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Engineering Laboratory

Materials and Structural Systems Division

News and Updates

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Topic Area

Shake, Rattle, No Roll: Construction Guide for Earthquake-Resistant Buildings

July 28, 2009

A guide for designing buildings using steel moment frames to resist earthquakes has been published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Photo of researchers from France's National Scientific and Technological Institute and NIST with the SPHERE

NIST and French Lab to Study Weathering of Advanced Composites for Bridges and Piers

February 24, 2009

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has signed an agreement to collaborate with the French Laboratoire Central des Ponts et Chaussées

The barely visible blue-green area at the top of this X-ray image of concrete with the NIST nanoadditive shows that very few chloride ions penetrate into the concrete.

Viscosity-Enhancing Nanomaterials May Double Service Life of Concrete

January 27, 2009

Engineers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are patenting a method that is expected to double the service life of concrete. The key

Microtomography image of the pore structure of a fireproofing material

Baked Slug—New Method to Test Fireproofing Material

October 1, 2008

In a high-temperature blaze, how well does a fireproofing material shield a building's important steel structures from heat? Answering this question has been

Comments Requested on Draft Earthquake Hazards Plan

April 15, 2008

Earthquakes cannot be prevented, but their impacts on life, property and the economy can and should be managed. That's the challenge that Congress has given the

Failure Investigations Report Highlights Efforts for Safer Buildings

March 5, 2008

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has submitted to Congress the annual report of activities under the National Construction Safety Team

Fifteen Named to Earthquake Hazards Reduction Advisory Committee

February 28, 2007

William Jeffrey, director of the Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), has named 15 distinguished academic, industry

Final Nightclub Fire Report Urges Code Compliance

June 30, 2005

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) fire investigators have urged all state and local governments to adopt and aggressively enforce national

Final NIST Rhode Island Nightclub Fire Report Urges Strict Adherence to and Strengthening of Current Model Safety Codes

June 29, 2005

Full list of recommendations Complete Report: Volume 1 (.pdf; requires Acrobat Reader) Appendices: Volume 2 (.pdf; requires Acrobat Reader) GAITHERSBURG, MD —

Commerce's NIST Asks Public for Information on Rhode Island Nightclub Fire

November 25, 2003

Remarks by James Hill, Acting Director, Building and Fire Research Laboratory Remarks by William Grosshandler, Lead Investigator, Rhode Island Nighclub fire

NIST Names Two Additional Experts to National Construction Safety Team Advisory Committee

April 28, 2003

Two additional building and fire experts have been appointed by Arden Bement Jr., director of the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and

Commerce's NIST Launches Investigation into Rhode Island Nightclub Fire

February 27, 2003

The Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) today launched an investigation into the tragic fire of Feb. 20, 2003, at The

Potential Microchip Insulator Shows Surprising Behavior When Tested In Ultra-Small Scale

August 24, 1998

Scientists analyzing polymers as possible insulators for advanced microchips were surprised to learn that the materials behave much differently when they are in

New Method Will Help In Efforts To Find Better Insulators, Make Faster Microchips

August 23, 1998

Scientists at the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology have devised a new method and built a new instrument to aid in the search

Sunder Named Chief of Structures Division

March 18, 1998

The Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology has announced the appointment of S. Shyam Sunder as chief of the Structures Division in

New Guidelines May Soon Mean More Buildings Protected By Earthquake Shock Absorbers

March 3, 1997

Slide to the left, slide to the right and don't fall down. No, it's not a new dance, but a building with shock absorbers—a feature that could someday save more

California Quake Highlights Many Structural Success Stories, Some Major Shortcomings, Says NIST

April 21, 1994

The strong earthquake that struck the Los Angeles area last January 17 provided the first full-scale test of modern seismic structural codes and revealed both

IN-CORE v1.0.0 Released!

Following several years of development as part of the NIST-funded Center for Risk-Based Community Resilience Planning (CoE), the Interdependent Networked

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
-Calibration services
-Conformity assessment
-Documentary standards
-Frameworks
-Quality assurance
-Reference data
-Reference instruments
-Reference materials
-Standards education
Technology transfer
Transportation
-Aerospace
-Automotive