Free PDF AccessFree Resources |
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page 5
1
The Charge to the Panel and the Assessment Process
At the request of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the National
Research Council (NRC) has, since 1959, annually assembled panels of experts from academia,
industry, medicine, and other scientific and engineering environments to assess the quality and
effectiveness of the NIST measurements and standards laboratories, of which there are now six,2
as well as the alignment of the laboratories' activities with their missions. NIST requested that
in 2012 the crosscutting area of manufacturing-related programs be assessed. In accord with the
multidisciplinary nature of manufacturing, which covers multiple sectors, the manufacturing-
related activities at NIST cut across multiple laboratories. Accordingly, the 2012 assessment
considers manufacturing activities across the entire NIST organization. Manufacturing-related
activities at NIST were assessed by a panel of experts appointed by the NRC. The findings of
the Panel on Review of Manufacturing-Related Programs at the National Institute of Standards
and Technology are summarized in this report.
The panel's statement of task is as follows:
An ad hoc panel will conduct a review of NIST laboratory activities related to
manufacturing measurements, standards, and technology and will prepare a report
that will provide information on scientific, technology and research activities of
relevance to NIST laboratories and user facilities in this area. The panel will
undertake the following tasks:
Assess coordination of NIST programs in the targeted discipline
Assess relevance of the R&D efforts of the chosen discipline to the current
set of national priorities as well as the needs of stakeholders
Assess the degree to which the measurement science, standards, and services
achieve their stated objectives and fulfill the mission
Assess the technical merits and scientific caliber of the chosen discipline
relative to comparable programs worldwide.
For this assessment, NIST requested that the panel look at manufacturing research at
NIST broadly, with special emphasis on the following specific advanced manufacturing topic
areas:
Nanomanufacturing (including Flexible Electronics),
Smart Manufacturing (including Robotics), and
Next-Generation Materials Measurements, Modeling, and Simulation.
NIST further requested that the panel focus on the following broad factors as part of its
assessment:
2
The six NIST laboratories are the Material Measurement Laboratory, the Physical Measurement
Laboratory, the Engineering Laboratory, the Information Technology Laboratory, the Center for Nanoscale Science
and Technology, and the NIST Center for Neutron Research.
5
OCR for page 6
1. Assess the technical merit and scientific caliber of NIST's manufacturing
programs relative to comparable programs worldwide. Furthermore, assess
NIST's ability to provide leadership in manufacturing technology areas. How
effective are current metrics for measuring value and success in manufacturing
programs?
Background: The panel is to assess whether NIST is targeting the appropriate
technological maturity level in its research programs. Are the laboratories
adequately anticipating technology trends and service delivery methods? Are
they effectively measuring their success? Are there different or additional
metrics that should be considered?
2. Assess the efficacy of NIST's engagement with outside stakeholders to:
Guide definition of the laboratory's priority areas that address key needs
within manufacturing
Steer development of NIST's programmatic plans within the priority areas to
address the high-priority needs of the manufacturing domain
Ensure that NIST's programs in measurement science, standards, and
services have the necessary impact in advancing the Nation's
competitiveness.
3. Assess coordination and cohesion across NIST of programs in the specific
Advanced Manufacturing topics (i.e., nanomanufacturing, smart manufacturing,
and next-generation materials measurements, modeling, and simulation).
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 standards needs, to enable new
scientific and technological advances, and to improve and refine existing measurement methods
and services.
In order to accomplish the assessment, the NRC assembled a panel of 14 volunteers who
have strong expertise in the areas of the work performed by the NIST staff in the manufacturing-
related programs reviewed. The panel members were also grouped into three review teams. The
expertise of the members of the respective review teams especially matched that of the work
performed in the areas of Nanomanufacturing, Smart Manufacturing, and Next-Generation
Materials Measurements, Modeling, and Simulation. As may be expected, the lines of
demarcation for programs of such wide scope are necessarily fuzzy. Consequently, although the
review of NIST's manufacturing-related programs and this report were organized around these
areas, the reader will find several instances of overlap and cross-reference. Also, in conducting
this assessment, the panel's view was that the national priorities in manufacturing are
synonymous with the priorities of the U.S. manufacturing industry.
The panel members met at the NIST facilities in Gaithersburg, Maryland, on March 26-
28, 2012. The agenda for the session with the full panel included the following:
Welcoming comments by the Director of NIST;
Overview presentations by the Chief Manufacturing Officer, the Director of
Innovation and Industry Services, and the Director of the Program Coordination
Office;
Overview presentations of NIST mission-specific work supporting and advancing
manufacturing by the Director of the Physical Measurement Laboratory, the Director
6
OCR for page 7
of the Information Technology Laboratory, and the Director of the NIST Center for
Neutron Research; and
Overview presentations and panel discussions on the advanced manufacturing topic
areas of Nanomanufacturing, Smart Manufacturing, and Next-Generation Materials
Measurements, Modeling, and Simulation.
Following this full-panel session, the panel divided into its three review teams, and each team
(led by a team leader chosen from within the panel) then reviewed activities in its respective
advanced manufacturing topic area. During these area reviews, the review team members
attended presentations, tours, and interactive sessions with NIST staff; they also conducted
interactive sessions with NIST managers.
Subsequently, the entire panel assembled for discussions with NIST management. It then
met in a closed session to deliberate on its findings and to define the contents of this assessment
report.
The approach of the panel to the assessment relied on the experience, technical
knowledge, and expertise of its members, whose backgrounds, as noted above, were carefully
matched to the technical areas of NIST's manufacturing-related activities. For its assessment,
the panel relied primarily on presentations made by NIST managers and staff and on the
informational materials prepared by NIST staff for use by the panel prior to and during the
deliberations.
The panel reviewed selected examples of the manufacturing-related technological
research covered by NIST; because of time constraints, it was not possible to review these
programs and projects exhaustively. The examples reviewed by the panel were selected by NIST
in consultation with the panel chair and NRC staff. The panel's goal was to identify and report
salient examples of accomplishments and opportunities for further improvement. These
examples are intended collectively to portray an overall impression of the manufacturing-related
programs at NIST while also preserving useful suggestions specific to projects and programs that
the panel examined. The panel applied a largely qualitative rather than a quantitative approach
to the assessment.
The comments in this report are not intended to address each particular program within
the NIST manufacturing-related areas exhaustively, but instead to identify key accomplishments
and issues. Given the necessarily non-exhaustive nature of the review process, the omission of
any particular program or project should not be interpreted as a negative reflection on the
omitted program or project.
The preceding Summary, which highlights issues that apply broadly to several or all of
the manufacturing areas or to the manufacturing-related programs as a whole, presents the
panel's key recommendations for NIST. Following this introductory chapter, the next three
chapters provide overall assessments of the three areas of advanced manufacturing: Chapter 2
presents a detailed overall assessment of the Nanomanufacturing activities, Chapter 3 addresses
the Smart Manufacturing activities, and Chapter 4 presents an overall assessment of the Next-
Generation Materials Measurements, Modeling, and Simulation activities. Chapters 2 though 4
also present recommendations relevant to their topic areas, including the key recommendations
presented in the Summary and others as appropriate. Chapter 5 discusses crosscutting themes
identified by the panel, and Chapter 6 offers the panel's overall conclusions.
7
