VISITING COMMITTEE ON ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY (VCAT)

MINUTES OF THE March 16, 2017 WEBINAR/VIRTUAL MEETING

GAITHERSBURG, MD

ATTENDANCE:

Visiting Committee 

Members Attending

Adler, Allen*

Brooks, Rodney*

Colwell, Rita*

Folena-Wasserman, Gail*

Garvey, Michael*

Holt, William*

Kerr, Karen*

Prafullchandra, Hemma*

Sizer, Theodore*

Vasko, Dave*

Wilson, David*

Designated Federal Officer 

Stephanie Shaw 

NIST Leadership Board 

Boehm, Jason

Locascio, Laurie

Rochford, Kent

NIST Staff and Associates

Martinez, Serena

Miner, Laurel

Termin, Aaron

Others

Allegretti, Julie – Stoney 

 Brook University Center 

 for Biotechnology

Law, Colleen – SIE

 Consulting Group

Riojas, Amanda – Brewer 

 Science

*Participated Remotely
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Call to Order - Dr. Rita Colwell, VCAT Chair

Dr. Colwell called the virtual meeting to order at 2:02 p.m. Roll call was conducted and the meeting was turned 

over to Dr. Kent Rochford for a NIST update.

OVERVIEW AND SAFETY UPDATE

NIST Update – Dr. Kent Rochford, Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for 

Standards and Technology and Acting NIST Director

Dr. Rochford began his update by informing the VCAT that Wilbur Ross had been confirmed as the Secretary 

of Commerce as of the end of February. Secretary Ross is interested in NIST’s role and how measurement and 

standards help meet Department of Commerce (DOC) objectives. Secretary Ross is supportive of NIST’s

nonregulatory measurement focus and general voluntary role. Secretary Ross requested NIST’s success 

stories and descriptions of its impact to increase awareness within Congress.

Dr. Rochford briefed the VCAT on the release of the President’s “skinny” budget, which shows the top-line 

priorities for the administration., DOC has an overall 16% reduction. While full NIST budget details were not yet 

provided in the “skinny” budget it was released that the administration intends to end federal funding for the

Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). The full budget with more details will be released in midMay. 

Dr. Rochford updated the VCAT on a number of other items pertaining to NIST. The House Science 

Committee released its plan for FY18 on March 10, 2017 signed by Chair Lamar Smith. This plan calls for 

increased funding for NIST laboratories and construction, offset by reductions within MEP and Manufacturing 

USA. There has also been a Presidential Executive Order on re-organization requiring each agency to submit 

to the Director of Proposed Plan of Reorganization within 180 days, so the relevance of NIST programs will 

undergo increased scrutiny. Several months ago, NIST started its periodic program evaluation exercises to 

understand what is most important, what is working well, and what NIST can change to ensure our top-line 

priorities are healthy. 

Dr. Rochford also informed the VCAT that in a week or two there will be a coherent plan for the 30-day sprint

that was tasked to Dr. Rich Kayser, NIST’s Chief Safety Officer, to conduct to prioritize NIST’s security issues, 

concerns, and threats and what our countermeasures should be.

Last, Dr. Rochford asked the VCAT to be ready and willing to react quickly to assist and provide counsel to 

NIST as NIST gains a better understanding of the priorities and direction of the new administration.

Several VCAT members expressed their concerns about the possible elimination of the MEP program.

VCAT Focus for 2017 – Dr. Rita Colwell, VCAT Chair

Dr. Colwell, the VCAT Chair, led a discussion and asked for suggestions on what VCAT should focus on in the 

coming year. The VCAT members were supplied with some background on their responsibilities and items of 

committee focus. Two areas that continue to be in focus are cybersecurity and forensic science. The VCAT 

also emphasized the importance of NIST providing guidance on its core values. The VCAT expressed desire to 

proactively form working groups on areas such as advanced manufacturing, privacy, cybersecurity, and other 

areas of interest.

Dr. Colwell suggested the creation of smaller working groups to collect data to address the following topics: 

trade, innovation, and communications. 

In the topic area of trade, Dr. Colwell suggested Dr. Allen Adler to lead that working group with VCAT 

members, Mr. Dave Vasko and Dr. Waguih Ishak. The trade group could focus on how NIST would stay 
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positioned to strengthen trade priorities in the areas of measurement research, services, and data to remove 

barriers, regulations, and restrictions on trade, key opportunities for NIST’s engagement in standards efforts to 

continue to support US exports, and evaluate new capabilities that will be critical for the NIST Director to fulfill 

his/her authority to serve as the President’s principal advisor of standards policy. 

In the topic area of innovation and competitiveness through fundamental measurement research and 

development, Dr. Colwell, suggested Dr. Rodney Brooks to lead with VCAT members, Dr. Tod Sizer, Ms. 

Hemma Prafullchandra, and Dr. Gail Wasserman. This group could focus on NIST’s biggest impacts from 

investment in fundamental measurement science research that enables new technologies, new markets, and 

new industries. This group should examine how NIST can prioritize its measurement science research and 

development efforts to maximize current impact and ensure continued impact in the years to come, examine 

the most important measurement science capabilities for NIST to retain or build to meet the current needs of 

US industry and the Administration’s priorities, and the capabilities to retain or build to meet the future needs of 

US industry.

In the topic area of communications to be led by Dr. Colwell with Mr. Mike Garvey, Dr. David Wilson, and Mr. 

William Holt to focus on how to capture and describe the importance of the NIST mission to US industry and 

national priorities. This group could evaluate current and new efforts that capture the impacts of NIST and 

communicate the impact of NIST’s research, including new stories and performance metrics to the public, 

evaluate current and suggest new mechanisms for stakeholder outreach to increase awareness and 

engagement in NIST’s mission to increase its impact, and support NIST’s documentation of the positive 

benefits of research on the competitiveness of industry, including manufacturing. The VCAT and NIST 

leadership discussed these groups and agreed to utilize this work stream. 

Administrative Business

Dr. Colwell recommended a public conference call in a month to discuss the progress of the working groups.

There were no public comments offered.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 3:36 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. Rita Colwell, Chair, NIST Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology