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NIST Awards Six Curricula Development Cooperative Agreement Grants to Advance Standards Education

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) awarded six grants totaling over $400,000 to support the integration of standards education into undergraduate and graduate curricula. The grants were made under the Standards Services Curricula Development Cooperative Agreement Program.

Since it was introduced in 2012, the program has grown substantially and become increasingly competitive with 28 institutions applying for funds in FY 2014.

"I am proud to announce the 2014 grant recipients," says Acting NIST Director Willie May. "In addition to strengthening NIST's ties to the academic community, this program introduces students to the importance of standards and supporting the creation of new learning resources on standards and standardization."

The FY 2014 Curricula Development Cooperative Agreement Program recipients are:

The announcement of the FY 2015 program is expected to be released in early 2015, and the anticipated proposal deadline will likely be in March 2015.

Information on education grants that were awarded in FY 2012 and FY 2013 can be found online. (link is no longer active.)

Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pa. ($56,931)
Drexel will use their grant to organize and conduct a two-week summer workshop for graduate students in the social sciences and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines focused on the role of standards in global patterns of industrial transformation and innovation. This new curriculum will combine contextual and practical elements and will introduce students to the political and economic trends that impact standards development, implementation and uptake.

Everett Community College, Center of Excellence for Aerospace and Advanced Manufacturing, Everett, Wash. ($65,515)
Working with industry subject matter experts, Everett Community College's grant will go toward developing a course curriculum on measurement science that will be embedded in their advanced manufacturing and aerospace programs that produce skilled workers for the U.S. aviation and aerospace industry. A short-term course certificate will also be introduced.

George Washington University, Washington, D.C. ($74,429)
George Washington University's award will be used to fund a Standards Education Initiative. This initiative will support the development of a graduate-level foundational course on standards and standardization in the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration. It will also introduce a new four-course certificate program on environmental and energy management in the School of Engineering and Applied Science that focuses on national and international system standards, including ISO 14000 Environmental Management and ISO 50001 Energy Management.

North Carolina State University (NCSU), College of Textiles, Raleigh, N.C. ($66,457)
As part of the new NCSU Institute for Human Protection and Comfort Sciences, the College of Textiles will use their grant to offer a Professional Science Masters in Human Protection and Comfort and integrate instruction on standards and test methods into four courses targeting advanced undergraduates and graduate students. This instruction will be delivered on campus and incorporated into short courses available through the NCSU extension program to expand their reach.

Oklahoma State University (OSU), Stillwater, Okla. ($72,209)
OSU, with the oldest fire safety academic program in North America, will put their funds towards designing and producing a film, suitable for instructional use, on the design of emergency egress systems for buildings. Working closely with the OSU Institute for Teaching and Learning Excellence, which supports the creation of state-of-the-art instructional technology, the film will introduce students in a creative way to the challenges of egress design while emphasizing specific aspects of documentary standards that contribute to safe building egress.

University of North Carolina (UNC) at Charlotte, Lee College of Engineering, Charlotte, N.C. ($67,002)
UNC-Charlotte College of Engineering's award will be used to develop, implement and evaluate course lectures and related assignments to introduce standardization to engineering students in the Civil, Electrical, Mechanical and Systems Engineering departments. Standards instruction will be introduced into 10 courses and will be integrated into the required senior project that caps the academic program.

Released October 30, 2014, Updated January 18, 2023