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Full
written testimony, as submitted by
Thomas A. Cellucci, PhD, MBA: President of Zyvex Corporation
Washington, DC (April 28, 2004)
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Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank you and members of this
distinguished Committee for inviting me here today. I applaud
Chairman Boehlert, Representative Ehlers, and Representative
Udall, and all the members of the Science Committee who have
taken the time to confront the challenges that will ensure
our nation’s future. We wouldn’t be gathered here
today, if not for your efforts.
I’m
Tom Cellucci, President of Zyvex Corporation. Thank you for
giving me the honor of sharing my views on the impact of NIST
on our nation.
As
president of one of the world’s leading nanotechnology
companies, I have the rare opportunity and privilege to play
a role in shaping this emerging field.
Zyvex’s vision is to become the leading worldwide supplier
of tools, products, and services that enable adaptable, affordable,
and atomically precise manufacturing. Jim Von Ehr founded
Zyvex in 1997 and we now employ over 50 people. We introduced
ten new products in 2003, and are on target to introduce an
estimated twelve additional products and double our revenues
in 2004.
I’ve
had the honor and distinct privilege of meeting with several
respected members of Congress about how NIST has enabled this
new nanotechnology revolution. I’m especially grateful
for the vision of President Bush, Senator George Allen, Senator
Ron Wyden and Representatives Boehlert, Ehlers and Gordon
in passing the “21st Century Nanotechnology Research
& Development Bill” into law in December 2003. [Our
founder] Jim Von Ehr was present when he signed it.
As
members of the Science Committee know, we’ve made great
strides by passing this Bill. However, much work still needs
to be done to ensure that it will be the United States who
continues as the world leader in science, technology, and
business.
NIST
It’s no surprise that America leads the world in technological
innovation. Much of our leadership position and the jobs generated
for Americans can be directly attributable to NIST. NIST fulfills
a vital role in bringing the promise of nanotechnology to
the American people. NIST is responsible for developing the
measurements, standards, and data critical to private industry’s
development of products for a potential market that is estimated
to exceed a trillion dollars in the next decade.
NIST
brings about this innovation because NIST is committed to
maximizing innovative technologies to our national economy
through its labs, its Advanced Technology Program, and by
working with the private sector to spur innovation and entrepreneurship.
Through
NIST’s measurements and standards laboratories, they
are helping the private sector to create more high-quality,
high-paying jobs.
Their commitment allows us to live in the best country in
the world.
NIST
and Industry Standards
NIST works with organizations in the private sector to develop
consensus standards, which are needed by United States’
industry for delivering, and improving products and services
sold throughout the world.
NIST’s
weights and measurements services are the basis for ensuring
the efficiency and fairness of more than 5 trillion dollars
in sales — roughly half of the U.S. economy. Industry
standards are critical in emerging fields such as nanotechnology.
Right now, one of the key issues facing the nanotechnology
arena is the need for standards for nanoscale materials and
tools. The NIST labs provide the accuracy, reliability and
international recognition for the measurements and measurement-related
operations that make up approximately 3 percent of the U.S.
gross domestic product.
In
a marketplace that is increasingly global in nature, we know
that 80 percent of all global merchandise trade is being influenced
by testing and other measurement-related requirements of regulations
and standards. More and more, U.S. companies cannot deal in
this marketplace without NIST. For example, if NIST had not
been involved, U.S. manufacturers of in vitro devices (IVD)
wouldn’t been able to meet new European Union regulations
We now have more than 60% of a $7 billion market.
NIST’s
commitment to developing the best standards through its scientists
and engineers, in tandem with industry leaders, is paramount
for U.S. businesses to rapidly deploy these new novel nanotechnology
products and services in this global economy.
NIST
Labs
As someone who possesses approximately twenty years experience
as a senior executive and Director of high technology firms,
I can relay many instances where the assistance of NIST Laboratories
was invoked.
To
put it simply, there is no test and measurement body on earth
that has the credibility, experience, technical depth, and
the thoroughness of NIST laboratories. Many of the divisions
I was responsible for relied on NIST traceable standards and
information on emerging trends for tighter tolerances and
higher resolution requirements for industry. Companies like
Newport Corporation, a leading manufacturer of laser/electro-optic
equipment; Coherent, Inc., the leader in industrial and scientific
lasers; Etec, Inc., a worldwide leader in MEMS test and measurement
equipment; and Edmund Industrial Optics, a global leader in
the optics industry relied on NIST traceable standards and
insights on new trends for tighter tolerances and resolution
requirements for industry. All relied on NIST expertise.
