ASME Applauds Confirmation of Dr. Laurie Locascio to Lead NIST

The Senate voted last week to confirm Laurie Locascio, PhD, as Under Secretary for Standards and Technology at the Department of Commerce and Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Locascio brings with her a 30 year tenure at NIST, where she has served as chief of NIST’s Biomedical Science Division and head of the Microfluidics Method Group. More recently, she served as the Vice President of Research at the University of Maryland, where she fostered strategic relationships among important private and public partners. Locascio has extensive background in biomedical engineering research and holds degrees in bioengineering, chemistry, and toxicology. She will be the first NIST director to serve with rich expertise in biology, and she will be the agency’s third female director.

ASME Executive Director and CEO Tom Costabile applauded news of the confirmation, stating “ASME welcomes the confirmation of Dr. Locascio. She is very familiar with the university engineering community and is extremely well qualified to lead America’s premier technology agency. We look forward to working with her on bioengineering, R&D, advanced manufacturing, international standards, and more.”
 
This announcement comes weeks after the Biden administration released its FY 2023 budget request to Congress. The budget request proposes a record $1.4 billion in total funding for NIST, including critical funding for Administration efforts to promote supply chain resiliency. Through this request, NIST would receive $975 million for Scientific and Technical Research and Services, $372.3 million for Industrial Technology Services, and $120.3 million for Construction of Research Facilities. The request includes $372 million for manufacturing competitiveness programs, an increase of $206 million from FY 2021. This funding would invest in five Manufacturing Innovation Institutes in 2023 under the Manufacturing USA network, which collaborates with leaders in industry, academia, and government to boost manufacturing innovation and commercialization. Another $11 million will go to the International Trade Association (ITA) to build analytical capacity and promote supply chain resilience in manufacturing and service industries, and $5 million will go to the Bureau of Economic Analysis for new data-measuring tool development to measure U.S. supply chain global competitiveness.
 
For additional information on the NIST FY 2023 budget request, visit: https://www.commerce.gov/sites/default/files/2022-03/FY2023-NIST-NTIS-Congressional-Budget-Submission.pdf