[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 214 (Friday, November 6, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57452-57453]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-26835]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Technology Innovation Program (TIP) Seeks Comments on White
Papers
AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST),
Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST)
Technology Innovation Program (TIP) announces that it is seeking
comments on white papers prepared by TIP staff from any interested
party, including academia; Federal, state, and local governments;
industry; national laboratories; and professional organizations/
societies. The white papers are posted on TIP's Web site (URL).
Comments will assist in the further refinement of areas of critical
national need and the associated technical challenges that could be
addressed in future TIP competitions.
DATES: The suggested dates for submission of comments on white papers
are: November 9, 2009 through September 30, 2010.
ADDRESSES: Comments on white papers must be submitted to TIP using the
comment button found on the first and last page of each white paper.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas Wiggins at 301-975-5416 or by
e-mail at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background Information: The Technology Innovation Program (TIP) at
the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) was
established for the purpose of assisting U.S. businesses and
institutions of higher education or other organizations, such as
national laboratories and nonprofit research institutions, to support,
promote, and accelerate innovation in the United States through high-
risk, high-reward research in areas of critical national need. The TIP
statutory authority is Section 3012 of the America Creating
Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology,
Education, and Science (COMPETES) Act, Public Law 110-69 (August 9,
2007), 15 U.S.C. 278n. The TIP implementing regulations are published
at 15 CFR part 296. TIP holds competitions for funding based on
addressing areas of critical national need. TIP identifies and selects
topics for areas of critical national need based on input from within
NIST, the TIP Advisory Board, the science and technology communities,
and from the public. TIP is interested in receiving input on the
identification and definition of problems that are sufficiently large
in magnitude that they have the potential to inhibit the growth and
well-being of our nation today.
This announcement explains the process for submitting comments on
TIP white papers. Comments on white papers from experts in other
Federal agencies are valued and welcome, and will enable TIP to
complement the efforts of other mission agencies and avoid duplication
of their efforts, thereby leveraging resources to benefit the nation.
The key concepts, enumerated below, are the foundation of TIP and
should assist all commenters in providing input that will help TIP
develop and refine an effective white paper:
a. An area of critical national need means an area that justifies
government attention because the magnitude of the problem is large and
the associated societal challenges that need to be overcome are not
being addressed, but could be addressed through high-risk, high-reward
research.
b. A societal challenge is a problem or issue confronted by society
that when not addressed could negatively affect the overall function
and quality of life of the nation, and as such, justifies government
attention. A societal challenge is associated with barriers preventing
the successful development of solutions to the area of critical
national need. TIP's purpose is to provide funding that will enable
U.S. businesses and institutions of higher education or other
organizations, such as national laboratories and nonprofit research
institutions, to tackle technical issues that can be addressed through
high-risk, high-reward research. The results of the high-risk, high-
reward research should have the potential for transformational results.
c. A transformational result is a potential project outcome that
enables disruptive changes over and above current methods and
strategies. Transformational results have the potential to radically
improve our understanding of systems and technologies, challenging the
status quo of research approaches and applications.
For an understanding of how these white papers were developed, and
for detailed instructions on how to prepare and submit your own white
papers to TIP, refer to A Guide for Preparing and Submitting White
Papers on Areas of Critical National Need. The Guide is available on
the TIP Web site at http://www.nist.gov/tip/guide_for_white_papers.pdf.
In this call for comments on white papers, TIP is seeking
information to further develop and refine the areas of critical
national need as defined in the 2009 competition on Civil
Infrastructure, and the 2009 competition on Manufacturing, as well as
information to assist TIP in further defining other topic areas under
development. TIP may use comments received to further develop the
definition and scope of the critical national needs suggested by these
topic areas, and to additionally identify and explain specific societal
challenges that require a technical solution within these critical
national need areas. Do not include ideas for specific proposals in
your comments on the white paper (i.e., do not discuss your specific
solution to the problem). This solicitation for comments on white
papers is neither a Request for Proposals (RFP) nor should it be viewed
as a request for pre-proposals. Rather, it is a way to include ideas
from the public to identify problems that justify government support
and can be addressed by technological innovations that are not
currently being sufficiently supported to meet the challenge.
Comments on white papers must not contain proprietary information.
