[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 15, Volume 1, Parts 0 to 299]
[Revised as of January 1, 2001]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 15CFR290.8]

[Page 436-437]
 
                  TITLE 15--COMMERCE AND FOREIGN TRADE
 
 CHAPTER II--NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY, DEPARTMENT 
                               OF COMMERCE
 
PART 290--REGIONAL CENTERS FOR THE TRANSFER OF MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 290.8  Reviews of centers.

    (a) Overview. Each Center will be reviewed at least annually, and at 
the end of its third year of operation according to the procedures and 
criteria set out below. There will be regular management interaction 
with NIST and the other Centers for the purpose of evaluation and 
program shaping. Centers are encouraged to try new approaches, must 
evaluate their effectiveness, and abandon or adjust those which do not 
have the desired impact.
    (b) Annual reviews of centers. Centers will be reviewed annually as 
part of the funding renewal process using the criteria set out in 
Sec. 290.8(d). The funding level at which a Center is renewed is 
contingent upon a positive program evaluation and will depend upon the 
availability of federal funds and on the Center's ability to obtain 
suitable match, as well as on the budgetary requirements of its proposed 
program. Centers must continue to demonstrate that they will be self-
supporting after six years.
    (c) Third year review of centers. Each host receiving a Center 
Operating Award under these procedures shall be evaluated during its 
third year of operation by a Merit Review Panel appointed by the 
Secretary of Commerce. Each such Merit Review Panel shall be composed of 
private experts, none of whom shall be connected with the involved 
Center, and Federal officials. An official of NIST shall chair the 
panel. Each Merit Review Panel shall measure the involved Center's 
performance against the criteria set out in Sec. 290.8(d). The Secretary 
shall not provide funding for the fourth through the sixth years of such 
Center's operation unless the evaluation is positive on all

[[Page 437]]

grounds. As a condition of receiving continuing funding, the Center must 
show evidence at the third year review that they are making substantial 
progress toward self-sufficiency. If the evaluation is positive and 
funds are available, the Secretary of Commerce may provide continued 
funding through the sixth year at declining levels, which are designed 
to insure that the Center no longer needs financial support from NIST by 
the seventh year. In no event shall funding for a Center be provided by 
the NIST Manufacturing Technology Centers Program after the sixth year 
of support.
    (d) Criteria for annual and third year reviews. Centers will be 
evaluated under the following criteria in each of the annual reviews, as 
well as the third year review:
    (1) The program objectives specified in Sec. 290.3(b) of these 
procedures;
    (2) Funds-matching performance;
    (3) The extent to which the target firms have successfully 
implemented recently developed or currently developed advanced 
manufacturing technology and techniques transferred by the Center;
    (4) The extent to which successes are properly documented and there 
has been further leveraging or use of a particular advanced 
manufacturing technology or process;
    (5) The degree to which there is successful operation of a network, 
or technology delivery mechanism, involving the sharing or dissemination 
of information related to manufacturing technologies among industry, 
universities, nonprofit economic development organizations and state 
governments.
    (6) The extent to which the Center can increasingly develop 
continuing resources--both technological and financial--such that the 
Centers are finally financially self-sufficient.