Marlon Walker Email and Phone Number

After a successful career as a bench scientist, I moved to the role of connecting small and mid-sized manufacturers with the resources, staff, and facilities of the NIST labs to help them grow and thrive in the global marketplace. I hope to one day leverage my interest in STEM with my interest in promoting manufacturing to support outreach in a combined way. I think we have untapped resources that once realized will help propel society to new heights, resulting in improved standards of living for all. I have had the honor of mentoring some brilliant young people along the way, and value those relationships highly.

Surface and Microanalysis Science Division, now Materials Measurement Science Division (1996-present)Current and Recent Scientific Research Interests Current research efforts include creation of surfaces with tailored hydrophobic and/or oleophobic properties, functionalized Au nanoparticles for nanomaterial metrological applications, and dynamic, real-time in-situ (liquid) spectroscopic ellipsometry of thin organic films, including determination of protein adsorption/protein adsorption resistance of these films. Recent efforts involved characterization of ink-jet printed energetic materials for trace detection calibrations, in-situ spectroscopic ellipsometry of evolving interfaces involved with copper electrodeposition (interconnects in microelectronic applications), scanned-probe microscopy (SPM) of soft-surfaces such as self-assembled monolayers and thin-film polymer systems, and general applications of SPM including biomimetic film and metal film characterization. In addition to research, a strong advocate for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) educational outreach efforts, especially to underrepresented minority groups.

Detailee from the Surface and Microanalysis Science Division to the Technology Innovation Program (TIP). This assignment involved significant participation in all major operations of national proposal-based competitions from a Federal funding organization, including formulating competition announcements and descriptions, organizing competition logistics, and performing proposal evaluations and rankings. In addition, other duties included conducting post-competition debriefings and contributing to project management efforts. Member of the Manufacturing Panel, charged with determining the proposals the TIP Director ultimately would fund. The Technology Innovation Program sponsored competitions in critical areas of National Need, covering a wide range of topics from biomanufacturing and manufacturing to civil infrastructure (roads, bridges, water pipelines) characterization and remediation.

Detailed to ONR as a Program Officer, Electrochemistry.This assignment included evaluating proposals, initiating grant procurement requests, researching relevant scientific and technical issues, contacting and advising Principal Investigators, conducting site visits, attending conferences, and in general helping manage a 6.1 program for the Navy.

A special assignment to the interagency working group of the task force chaired by Vice-President Al Gore for the purpose of assisting Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities with their efforts of self-improvement and revitalization.

Performed activities supporting the development and use of devices for radiation dosimetry applications.Performed commercial and international radiation processing facilities evaluation using the NIST graphite calorimeter This was the first calibration effort of this type for industrial-level facilities using the uniquely-designed NIST multi-element graphite calorimeter, measuring dose in real-time.Profiling of the irradiation canisters used by USDA -- The United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, has an important program that uses radiation to control the population of crop-damaging insects such as the Medfly by irradiating the insects in the pupae stage. The radiation dose is critical to the success of this procedure; prior dosimetric methods had yielded questionable results. The radiation field profiling technique was used to successfully characterize several of the radiation canisters used in the USDA's sterile insect program (1994-1996). Profiling method for ionizing radiation sources -- Major contributor to the development of the profiling technique, using a laser scanning densitometer, for the evaluation of radiochromic films used to image radiation sources. This led to improvements in mapping of radiation fields and beams, with far-reaching implications in the medical and industrial fields. Laser telemetering dosimetry system -- The development of this system led to an R and D 100 award in 1990.