VISITING COMMITTEE ON ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY (VCAT or Committee)

MINUTES OF THE TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2021

WEBINAR MEETING

ATTENDANCE:

Visiting Committee 

Members Attending

Adler, Allen

Cerf, Vinton

Fischer, George

Ishak, Waguih

Jackson, Keoki

Johnson, Anthony M.

Kaler, Eric

Khan, Mehmood

Ku, Katharine

Vasko, David (Dave)

Wasserman, Gail

Designated Federal Officer 

Shaw, Stephanie 

NIST Leadership Board 

Bahar, Mojdeh

Boehm, Jason

Brockett, Del

Brown, Essex

Chin, Joannie

Dimeo, Robert (Rob)

Dowell, Marla

Fangmeyer, Robert

Hooker, Stephanie

Ivester, Rob

Jenkins, George E. 

St. Pierre, James (Jim)

Kushmerick, James

Lin, Eric

Mackey, Elizabeth (Liz)

Molnar, Mike

Moon, Sesha

Olthoff, James K.

Romine, Charles (Chuck)

Sastry, Chandan

Vaughn, Robert (Skip)

Wixon, Henry

NIST Staff 

Acierto, Linda

Alderman, David

Andrews, Anne

Averill, Jason

Barrett, Claire

Beers, Kathryn

Boeckl, Kaitlin (Katie)

Chang, Walter

Chu, Pamela

Chukran, Melinda

Davis, Rick

Deblasi, Ann

Dohne, Kirk

Elwany, Alaa

Evans, Heather

Fasolka, Mike

Fato, Hope

Fetsko, Melissa

Folk, Alex

Forster, Amanda

Fraser, Gerald

Gayle, Frank

Gendron, Cheryl

Gillerman, Gordon

Glenn, Rachel

Hanna, Nancy

Hardis, Jonathan

Healy, William (Bill)

Hickernell, Robert (Bob)

Hildebrand, Jacqueline

Hoehler, Matthew

Huergo, Jennifer

Ivy, Nahla

Jahanmir, Said

Jeanette, Benjamin (Ben)

Jones, Christina

Kauffman, Leah

Kelsey, Richard

Keys, Mirta

Materese, Robin

Mattson, Bruce

Meritis, Dimitrios

Mitrani-Reiser, Judith

Nastus, Joe

Neumann, Dan

Orji, Ndubuisi (George)

Pascoe, Cherilyn

Petersen, Rodney

Pollack, Charles

Porch, Susanne

Ray, Howard (Clifton)

Reidy, Kari

Rudnitsky, Robert

Santos, Danielle

Saundry, Claire

Sberegaeva, Anna

Schiel, John

Schlatter, Katie M.

Schufreider, Jim

Seiler, David (Dave)

Shyam-Sunder, Sivaraj

Soles, Christopher

Stine, Kevin

Strouse, Gregory

Sullivan, Suzanne

Szakal, Christopher

Szuchyt, April

Tabassi, Elham

Teske, Michael

Ufford, Donald

Valdez, Zachary

Vouras, Peter

Wavering, Al

Whetstone, James

Yao, Jue

Yashar, David

Others

Belt, Justin - MITRE 

 Corporation

Hormann, Linda - MITRE 

 Corporation

Locascio, Laurie – University 

 of Maryland College Park

Pilatowicz, Konrad - U-Haul 

 International, Inc.

Ryen, Tind Shepper - Science, 

 Technology Assessment, 

 and Analytics Government 

 Accountability Office

Sabuda, Mary - American 

 Chemical Society

Suloway, Theresa – MITRE 

 Corporation

Taub, Steve - U-Haul 

 International, Inc.

 

 
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Call to Order - Dr. Alan Adler, VCAT Chair

Dr. Adler called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m., reviewed the meeting logistics and took roll call. Dr. Adler

welcomed a new member to the VCAT, Dr. Anthony M. Johnson, and thanked Dr. Waguih Ishak for his contributions 

to NIST. Dr. Alder also stated that this would be his last meeting as well. 

Administrative Update – Ms. Stephanie Shaw, Administrative Specialist, Program 

Coordination Office, and Designated Federal Officer, VCAT

Ms. Shaw welcomed Dr. Johnson to the VCAT and thanked Dr. Allen and Dr. Ishak for their time, expertise, and 

service. She then provided the VCAT members with an update on the new process of filing their annual financial 

disclosure forms for the upcoming year.

SESSION I: NIST UPDATE 

NIST Update and Agenda Review – Dr. James K. Olthoff, Performing Nonexclusive Duties of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and 

Technology and NIST Director

Dr. Olthoff began by welcoming the newest VCAT member, Anthony M. Johnson, and he acknowledged and thanked 

outgoing VCAT members, Waguih Ishak and Allen Adler, for their contributions, time, and experience. He continued 

with a brief overview of some future events at NIST and program highlights. 

With respect to leadership changes, Dr. Olthoff said Dr. Laurie Locascio has been officially nominated to be the

Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director and is awaiting confirmation from

the Senate. Dr. Locascio served previously as Director of the Material Measurement Laboratory (MML) and is 

currently Vice President for Research at the University of Maryland. Ms. Jennifer Huergo will be the new Director of 

the Public Affairs Office (PAO), and Dr. Jeffrey DiVietro is serving as acting Director of the Technology Partnerships 

Office (TPO). Ms. Pravina Raghavan is going to be the new Director of the Hollings Manufacturing Extension 

Partnership (MEP).

Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to be a priority. NIST has been tasked to develop the AI Risk Management

Framework. The first virtual public workshop was held in October. NIST is also responsible for setting up the 

National AI Advisory Committee (NAIAC). A list of nominees will be submitted to the Department of Commerce

(DOC) for approval. NIST is also continuing research programs on hardware based upon neuromorphic computing 

technologies.

Quantum Information Sciences continues to be a high priority both at NIST and across the United States. Several 

workshops have been scheduled to advance the new technologies, and recent publications that describe advances in 

creating qubits using quantum-enhanced detection. NIST is working with the White House to develop consortia.

Dr. Olthoff said NIST co-led a team in the Telomere-to-Telomere (T2T) Consortium, which completed the last 7 

percent of the human genome, which has garnered significant media coverage.

Advanced Communications continues to be an area of great significance with respect to competitiveness. NIST 

continues to provide research on the supply chain for 5G, partnering with the National Science Foundation (NSF) and 

the Department of Defense (DOD) and other large industry partners in the Resilient and Intelligent NextG Systems 

(RINGS) program.

