| Arden
L. Bement, director of the Commerce Department’s
National Institute of Standards and Technology, and C.D. Mote,
president of the University of Maryland, College Park, today
signed an agreement to broadly expand research collaborations
and professional linkages between the two institutions.
“I
am proud of the long and distinguished history of collaboration
between NIST and the University of Maryland,” said
Bement. “This
agreement strengthens the ties between our two organizations
and paves the way for future cooperative ventures that will
advance America’s leadership in science and technology,” he
added. “This partnership between NIST and the University
of Maryland in entrepreneurial science and technology ventures
is a key to the most effective use of our great complementary
assets,” said Mote. “While each organization
will benefit remarkably by these joint efforts, it is our
collaborative work to maintain national leadership in science
and technology that will benefit most.”
The agreement calls for both organizations to encourage
cooperative work in science and technology including areas
such as nanometrology and nanomanufacturing. Specific mechanisms
envisioned to foster joint activities include providing transportation
between the two campuses; encouraging joint use of equipment
and staff; and providing opportunities for NIST staff to
serve as adjunct faculty and for University staff and students
to use NIST facilities and equipment.
For
example, the agreement provides mechanisms for joint appointments,
enabling
NIST researchers to teach in the University’s
new Jeong H. Kim Engineering and Applied Sciences Building
scheduled to open in 2005 and University researchers to collaborate
on experiments in NIST’s new Advanced Measurement Laboratory,
which will begin operating next year.
The agreement also includes a new model for intellectual
property rights that would provide protection for intellectual
property created not only in collaborative projects between
NIST and the University, but also projects involving the
two institutions and a corporation.
“This new provision allows NIST and the University
to work together with the private sector, protecting all
three parties’ proprietary information and intellectual
property, while allowing that intellectual property to be
bundled together and carried into the marketplace,” said
Bement.
As a
non-regulatory agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s
Technology Administration, NIST develops and promotes measurement,
standards and technology to enhance productivity, facilitate
trade and improve the quality of life.
The University
of Maryland—the state’s flagship university and
the top-rated public research university in the mid-Atlantic
region—advances knowledge, provides outstanding and
innovative instruction, and nourishes a climate of intellectual
growth in a broad range of academic disciplines and interdisciplinary
fields.
A copy of the agreement is available at
http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/univmdmou.htm.
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Created:
07/16/03
Last updated:
03/15/2004
Contact: inquiries@nist.gov
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