The postdoc program provides recent postdoctoral scientists and engineers of exceptional research ability and potential the opportunity to conduct research that is compatible with their own interests as well as the ongoing scientific interests of NIST. Postdocs contribute to the overall research efforts of NIST. Ten high level managers who now work at NIST were past postdocs. Three members of the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Sciences were past NIST postdocs. Four of the present 27 NIST Fellows are past postdocs. NIST scientists and engineers are well acquainted with scientific university programs and professors. This personal contact often provides the introduction of prospective postdoc applicants to the work and research opportunities at NIST.

NIST postdocs have a broadening research experience due to the opportunities to work in collaboration with scientists from many disciplines. They engage in cutting edge research, using state-of-the-art equipment. NIST advisors provide a focus for research and facilitate learning in other scientific areas.

Dr. Barbara C. Levin, a scientist in CSTL’s Biotechnology Division, became involved with the postdoc program in 1993/94, the year she served as president of the NIST Chapter of Sigma Xi, a national scientific honor society. She conceived and initiated the first annual postdoc poster presentation, which has become a very popular way for the postdocs and young guest researchers to network with the other postdocs and the NIST scientific staff, demonstrate their scientific capabilities and current research, and develop useful conference presentation skills. The poster presentation, which started with 24 participants eleven years ago has grown to 70 participants this year and has become quite a tradition at NIST. It is held on the Gaithersburg campus every February. A similar Postdoc poster presentation will be held for the first time in Boulder this summer.

In the past, Barbara Levin has served as the advisor and mentor for several postdocs, who are currently pursuing substantial scientific careers. She keeps in touch with all the people who have worked for her, and feels strongly that the professional relationship between the mentor and the postdoc should have a positive effect on the postdoc’s career development.

Specializing in atomic collisions, Dr. William Ott received his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. He selected the NIST postdoc program to broaden his knowledge in a neighboring field, plasma physics. In the late 1960’s, much interest and funding existed for remote sensing, as well as the emerging fields of space science and upper atmosphere research. During his two-year postdoc appointment, Bill worked on a project to measure the atomic properties of plasmas (ionized gases) and measure transition probabilities (the probability that an excited atom radiates in a certain channel). Because of his interactions with NIST experts in many other fields, e.g. synchrotron radiation physics, optical technology, atomic and molecular spectroscopy, chemical kinetics, and surface science, he learned much more that one might expect from a postdoc experience. These experiences had a significant impact on his later research and career.

At the end of his postdoc appointment Bill continued at NIST on a term appointment, and later converted to career conditional. By 1976 he won a silver medal for his work in radiation studies in the ultraviolet. In 1977 he earned a one year Humboldt Fellowship in Germany to continue his work on plasmas. Upon his return to NIST, his work focused on vacuum ultraviolet radiation standards. After an assignment to the Program Office, in 1983 Bill became Chief of the Radiation Physics Division, which later split into the Ionizing Radiation Division, and the Electron and Optical Physics Division, both now in the Physics Laboratory.

In 1990, Bill became the Deputy Director of the Physics Laboratory. Here his responsibilities include managing operations in support of the Laboratory’s research (space, equipment, financial resources, etc.) as well as promoting the work of the Physics Laboratory with customers inside and outside of NIST (networking, developing applications and connections with industry, other agencies, and universities).

Dr. Emil Simiu had ten years industrial work experience before studying at Princeton University for a Ph.D. in civil engineering. He always knew of his interest in research, but industry exposure provided good experience. Emil joined the 1971 NIST Postdoc Program as a researcher in the Building Research Division, under the guidance of his advisor and respected mentor, Dr. Richard D. Marshall. Dr. Marshall, an experimentalist specializing in full-scale measurements of wind speeds and pressures in destructive storms, thought that the development of a solid theoretical framework for estimating structural responses to wind was an indispensable complement to a good measurement program. Emil was free to work on requisite theoretical models allowing systematic measurement programs to be conducted, a task that was quite timely in the early 1970’s, when wind engineering was becoming a scientific discipline in its own right. Emil agreed with Dr. Marshall that his engineering research should include work across a number of disciplines, such as the micrometeorology of windstorms, bluff body aerodynamics and applications of the theory of non-Gaussian random processes to the estimation of wind effects on low-rise buildings, structural dynamics as applied to tall buildings under random excitation by turbulent winds, aeroelasticity as applied to suspension bridges whose deflections cause unfavorable changes in the wind loading), and the aero-hydro-elasticity of deepwater compliant offshore structures.

In the early 1970’s the workload was vast. Even today, many opportunities for study exist. For instance, it was recently determined that lack of detailed codification for tall building design can be the source of serious safety problems. NIST is in the process of developing clear, transparent procedures that serve as a basis for the development of a consensus on codification. Emil’s work during his years at NIST has involved consulting as well as research. He served as a consultant to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on the effects of tornados on the design of nuclear power plants; to the World Bank’s Urban Development Department on criteria for wind and earthquakes design of low cost housing. Research in wind engineering became the basis for a textbook he co-authored with Princeton professor R. H. Scanlan that is widely used in classrooms and engineering offices throughout the world, was issued in three editions, and was translated in Russian and Chinese. Emil also authored/co-authored a book on the chaotic dynamics of a class of stochastic systems (Princeton University Press, 2002), and of “A Modern Course in Aeroelasticity” (Kluwer, 2004). He became a NIST Fellow in 1988.

The NIST postdoc program gave Emil Simiu much freedom in the selection of research topics and priorities. The program facilitated his interaction with NIST mathematicians and statisticians who had a profound influence on his work. The program provided an optimal balance between applied and fundamental research, allowing him a great deal of research freedom.

Dr. Eric Amis studied for his Ph.D in chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He participated in the NIST postdoc program in 1981 and 1982, and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Wisconsin. Before rejoining NIST in 1995 to lead the Polymer Blends and Processing Program, Amis spent 11 years on the faculty in physical chemistry at the University of Southern California. He has been chief of the MSEL Polymers Division since 1999. In 2002 he was awarded the Silver Medal from the U.S. Department of Commerce for Leadership in advancing new technical programs in the Polymers Division.

A policy of the Polymers Division, which conducts fundamental polymers research, is to actively recruit NIST postdocs. Division staff members are well connected with the best academic programs with work in polymers, such as MIT, Stanford, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Massachusetts – Amherst, University of Southern Mississippi, Virginia Tech, University of Minnesota. Information about the NIST postdoc program is routinely disseminated at seminars and conferences, as well as in the polymers annual report, sent to academics and industry. In recent years the NIST postdoc program has had an even larger number of applicants. Paying attention to recruiting postdocs, the Polymers Division works with candidates to determine if they are qualified, and provide guidance with writing the proposals. The division homepage has a section about postdoc opportunities. Postdocs in the division host their own weekly seminar, which leads to networking, exchange of scientific information, collaborations with colleagues, camaraderie, and well developed presentation skills. Eric Amis’s postdoc years were a period of intense learning. Enjoying an “open door”, he spoke constantly with his advisor and NIST colleagues about new research areas. The early 1980s, before the French theorist P.G. de Gennes won the Nobel Prize, were an important time for polymer physics and NIST was right in the middle of the action. This was also the beginning of small angle neutron scattering at NIST, so this was also a great experience. The expertise of NIST scientists in many fields means that postdocs can benefit from a broad exposure to exciting science.
Drs. Rebecca and Christopher Zangmeister were finishing their Ph.Ds in the Chemistry Department of the University of Arizona. The NIST postdoc program offered opportunities for both scientists. The Zangmeisters talked to the advisors about the work being done at NIST and the research facilities/instrumentation available. Each Zangmeister found a mutually interesting topic with their advisors, who welcome the new skills and ideas of the postdocs. Rebecca and Christopher applied for the postdoc program, gearing the proposals toward work discussed with the advisors. Selected for the two-year appointment, the Zangmeisters joined the NIST postdoc class of 2002. Rebecca’s postdoc work, close to that of her proposal, is in the scientific area of microfluidics. She is currently researching DNA hybridization assays in microfluidic channels. Chris joined a team working on an interdisciplinary molecular electronics competence project then at the end of its first of five year funding. Working with other researchers and laboratories, Chris was one of the first researchers focused full time on the project and made important contributions to the project. Both the Zangmeisters became permanent CSTL employees at the end of their two-year postdoc appointments, continuing work related to their postdoc years.
A current postdoc, Dr. Luis Melara studied for his Ph.D in computational and applied mathematics at Rice University. His area of interest was numerical solutions to partial differential equations, which are important equations studied to understand physical phenomena. Luis focused on the finite element method for solving these equations, and liked his studies. When applying for the postdoc program, Luis discussed his proposal with his current advisor, who has a broad research background, and who decided that Luis's proposal was within the scope of his technical area.
Continuing work started as part of his thesis, as a NIST postdoc Luis is working in an area of optimization (methods of finding minimum or maximum solutions to problems) that utilizes computational tools for solving problems. He studies the shape of memory alloys. These materials can stay deformed for an indefinite period of time and upon heating, return to their original shape. To understand this behavior, scientists study the crystals observed in the alloys at the microscopic level. The mathematical model of the energy, proposed by mathematicians, is represented by partial differential equations. Energy is a quantity that can be measured and can help to understand the behavior of materials. Luis’ work consists of solving for the minimum of the energy functional. Luis uses finite element methods to approximate the energy and computational optimization methods to solve for the minimizer. His work in computational mathematics will have applications in materials science. Luis is a co-author of a research paper to be published in the NIST Journal of Research. Luis's second project resulted in a paper submitted for publishing. Luis's third project has applications in molecular biology.
As a NIST postdoc, Luis frequently meets with his advisor, and visitors from inside and outside NIST. Networking with other scientists is an integral part of his postdoc experience.Luis likes the postdoc program, especially other postdocs and the staff, and appreciates the professionally broadening exposure to applied mathematics and materials science. His advisor is also his mentor who shares much technical and professional information. When his postdoc appointment ends, Luis hopes to become a professor.
Dr. Christina Hacker, a current postdoc in EEEL, earned her Ph.D. in analytical chemistry at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, with an emphasis in surface science – attaching molecules to silicon. During the application process, Christina visited NIST to learn about a joint five year CSTL/EEEL molecular electronics competence project, then in its second year. The competence project provided an excellent matching of her academic background and NIST research interests. Christina’s Ph.D. work was narrow and specific. As a NIST postdoc the exposure to other disciplines has broadened her professional focus, which has become an expanded version of her academic work. Much of her current work is to bond organic molecules to different surfaces of metals and semi-conductor materials. She characterizes the physical and chemical properties of the molecules, providing data such as density, monolayer thickness, how the molecules are bonded, and the orientation of molecules within the monolayer. The ultimate goal is to make molecular electronic test structures. Christina knows this is cutting edge research. Miniaturization of electronic components is reaching fundamental limits based on the physics of the bulk materials used. Next generation electronics must overcome the limitations of “Moore’s Law”, which states a trend of the last 50 years, that the number of electronic components is doubled every 18 months. A limit to this trend exists. As components shrink, operating performance begins to deviate due to size constraints, and manufacturing become increasingly difficult or impossible. As such, approaches for next generation electronic components based on entirely new paradigms have been proposed, including molecular electronics and quantum dots. Work in these areas is being done in parallel, along with other efforts at NIST, although not in Christina’s group.

While finishing his Ph.D in mechanical engineering at Penn State University, Dr. Jason Gorman, a current postdoc, thought a research lab postdoc position seemed the best option to get experience in a new area. His academic background is in robotics and control systems, which he applied to the development of large cable-based robots designed to move cargo containers onboard ships at sea. His thesis research is currently being implemented on prototype naval systems. While looking for career opportunities, a professor suggested the NIST postdoctoral program. At that time, Jason was interested in applying his existing background to new problems in microelectromechanical systems and nanotechnology. After exploring the NIST website and other information, he found that the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory was actively pursuing these areas. Interested in seeing new problems and solutions, he feels that the cutting edge of robotics and automation is on the micro and nano scales.

As a postdoc working within MEL’s Integrated Nano-to-Millimeter Manufacturing Program (IN2M), Jason’s focus has changed to micro and nano robotics with an objective to develop a functioning microassembly robotic work cell. This robot will be used to assemble small components, on the order of 100 to 500 micrometers. The components must be picked up, positioned accurately and then connected to build up three dimensional structures. Existing equipment for microassembly have features which can limit the precision of the system such as thermal expansion, friction, piezoelectric hysteresis, etc. Using his expertise in control systems, Jason has developed several algorithms, which are used to overcome these limitations. These algorithms (mathematical equations) generate commands for the robot such that it is robust to modeling and metrology uncertainties, resulting in a positioning accuracy suitable for microassembly operations. Another problem being addressed is the reconfigurability of the robot, so that it can be used for multiple microassembly applications with minimal changes in hardware and software. Results of this research are likely to have industrial uses in the areas of microelectromechanical systems and opto-electronics. Jason is pleased with the postdoc program’s flexibility. He has been given room to develop new project ideas and changes in direction. He admires NIST’s work to advance the state-of- the-art in manufacturing.

For a long time the NIST postdoc program justifiably has been considered a crown jewel, one of the great success stories at NIST.
(Written by Emily Curry)

Date created: May 13, 2004
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