There is concern that China is attempting to leverage the standards development system globally to advance their 

own competitive posture. They are sending large numbers of people to international standards development

meetings. NIST and DOC efforts will ensure that the U.S. and its allies have a sustainable foundation for continued 

leadership in standards development activities for critical and emerging technologies. NIST has helped support the

U.S. Government with respect to the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue and is collaborating with the European Union 

(EU) on a Standards Alert System and AI.
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Work is ongoing for the eventual renovation of the aging infrastructure that exists across NIST campuses, which is 

highly dependent upon funding from Congress. Plans for renovation of buildings include moving people from one 

building to the next while renovation is in progress.

NIST has been tasked with producing studies for eight technological areas and has contracted the Science and 

Technology Policy Institute (STPI) and Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C) for this effort. A 

Request for Information (RFI) is under review, and the final report is due to Congress by December 31, 2022.

NIST is working with DOC to respond to several Executive Orders on Diversity, Equity, Inclusivity, and Accessibility 

(DEIA) in the Federal workforce. Progress in this area at NIST has been excellent.

MEP has played a significant role with respect to work related to COVID and other things. There is a potential for

large increases in funding, which will provide an opportunity to change and expand MEP.

Dr. Olthoff said the DOC Strategic Plan Update has five key themes:

1. Innovation and global competitiveness,

2. Economic development,

3. Climate,

4. Equity (ethical and responsible data practices, making data more accessible), and

5. Customer service.

Dr. Olthoff added that NIST's primary role is related to manufacturing, development of emerging technologies and 

improving the nation's cybersecurity for protecting federal government networks.

For more information, see Dr. Olthoff’s presentation.

Discussion. The group discussed the following topics:

• NIST interest in the origami aspects of folded proteins generated by human cells; and

• Monthly periodical Standards Alert that provides awareness of standards-making activities and information.

Innovation and Industry Services Update – Ms. Mojdeh Bahar, Associate Director 

for Innovation and Industry Services

Ms. Bahar said there are four components of Innovation and Industry Services:

1. Baldrige Performance Excellent Program,

2. Manufacturing USA,

3. Manufacturing Extension Partnership, and

4. Technology Partnership Office.

What unites the four groups is the formation of public-private partnerships that build communities around 

technological innovation, manufacturing, and performance excellence.

The Baldrige Performance Excellence Program continues to demonstrate exceptional agility and resilience while 

operating in a challenging environment. This program's survival depends on volunteers and currently has over 300 

volunteers that produce products and services, with very limited federal funding. Baldrige converted key processes, 

products, and services to virtual platforms. The Quest for Excellence Conference is an example, which highlighted 

best practices of 11 award-winning recipient organizations over a 4-day period. The Baldrige Fellows Program 

moved to a hybrid approach in 2021.

The program continues to push forward on several key strategic initiatives. One important one is the Job Quality 

Framework Initiative. The Baldrige Program was asked by the Secretary's office to lead an interagency effort to 

develop a framework that will encourage and enable businesses to enhance their efforts to create and sustain highquality jobs. Baldrige continues to maintain high levels of customer satisfaction and engagement.

This year, the Office of Advanced Manufacturing (OAM) conducted four competitions and made two of the largest 

awards in NIST history. OAM received $150 million through the American Recovery Plan. The National Institute for

Innovative Manufacturing and Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL) was renewed for another 5 years and received $70 

million earlier this year.
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The Build Back Better initiative has proposed additional NIST Manufacturing USA Institute and Manufacturing USA 

education and workforce development programs. Some of the activities include developing a 2022-2026 National 

Strategic Plan for Advanced Manufacturing. The Return on Investment (ROI) Legislative Package for modernizing the 

Stevenson-Wydler Act was released to Congress for consideration. There were some substantive changes to BayhDole, and the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking received 81,000 comments, and review of the comments is ongoing. 

The fast-track SBIR solicitation specific to COVID-19 response is a first-ever contract for NIST, which is where Phase 

I and Phase II are combined. This is commonplace in some federal agencies but new for NIST.

Accomplishments in 2021 include 51 CARES Act awards by the September 3, 2021 deadline, and a MEP National 

Network update meeting held in August, which ensured strong alignment between manufacturers' needs and MEP 

services.

Priorities for 2022 include publishing the 5-year strategic plan for the MEP National network, onboarding of at least 10 

new MEP team members, an increase in MEP Center Base Aware Cooperative Agreements by at least $40 million, 

and an award of at least $40 million in new Competitive Awards to MEP Centers.

For more information, see Ms. Bahar’s presentation.

NCNR Situation Update – Dr. Robert Dimeo, Director, NIST Center for Neutron 

Research (NCNR)

Dr. Dimeo said efforts will be able to start no earlier than April 2022 to restore the reactor to operational readiness. 

Also, implementing an extensive number of corrective actions and obtaining authorization from the U.S. Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission (NRC) to restart the reactor must happen.

The confinement building, which contains the reactor, control room, and infrastructure had significant contamination 

in February that included fission products released from a damaged fuel element. Progress has been made for

cleaning the primary system. Root causes were identified, and corrective actions have been implemented. A request

to restart the reactor has been submitted to NRC. The "No Earlier Than Date" to restart will be in April 2022.

The Reactor Oversight Committee was charged with convening a subcommittee to review the NCNR Root Cause 

Analysis, corrective actions, and determining the efficacy of those. They came up with two additional root causes and 

validated the corrective actions described along with suggested program improvements. The Reactor Operations 

and Engineering team developed a detailed implementation plan and corrective actions are in process of being 

implemented.

The final milestone of submitting safety documentation, Root Cause Analysis reports, and a corrective action 

implementation plan with safety information was submitted to the NRC. In response, the NRC is asking for more 

clarification, which is a good indicator that they are in the process of developing a roadmap for a path towards

restarting the reactor.

On August 4, 2021 a damaged fuel element that was still in the reactor core was removed. There were no 

unforeseen circumstances, and the process went smoothly.

Funding requirements are needed to restore the reactor to operational readiness. NRC will carry out an inspection to 

ensure the corrective actions have taken place, but the NRC may have additional enforcement

actions. All previously approved experiments that have not been executed are going to receive the highest priority.

For more information, see Dr. Dimeo’s presentation.

Discussion. The group discussed the following topics:

• Modernization possibilities for reactor readiness funded by the Build Back Better legislation,

• Sharing NRC documentation provided to NIST on root causes and extensive set of corrective actions,

• High priority for NIST with respect to NCNR to get reactor operational,

• NIST neutron experts seeking careers elsewhere, and

• Cross-agency collaboration on spallation neutron source between Commerce and Energy Departments.
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Surfside Investigation Update - Dr. Judith Mitrani-Reiser—Associate Chief of the 

Materials and Structural Systems Division, Engineering Laboratory (EL)

Dr. Mitrani-Reiser said actual disasters and failure events provide important opportunities for study by NIST scientists 

and engineers to improve the safety of buildings, occupants, and emergency responders.

NIST has studied and investigated more than 50 earthquakes, hurricanes, building and construction failures, 

tornadoes, and fires since 1969. A slide was shown that highlighted National Construction Safety Team (NCST) 

investigations. The goal for NIST is to undertake post-event assessments and make recommendations to improve

building codes, standards, and practices to make U.S. buildings more resilient and safer overall.

The NCST Act was signed into law in 2002 after the World Trade Center Towers collapsed which provides NIST the 

authority to make recommendations after investigations are completed on improvements to code standards and 

practices.

NIST is currently involved in two active investigations: Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and Champlain Towers South 

in Surfside, Florida. In Puerto Rico, NIST seeks to understand the wind environment and conditions that led to 

injuries and death as well as damage to critical buildings and designated safe areas. NIST is also examining

emergency communications with public responders. The National Windstorm Impact Reduction Authority plays a key 

role in this effort.

A team is investigating the technical cause of building failure in the Champlain Towers South collapse and will make 

recommendations as necessary for specific improvements to building standards, codes, and practices. The building 

collapsed on June 24, 2021. NIST staff quickly started pulling together information on the same day of the collapse. 

Mission-essential travel approvals commenced. Within 48 hours, team members were on the ground in Surfside. 

The priority was to work closely with local authorities to ensure that potential evidence was identified and preserved

without interfering in search and rescue operations. Artifacts were collected to provide clues to understand how the 

building was designed, constructed, modified, and maintained. The preliminary reconnaissance team found the 

collapse met all necessary criteria to invoke the NCST Act. NIST was supported by experts from FEMA, Florida 

University, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, National Science Foundation (NSF), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the 

U.S. Geological Survey.

On July 8, 2021 NIST briefed the Board of County Commissioners of Miami-Dade County and encouraged the public 

to submit any information on the collapse, including photos, videos, and other documentation to support the 

investigation. More than 3 weeks after the collapse was the first opportunity for NIST to inspect the foundation slab 

and to look at the debris that remained on-site. Army Corps taskforce structure specialists ensured that NIST staff 

members were safe.

On August 25, 2021, Dr. Olthoff, the ADLP, performing the non-exclusive functions and duties of NIST Director, and 

Ms. Huergo, the Director of Public Affairs, announced that NIST assembled a team of forensic engineers, academic 

researchers, and federal investigators to provide guidance on standards in building design and construction. The 

technical investigation is organized around six projects:

1. Building and Code History Project,

2. Evidence Preservation Project,

3. Remote Sensing and Visualization Project,

4. Materials Science Project,

5. Geotechnical Engineering Project, and

6. Structural Engineering Project.

The NCST investigation will include recommendations for improvements to codes, standards, and practice, and NIST 

is deeply committed to conducting a thorough and complete investigation of the collapse.

For more information, see Dr. Mitrani-Reiser’s presentation.

Discussion. The group discussed the following topics:

• Length of investigation to determine root causes of collapse,

• Implementation of NIST recommendations, and

• Aging infrastructure of the nation and structural surveillance or monitoring technologies needed.
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Safety Update – Keeping NIST Staff Safe During COVID - Dr. Elizabeth Mackey,

Chief Safety Officer and Director of Office of Safety, Health, and Environment

Dr. Mackey said for COVID safety and health, the FY21 focus has been on keeping current. The NIST leadership

continues to meet biweekly to review the status of COVID-19 in the community and to monitor conditions at NIST. 

Safety COVID team members monitor latest CDC guidance. New information and policy changes are communicated 

to staff regularly through NIST town hall meetings, all-staff email, webpages, training, and published directives, as 

well as guidance documents.

Current phased operations are tied to the CDC community transmission levels, and NIST is in Phase I, which means 

that community transmissions are substantially higher. According to DOC limits, NIST is limited to 25 percent 

occupancy and 200 square feet per person is feasible as well as maximized use of single-occupancy spaces. 

Conference rooms remained closed for in-person meetings and cafeterias remain closed, except for janitorial staff. All 

protocols remain in effect. When there is a need to have more than one person per 200 square feet, waivers are 

possible only after certified industrial hygienists evaluate the room for ventilation and other conditions required for

work safety. 

Through creative scheduling and work shifts, the Gaithersburg campus has been able to stay within the 25 percent 

occupancy cap. Since much of the Boulder campus staff is laboratory-based, OMB granted a waiver in September 

based on the NIST safety analysis to not have their mission impacted and to allow people to get into their laboratory

spaces. Boulder remains in Phase I. Laboratories have inherently better ventilation than that in offices.

All staff must implement COVID protocols during the waiver which would require mask wearing and social distancing. 

Of the number of people who reported to have COVID or were symptomatic, there were 425 COVID cases as of 

October 17th. Protocol measures were immediately implemented to ensure disinfection and quarantine. The number 

of people who tested positive of the 425 were about 200, and 28 were physically present on the Gaithersburg 

campus. Of the 28 cases, there were 39 close contacts, 23 in Gaithersburg, 6 in Boulder, and 10 at the Surfside 

remote worksite. All staff in the trailer were fully vaccinated, and it is the only place where workplace transmission 

was seen among staff working in close quarters in the trailer. To date, there have been no cases of transmission at 

local campuses. Protocols have been modified for the remote worksites.

On incident data, there were a couple of incidents involving unsafe conditions around large outdoor tanks. A team 

from the Laboratory Program and Management Resources came together to look at the safety of the large tanks. 

Recommendations will be forthcoming in the next year. Crane inspections and repairs are underway, which is a

collaboration with the facilities staff. 

A safety startup guide for resuming work with tips for both office and laboratory environments was disseminated. 

Preliminary workplace inspection data revealed five deficiency categories for FY2021:

1. Chemical labeling,

2. Nonfunctioning lighting,

3. Slip, trip, and fall hazards,

4. Housekeeping, and

5. Chemical inventory.

Most of the findings for lighting outages and slip, trip, and fall hazards related to spaces not being well kept during 

times of low occupancy.

