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Engineering Laboratory

Materials and Structural Systems Division

News and Updates

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Small Business Have a Role in Community Resilience

November 24, 2015

Guest blog post by Stephen A. Cauffman, Manager, NIST Community Resilience Program Keep the doors open, equipment running and orders coming in. That's what

Four Agencies Join with NIST to Co-Sponsor New Community Resilience Panel

November 13, 2015

Four federal agencies have joined with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to sponsor a new independent panel devoted to reducing barriers

Photo of damage to a road caused by a 2007 flood in Minnesota

NIST Seeks Members for New Panel to Help Communities Become More Resilient

September 1, 2015

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) seeks members for a new Community Resilience Panel, part of the institute's effort to reduce the heavy

George B. Huff Jr. (left) and Steve Poupos

NIST Taps Experts in Business Continuity, Network Disaster Recovery for Community Resilience Efforts

June 30, 2015

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has named experts in business continuity planning and the post-disaster recovery of telecommunication

Building that has been destroyed by a tornado

NIST to Launch Review of Resilience Planning Guide at Houston Workshop, April 27, 2015

April 14, 2015

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will issue the full draft of its Community Resilience Planning Guide for Buildings and Infrastructure

NIST Names Two to Earthquake Advisory Board

March 16, 2015

A public health expert and a sociologist have been appointed by Willie May, acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and acting director

Readying Your Community to Deal with Disaster

July 29, 2014

This week, experts are meeting at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Hoboken to discuss how communities can prepare themselves to minimize the impacts of

A steel shelter bolted to a concrete garage floor was all that remained of a wood-frame home destroyed in the Joplin, Mo., tornado of May 22, 2011.

NIST Issues Final Joplin Tornado Report, Begins Effort to Improve Standards and Codes

March 28, 2014

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released the final report on its technical investigation into the impacts of the May 22, 2011

New Roadmap Outlines Research Path to Reduce Storm Impacts

March 26, 2014

A new measurement science research and development (R&D) roadmap,* prepared for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) over the past two

NIST's April 7 Workshop Launches Effort to Improve Disaster Resilience of Communities

March 11, 2014

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, Md., will host the first of six workshops devoted to developing a comprehensive

NIST Tornado Reports Urge New Standards for Saving Lives, Property

December 3, 2013

Nationally accepted standards for building design and construction, public shelters and emergency communications can significantly reduce deaths and the steep

Two Experts Named to Earthquake Advisory Board

September 3, 2013

Two earthquake authorities from academia and the private sector have been appointed by Patrick Gallagher, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and

Limestone Powder Enhances Performance of 'Green' Concrete

September 3, 2013

Adding limestone powder to "green" concrete mixtures—those containing substantial amounts of fly ash, a byproduct of coal-burning power plants—can significantly

Experts Propose Research Priorities for Making Concrete 'Greener'

April 3, 2013

The challenge of making concrete greener—reducing its sizable carbon footprint without compromising performance—is just like the world's most ubiquitous

Report from the Field: Using Internally Cured Concrete in Indiana Bridges

February 6, 2013

A recent news story from Purdue University describes how Indiana state transportation officials are making concrete use of concrete research to extend the

Three Experts Named to Earthquake Advisory Board

October 2, 2012

Three earthquake authorities from academia and the private sector have been appointed by Patrick Gallagher, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and

Double Jeopardy: Building Codes May Underestimate Risks Due to Multiple Hazards

September 13, 2011

As large parts of the nation recover from nature's one-two punch—an earthquake followed by Hurricane Irene—building researchers from the National Institute of

New Study Maps Out Steps to Strengthen U.S. Resilience to Earthquakes

March 30, 2011

A new National Research Council (NRC) report presents a 20-year road map that outlines steps for increasing U.S. resilience to earthquakes, including a major

Mounted on the roof of a building on NIST’s Gaithersburg, Md., campus, this NIST-developed device is designed to induce temperature-caused strains on sealant specimens while monitoring loads and displacements.

New NIST Testing Device May Help to 'Seal the Deal' for Building Owners

March 15, 2011

Just as a chain is as strong as its weakest link, a building is as secure against the environment as its most degraded joint sealants, about 50 percent of which

High-Tech Concrete Technology Has a Famous Past

March 15, 2011

In the business of concrete making, what's old—even ancient—is new again. Almost 1,900 years ago, the Romans built what continues to be the world's largest

detonation within a blast-resistant trash receptacle

Blast Resistance Standards For Trash Receptacles

June 23, 2010

With summer travel season hard upon us, specialists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have helped create two new standards designed

Depth Charge: Using Atomic Force Microscopy to Study Subsurface Structures

June 23, 2010

Over the past couple of decades, atomic force microscopy (AFM) has emerged as a powerful tool for imaging surfaces at astonishing resolutions—fractions of a

NIST WTC Recommendations Are Basis for New Set of Revised Codes

June 9, 2010

Faster and more efficient emergency evacuations from buildings—especially tall structures—and better communications between first responders during an emergency

Overall view of the collapsed Dallas Cowboys practice facility after the fabric covering was removed.

