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Material Measurement Laboratory

Technical Excellence MML Accolades 2026

Use the quick links below to navigate to each category of 2026 Technical Excellence Accolades. There, you'll find a description of the accolade and the list of awardees and their contributions.

MML Collaboration and Teamwork

To recognize and foster teamwork across divisions and across OUs and beyond, honoring those, as a leader or as a team, who have used collaboration for successful project development and problem solving.

A collage of several headshots of professional NIST staff
Top row: (left to right) Polette Centellas, Sebastian Engmann, Katherine Evans, Amanda Forster, Andrew Gayle, Gale Holmes, Andrew Korovich, and Anthony Kotula.
Bottom row: (left to right)  Alexander Landauer, Young Lee, Yong Li, Chris Michaels, Ryan Nieuwendaal, Jan Obrzut, Christopher Soles, and Ran Tao.

Polette Centellas, Sebastian Engmann, Katherine Evans, Amanda Forster, Andrew Gayle, Gale Holmes, Andrew Korovich, Anthony Kotula, Alexander Landauer, Young Lee, Yong Li, Chris Michaels, Ryan Nieuwendaal, Jan Obrzut, Christopher Soles, Ran Tao

For outstanding collaborative resilience and inter-divisional synergy in developing an integrated metrology framework to solve semiconductor packaging warpage challenges.

 

 

Collage of several headshots of professional NIST staff, with two missing from the group and in their place are event icons.
Top row: (left to right) Sandra Da Silva, Joy Dunkers, Tara Eskandari, Angela Furlow, Alex Gooden, Holly Hack, Zhiyong He, Ian Hines, Monique Hunter, and Scott Jackson.
Bottom row: (left to right) Jason Kralj, Damian Lancelotta (not pictured), Nancy Lin, Alshae Logan, Danielle Lynam, Carly Muletz Wolz, William (Brad) O'Dell, Kirsten Parratt, and Michelle Wims (not pictured).

Sandra Da Silva, Joy Dunkers, Tara Eskandari, Angela Furlow, Alex Gooden, Holly Hack, Zhiyong He, Ian Hines, Monique Hunter, Scott Jackson, Jason Kralj, Damian Lancelotta, Nancy Lin, Alshae Logan, Danielle Lynam, Carly Muletz Wolz, William (Brad) O'Dell, Kirsten Parratt, Michelle Wims

For coordination of the Rapid Microbial Testing Methods Consortium interlaboratory study sample generation, characterization, preparation, and delivery.
 

 

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MML Measurement Science Excellence

To recognize MML employees and associates who conduct research that solves critical stakeholder problems and inspires innovations in measurement science.

Fernanda Piorino, a woman with long dark brown hair, smiling for a professional headshot against a marbled gray studio background.
Fernanda Piorino

Fernanda Piorino (Macruz de Oliveira)

For exceptional technical work in developing quantitative characterization assays for benchmarking transcription and translation performance of cell-free expression systems.
 

 

 

 

 

Collage of headshots of NIST professionals. Two women and three men.
From left to right: Malgorzata (Gosia) Musial, Demian Riccardi, Kathleen Schwarz, Christopher Suiter, and Jason Widegren. 

Malgorzata (Gosia) Musial
Demian Riccardi
Kathleen Schwarz
Christopher Suiter
Jason Widegren

For advancing multiscale models and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy temperature-referencing accuracy to predict solvation and ion pairing phenomena.

 

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MML Measurement Services Excellence

To recognize superior work in the development of measurement services in the areas of Reference Materials (RMs)/Standard Reference Materials (SRMs), Standard Reference Instruments (SRIs), documentary standards, quality assurance programs, and interlaboratory studies.

Collage of many headshots of professional NIST staff. One is not pictured and in its place is an event icon.
Top row: (left to right) Amanda Bayless, Fabio Casu, Abraham Kuri Cruz (not pictured), Sandra Da Silva, W. Clay Davis, Debra Ellisor, Samuel Forry, and Kristine (Krissie) Gierz.
Bottom row: (left to right) Monique Hunter, Hariharan (Hari) Iyer, Scott Jackson, Nancy Lin, Kirsten Parratt, Tracey Schock, Stephanie Servetas, and Aaron Urbas.

Amanda Bayless, Fabio Casu, Abraham Kuri Cruz, Sandra Da Silva, W. Clay Davis, Debra Ellisor, Samuel Forry, Kristine (Krissie) Gierz, Monique Hunter, Hariharan (Hari) Iyer, Scott Jackson, Nancy Lin, Kirsten Parratt, Tracey Schock, Stephanie Servetas, Aaron Urbas

For production and characterization of RM 8048, Human Fecal Material from Omnivore and Vegetarian Donors.

 

 

Collage of professional headshots of NIST staff. Two women and four men.
From left to right: Ashley Beasley Green, David Bunk, Eric Kilpatrick, Lisa Kilpatrick, Mark Lowenthal, and James Yen. 

Ashley Beasley Green
David Bunk
Eric Kilpatrick
Lisa Kilpatrick
Mark Lowenthal
James Yen

For development of SRM 927g, an improved total protein reference material.

 

 

Collage of headshots of professional staff. Two are not pictured and in their place are event icons.
From left to right: Lorin Bachmann (not pictured), Ashley Beasley Green, Johanna Camara, N. Alan Heckert, W. Greg Miller, and Elena Wood (not pictured).

Lorin Bachmann
Ashley Beasley Green
Johanna Camara
N. Alan Heckert
W. Greg Miller
Elena Wood

For promoting the implementation of SRM 3666 Albumin and Creatinine in Human Urine by IVD manufacturers through a commutability assessment.

 

 

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MML Data Management and Capabilities

To recognize those who build the infrastructure for the next generation of data science tools and data sets in order to facilitate scientific innovation.

Collage of three headshots. Two men and one woman.
From left to right: Samuel Forry, Tyler Laird, and Stephanie Servetas.

Samuel Forry
Tyler Laird
Stephanie Servetas

For timely production of a NIST test dataset for demonstrating screening of Sequences of Concern by synthetic nucleic acid producers.

 

 

 

Collage of two headshots of two men.
Andrei Kazakov (left) and Eugene Paulechka (right).

Andrei Kazakov and Eugene Paulechka

For developing high-accuracy computational protocols that modernize and validate NIST thermochemical databases for organic compounds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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MML Postdoctoral Fellow

To recognize the superior work of postdoctoral fellows that work with MML staff on scientific projects.

Headshot of Katarina Goodge, an individual with long brown hair with green and red tips, wearing glasses.
Katarina Goodge

Katarina Goodge

For contributions and leadership in developing a machine-actionable NIR spectra dataset of verified fabrics to advance textile fiber identification.

 

 

 

 

 

Headshot of Michael Haines, a man with short hair, mustache, beard, and glasses, wearing a collared plaid shirt, posing for a photo in front of a tree.
Michael Haines
Credit: Fan Zhang

Michael Haines

For significantly advancing understanding of massive phase transformations during additive manufacturing of steel and their implications for materials qualification.

 

 

 

 

Samuel Hales, a young man with short blonde hair and glasses, wearing a suit and tie, standing in front of a brick wall.
Samuel Hales

Samuel Hales

For exemplary work developing a benchmark material and transferable measurement protocols for rheological testing of dense ceramic suspensions.

 

 

 

 

 

Headshot of Rion Wendland, a young man with red hair, smiling, and wearing a collared blue shirt.
Rion Wendland

Rion Wendland

For pioneering microscale metrology to accelerate photopolymer bioprinting.

 

 

 

 

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MML Early Career

To recognize the superior work of MML associates and staff in the early portion of their career at NIST.

A woman with long dirty blonde hair, wearing a green blouse and safety glasses works in a lab with a large black hose.
Katya Beltran


Katya Beltran

For outstanding contribution to the development of RGTMs under the Characterized Authentic Drug Samples Project.

 

 

 

 

 

Professional headshot of Zachary Norris Buck, a young man with messy hair, smiling, wearing a collared shirt and suit jacket.
Zachary Norris Buck

Zachary Norris Buck

For pioneering measurements of a novel phase transformation, and providing critical data to national standards for safe hydrogen pipeline transportation.

 

 

 

 

 

Headshot of Ian Hines, a man with short hair, mustache, and beard, wearing a suit and tie, smiling for a photo outdoors.

Ian Hines

For exceptional leadership and the advancement of NIST microbial metrology. 

 

 

 

 

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MML Student Intern

To recognize the superior work of the many interns that work alongside MML staff on either scientific or administrative projects.

Professional headshot of Ryan Giang, a young man with short black hair, smiling, wearing a white collared shirt, navy blue jacket and watch.
Ryan Giang

Ryan Giang

For exceptional dedication and contributions to CHIPS packaging materials research through a first-authored research paper and standout SURF plenary presentation. 

 

 

 

 

 

Headshot of a young lady with long dark hair, wearing a black blouse, smiling for a headshot outdoors.
Sarika Kapadia

Sarika Kapadia

For exceptional studies on microbiome measurements and analysis tools to predict microbiome structure.
 

 

 

 

 

Portrait of Radha Patel, a young lady with long dark hair, wearing a black blouse, smiling for a photo in front of steps.
Radha Patel

Radha Patel

For extending the specificity and selectivity of the polyamide (nylon) class in the standard test method for quantitative fiber identification.
 

 

 

 

 

Professional portrait of Theresa Thomas, a young woman with short dark hair and glasses, wearing a green turtleneck, smiling.
Theresa Thomas
Credit: Andrew Eastep

Theresa Thomas

For providing exceptional website support to MML authors and optimizing MML website analytics processes.

 

 

 

 

 

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MML Technology Transfer

In recognition of MML employees and associates for superior transfer of NIST technical work for use by our stakeholders in areas of national priorities and mission-related efforts.

Collage of four headshots of NIST staff. One woman and three men.
From left to right: Ashlee Aiello, Christopher Stafford, Jeremiah Woodcock, and Brian Yanick.

Ashlee Aiello
Christopher Stafford
Jeremiah Woodcock
Brian Yanick

For transferring new inverse gas chromatograph measurement capabilities into commercial instruments adopted by the semiconductor and coatings industries.

 

 

Vladimir Diky
Vladimir Diky

Vladimir Diky

For transitioning NIST ThermoData Engine tools into the daily operations of global researchers navigating the ThermoML archive.

 

 

 

 

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MML Distinguished Associates

This accolade is for work that earned the NIST staff member(s) a DOC-level award in the previous year, and is designed to recognize associates or previous staff members that were critical to the success of the work.

Collage of headshots of four men on NIST staff.
From left to right: Nicholas Derimow, Orion Kafka, Newell Moser, and Alec Saville.


Nicholas Derimow
Orion Kafka
Newell Moser
Alec Saville

For leading the industrial validation of a heat treatment that pushed additive manufacturing of titanium into safety-critical applications. Significant contributors to work that was awarded a 2026 William P. Slichter Award with Nikolas Hrabe, Jake Benzing, Austin McDannald, Howie Joress, David Newton, Lucas Koepke, Matthew Connolly, and Benjamin Caplins.
 

 

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Created August 18, 2026, Updated September 8, 2026
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