An on-site review of the DOC Boulder site's stormwater permits by EPA Region 8 and the Colorado Department of 

Environment was conducted. The inspection went well, and a final report will be forthcoming. On radiation safety,

the majority of work went into Building 245 to enhance the capability for mission delivery of medical isotopes, 

dosimetry, and all aspects of radiation work. Regulators have resumed their routine inspections. The NRC resumed

its routine inspection of our SNM-362 license and the Exempt Quantity Distribution license tied to that SNM-362 

license.

The completion of a new database to manage radioactive materials approvals and inventory tracking has replaced a 

very old technology that was difficult to update. The Radiation Safety staff assisted NCNR as needed. Focus in the 

NCNR is on the TR-5 license and radiation safety. The NCNR provides occupational safety and health support in this 

endeavor. The Safety Evaluation Committee associated with the TR-5 license was charged with providing that 

independent review. Two additional root causes were revealed, inadequate change in management processes

and improvements in safety culture.
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The NCNR is creating the Safety Culture Assessment Program, and a draft proposal has been issued. Focus areas 

for FY2022 include development of a COVID testing program, fostering a stronger safety culture, a Safety 

Management System, and formalizing the use of safety metrics for risk assessments.

For more information, see Dr. Mackey’s presentation.

Discussion. The group discussed the following topics:

• Looking to NRC NUREG-series publications on industry standards to improve the NIST Safety Culture 

Assessment Program, and

• Lessons learned from ventilation in Florida trailers and adherence to health screening form requirements.

SESSION II: BUDGET UPDATE

Budget Overview - Dr. Jason Boehm, Director, NIST Program Coordination Office

Dr. Boehm said NIST is dealing with multiple budget issues. NIST is on a Continuing Resolution until December 3, 

2021. NIST did get an increase of $22 million for the NCST investigation and is waiting on a congressional resolution 

for the FY2022 budget.

Congressional attention is ongoing concerning the reconciliation bill and the President's infrastructure bill. The 

reconciliation bill could affect NIST’s financial support, but the process is uncertain at this time. Potential funding for

the CHIPS Act is also on the horizon.

As part of the Build Back Better initiative, NIST is recognized for their important role in emerging technologies, which 

was highlighted by the President's Executive Order early in the administration focusing on the importance on 

investment in advanced manufacturing in the U.S. NIST's advanced manufacturing is aligned with the

administration’s priorities.

The President's FY2022 budget request for NIST was positive, a total of $462.8 million increase over FY2021. This 

would be a 44.7 percent increase from total funding. This funding would provide significant growth for both 

Manufacturing USA and MEP ($125 million for MEP and $150 million for Manufacturing USA), and a significant 

increase for the NIST laboratory programs, which is a top priority for NIST. This funding would also 

allow investments in workforce, supply chain, increased technology, diffusion efforts, and strengthening the 

core network. For Manufacturing USA, it would allow NIST to create two new institutes and to expand the network.

Earmarks are back in play for Congress now. In the House overall, a $334 million increase is projected, which is 

slightly less than what the President requested. The Senate mark is also slightly different, with a much lower funding 

level than the President's request for MEP and Manufacturing USA. One point to keep in mind is that both bills would 

have to go to conference before any legislation is finalized, so there remains uncertainty in what the FY2022 financial 

situation will look like.

The CHIPS Act authorizes several programs for the Department of Commerce. The United States Innovation and 

Competition Act (USICA) passed the U.S. Innovation Preparedness Act which was a massive authorization of new 

science programs at NSF and elsewhere. It included $52 billion in appropriations for funding the CHIPS Act, which 

was passed as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, and these are a series of programs to substantially

increase the U.S. domestic manufacturing capacity in advanced semiconductors and microelectronics as well as to 

strengthen the research and innovation ecosystem in that space. It was thought that there would be quick action on 

that bill in the House, but the reconciliation bill and other issues have taken priority. Passage of the bill is anticipated 

by the end of the 2021 calendar year.

High-level goals for the CHIPS Act are to protect and extend the U.S. semiconductor technology leadership, to 

ensure a secure supply of chips for critical sectors and to promote the long-term economic viability of U.S. industry in 

R&D manufacturing and other elements of the semiconductor value chain.

Goals for the Incentive Programs are to increase the U.S. share of the world's leading-edge chip production, ensure 

transparent and reliable chip supply for critical sectors, protect and extend U.S. semiconductor technology leadership,

support legacy fabs for critical sectors with strong demand, and stabilize U.S. memory chip supply with maintaining 
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viability. Where the U.S. has a challenge is in the semiconductor and microelectronics arena, which is where the

CHIPS Act R&D programs are going to help.

The NSTC is intended to cover advanced packaging work, manufacturing improvements, and workforce issues. The 

goal it to integrate these efforts and ensure there are no gaps and no redundancy between them.

For more information, see Dr. Boehm’s presentation.

Discussion. The group discussed the following topics:

• Incentives Program will ensure a strong ecosystem in transformational technologies,

• Persuade Congress to increase funding to fix inadequate infrastructure and plant facilities,

• USG funding to leverage implementation of a fabrication facility in the U.S. for chip designers,

• Awareness of increased heterogeneity associated with cybersecurity,

• Does NIST have a plan to deal with rare earths shortage,

• Building a research neighborhood design must be flexible with movable walls and distributed utilities,

• NIST must be strategic with Reconciliation Act monies when available,

• NIST remains shovel-ready to respond to whatever reconciliation funding is received,

• Contract awarded to National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) to convene a 

committee for assessment of NIST capital facility needs,

• A follow-up email will be sent to VCAT members interested in participating in the NASEM committee, and

• Ensure the NCNR restart stays on track to receive additional funding.

SESSION III: NIST CLIMATE PORTFOLIO OVERVIEW

Climate Overview – Dr. Anna Sberegaeva, Program Analyst, NIST Program 

Coordination Office

Dr. Sberegaeva provided a brief overview of the NIST climate-related programs. The mission of these programs has 

aligned with the Biden administration's climate priorities.

The research in the laboratory programs for measurement science, standards, and technology concern climate 

monitoring measurements, resilience, energy efficient infrastructure, and advanced technologies.

On climate monitoring and measurements, work is focused on measuring the concentrations and emissions of 

greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and their impact on the global temperature. NIST collaborates with NOAA to 

collect standards and measurements that underpin foundational global climate change benchmarks. NIST also 

performs calibrations of earth-observing sensors and satellites to ensure accuracy.

