Maria Nadal is a research chemist in the Sensor Science Division at NIST and the group leader of the Surface and Interface Metrology Group. She joined NIST in 1997 to work in the fields of Spectrophotometry, Color and Appearance, and Photometry. Her areas of research include all aspects of color and appearance, photometry, and measurement uncertainty. She is involved in developing new calibration service, measurement assurance programs, and standard reference materials for surface color, specular gloss, diffuse transmittance, and LED products as well as research in the goniochromatic attributes of special effect coatings. She received a NIST Bronze Award, an ASTM Award of Appreciation, and Woman Government and Defense Technology Award.
In 2017, she did a detail position in the International Legal Metrology group in the Office of Weights and Measures at NIST. In 2018, she was an analyst for the NIST Program Coordination Office. Currently, she is serving as the acting deputy division chief of the Sensor Science Division.