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Melissa Midzor (Fed)
Director, Communications Technology Laboratory
Dr. Melissa Midzor leads the Communications Technology Laboratory (CTL) at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). CTL focuses on advancing communications technology through research and development in areas like quantum communications, spectrum sharing, and public safety communications.
Dr. Midzor was appointed CTL Director in November 2024, bringing her extensive leadership and technical expertise to the role. Since joining NIST in 2018, she has played key roles, including program manager of the National Advanced Spectrum and Communications Test Network (NASCTN), where she worked closely with federal agencies and industry to resolve complex spectrum-sharing challenges and enable data-driven decisions. In 2021, she became the chief of the NIST Spectrum Technology and Research Division, where she spearheaded the development of innovative measurement methods and tools to enhance spectrum access, sharing, and atmospheric sensing.
Prior to her tenure at NIST, Dr. Midzor served as the division director for Electronic Warfare Integrated Laboratories at the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), supporting electronic warfare and radio frequency compatibility across the joint services for over 15 years. She was NAVAIR's first senior scientific technology manager for electromagnetic warfare (EW), leading collaborative research efforts to enable the next generation of EW technologies. Additionally, she spent two years in the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Research and Engineering) Electronic Warfare and Countermeasures Office located at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
Along with her role as Director of CTL, Dr. Midzor also serves as the Co-Chair for the Advanced Wireless Test Platform (AWTP) interagency working group, established in 2020 to address research challenges and opportunities for improving access and coordination of nationwide wireless test platforms.
Dr. Midzor holds a Ph.D. in physics from the California Institute of Technology, specializing in nanotechnology, and dual B.A. degrees in physics and sociology from the University of Colorado Boulder. Dr. Midzor is an active member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Association of Old Crows (AOC).
Selected Publications
- Advanced Wireless Test Platforms Team Information Request Report
- The Magnetic-Resonance Force Microscope: A New Tool for High-Resolution, 3-D, Subsurface Scanned Probe Imaging
- Magnetic Resonance Force Microscope Development
- Ferromagnetic Resonance Force Microscopy on Microscopic Cobalt Single Layer Films
- Frontiers in Magnetism of Reduced Dimension Systems
- 5G Hardware Supply Chain Security Through Physical Measurements
Patents
# 6,676,813, “Technology for fabrication of a micromagnet on a tip of MFM/MRFM probe”
Awards
- Allen V. Astin Award (NIST)
- Warfighter Support Award (Dept of Navy, NAVAIR)
- Clifton Evans Memorial Award for Electronic Warfare (Dept of Navy, NAVAIR)