The Surfside investigation is part of the broader Disaster Resilience Programs. Investigations occur not only during 

failures but also during normal operations. Reliable communications are needed to have an effective response to 

extreme weather events and disasters, and the Public Safety Communications Research program is focused on 

access to reliable communications for first responders.

To minimize impact on climate, the U.S. will need to transition to energy-efficient infrastructure, which includes 

emerging technologies for sustainable buildings. NIST efforts have focused on modernizing the electric grid and on 

solid state lighting, advanced appliances, photovoltaics, batteries, hydrogen generation, storage, and initiatives

related to energy efficiency and reducing carbon intensity. NIST efforts also include research for light-weight 

vehicles, materials, and advanced composites.

In FY2021, NIST funded two new areas focused on direct-air capture and sequestration as well as the circular 

economy.

For more information, see Dr. Sberegaeva’s presentation.

Discussion. The group discussed the following topics:

• NIST should work with HHS and others to build better communications during a crisis, and

• Repairability should be a part of the circular economy effort by NIST.
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Disaster-Resilient Buildings, Infrastructure, and Communities – Mr. Jason Averill, 

Chief of the Materials and Structural Systems Division, Engineering Laboratory 

Mr. Averill said the goal of disaster-resilient buildings, infrastructure, and communities is to reduce the damage risk 

and enhance the resilience of buildings, infrastructure, and communities to natural and manmade hazards through 

advances in measurement science. Two key areas of the goal are traditional STRS measurement science research 

and fire engineering for communities for things like wildfires and fire department response.

Two interagency leadership programs, the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program and National Earthquake 

Hazard Reduction Program coordinate federal efforts to reduce windstorm and earthquake losses.

Natural disasters are a substantial economic and life-loss problem for the United States, and from 1980 to 2020, 

there were $7.1 billion in losses on average in disaster events. So far this year, there have been $18 billion in losses, 

with an atmospheric river and a Nor'easter currently sitting off both coasts of the U.S. The underlying climate physics 

are changing as NIST is trying to address the problem.

A changing factor in communities is the relationship between climate change and hazard events. For years, the 

engineering community and community regulators focused on life safety as the primary objective of regulation in the 

build environment, but as events ranging from Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Maria have shown, the population is 

becoming less tolerant of interruptions to education, hospitals and health care services, supply chain, and 

government services.

Congress in the 2018 reauthorization of the NEHRP program asked NIST and FEMA to develop a roadmap that 

would provide a path forward to determine the performance of the built environment. That was published in January 

of this year and is called the "Post-Earthquake Re-occupancy and Functional Recovery Time." 

Wildfires create substantial quantities of both carbon dioxide and particulate matter, which are drivers of climate 

change. As well, the increased temperatures and increased duration of droughts is an area that needs to be 

addressed as it contributes to the overall climate change problem. The annual global wildfire emissions of carbon 

dioxide are 7.3 billion tons, 46 million tons of particulates, and 24 percent of total carbon emissions. This makes 

wildfire seasons on the West Coast between 1 and 3 months longer which is a significant problem, and especially 

challenging during a respiratory-based pandemic.

Selected current priorities are structure-to-structure fire exposure, source-term characterization, material weathering 

research, SERI physical infrastructure research, and functional recovery. The Disaster Resilience Goal is directly 

beginning to address some of these problems. In the wildland urban interface, an understanding of how fire 

propagates from structure to structure needs further examination.

Tornado maps have been incorporated into the American Society of Civil Engineers' Building Code 7 that will be 

published in 2022. This code will now require segments of the country subject to tornado hazards to have specific 

tornado-resistant design provisions for the first time in our country's history.

At the request of Congress, two groups began to initiate information exchange. One group is all the organizations

relevant to building codes, including the American Society of Civil Engineers, ASHRAE, the local community, and the 

International Code Council. This group wants to convey to the climate science community what the end-user needs 

are from climate science that could inform building codes.

In summary, a question to be answered is whether the buildings and infrastructure of today will withstand the hazards 

of tomorrow. This will require understanding how to measure the hazard, quantifying structural risk, and designing for

resilience.

For more information, see Mr. Averill’s presentation.

Discussion. The group discussed the following topics:

• Attribution is low for fires compared to other natural hazards that standards/codes need to address,

• White rooftops that reduce energy load on buildings during fire hazards is a plan in discussion,

• Research and development of a warning system for building structure failures,

• NIST and FEMA coordination in pre- and post-disaster events, and

• Ongoing work with NOAA and NCAR on integrating models of meteorology with the built environment.
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Circular Economy - Dr. Kathryn Beers, Manager, Circular Economy Program,

Material Measurement Laboratory

Dr. Beers said the Ellen MacArthur Foundation has spent the last decade-plus advocating for the circular economy on 

a global scale. The working definition of a circular economy is an economy that transitions away from what is called a 

"throwaway economy" or the “linear economy"' that extracts, consumes, and disposes of goods to one where things 

are recirculated, and waste is eliminated. The definition in legislation in the Save Our Seas 2.0 bill, passed in 2020, 

closely mirrors the MacArthur Foundation definition and included some direction for NIST to perform an assessment 

of recirculation techniques for polymers and to work with EPA on certain strategies for waste recovery and recycling 

efforts and technologies. However, Dr. Beers said, "natural regeneration" is how the circular economy should be 

measured, and a better definition is "keeping atoms and molecules inside the economy, producing value, and out of 

unwanted sinks such as the environment." NIST has been participating and supporting the State Department in 

preparing for global negotiations for the upcoming UNEP 5.2 meeting in February on some of the draft language.

There are converging issues with plastic waste and the consequences to the supply chain. The growing impact of 

plastics in the environment, particularly the marine environment, and the consequences of nano and microplastics 

waste are increasing rapidly. 

There are multiple ways for polymers and plastics to come back into the supply chain if they are properly collected, 

sorted, and fed back into the system. The most important is mechanical recycling. There is an aggressive research 

effort right now and some efforts in industry to feed plastic waste back into plants and to try to extract value from it by

converting it in a controlled way back into small molecules or sometimes fuels, specialty waxes or other materials. 

A broader effort in the circular economy for polymers has brought in new processes and materials, with one focus 

point centered on environmental impact. This initiative is built around manufacturing, but it is also addressing supply 

chain circularity. The partnerships needed both domestically and internationally must also be considered. The

Engineering Laboratory is a primary partner in this effort, but there is also participation from PML. There are 

opportunities across all of NIST to participate in supporting the U.S. circular economy.

