INNOVATION AND INDUSTRY SERVICES

NIST’s Unique Role in Intramural 

Technology Transfer 

Presentation to the NIST Visiting Committee on Advanced 

Technology 

October 16, 2012 

Phillip Singerman, PhD

Associate Director for Innovation and Industry Services

National Institute of Standards and Technology

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INNOVATION AND INDUSTRY SERVICES

NIST Policy Leadership 

• On behalf of the Department of Commerce, NIST has a 

unique role in promoting and reporting on the overall 

strength of federal efforts in technology transfer

• Policy coordination, promulgation of technology transfer 

regulations, including Bayh-Dole

• Chairs the Interagency Workgroup for Technology 

Transfer (11 agencies)

• Annual reports for the President, the Congress, and 

OMB on utilization of technology transfer by DOC and 

across all agencies

• Statutory role to provide support to the Federal 

Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (~300 

labs)

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INNOVATION AND INDUSTRY SERVICES

Technology Transfer Reporting

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• Annual Report to OMB on 

DOC Technology Transfer

• Includes NIST, NOAA, ITS

• Annual Report to 

President and Congress 

on Federal Laboratory 

• Produced by NIST through 

the Interagency 

Workgroup for Technology 

Transfer
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http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/10/28/presidential-memorandum-acceleratingtechnology-transfer-and-commerciali
Presidential Memorandum

Section 1. Policy

• Commits each agency to improve the results from its tech transfer and commercialization activities

• Increase the successful outcomes of these activities significantly over the next 5 years.

Sec. 2. Establish Goals and Measure Progress

• Agencies

• Develop plans that establish performance goals and measures within 180 days

• Plans cover the 5 year period from 2013 through 2017 

• Plans are agency specific based on mission 

• Agency heads encouraged to include tech transfer overall laboratory evaluation.

• The Interagency Workgroup on Technology Transfer

• Recommend opportunities for improving Federal tech transfer

• Improve and expand collection of metrics

Sec. 3. Streamline the Federal Government's Technology Transfer and Commercialization Process 

• Review licensing/CRADA procedures 

• CIO/CTO, in coordination with other agencies: List all federal inventions on a public Government 

database; increase the usefulness and accessibility of this data

• SBIR and STTR

Sec. 4. Facilitate Commercialization through Local and Regional Partnerships 

• Collaborate/participate in regional technology innovation clusters 

• Applied research and business support programs on or near Federal laboratories

• Strengthen the commercialization activities in local region.

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INNOVATION AND INDUSTRY SERVICES
Pat Gallagher, March 23 Manager Meeting
NIST Tech Transfer

Traditional Tech Transfer but 

also...

Measurement Research 

• ~ 2,200 publications per year

Standard Reference Data

• ~ 100 different types

• ~ 6,000 units sold per year

• ~ 226 million data downloads per year

Standard Reference Materials

• ~ 1,300 products available

• ~ 30,000 units sold per year

Calibration Tests

• ~ 18,000 tests per year

Laboratory Accreditation

• ~ 800 accreditations of testing and 

calibration laboratories

© Robert Rathe

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INNOVATION AND INDUSTRY SERVICES
NIST Technology Transfer Plan

Retained Metrics Expanded metrics New Metrics

1. Publications 

2. Calibrations 

3. Training 

4. STEM Education

5. Accreditations

1. Standard Reference Data 

Products 

2. Standard Reference Materials 

3. Patents and Licenses

4. User Facility Research 

Participants 

5. Collaborations 

6. Documentary Standards

1. Software 

2. Post-Doctoral Researchers

3. Start-ups and Young 

Technology Companies 

4. Technology Transfer through 

Non-NIST Employees and 

Informal Collaborations

Technology transfer is the overall process by which NIST knowledge, facilities, or 

capabilities in measurement science, standards and technology promote U.S. 

innovation and industrial competitiveness in order to enhance economic security and 

improve quality of life.