NIST Releases Draft Report on Cowboys Facility Collapse

October 6, 2009

A fabric-covered, steel frame practice facility owned by the National Football League's Dallas Cowboys collapsed under wind loads significantly less than those

Two Named to Earthquake Advisory Board

September 22, 2009

Two distinguished earthquake experts have been named to serve on the Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction (ACEHR) of the National Earthquake

Advanced communications
-Open Radio Access Network (Open-RAN)
-Quantum communications
-Spectrum sharing
-Wireless (RF)
Bioscience
-Bioeconomy
--Biological data
-Bioimaging
-Bioinformatics
-Biomanufacturing
-Biomaterials
-Biometrology
-Biosecurity
--Biosurveillance
--Genomic cybersecurity
--Nucleic acid sequence screening
-Cell measurements
-Engineering / synthetic biology
--Biofabrication
--Cell-free systems
--Genome engineering
--Protein engineering
-Gene delivery systems
-Genome editing
-Genomics
-Glycomics
-Metabolomics
-Microbial measurements
-Proteomics
-Transcriptomics
Buildings and Construction
-Building codes and standards
-Building control systems
-Building damage and repair
-Building economics
-Building materials
-Energy efficiency
-Heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment
-Indoor air quality
-Structural engineering
-Thermal comfort
Chemistry
-Analytical chemistry
-Chemical engineering and processing
-Chemical thermodynamics and chemical properties
-Molecular characterization
-Theoretical chemistry and modeling
-Thermochemical properties
Electronics
-Electromagnetics
-Flexible electronics
-Magnetoelectronics
-Optoelectronics
-Organic electronics
-Semiconductors
-Sensors
-Superconducting electronics
Energy
-Alternative energy
-Conventional energy
-Electric power / smart grid
-Fuels
Environment
-Air / water / soil quality
-Climate Measurements
-Environmental health
-Greenhouse gas measurements
-Marine science
-Sustainability
Fire
-Fire detection
-Fire dynamics and science
-Fire fighting
-Fire modeling
-Fire risk reduction
-Materials flammability
-Structural fire resistance
-Wildland urban interface fire
Forensic Science
-Digital evidence
-Drugs and toxicology
-Firearms and toolmarks
-Forensic biometrics
-Forensic genetics
-Trace evidence
Health
-Biopharmaceuticals
-Cell and gene therapy
-Clinical diagnostics
--Cancer
--Medical imaging
-Food and nutrition
-Human microbiome
-Precision medicine
-Regenerative medicine and advanced therapy
--Flow cytometry
Information technology
-Artificial intelligence
--AI measurement and evaluation
--Applied AI
--Fundamental AI
--Hardware for AI
--Machine learning
--Trustworthy and responsible AI
-Biometrics
-Cloud computing and virtualization
-Complex systems
-Computational science
-Conformance testing
-Cyber-physical systems
--Smart cities
-Cybersecurity
--Cryptography
--Cybersecurity education and workforce development
--Cybersecurity measurement
--Identity and access management
--Privacy engineering
--Risk management
--Securing emerging technologies
--Trustworthy networks
--Trustworthy platforms
-Data and informatics
--Human language technology
--Information retrieval
--Natural language processing
-Federal information processing standards (FIPS)
-Health IT
-Internet of Things (IoT)
-Interoperability testing
-Location based services
-Mobile
-Networking
--Mobile and wireless networking
--Network management and monitoring
--Network modeling and analysis
--Network security and robustness
--Network test and measurement
--Next generation networks
--Protocol design and standardization
--Software defined and virtual networks
-Privacy
-Software research
--Software testing
-Usability and human factors
--Accessibility
-Video analytics
-Virtual / augmented reality
-Visualization research
-Voting systems
Infrastructure
Manufacturing
-Additive manufacturing
-Factory communications
-Factory operations planning and control
-Interoperability in manufacturing
-Machining
-Manufacturing economics
-Manufacturing quality assurance
-Manufacturing systems design and analysis
-Monitoring, diagnostics and prognostics
-Process improvement
-Process measurement and control
-Product data
-Robotics in manufacturing
--Agility and adaptability
--Collaborative robots
--Dexterous grasping
--Manipulation
--Mobility and industrial autonomous vehicles
--Navigation / actuation / control
--Sensing and perception
-Supply chain
-Sustainable manufacturing
-Systems engineering
-Systems integration
-Technology commercialization
Materials
-Ceramics
-Composites
-Concrete / cement
-Materials characterization
--Composition and structure
--Mechanical properties
--Thermal properties
-Metals
-Modeling and computational material science
-Polymers
-Superconductors
Mathematics and statistics
-Experiment design
-Image and signal processing
-Modeling and simulation research
-Numerical methods and software
-Statistical analysis
-Uncertainty quantification
Metrology
-Amount of substance
-Dimensional metrology
-Electrical / electromagnetic metrology
-Flow metrology and rheology
-Force metrology
-Humidity metrology
-Ionizing radiation metrology
-Mass metrology
-Metric
-Optical / photometry / laser metrology
-Pressure and vacuum metrology
-Thermometry metrology
-Time and frequency metrology
-Weights and measures
Nanotechnology
-Nanobiotechnology
-Nanochemistry
-Nanoelectronics
-Nanofabrication / manufacturing
--Lithography
--Self-assembly
-Nanofluidics
-Nanomagnetics
-Nanomaterials
-Nanomechanics
-Nanometrology
-Nanophotonics
-Nanophysics
-Nanoplasmonics
Neutron research
Performance excellence
-Assessment tools and services
-Baldrige award
-Baldrige examiners
-Baldrige Framework and Criteria
-Best practices
-Leadership development
Physics
-Atomic / molecular / quantum
-Biological physics
-Condensed matter
-Electron physics
-Magnetics
-Nuclear physics
-Optical physics and communications
-Quantum information science
-Radiation
-Spectroscopy
-Thermodynamics
-Time and frequency
Public safety
-Chemical / Biological / Radiological / Nuclear / Explosives (CBRNE)
-First responder preparedness
-Law enforcement
-Public safety communications research
-Response robots
Resilience
-Community resilience
--Recovery
--Resilience metrics
-Disaster and failure studies
-Earthquake risk reduction
-Resilience economics
-Resilient materials
-Windstorm impact reduction
Standards
-Accreditation
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-Reference instruments
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-Standards education
Technology transfer
Transportation
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