NIST, specifically MML, developed technology for Raman spectroscopy in rheometers, which revealed important

insights about incompatible materials like polyethylene and polypropylene. PML is leading the work on nanoparticles 

and environmental assessment and is prototyping nanoparticle arrays using lithographic strategies.

NIST is creating a Resource Registry in collaboration of the Office of Data Informatics to track items relevant to the 

circular economy. 

In FY2021, three workshops took place that explore other material classes, including what is known as "high-tech 

waste" which is a combination of eWaste, solar, and battery waste materials. Also being explored is whether NIST 

should have a role in textiles.

Relationship building across federal agencies and private sector is ongoing. The State Department has established

three separate working groups on plastic waste, the circular economy, and support for upcoming UN negotiations. 

There has been strong collaboration with the International Trade Administration, NOAA, and EPA. EPA has a 

National Recycling Strategy that will be released soon after several postponements. 

On the international front, NIST has coordinated workshops through a unique partnership with the EU's Joint 

Research Commission on Nano-plastics Research. Discussions are ongoing about how the two organizations can 

continue to collaborate.

Dr. Beers concluded that the circular economy effort is ambitious and has strong connections to a lot of other issues 

at NIST. It is related to carbon accounting and resilience. Infrastructure is also a major concern.

For more information, see Dr. Beers’ presentation.

Discussion. The group discussed the following topics:

• Studies on biological response to microplastics,

• New designs in recyclable shipping packaging,

• Infrastructure to gather packaging back into recycling plants needs analysis, and

• Diverse supply chain affects food packaging.
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Greenhouse Gas Monitoring and Measurements - Dr. James Whetstone, Special 

Assistant to the Director for Greenhouse Gas Measurements Program, Special 

Programs Office

Dr. Whetstone said the challenge with respect to greenhouse gas is to distinguish between adoption and mitigation. 

The purpose of NIST's Greenhouse Gas Measurements Program is to equip mitigation decision-makers and 

managers with quantitative information tools to support strategic decisions and to measure progress.

The program has focused on urban and regional greenhouse gas measurement tools, methods, and reference data. 

Urban areas are a focus because that is where most people live and most of the energy is used, and about 70 

percent of global emissions occur from urban areas.

The Urban Greenhouse Gas Measurements Testbed System began in 2010. The cities involved were Indianapolis, 

Los Angeles, and the Baltimore-Washington area. Atmospheric measurements, often called top-down 

measurements, and emissions modeling, often called bottom-up measurements, are based on socioeconomic

statistics and demographic data.

An illustration of an urban area was shown in a grid with a numerical weather prediction model. Models are typically 

one square kilometer in size. On four corners, communications towers are instrumented in order to measure 

concentration of greenhouse gases entering the domain and dispersing inside the city. This is known as an 

"observing network." Spectrometers are used in observing nodes and are manned on existing communication 

towers. They tend to have accuracies at a tenth to two-tenths of a part per million level for CO2. Top-down 

measurements enforce mass conservation of greenhouse gases in a domain of the simulation, and the bottom-up 

method can give high spatial resolution and temporal resolution, although it does not have mass conservation 

properties. The bottom-up method is an elaboration of the EPA methods and the Task Force on National Inventory 

Method. A map called "Vulcan 3.0," shows emissions across the Continental U.S. at the 1- kilometer range. The 

Vulcan can be used as a reference point against radiocarbon measurements made by NOAA's global monitoring 

laboratory.

The first testbed city was Indianapolis, which harmonized the spatio-temporal observations and analytical results 

coming from a 12-tower observation network.

The most recent data was published in 2020 that combined all methods together in a single study. A Bayesian 

analysis of the results showed that only a small correction was necessary to the input data, which is a stellar result.

Near-term plans are to strengthen NIST emissions and biogenic modeling capabilities, to continue extending the 

Northeast Corridor testbed observing network from Washington to Boston, and to strengthen the measurements and 

analyses linking on-orbit GHG concentration observations and surface emissions estimates. NIST wants to initiate 

with the State of Maryland and EPA's R&D office a long-term landfill emissions testbed system to better quantify 

methane emissions in landfills.

There has been improvement in stack gas measurement capabilities based on velocity measurements in stacks that 

underpins EPA's stack gas measurement requirements. Gas concentrations are the foundation of all atmospheric 

measurements, and the need for field standards is going to increase by probably a factor of 100.

Work is ongoing in PML on differential absorption LIDAR. The goal is to obtain concentration measurements in the 

troposphere, which is a critical measurement for determining satellite instrument capabilities. 

Biogenic processing is a new research area that seeks to understand how vegetation emits and absorbs carbon 

dioxide. The forest at the NIST Gaithersburg campus is being used for optical measurements in this investigation. 

For more information, see Dr. Whetstone’s presentation.

Discussion. The group discussed the following topics:

• NEON flux tower data to measure uptake and emissions from forested and agricultural areas,

• Tracking methane emission from gas wells,

• Measurements of trace gases using quantum cascade lasers,

• Global Atmospheric Watch at WMO coalesces global and urban greenhouse gas observing communities,
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• Manufacturers looking for sustainability solutions and increased production, and 

• Looking for ways to combine economic components with regulatory environments.

Emerging Technologies for Sustainable Buildings – Dr. David Yashar, Deputy 

Chief of the Energy Environment Division, Engineering Laboratory

Dr. Yashar said the goal for emerging technologies for sustainable buildings is to enable gains in energy and water 

efficiency while maintaining and improving the indoor environment and functionality of buildings. This will reduce 

greenhouse gas emissions and save money as well as improve the overall quality of life.

The United States has about 100 million homes and more than 5 million commercial institutional buildings, and 

buildings play a major role in climate change. Roughly a quarter of all CO2 that is emitted into the air comes from the 

generation of electricity, and about three-quarters of all electricity is used in the building sector. In addition, heating, 

cooling, and refrigeration systems are inside the buildings and contain refrigerants that leak miniscule amounts over 

their lifetime but, are potent greenhouse gases. Ventilation systems play a role in health as transmission of airborne 

pathogens, such as COVID-19 and cleaning particulates, can occur through the air in buildings.

One of the NIST flagship facilities is the Net-Zero Energy Residential Test Facility, which is a modern single-family 

home that operates on less energy than it produces. It is used to look at equipment operating in a real-world setting, 

whole building performance issues and interactions between the different systems in the building. Datasets have 

been released characterizing the electrical output of photovoltaic arrays on campus coupled with relevant weather 

data.

