Hi chiat,
There are a few things to try. I am using VS 2019 and it seems to be a bit more temperamental and I have seen your issue before. A few things to do:
1. Make sure you are running VS in Admin mode. That seems to be required now to update the project file with the new JMP reference.
2. Make sure the obj\debug or obj\release folder underneath your project file is writeable. VS will generate an interop.dll file that it uses to connect between JMP and your application. For example, I just made this one with the JMP 16.1 Type Library.
3. If you have multiple JMP installations, the Windows Registry sometimes does not update the information correctly for Automation. In general, the last JMP that you install will take priority and it is difficult to make VB understand anything that isn't in the registry. I would first close down your VB project. Then I suggest starting up JMP 16, go into Preferences->Windows Specific and then select "Reset Associations".
Bring your VB project back up and try to add the reference to the JMP 16 Type Library again through the Add Reference browser. It should work this time, and you should be able to then build your project.
I hope this helps,
Brian Corcoran