a risk to the ORM and its ability to produce new materials needed by emerging applications 

and industrial sectors. The MML needs to develop a strategy to optimize and prioritize the balance 

between existing product support and the research, production, and certification of new SRMs. 

RECOMMENDATION 22: The Material Measurement Laboratory should develop a strategy 

for the Office of Reference Materials to optimize and prioritize the balance between existing 

product support and the research, production, and certification of new SRMs. 

Packaging and distribution is a significant portion of the ORM operations. Appropriate packaging, 

handling, and long-term storage of SRMs are critical to the ORM mission. Existing capabilities are being 

stretched to their limit, and in some cases, may not be adequate for anticipated product offerings. NIST 

needs to undertake an effort to benchmark the state-of-the-art in industrial packaging and storage methods 

and develop a packaging modernization plan to support the ORM catalog of materials. 

RECOMMENDATION 23: The Material Measurement Laboratory should consider 

undertaking an effort to benchmark the state of the art in industrial packaging and storage 

methods and develop a packaging modernization plan to support the Office of Reference 

Materials catalog of materials. 

As part of a business operations review, the MML needs to examine current staffing and benchmark it 

against comparable e-commerce operations. Such an analysis would be performed in order to craft a 

strategic workforce development and staffing plan. 

RECOMMENDATION 24: The Material Measurement Laboratory should examine current 

staffing in the Office of Reference Materials and benchmark it against comparable e-commerce 

operations to create a strategic workforce development and staffing plan. 

The MML needs to examine current staffing structures in the ORM that are associated with the 

recertification of existing products and the development of new SRMs in order to more appropriately 

assign tasks to research and technician staff, and to encourage SRM-related work as part of the overall 

measurement science mission of the organization. 

RECOMMENDATION 25: The Material Measurement Laboratory should examine current 

staffing structures in the Office of Reference Materials that are associated with recertification 

of existing products and the development of new standard reference materials to more 

appropriately assign tasks. 

Many of the analytical instruments that are critical to the certification of SRMs within the ORM are 
84 

dated and do not represent the state of the art. There are commercially available upgrades that may 

increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the analysis and characterization of SRMs. Many of these 

measurements and instruments lend themselves to automation, which may reduce the burden on the 

research staff to perform routine labor-intensive tasks. 

RECOMMENDATION 26: The Material Measurement Laboratory should conceive and 

implement a plan for replacing, refurbishing, and maintaining analytical laboratory 

instrumentation housed within the Office of Reference Materials that supports the certification 

of standard reference materials. 

The space and facilities in the ORM that are needed to store biological materials appears to be 

reaching a limit in the current warehouse. As the breadth and number of perishable biological items 

increases, finding appropriate storage facilities and containers may become a significant challenge. 

RECOMMENDATION 27: The Material Measurement Laboratory should develop and 

implement a plan to accommodate growth in the Office of Reference Materials’ storage needs 

that are associated with perishable biological materials. 

86 

Appendixes

88 

A 

Material Measurement Laboratory Staffing in Fiscal Year 2017 

TABLE A.1 Material Measurement Laboratory (MML) Staffing in Fiscal Year 2017 

Division/Laboratory Staff type Number During FY2017 

OVERALL STAFFING IN THE MML 

 Scientist 507 

 Technician 36 

 Admin 27 

 Support 45 

 Fellows 9 

 Associates 295 

 Total 919 

APPLIED CHEMICALS AND MATERIALS DIVISION 

 Scientist 51 

 Technician 4 

 Admin 0 

 Support 4 

 Fellows 1 

 Associates 16 

 Total 76 

BIOSYSTEMS AND BIOMATERIALS DIVISION 

 Scientist 48 

 Technician 3 

 Admin 0 

 Support 4 

 Fellows 0 

 Associates 46 

 Total 101 

BIOMOLECULAR MEASUREMENT DIVISION 

 Scientist 67 

 Technician 6 

 Admin 0 

 Support 5 

 Fellows 2 

 Associates 30 

 Total 110 

CHEMICAL SCIENCES DIVISION 

 Scientist 115 

 Technician 4 

 Admin 0 

 Support 8 
89 

 Fellows 0 

 Associates 45 

 Total 173 

MATERIALS MEASUREMENT SCIENCE DIVISION 

 Scientist 96 

 Technician 5 

 Admin 0 

 Support 7 

 Fellows 3 

 Associates 65 

 Total 176 

MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING 

DIVISION 

 Scientist 82 

 Technician 2 

 Admin 2 

 Support 6 

 Fellows 2 

 Associates 80 

 Total 194 

OFFICE OF DATA AND INFORMATICS 

 Scientist 13 

 Technician 0 

 Admin 4 

 Support 2 

 Fellows 0 

 Associates 3 

 Total 22 

OFFICE OF REFERENCE MATERIALS 

 Scientist 13 

 Technician 9 

 Admin 10 

 Support 3 

 Fellows 0 

 Associates 3 

 Total 38 

SOURCE: NIST Material Measurement Laboratory, “Made to Measure: Building the Foundation for Tomorrow’s 

Innovation in the Biological, Chemical and Material Sciences,” read-ahead to the panel, May 9, 2011, pp. 14, 38, 47, 