Several software packages are widely used by experts in the building science community. CONTAM is one, which is 

a premier building airflow and contaminant transport model used to analyze airflow and contaminant dispersal in 

buildings. Some other online tools are the Building Industry Reporting and Design for Sustainability (BIRDS) and the 

Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability (BEES). Staff members hold leadership positions in many 

standard development organizations and engage with many trade organizations.

Central to the effort to successfully develop and implement building systems is NIST leadership with the ASHARE 

and BACnet standard. BACnet is the data communication protocol for building automation and control networks. It 

enables the communication links between building systems. This work also relates to standards and research on the 

smart grid. NIST is helping industry adopt software tools to help automate the labor-intensive building process.

Heat loss and heat gains are also a big part of the overall energy performance of buildings. The way to minimize 

heating loads is through insulation and a strict adherence to construction guidelines. One area of improvement in 

HVAC&R equipment is the reduction of hydrofluorocarbons from refrigerants. They are being phased out through 

international agreement. This means a new design practice for this industry needs to be developed quickly.

Because of the mismatch between design approaches and modern plumbing features, water is another area of focus. 

If water spends a much longer time in the piping network than was intended, the consequences are more 

contaminants in the water, increased growth of opportunistic pathogens in premise plumbing systems (OPPPs), and 

a lot of wasted energy. 

Future goals are to make significant impacts in standards for premise plumbing, develop technical information to 

enable transition of low-GWP fluids without compromising system efficiency in heating/cooling systems, develop 

energy-efficient ventilation systems, use AI and machine learning techniques to improve energy efficiency by 

optimizing the design and operation of buildings and equipment.

For more information, see Dr. Yashar’s presentation.

Discussion. The group discussed the following topics:

• Objectives for localized energy codes motivated by climate concerns and

• Development of standards for old buildings as well as new buildings.

Carbon Capture and Sequestration – Dr. Pamela Chu, Group Leader, Chemical 

Process and Nuclear Measurements, Material Measurement Laboratory

Dr. Chu said from the latest IPCC report that the driving force of climate change is the human-generated greenhouse 

gas emissions that have been accumulating since the Industrial Revolution. The level of greenhouse gases is at a 
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climate tipping point and necessitates the need to manage the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It will be difficult to 

replace liquid fuels in certain sectors such as air transport. Carbon removal technologies need to be included in the 

strategy to meet climate goals.

There are several negative emission technologies that remove carbon dioxide from ambient air and permanently 

store it elsewhere. For this to be economically viable, the cost of removing a ton of carbon dioxide needs to be less 

than $100. There are several negative emission technologies, both natural and engineered, that enhance natural 

processes. Currently, the focus is on direct air capture, which uses chemical processes. One advantage of DAC 

(direct air capture) over natural processes is that it is less vulnerable to reversal, but R&D is needed.

The Climeworks facility in Iceland went operational last month. It's projected to capture 4,000 tons of carbon dioxide 

per year using a process based on solid sorbents. It relies on geothermal power and captured CO2 is then directly 

injected into underground basalt caverns for permanent sequestration. There is a demonstration project in Canada 

that is expected to capture a megaton of CO2 per year. The Climeworks facility in Iceland and the Carbon 

Engineering facility in Canada and Texas use active systems where air is forced across a sorbent platform. The 

Klaus Lackner facility at Arizona State University is developing passive approaches to capture carbon dioxide with 

reduced energy requirements.

Substantial challenges for direct air capture to reach the 10 gigaton capacity is needed by midcentury. The 

fundamental chemistry driving these processes is poorly understood, and it is still early in the development cycle to 

know the best approach. Costs are high and need to decrease to make this economically viable. A rapid scale-up is 

needed.

NIST can play an important role by developing benchmark materials, new measurement capabilities, data and 

models, and standards to help accelerate innovation and to validate the performance of direct capture technology. 

Congress appropriated $3 million in FY2021 to NIST for this effort. A three-pronged approach has been taken: 

outreach to stakeholders, an expansion of measurement and modeling capabilities, and leveraging measurement 

expertise across NIST to characterize candidate reference materials and to develop documentary standards. The 

NIST Facility for Absorbent Characterization and Testing (FACT) is equipped with five state-of-the-art instruments for

using different measurement principles to provide quality-assured data and reference materials. The entire 

measurement expertise across NIST is also leveraged by including NCNR, EL, and MML. NCNR uses neutron 

scattering to characterize the structure and dynamics of adsorbent materials. EL conducts research to predict the 

performance of conventional and innovative building materials and correlates the material performance with 

degradation mechanisms. MML has expertise in state-of-the-art measurements and models.

The focus has been on direct air capture and carbon mineralization in building materials, but ultimately carbon 

measurements and carbon accounting need further development.

For more information, see Dr. Chu’s presentation. 

Discussion. The group discussed the following topics:

• Possibility of catalytic reactions in the carbon capture process,

• Synergy between catalysis and adsorbent materials,

• Using inexpensive and abundant materials for catalysis processes, and

• Specialized systems to capture areas of higher carbon concentrations from waste piles.

SESSION IV: CYBERSECURITY OVERVIEW

Cultivating Trust Through NIST’s Cybersecurity and Privacy Program – Mr. Kevin 

Stine, Chief of the Applied Cybersecurity Division, Information Technology 

Laboratory

Mr. Stine said the mission of the Information Technology laboratory is to cultivate trust. This can happen by working 

with the community to advance cybersecurity and privacy standards and guidelines, technology, and measurement 

science. This effort will help enable organizations to transition resources produced by NIST, which includes putting

practical and actionable resources in the hands of practitioners for securing their missions and business objectives.
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To achieve these goals, the core tenets are to work in an open, transparent, and collaborative way, enlist best 

expertise from around the world, share solutions, and to listen. The Cybersecurity Framework is an open and 

collaborative approach, and after 8 years, it continues to go strong. There has been great adoption domestically from

sector to sector and even internationally. NIST has always been committed to sharing ideas but does not want to 

duplicate. It is important to produce things of value to the community. Listening is something that is unique to NIST 

as a part of an open and transparent collaborative approach. It is important to hear from others about their pain 

points as well as what their successes are and then to work with them to find out how NIST can provide value to 

address their challenges.