If
you mentioned to your potential customers that NIST was either
consulted, used, or the originator of certain data you presented,
you could rest assured that it was never questioned and provided
your firm with instant credibility of one’s products,
services, and/or processes.
I’m
often invited to give keynote speeches and advice to universities
such as MIT and Harvard, and trade organizations such as the
NanoBusiness Alliance and SEMATECH. Many times, I find myself
directing them towards the NIST labs to retrieve materials
and information in order to assist them in identifying technical
trends and needs.
As
I previously mentioned, there is no entity that I know of,
that has technical depth, practical industrial experience,
and vision in helping United States industry look at new trends
in test and measurement.
Zyvex’s
NIST-ATP
I was never a big supporter of government spending on R&D
funding — for any industry. I subscribed to the philosophy
(and still do today) that private industry’s role is
to bring about innovation based on market drivers. Yet September
11th had a powerful effect on the way I think about the urgency
of innovation. It’s all too apparent to me, that leading
technology holds the key to our fight on terrorism at home
and abroad. As you’re acutely aware, American lives
are at stake and we need to do everything humanly possible
to protect the lives of our American soldiers, first-responders,
and citizens.
There
are over 2,700 law enforcement officers who have been spared
either death or disabling injury as a result of NIST-developed
standards for bullet resistant vests. Intelligent machines
influenced by NIST’s real-time control system, a concept
for controlling automation, have helped to keep U.S. troops
out of harm’s way by clearing land mines. The military
and other users have saved millions of dollars thanks to NIST’s
contributions to the testing of antennas used for communications
to and from satellites.
Zyvex’s
NIST-ATP has allowed us to develop instrumentation that DARPA
has identified as being critical to our armed forces and laboratories.
I’m very proud of this and all the Zyvex employees who
are so diligently working on this project.
Through
our assembly and manufacturing technology we have been able
to develop a very inexpensive Mini-SEM prototype that will,
for the first time, allow soldiers and scientists to use this
kind of microscope on samples in the field — instead
of having to take the sample to the microscope in a lab. Detecting
biohazards in minutes rather than hours will not only save
time — it will save lives.
While
some mistakenly characterize the NIST-ATP as corporate welfare,
I’m here to tell you that Zyvex is a real-world example
of a small business that is leveraging this program to commercialize
nanotechnology — today. We are today creating new markets
and new jobs.
As
anyone who knows me will attest, I’m known for profitably
growing companies, not wasting money. NIST is our business
partner, not simply an organization that gives us money. We
jointly share the cost and responsibility of bringing this
new technology to the marketplace.
Thanks
to our ATP, we’ve hired fifteen new employees in 2003;
and plan to hire, at least, another twenty-five new employees
in 2004. We support researchers at universities in Texas,
Colorado, Michigan, Massachusetts, California, Virginia, and
New York. We’re developing a new manufacturing technology
that will drive innovation in the silicon micromachine domain.
The impact of parallel microassembly on the broader economy
will be in the billions of dollars and will ultimately create
thousands of high value manufacturing jobs — here in
America.
I’ve
grown increasingly wary as I travel all over the world and
see how aggressive countries such as China, Taiwan, Japan,
and the European Community are funding initiatives very similar
to NIST. I ask myself — what type of legacy will we
be leaving to our future scientists and engineers if we decrease
NIST’s budget? I also ask myself — what kind of
economic opportunities will our children have if the United
States loses its industrial competitiveness to other countries?
Many
people will argue that with the War, these cuts are necessary.
I ask how can we continue to fight a war on terrorism without
developing the critical technology that is needed in the next
decade? We’re not only at war with terrorism, we are
in the midst of a significant world-wide battle for technical
prowess to sustain and increase our technological leadership
in the world — the greatest economic battle of our lifetime.
Anything
but increasing NIST funding is surrendering our economic prosperity
and giving up on our promise to our children — a promise
for a higher quality of life.
Once
again, I’d like to commend you and your colleagues —
for your courage, your patriotism, and your vision.
Mr.
Chairman and members of this committee — I want to personally
thank you for your time and for this honor.
For the oral testimony, click here.
For more information regarding Zyvex, contact Katharine Green,
Director of Corporate Communications, at kgreen@zyvex.com
or by phone at 972.235.7881 (ext. 220).
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