An Assessment of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Measurement and Standards Laboratories Fiscal Year 2002 (2002) / Chapter Skim
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4 Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory
4 Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory
Pages 85-126
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4 Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory 85
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1U.S. Department of Commerce, Technology Administration, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory: Annual Report FY2001, NISTIR 6856, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Md., February 2002.
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The Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory is organized in five divisions: Biotechnology Division, Process Measurements Division, Surface and Microanalysis Science Division, Physical and Chemical Properties Division, and Analytical Chemistry Division (see Figure 4.1~. These units are reviewed in turn under "Divisional Reviews" below in this chapter.
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Analytical Chemistry Division · Spectrochemical Methods · Organic Analytical Methods · Gas Metrology and Classical Methods · Molecular Spectrometry and Microfluidic Methods · Nuclear Methods FIGURE 4.1 Organizational structure of the Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory. Listed under each division are the division's groups.
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Laboratory Resources Funding sources for the Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory are shown in Table 4.1. As of January 2002, staffing for the laboratory included 270 full-time permanent positions, of which 232 were for technical professionals.
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For example, the panel has pointed out the lack of critical mass in program areas such as atmospheric chemistry. While recognizing that it is difficult to make decisions to redirect resources, some situations have been allowed to linger despite repeated comments from the panel.
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The Biotechnology Division has four groups: DNA Technologies, Bioprocess Engineering, Biomolecular Materials, and Structural Biology. The division is also evolving a Bioinformatics Group from the Structural Biology Group.
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quantitative PCR reference materials, (5) chorismate pathway enzymology, (6)
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Program Relevance and Effectiveness The Biotechnology Division has selected a wide range of exciting emerging research areas that will be critical to the nation's future industrial competitiveness and safety. The division is well positioned to support efforts in genomics, proteomics and structural biology, tissue engineering, standards for genetically modified crops, and characterization and manipulation of single molecules such as DNA.
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The Bioprocess Engineering Group has made significant contributions in each of its eight areas but is spread too thin for a group of 12. The panel recommends its reducing the number of project areas and aligning better with the NIST Strategic Focus Areas of health care, nanotechnology, and knowledge management.
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Increasing the amount of outside funding to around 20 percent could allow the division to increase the number of researchers on each project and would demonstrate external buy-in to projects. The group' s biotech grain testing and quantitative PCR reference materials projects are areas of growing importance in the food and agriculture industries; such testing and standards are important for regulatory compliance, human health and safety, global trade, and identity preservation of crops.
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As of January 2002, staffing for the division included 37 full-time permanent positions, of which 32 were for technical professionals There were also 24 nonpermanent or supplemental personnel, such as postdoctoral research associates and temporary or part-time workers. The availability of adequate human resources remains the critical resource issue for the division.
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The panel also noted a need for increased computer support and additional disk storage space for the Bioinformatics Group. Process Measurements Division Technical Merit The Process Measurements Division's mission is to pursue basic research efforts in measurement science; enhance the state of the art in measurement standards and services; provide recommended measurement techniques; standardize recommended practices in sensing technology, instrumentation, and mathematical models required for analysis, control, and optimization of industrial processes; and provide a central, national source for calibration of measurement equipment.
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The Competence project on Johnson Noise Thermometry, a further effort to develop new, practical temperature standards, has progressed beyond experimental design to the first prototype stage. The division has collaborated with an ultradry gas manufacturer to demonstrate excellent agreement between atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectrometry and the division's cavity ring-down
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The division should maintain plasma measurements of the neutral species, using mass spectrometry as a complementary measurement tool for plasma processes. The division has achieved a detection level in the <1 ppm range using chemical microsensors utilizing MEMs microhotplate technology.
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Division Resources Funding sources for the Process Measurements Division are shown in Table 4.3. As of January 2002, staffing for the division included 59 full-time permanent positions, of which 54 were for technical professionals.
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The Surface and Microanalysis Science Division is organized in four technical groups: Atmospheric Chemistry, Microanalysis Research, Surface and Interface Research, and Analytical Microscopy. In addition to the personnel in these groups, the division staff includes two active and one emeritus NIST fellows.
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In 2002, the division will be deeply involved in CSTL's newly defined programs in Biomaterials, Environmental Technology and Systems, Industrial and Analytical Instruments and Services, Microelectronics, and Emerging Technologies. The technical programs in the Surface and Microanalysis Science Division are of very high quality.
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The Microanalysis Research Group performs research at and beyond the state of the art in techniques for electron and x-ray beam microanalysis applied to understanding the chemical, morphological, and crystallographic properties of materials. The group' s goal is to improve the analytical resolution, sensitivity, accuracy, and precision of measurements made with scanning electron microscopy, electron microprobe analysis, analytical electron microscopy, scanning Auger electron spectroscopy, xray fluorescence, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.
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In addition, the group released one new standard reference material SRM 2784, Urban Dust and four reference materials. However, in the broader mission beyond asbestos measurements, personnel limits prevent the group from moving to research with higher payoffs to address the critical need for reference materials representing mixtures of known and quantified particulate emission sources.
