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Joannie Chin (Fed)
Director, Engineering Laboratory
Dr. Joannie W. Chin currently serves as the Director of the Engineering Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where she leads research aimed at advancing measurement science and developing the standards and tools to support resilient infrastructure, energy-efficient buildings, and advanced manufacturing. Dr. Chin is recognized for her pioneering research on the durability and service life of polymeric materials used in building and construction applications, and specifically development of accelerated aging protocols and innovative methods for simulating outdoor weathering.
She is the co-recipient of the Department of Commerce Bronze Medal in 2002 for developing the NIST integrating sphere-based weathering device, on which she also holds a U.S. patent. Dr. Chin’s work has been widely acknowledged, with Best Paper and Best Presentation Awards from ASTM Committee D30 on Composite Materials (1996) and the American Society of Composites (2001), respectively. In 2004, Dr. Chin and her co-authors received 1st place in the Roon Foundation Award Competition, sponsored by the Federation of the Societies for Coatings Technology, for their research on high radiant flux UV exposures and polymer photodegradation. The Federation also awarded her the Technical Focus Award in 2005 for her contributions to service life prediction and accelerated aging of polymeric materials. In 2010, Dr. Chin was a co-recipient of the Department of Commerce Gold Medal for her role in a NIST team that identified the root causes of field failure in soft body armor and developed standards to mitigate these issues.
Prior to joining NIST in 1995 as a Materials Research Engineer, Dr. Chin held various research positions, including research scientist with Gould, Inc., Foil Division, Cleveland, OH (1986-1989), and research associate with the Chemistry Department at Virginia Tech (1989-1994). She also worked as a post-doctoral research associate in the Materials Science Department at Virginia Tech (1994-1995). Additionally, she has consulted for the Ordnance Systems Operations of Babcock and Wilcox (Lynchburg, VA) and gained industrial experience as a student intern at Dow Chemical (Granville, OH) and the Standard Oil Company (Cleveland, OH). Dr. Chin has also served on the Board of Directors for ASTM International and is also a member of the External Advisory Board for the Virginia Tech Macromolecules Innovation Institute. She holds a B.S. in Polymer Science and Engineering from Case Western Reserve University, and an M.S. in Chemistry and Ph.D. in Materials Engineering Science from Virginia Tech.