Submission of comments on a white paper means that the author(s) agrees
that all the information in the comments on the white paper can be made
available to the public. Information contained in these comments on
white papers will be considered and combined with information from
other resources--including the vision of the Administration, NIST,
other government agencies, technical communities, the TIP Advisory
Board, and other stakeholders--to develop the scope of future
competitions and to shape TIP's collaborative outreach. Comments on
white papers are a valuable resource that adds to TIP's understanding
of the significance and scope of critical national needs and associated
societal challenges. The comments on the white papers submitted could
be shared with the Administration, NIST, other government agencies,
technical communities, the TIP Advisory Board, other stakeholders and
the public as
[[Page 57453]]
part of the selection process for future competitions.
This current call for comments on white papers pertains to the four
areas of critical national need shown below. However, TIP intends to
post additional white papers for comments over the coming months.
Civil Infrastructure: Civil infrastructure constitutes the basic
fabric of the world in which we live and work. It is the combination of
fundamental systems that support a community, region, or country. The
civil infrastructure includes systems for transportation (airport
facilities, roads, bridges, rail, waterway locks) and systems for water
distribution and flood control (water distribution systems, storm and
waste water collection, dams, and levees). New construction approaches
and materials to improve the infrastructure and for mitigating the
expense of repairing or replacing existing infrastructure appear to be
areas with the potential for specific societal challenges within this
area of critical national need.
The 2009 Civil Infrastructure competition, based on the white paper
Advanced Sensing Technologies and Advanced Repair Materials for
Infrastructure: Water Systems, Dams, Levees, Bridges, Roads, and
Highways, dated March 2009, emphasizes technologies to detect
corrosion, cracking, delamination and other structural damage in water
resources systems such as water and wastewater pipelines, dams, levees
and waterway locks, as well as bridges and roadways. The white paper
for the 2009 Civil Infrastructure competition can be found at http://www.nist.gov/tip/wp_cmts/index.html.
Manufacturing: R&D projects in manufacturing could enable better,
more cost-effective use of advanced materials in innovative products.
New and improved materials underlie many new product innovations. High-
strength alloys, aluminum and magnesium are used to build stronger,
lighter and safer vehicles; superalloys are used to make higher
efficiency gas turbines; composites make larger, more efficient wind
turbine blades and higher performance aircraft; and nanomaterials are
finding their way into better performing batteries, energy storage
devices, high voltage transmission lines and healthcare applications.
The 2009 Manufacturing competition, based on the white paper
Accelerating the Incorporation of Materials Advances into Manufacturing
Processes, dated March 2009, addresses improved technologies to produce
these new materials and to rapidly integrate them into products while
maintaining the material's unique properties. The white paper for the
2009 Manufacturing competition can be found at http://www.nist.gov/tip/wp_cmts/index.html.
Energy (proposed topic area): The proposed topic area within the
critical national need area of energy is based on the draft white paper
Technologies to Enable a Smart Grid, which outlines the technologies
that will be required to enable a reliable smart grid approach to
electric power distribution, demand, and response control, grid
connectivity, and the integration of renewable energy sources into the
grid. The proposed topic aims to address research in energy storage
systems and the integration of stored energy into the grid system,
advanced sensors and their energy sources to be deployed along the
grid, and communication and control technologies (high voltage power
electronics). The draft white paper for the proposed topic of Energy
can be found at http://www.nist.gov/tip/wp_cmts/index.html.
Healthcare (proposed topic area): The proposed topic area with the
critical national need of Healthcare is based on the draft white paper
Advanced Technologies for Proteomics, Data Integration and Analysis and
Biomanufacturing for Personalized Medicine, which outlines the platform
technologies that will be needed to enable a personalized approach to
safer and more cost-effective healthcare. The proposed topic
specifically aims to address research needs for: Non-invasively
analyzing proteins in real time in live tissues, animal models and
humans; linking genomic, proteomic and other disparate datasets with
patient-specific data to understand disease susceptibility and response
to treatment; and cost-effective high-throughput biopharmaceutical
manufacturing. The draft white paper for the proposed topic of
Healthcare can be found at http://www.nist.gov/tip/wp_cmts/index.html.
Dated: November 3, 2009.
Patrick Gallagher,
Deputy Director.
[FR Doc. E9-26835 Filed 11-5-09; 8:45 am]
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