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In collaboration with the Process Measurements and Analytical Chemistry Divisions, the Analytical Microscopy Group released a new series of standards for Raman spectroscopy. This technique, widely
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He has been the driving force behind the implementation of microcalorimeter x-ray detectors on SEMs for small particle analysis; this work is helping to meet an essential need of the semiconductor and other industries dependent upon understanding the composition of extremely small features. Program Relevance and Effectiveness The Surface and Microanalysis Science Division uses a variety of methods to ensure the relevance and effectiveness of its programs.
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The Atmospheric Chemistry Group continues to make progress in this regard through collaboration with EPA on the development and application of measurement techniques and calibrations. The panel recognizes the Atmospheric Chemistry Group's effort over the past year to identify an environmentally relevant research agenda within its reach and to build to critical mass.
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As of January 2002, staffing for the division included 38 full-time permanent positions, of which 35 were for technical professionals. There were also 8 nonpermanent or supplemental personnel, such as postdoctoral research associates and temporary or part-time workers.
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This is not a new concern; it has been raised in the last two reviews. In light of the complementary analytical strength of the other groups within the Surface and Microanalysis Science Division, the panel sees an opportunity for the division to achieve its environmental objectives by blending the people and key research objectives of the Atmospheric Chemistry Group into the other three groups within the division.
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be explored to bring in equipment and people in a timely manner. Physical and Chemical Properties Division Technical Merit According to division documentation, the mission of the Physical and Chemical Properties Division is to serve as the nation's reference laboratory for measurements, standards, data, and models in the areas of thermophysics, thermochemistry, and chemical kinetics.
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The Chemical Reference Data and Modeling Group, which compiles, evaluates, correlates, and disseminates Standard Reference Data, has had another productive year. It released the seventh edition of the NIST Chemistry WebBook (http://webbook.nist.gov)
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This makes implementation of the international Chemical Weapons Treaty easier and more effective technically. The panel also applauds the initiation of cross-divisional efforts with the Analytical Chemistry Division to devise mass spectral methods for the detection of biological weapons, providing support for the NIST homeland security strategic focus area.
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Program Relevance and Effectiveness The panel is pleased by the Physical and Chemical Properties Division's efforts to ensure that its programs are relevant to the needs of its customers. The division employs a variety of mechanisms to gather input on current and planned divisional activities, particularly encouraging suggestions and requests from external organizations.
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Division Resources Funding sources for the Physical and Chemical Properties Division are shown in Table 4.5. As of January 2002, staffing for the division included 55 full-time permanent positions, of which 46 were for
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technical professionals. There were also 19 nonpermanent or supplemental personnel, such as postdoctoral research associates and temporary or part-time workers.
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These core competencies reside in five groups: Spectrochemical Methods, Organic Analytical Methods, Gas Metrology and Classical Methods, Molecular Spectrometry and Microfluidic Methods, and Nuclear Methods. During FY 2001, division staff members won several awards, most notably, two LabAutomation
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The Spectrochemical Methods Group conducts research involving the development, critical evaluation, and application of methods for the identification and measurement of inorganic chemical species using optical, mass, and x-ray spectrometries. The instrumentation capabilities of this group include inductively coupled plasma (ICP)
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In such situations, the degree of representation that the specimen has for the bulk of the sample comes into question. This is also true for Standard Reference Materials where elemental certification is based on the use of 100- to 500-mg quantities.
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Research in the Organic Analytical Methods Group is directed toward the development, critical evaluation, and application of methods for the identification and measurement of organic and organometallic species using mass spectrometry and analytical separation techniques. These separation techniques include gas chromatography (GC)
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Program Relevance and Effectiveness The Analytical Chemistry Division provides traceability of chemical measurements used in programs of national and international importance through Standard Reference Materials, NIST-Traceable Reference Materials (NTRMs) , Measurement Quality Assurance Programs in critical areas, and comparisons of NIST chemical measurement capabilities and standards with those of other national measurement institutes.
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, the American Association for Clinical Chemistry, the American Society for Testing and Materials, the Certified Reference Materials Manufacturers Association, the National Food Processors Association, the National Council on Clinical Chemistry, and the National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Council. The Molecular Spectrometry and Microfluidic Methods Group has several programs and projects directed at providing standards for spectroscopy.
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. To this end, an interlaboratory comparison exercise of candidate troponin I reference materials was carried out in collaboration with the Troponin Subcommittee of the American Association of Clinical Chemists.
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and global economy improves. These complex commercial reference standards require an increase in effort from the Analytical Chemistry Division that can come about only by forming partnerships, as the Gas Metrology and Classical Methods Group has done with the NTRMs, or by selective postdoctoral hiring, or encouraging long-term guest researchers (from other agencies or from industry)
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professionals. There were also 25 nonpermanent or supplemental personnel, such as postdoctoral research associates and temporary or part-time workers.
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To continue to provide the state-of-the-art SRMs and metrology techniques required by U.S. industry, division staff must have access to modern analytical instrumentation comparable to that used by the laboratories of their industrial contemporaries.
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