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José Colucci-Rios (Fed)

General Business Specialist

Technology Partnerships Office - HQ

jose.colucci-rios [at] nist.gov

(301) 975-0413

Staff Employment

NIST MEP National Programs Division Industrial Specialist - Present

NIST MEP Acting Division Chief - February 2022 to June 2022

DHS Secretary Office, Executive Assistant (DETAIL) - July 2021 to February 2022

NIST-MEP, Southeast Regional Manager - April 2016 to July 2021

USPTO, Patent Examiner - July 2012 to April 2016

University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez, Professor, Researcher, Department Head, Associate Dean, Campus Wide R&D Center Director - July 1992 to July 2012,

Union Carbide Corporation, Process Engineer, Research Scientist, Worldwide Business Manager and Market Manager, March 1985 to June 1992

Areas of Expertise

Dr. José Colucci-Rios is a General Business Specialist on the staff of the Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) in the Technical Partnerships Office (TPO) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

He has a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin and has extensive experience leading and managing research collaborations that interface with government, academia, and industry. Before joining TPO, he was an Industrial Specialist in the National Programs Division of NIST’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). Dr. Colucci-Rios’s Previous positions at NIST MEP include Acting Division Chief of the Extension Services Division and Regional Manager of 10-to-15 Public-Private Partnerships Centers. Before joining NIST, he was a Patent Examiner with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, where he received several productivity awards. In other sectors, José was a professor and researcher in Chemical Engineering and worked for Union Carbide in positions ranging from Research Engineer to Market Manager in the Polymers, Specialty Chemicals, and Solvents and Coatings divisions.

José was the technical project director for the installation of several renewable energy demonstration projects in Puerto Rico. These projects, which involved a host of small businesses, had capital expenditures exceeding $5 million and included photovoltaic, green building, fuel cell, and biodiesel projects. Dr. Colucci-Rios was also a collaborator in two studies to assess the viability of renewable energy technologies in Puerto Rico.

Dr. Colucci-Rios was part of a group that received NIST’s Bronze Medal Award in 2018 for his role in expediting cross-agency funding and program support of the MEP Centers, which assisted manufacturers impacted by hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and María. José received NIST’s Uriano Award in 2020 for his leadership in NIST’s response to the CARES Act appropriations, which helped manufacturers prevent, prepare for, and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

José was awarded a Commendation Certificate from the Secretary of Homeland Security while on an eight-month detail at that department, and he was the 2019 USPTO Hispanic Heritage Month Keynote Speaker.