• Goal: Improve Transfer of NIST Technology and Work Products

• Revised patent policy and criteria (Celebrate invention, focus on commercialization 

and US manufacture)

• New license programs to promote transfer and assist small business

• Goal: Improve NIST Technology Transfer Through Collaborations

• Streamline and simplify NIST CRADAs

• Refocus and enhance SBIR program

• Improve outreach 

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INNOVATION AND INDUSTRY SERVICES
Patents INNOVATION AND INDUSTRY SERVICES
INNOVATION AND INDUSTRY SERVICES

CRADA Metrics

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CRADAs 2005-2012

11 3

281

170

112

124

102

4 1

71

55

39

28

60

1 1

37

3

19 22

43

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Center for Nanoscale

Science and

Technology

Center for Neutron

Research

Engineering

Laboratory

Information

Technology

Laboratory

Materials

Measurement

Laboratory

Physical Measurement

Laboratory

Laboratory Programs -

600

CRADA Active CRADA New CRADA Amended
Facility Users from NAIS

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

NCNR

CNST

Year CNST NCNR

2007 2 911

2008 7 951

2009 27 868

2010 67 828

2011 101 694

2012 103 492
NCNR
CNST Research Participant 

Growth

FY2011 Institutions Represented (280)

Companies: 79

Universities: 171

Gov. Labs: 30

States Represented: 41 + DC

Research Participant Growth FY2011 Research Participants

Now over 1520

Research Participants.
14

24

16 16

23

19

12

29

40

36

30

25

54

9

11

5

8

5

10

6

19 18 17 17

20

4

2 3 2 2 2

5

2

11

5 5 6

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Disclosure

Patents

License

Intellectual Property Metrics

INNOVATION AND INDUSTRY SERVICES
Opportunities

• Thirteen agency plans submitted – NIST Reviewed

• Generally include: 

– Sec. 2 - Agency Goals and Measures

– Section 3 – Streamlining CRADA and licensing, 

SBIR/STTR

– Section 4 – Local and Regional Partnerships

• OMB/OSTP Review

– Scoring rubric based on President’s Memo

– Comments to Agencies mid-August

– Publication of final plans – November 

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INNOVATION AND INDUSTRY SERVICES
Metrics

• Goal to minimize burden while providing responsive 

information

• Attempt to use what agencies already collect

• Look at agency plans

• Info on White House initiatives – Cross-agency Priority 

(CAP) Goal 

• Coordinate with the National Center for Science and 

Engineering Statistics of the National Science Foundation 

on data already available – Science and Engineering 

Indicators

• 15 USC 3710(g)(iii) has an open invitation to propose new 

metrics

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INNOVATION AND INDUSTRY SERVICES
Metrics - New Technology and Scientific 

Work Products

Intellectual Property

– Retain existing statutory metrics

– New: Number of licenses granted to small businesses 

• Although 35 USC 209 (c) has a clear preference for small 

businesses in exclusive licensing, no efforts have been made 

to analyze the component of small businesses licensing 

Federal inventions. 

– New: Number of startups created

• For the purpose of this report, a startup company is a 

privately-held, for-profit company operating for less than 5 

years and actively seeking financing to commercialize a 

federal scientific work product. 

• Anecdotes should be reported on selected startups as 

appropriate. 

• Recommended that agencies develop a process to track the 

performance of agency-assisted companies. 

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INNOVATION AND INDUSTRY SERVICES
– New: Number of patents granted categorized by selected 

technology areas and by agency. 

• NSF’s annual publication SEI based on data obtained from 

the USPTO’s technical review process for patent applications

• Broken down by agency from NSF

New: Scientific Articles and Publications

– New: U.S Scientific and Engineering (S&E) articles by selected 

technology areas and agencies. 

• Data on the number of U.S. S&E articles by technology 

areas is available and published in NSF’s SEI report

• This data will be expanded to include the number of articles 

by technology area and by agency.

– Citations of U.S. S&E articles in U.S. patents

– By selected S&E field and Agency

– Published by NSF in their annual SEI report

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INNOVATION AND INDUSTRY SERVICES

Metrics - New Technology and Scientific 

Work Products
• Traditional output metrics to be retained are:

– Total active CRADAs

– New CRADAs executed in the fiscal year

– Non-traditional CRADAs active in the fiscal year

– Other collaborative R&D relationships active in the fiscal year (this 

includes Space Act agreements or other agency specific 

authorities, Material transfer Agreements, or other important 

collaborations as deemed relevant by the agency)

– Anecdotal information on the nature, character, and successes of 

collaborative relationships.

• New – Small business 

– Breakout of the number of agreements and other collaborations 

involving small businesses. 

– The total number of small businesses involved in agreements. 

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INNOVATION AND INDUSTRY SERVICES

Metrics - Collaborations
INNOVATION AND INDUSTRY SERVICES

Thank You

 

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Phillip Singerman, PhD

Associate Director for Innovation and Industry Services

National Institute of Standards and Technology

email: psinger@nist.gov