Marla L. Dowell

Overview

Marla Dowell is executive director of the EDGE Consortium, a national network of leading research universities dedicated to transforming semiconductor-related education and workforce development through its core pillars: Recruit, Retrain, and Retain. Led by Dartmouth and Indiana University, the consortium—which also includes Brown University, UC Berkeley, the University of Rochester, the University of Washington, and Olin College of Engineering—aims to align educational programs with industry needs, promote an innovative workforce, and expand the engineering talent pipeline. In her role, Dowell works closely with universities, STEM educators, industry leaders, and other partners to attract new students to engineering, upskill the existing workforce, and ensure a steady stream of skilled professionals in the semiconductor field. A longtime advocate for education and career development, Dowell has dedicated more than 30 years of her life to public service, forging collaborations across academia, industry, and government to advance STEM research and innovation. Prior to leading EDGE, she served as director of the CHIPS Metrology Program at the US Department of Commerce and held several leadership roles at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), including as director of the NIST Boulder Laboratory, where she expanded research opportunities for early-career scientists and engineers through academic partnerships. She also served as chief of the Applied Physics Division and director of the NIST Communications Technology Laboratory.

Research Interests

STEM workforce development; laser measurements and applications

Education

• PhD, Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• MBA, University of Colorado, Boulder
• BS, Physics, University of Michigan

Awards

• Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
• Fellow, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
• Fellow, International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE)
• Presidential Rank Award of Distinguished Executive (2023)
• SPIE Women in Optics (2016)
• Allen V. Astin Measurement Science Award (2012)
• Arthur S. Flemming Award (2010)
• US Department of Commerce Silver Medal (2005)

Professional Activities

• Member, American Physical Society
• Member, SPIE Engagement Committee
• Member, University of Colorado Research & Innovation External Advisory Board

Selected Publications

• Dowell, M., From Classroom to Cleanroom: EDGE and the Power of Industry-Academic Collaboration, Guest Editorial, Electronic Device Failure Analysis (2024).
• Dowell, M., Brown, H., Greene, G., Hale, P., Hoskins, B., Hughes, S., Keller, B., Kline, R., Lau, J., & Shainline, J. (2024). Advancing measurement science for microelectronics: CHIPS R&D Metrology Program (In E.M. Secula & J. A. Liddle, Frontiers of Characterization and Metrology for Nanoelectronics: 2024, Monterey, CA, US).
• Booth, J., Dowell, M., Feldman, A., Hale, P., Midzor, M., & Orloff, N. (2022). 5G hardware supply chain security through physical measurements (NIST Special Publication No. 1278). National Institute of Standards and Technology.
• Kuester, D., Lu, X., Gu, D., Kord, A., Rezac, J., Carson, K., Dowell, M., Eyeson, E., Feldman, A., Forsyth, K., Le, V., Marts, J., McNulty, M., Neubarth, K., Rosete, A., Ryan, M., & Teraslina, M. (2022). Radio spectrum occupancy measurements amid COVID-19 telework and telehealth (NIST Technical Note No. 2240). National Institute of Standards and Technology.
• Lehman, J., Stephens, M., White, M., Steiger, A., Monte, C., Hollandt, J., Ryger, I., Kehrt, M., & Dowell, M. (2016). A planar hyperblack absolute radiometer. Optics Express.
• Miller, S., Pfeif, E., Kazakov, A., Baumann, E., & Dowell, M. (2016). Fiber laser welding of dual-phase galvanized sheet steel. Proceedings of SPIE Photonics West 2016, San Francisco, CA.
• Miaja, L., O'Neil, G., Uhlig, J., Cromer, C., Dowell, M., Jimenez, R., Hoover, A., Silverman, K., & Ullom, J. (2015). Laser plasma x-ray source for ultrafast time-resolved x-ray absorption spectroscopy. Structural Dynamics.
• Zhu, T. C., Bonnerup, C., Colussi, V. C., Dowell, M. L., Finlay, J. C., Lilge, L., Slowey, T. W., & Sibata, C. (2013). Absolute calibration of optical power and fluence rate for PDT: Report of AAPM TG140. Medical Physics.
• Hadler, J., Tobares, E., & Dowell, M. (2013). Random testing reveals excessive power in commercial laser pointers. Journal of Laser Applications.
• Dowell, M., & Hadler, J. (2013). Accurate, inexpensive testing of handheld lasers for safe use and operation. Measurement Science & Technology. 

News

Eric Fossum Named 2026 Recipient of IEEE Jun-ichi Nishizawa Medal
Dec 17, 2025

Marla Dowell Named Executive Director of EDGE Consortium
Feb 10, 2025

In the News