58, 77, 97, 114, 135, and 157. 
90 

B 

Acronyms 

AAFS American Academy of Forensic Sciences 

ACMD Applied Chemicals and Materials Division 

ACS American Chemical Society 

AFM atomic force microscopy 

AM Bench Additive Manufacturing Benchmark Test Series 

AMAP Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme 

API application programming interface 

APS American Physical Society 

ARMI Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute 

ARPA-E Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy 

ASM American Society of Materials 

ASTM American Society for Testing and Materials 

ASTMi American Society for Testing Materials International 

ATB-MII Advanced Tissue Biofabrication Manufacturing Innovation Institute 

ATCC American Type Culture Collection 

BADSS Business Application Development, Support, and Security Group 

BBD Biosystems and Biomaterials Division 

BCARS broadband coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering 

BMD Biomolecular Measurement Division 

BSL-2 Biosafety Level 2 

CALPHAD Computer Coupling of Phase Diagrams and Thermochemistry 

CDC Centers for Disease Control 

cGMP current Good Manufacturing Practices 

CHiMaD Center for Hierarchical Materials Design 

CLL chronic lymphocytic leukemia 

CNST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology 

CRADA Cooperative Research and Development Agreement 

CRP C-reactive protein 

CSD Chemical Sciences Division 

CSD Chemical Sciences Division 

CSTL Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory 

ctDNA circulating tumor DNA 

DARPA Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency 

DFT density functional theory 

DHS Department of Homeland Security 

DMP data management plan 
91 

DNA deoxyribonucleic acid 

DOC Department of Commerce 

DOD Department of Defense 

DOE Department of Energy 

DOJ Department of Justice 

DOT Department of Transportation 

EDRN Early Detection Research Network 

EGFR epidermal growth factor receptor 

ENP engineered nanoparticle 

EPA Environmental Protection Agency 

ERCC External RNA Controls Consortium 

ERF equivalent number of reference fluorophores 

FACT Facility for Adsorbent Characterization and Testing 

FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation 

FDA Food and Drug Administration 

FIB SEM focused ion beam scanning electron microscope 

FISH fluorescence in situ hybridization 

FIZ Fachinformationszentrum Karlsruhe 

FTE full-time equivalent 

GHS Globally Harmonized System 

GIAB Genome in a Bottle Consortium 

GM General Motors 

HER2 human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 

HML Hollings Marine Laboratory 

HMP Human Microbiome Project 

IBBR Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research 

ICSD Inorganic Crystal Structure Database 

IFCC International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine 

IgG immunoglobulin G 

IMMSA International Metagenomics and Microbiome Standards Alliance 

InChI International Chemical Identifier 

ISO International Organization for Standardization 

IT information technology 

ITL Information Technology Laboratory 

IUPAC International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry 

JANAF Joint Army Navy Airforce 

JILA Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics 

JIMB Joint Initiative for Metrology in Biology 

LC-MS liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry 

LIMS Laboratory Information Management System 

Li-ons Lithium-ions 

low-GWP low-global warming potential 

mAb monoclonal antibody 
92 

MATES Multi-Agency Tissue Engineering Science 

MCL Molecular Characterization Laboratory 

MDCS Materials Data Curation System 

MEP Manufacturing Extension Partnership 

MGI Materials Genome Initiative 

MIDAS Management of Institutional Data Assets 

miRNA microRNA 

MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology 

MML Material Measurement Laboratory 

MMSD Materials Measurement Science Division 

MOU Memorandum of Understanding 

MSED Materials Science and Engineering Division 

MSEL Materials Science and Engineering Laboratory 

MTA Materials Transfer Agreement 

NCI National Cancer Institute 

NCI-MATCH National Cancer Institute, Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice 

NCMC National Cell Manufacturing Consortium 

NDA nondisclosure agreement 

NDP neutron depth profiling 

NERSC National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center 

NGS next-generation sequencing 

NIAID National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases 

NIDCR National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research 

NIH National Institutes of Health 

NIIMBL National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals 

NIST National Institute of Standards and Technology 

NMR nuclear magnetic resonance 

NNSA National Nuclear Security Administration 

NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

NRC National Research Council 

NREL National Renewable Energy Laboratory 

NSLS-II National Synchrotron Light Source II 

N-STEP NIST Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Program 

OAR Open Access to Research 

ODI Office of Data and Informatics 

OISM Office of Information Systems Management 

ORM Office of Reference Materials 

OSTP Office of Science and Technology Policy 

PECASE Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers 

PLOT-cryo porous layer open tubular cryoadsorption 

PML Physical Measurement Laboratory 

R&D research and development 

REFPROP Reference Fluid Thermodynamic and Transport Properties Database 

RM reference method 

RMP reference measurement procedure 

SAXS small-angle X-ray scattering 
93 

SBSC Synthetic Biology Standards Consortium 

SCB Standards Coordinating Body 

SD service development 

SEM scanning electron microscopy 

SERI strategic and emerging research initiatives 

SMSD Surface and Microanalysis Science Division 

SPRi surface plasmon resonance imaging 

SRD standard reference data 

SRI standard reference instrument 

SRM standard reference material 

STEM science, technology, engineering, and mathematics 

STR short tandem repeat 

TE tissue engineering 

TEM transmission electron microscopy 

TERMIS-AM Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society-Americas 

TMS The Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society 

UV-Vis ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy 

UMD University of Maryland 

URL uniform resource locator 

U.S. TAG U.S. Technical Advisory Group 

WCF working capital fund 

XRD X-ray diffraction