Katrice A. Lippa (Fed)

Katrice presently serves as the Chief of the Office of Weights and Measures (OWM) in the Physical Measurement Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). NIST OWM is responsible for ensuring the traceability of state weights and measures standards to the SI and develops device test procedures and conducts training for state laboratory metrologists, weights and measures officials, representatives from industry and federal agencies, and metrologists from other National Metrology Institutes and Designated Institutes (NMIs/DIs). NIST OWM provides training and technical guidance on model weights and measures laws and regulations and publishes numerous legal metrology documentary standards and NIST Handbooks, some of which are adopted by state and local weights and measures programs. NIST OWM serves as the U.S. representative to the International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML), supports U.S. manufacturers through the promotion of harmonized international standards and regulatory practices, and is also home to the NIST Metric Program.

Since completing her Ph.D. in chemistry in 2002, she has worked at NIST in a variety of roles as a research chemist, senior scientific advisor, and the leader of the Organic Chemical Metrology group, which develops Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) and data products for organic species in metabolomics, clinical diagnostics and forensics, food nutritional labeling, food safety, natural products, and chemical manufacturing sectors. She has expertise in implementing interlaboratory comparisons and Quality Assurance Programs (QAPs), developing quantitative NMR techniques for the characterization of pure substances, and advancing and promoting metrologically sound organic chemical analysis methods for ensuring chemical traceability.

Katrice has held leadership positions in a number of Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs) to strengthen the role of accurate, trusted chemical measurements in assuring our quality of life and strengthening the national economy and international trade. This has included the ISO and IUPAC Technical Committees, the Inter-American Metrology System (SIM), and the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM) Consultative Committee of Amount of Substance (CCQM).

While at NIST, Katrice has received several internal awards for technical outreach, service, and teamwork-based research collaborations. She has been awarded two Department of Commerce Bronze Medals related to the development of the “first of its kind” Primary Standard for quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (qNMR) spectroscopy, and the Allen V. Astin Measurement Science Award for the highly successful NIST Vitamin D Metrology program.

Current professional Activities

• National Conference on Weights and Measures (NCWM)
• NCSL International
• ASTM International
• American Chemical Society

PROJECTS/PROGRAMS

• NIST OWM – NCWM: An Enduring Partnership for Over 100 Years
• National Metrology Systems: A Framework for Global Trade
• Uniform Unit Pricing: Tools for Consumers to Fight Shrinkflation

• Department of Commerce Bronze Medal Award, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2023
• Material Measurement Laboratory Service and Support, Collaboration and Teamwork, and Technical Outreach Awards (2022, 2022, 2021, 2017)
• Allen V. Astin Measurement Science Award, Department of Commerce, 2018
• Department of Commerce Bronze Medal Award, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2018
• Young Scientist Research Award, Division of Agrochemicals, American Chemical Society, 2000
• Graduate Student Award in Environmental Chemistry, American Chemical Society, 2000
• Dissertation Fellow, American Association of University Women Education Foundation, 1999
• Undergraduate Award in Analytical Chemistry, American Chemical Society, 1991