There is no shortage of opportunity in cybersecurity and privacy. Ransomware is an area that has received attention 

and resources across the nation and the world. Trustworthy networks and platforms can leverage foundational 

components like cryptography. The CHIPS Act illustrates the importance of hardware security and is going to inform 

a lot of the direction NIST takes in the coming months and years.

One of the most visible and engaging parts of the program at NIST is the laser-sharp focus of the National 

Cybersecurity Center of Excellence on the practical application of standards and technology. The center works with 

the community collaboratively and promotes the use of best practices in commercially available technologies. Today

NIST has 52 formal partners that see the value of working with the NCCoE and NIST to address the challenges in 

cybersecurity.

Some current projects at the center include securing the industrial Internet of Things (IoT) and protecting genomics 

data and DNA sequencing techniques. Some other technology platforms being addressed are security for 5G and

zero-trust architecture, and helping organizations prepare to migrate to post-quantum cryptographic algorithms. 

There are a lot of cross-NIST collaborations in key areas, including work with MML on genomics, IoT work with EL, 

CTL, and all things quantum with PML. The MEP and Baldrige reach manufacturers and others through their 

programs and capabilities. The NCCoE is a great resource for everyone at NIST.

The implementation of Executive Order 14028 on improving the nation's cybersecurity was issued in May 2021 and 

has a one-year timeline. The requirements are very ambitious, but achievable. NIST will play a significant role 

primarily on enhancing the software supply chain. NIST has longstanding programs in cybersecurity supply chain risk 

management and software quality and security. A key point is that this is not a one-year-and-done effort. This effort 

will lead to a much more sustained and enhanced security posture.

Stakeholder engagement and collaboration is key. Feedback is one of the most important driving forces behind what 

NIST does from a cybersecurity and privacy perspective. Feedback helps form decisions on which areas to invest in 

and on what are the best vehicles and formats to deliver results that can be useful to the community.

For more information, see Mr. Stine’s presentation.

Discussion. The group discussed the following topics:

• How technology at the NCCoE is used to address challenges, e.g., solving power grid security,

• NIST stance on cybersecurity is focused on defensive measures and not offensive measures,

• A barrier to good cybersecurity is the inconvenience of protection measures,

• Attention is needed to fix bugs in open-source codes for libraries, and

• Possible development of a NIST platform for SMEs to help the public.

Strengthening the Nation’s Cybersecurity Workforce – Mr. Rodney Petersen, 

Director of the National Initiative for Cybersecurity (NICE)

Mr. Petersen said the mission of NICE is to energize, promote, and coordinate a robust community working together 

to advance an integrated ecosystem of cybersecurity education, training, and workforce development. NICE is all 

about cybersecurity education, but it recognizes the importance of training. Workforce development is the end game,

with a goal to make sure that organizations have qualified employees with the knowledge and skills needed.

The five strategic goals and NICE areas of focus are career discovery, learning process, talent management, NICE 

Framework, and research. The Cybersecurity Career Awareness Week was part of the first goal which reached out 

to young people and working adults to illustrate that cybersecurity is a viable and rewarding career 

opportunity. A webinar was held on cybersecurity apprenticeships for the Federal Government, which 

recognized ways to "learn as you earn" while employed in this field. Modernizing talent management is a big focus 

area for pay, recruitment, and retention.
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A NICE special publication, "Workforce Framework for Cybersecurity," revised in 2020, addressed the 

cybersecurity risk to organizations. Specialty areas and ability statements were removed, and the appendices were 

moved outside the publication. 

The core building blocks of NICE are tasks, knowledge, and skills. The task describes the work, and the skills and 

knowledge describe the learner. The NICE Framework has 62 work roles currently in place, which are used to 

augment position descriptions and to assess the federal cybersecurity workforce. It was important that the NICE 

Framework discussed competencies in a way that employers can use to help define or identify. The learners are the 

people that acquire, process, or develop the competencies. This work development is being done with the federal 

government, private sector, and academia through a variety of partnerships. There is no end to the amount of 

workforce frameworks to be developed, and each one should follow a similar playbook, which is what NICE is 

seeking to promote.

A series of success stories based on people using the framework is shared in a NICE quarterly newsletter called 

"Framework in Focus." It is necessary to engage with a variety of stakeholders. The NICE Interagency Coordinating 

Council meets monthly and works with various agencies and departments of the federal government. The NICE 

Community Coordination Council is a partnership with academic and industry. CyberSeek.org is a job map that 

shows a number of open cybersecurity positions across the U.S. It leverages the NICE Framework as a way to 

identify available jobs. The number of people employed in cybersecurity continues to rise. A quarterly newsletter 

puts a spotlight on events that are happening in the K through 12 and higher education arena, describes what 

companies are doing, and what is happening in the government at a state, federal, tribal, or territory level. NIST 

partners with the Office of Personal Management to do an annual Federal Cybersecurity Workforce Summit as well 

as holding quarterly webinars. There is also an annual NICE conference and expo that brings together the entire 

ecosystem. The Federal Information Security Educators (FISSEA) organization comes together regularly to share 

information and best practices as well as to be a place to engage with others and to ask questions.

For more information, see Mr. Petersen’s presentation.

Discussion. The group discussed the following topics:

• Diversity in workforce is a prime consideration for new entrants in the cybersecurity field,

• NICE Framework is preparing students within a legal context to think like an adversary, 

• Programs to reach out to women and underrepresented minorities and to increase retention, and 

• Accommodation to a more mobile workforce.

Meeting Wrap-up 

Dr. Locascio said NIST has many opportunities to look forward to in emerging technologies, manufacturing, and 

semiconductors, but it will need strong and vibrant internal laboratory programs and robust extramural programs that 

are well executed, which will be her priority. Having been at NIST before, Dr. Locascio said she knows that the 

strength and influence of the VCAT Committee and its advisors is critical to the health of NIST.

Dr. Ishak congratulated Dr. Locascio for her nomination and expressed appreciation for being a VCAT member. 

Dr. Olthoff said it is hard to predict the future and hopes the VCAT will meet in person soon. Dr. Adler thanked the 

NIST leadership and staff for the thought-provoking presentations and discussion of another virtual meeting. He also 

thanked Dr. Olthoff for his leadership, contributions, and service to the nation and congratulated Dr. Locascio on her 

nomination.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 5:30 PM. 

I hereby certify that to the best of my knowledge; the forgoing minutes are accurate and complete.

Stephanie Shaw, Designated Federal Officer, NIST Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology

Dr. E. Allen Adler, Chair, NIST Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology