Robert G Rudnitsky (Fed)

Robert Rudnitsky is a Physicist and is the Division of the Policy and Strategy Division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office (AMNPO), where he also serves as Division Chief of Policy and Strategy. Robert received a Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Stanford University, where he was a Hertz Fellow, and a B.A. from Yale University. At Stanford, his research was at the intersection of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), nanotechnology, and biotechnology. He designed and fabricated advanced MEMS sensors to measure the binding forces between pairs of protein molecules, and developed thermodynamic models of the molecular interactions.

Prior to coming to NIST as Scientific Advisor to the Director the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Robert worked as a Physicist in the U.S. State Department in the Office of Space and Advanced Technology, where he chaired the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) Global Issues in Nanotechnology Working Group, which coordinated United States Government international activities related to nanotechnology. He has served as Chair of the NATO Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Advisory Committee, which evaluated and recommended the allocation of foreign assistance resources for programs in NATO partner countries and Afghanistan. He was also elected the founding chair of the international Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Working Party on Nanotechnology. His private sector experience includes working in New York as an investment banker specializing in acquisitions of privately held companies, including manufacturing companies, and as president of a small company.

Robert has research experience in microelectromechanical systems, device fabrication, nanotechnology, biophysics, biotechnology, microfluidics, and sensors. As Associate Director and Acting Division Chief, Robert provides scientific and technical guidance for the Manufacturing USA program, and develops policy and strategy for new programs, including the planning for the CHIPS Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program. 

Selected Publications

• Human health risks of engineered nanomaterials: Critical knowledge gaps in nanomaterials risk assessment, A. Elder, I. Lynch, K. Grieger, S. Chan-Remillard, A. Gatti, H. Gnewuch, E. Kenawy, R. Korenstein, T. Kuhlbusch, F. Linker, S. Matias, N. Monteiro-Riviere, V. R. S. Pinto, R. Rudnitsky, K. Savolainen, and A. Shvedova, in Nanomaterials: Risks and Benefits, edited by I. Linkov and J. Steevens (2009), p. 3–29.
• Fundamental Noise in MEMS Force Sensors, T. W. Kenny, Y. Liang., B. L Pruitt., J. A. Harley, M. Bartsch, and R. Rudnitsky, in Noise and Information in Nanoelectronics, Sensors, and Standards II, J. M. Smulko, Y. Blanter, M. I. Dykman, and L. B. Kish, Eds., Proceedings of the SPIE 5472, 143-151 (2004).
• E-cadherin extra-cellular domain interaction examined by atomic force microscopy, R. G. Rudnitsky, F. Drees, W. J. Nelson, and T. W. Kenny, Biophysical Journal 82, 55A–55A (2002).
• Rapid biochemical detection and differentiation with magnetic force microscope cantilever arrays, R. G. Rudnitsky, E. M. Chow, and T. W. Kenny, Sensors and Actuators A: Physical 83, 256–262 (2000).