Dr. Frank Gayle is the Deputy Director of the Office of Advanced Manufacturing at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The Office is responsible for extramural advanced manufacturing programs and serves as a liaison to industry and academia. Dr. Gayle is also deputy director of the interagency U.S. Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office, which is headquartered at NIST and coordinates federal activities in advanced manufacturing. The Advanced Manufacturing National Program office is the Congressionally-designated National Program Office for the Manufacturing USA® network of 14 manufacturing innovation institutes.
Dr. Gayle’s past roles at NIST include serving as Division Chief of the NIST Metallurgy Division, where he developed programs in energy, microelectronics, and mechanical properties, focusing on measurement needs for industry. His personal research, with over 2000 citations and 3 patents, has covered a wide range of materials, including quasicrystals, lead-free solder, and aerospace materials, including creating materials for NASA’s Space Shuttle and identifying strengthening mechanisms in the original Wright Brothers’ Flyer engine. Frank also led the team of technical experts on the forensics of structural steel in the Congressionally mandated NIST investigation of the World Trade Center disaster on September 11, 2001.
Prior to joining NIST, Frank spent 11 years in the aerospace industry. He is a Fellow of the Society for Manufacturing Engineers and ASM International, and twice won Gold Medals, the highest honor of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Frank earned an Sc.D. in Materials Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and degrees in Civil and Mechanical Engineering from Duke University.
In addition to professional endeavors, Frank cultivates paw-paw and black walnut trees at his farm outside of Washington, D.C.