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Melissa Midzor (Fed)
Director, Communications Technology Laboratory
Melissa Midzor leads the Communications Technology Laboratory (CTL), which focuses on advancing communications technology through research and development in core network technologies, next-generation wireless systems, public safety communications, smart infrastructure, and spectrum sharing.
Since 2018, Midzor has served as the program manager of NASCTN, working closely with federal agencies and industry to resolve complex spectrum-sharing challenges and enabling data-driven decisions. In 2021, she also became chief of the new Spectrum Technology and Research Division at NIST, developing innovative measurement methods and tools to enhance spectrum access, sharing and atmospheric sensing.
Before joining NIST, Midzor served as the division director for Electronic Warfare Integrated Laboratories at the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), where she supported 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), directing collaborative research efforts to enable the next generation of EW. She also spent two years in the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Research and Engineering) Electronic Warfare and Countermeasures Office at the Pentagon.
Dr. Midzor also serves as the Co-Chair for the Advanced Wireless Test Platform (AWTP) interagency working group, formed in 2020 to help the Nation address research challenges and opportunities for improving access and coordination of nationwide wireless test platforms.
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 a member of 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)