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Leon Geršković (Fed)

Director of Video and Digital Media Production

Leon Geršković is the director of video and digital media productions at NIST.

At NIST, Leon is able to merge his love for science and passion for storytelling through filmmaking, resulting in he and his group earning multiple Emmy and other video awards. He focuses on telling compelling stories featuring scientists and their exciting new discoveries. During his long career at NIST, he has worked as a digital media specialist where, in 2002, he brought streaming media to NIST. In 2016, he was given the opportunity to build a highly capable and inspiring team of professionals that brought a new era of creative science filmmaking to NIST.

Prior to NIST, Leon worked as an independent producer and director with a comprehensive background in documentary films. From feature-length documentary films like "Crucible of War," where he documented atrocities after wars in the former Yugoslavia to producing many inspiring short films, Leon's work always captures people in moments when the change occurs. He also served on the board of directors for Docs in Progress for two terms, ushering stability to a newly formed non-profit organization that served emerging filmmakers.

Awards

2024: Communicator Awards of Excellence for the AD-X2 Controversy documentary (Producer)
2024: Communicators Award of Distinction for the Race Logic Computing animation (Producer)
2022: Communicators Award of Distinction for the Post-Quantum Encryption: the Good, the Bad, and the Powerful (Producer)
2022: Communicator Awards of Excellence for the Einstein, Time and Very Small Things (Producer)
2021: Department of Commerce Bronze Medal Award for communications of results of the performance of facemasks during COVID-19
2021: The Communicator Award for NIST on a Chip (Director/Producer)
2020: Shorty Award, Best in Public Health category for Cover Smart. Do Your Part. Slow the Spread video
2020: Emmy Award for Rethinking Manufacturing - The Best Documentary Award (Producer)
2018: Emmy Award for Detective X: (Re) Discovering Wilmer Souder - The Best Documentary Award (Producer)
2018: Communicator Award of Excellence for What is Time Animation (Producer)
2018: Communicator Awards of Excellence for the Computational Power of the Universe video (Producer)
2017: Skyline Film Fest for Creative Feds - The Best Documentary Award (Director)
2016: Silver Telly Award for The Digital Thread (Producer)
2016: Bronze Telly Award for animation (Producer)
2014: Department of Commerce Bronze Medal Award for a new exhibit featuring NIST history

Featured Videos

The AD-X2 Controversy — In the 1940s and ’50s, amid a booming economy and rapid scientific progress, a charismatic salesman sought to make his fortune with a chemical additive, AD-X2, that he claimed would revolutionize the car battery business. When tests from a prominent scientific agency showed that the additive was worthless, its director had to battle public opinion and political pressure to defend the importance of scientific integrity.

American manufacturing, once seen as the world’s icon of industrialization and then as a symbol of decline, is once again changing. Rethinking Manufacturing is the story of two young individuals who are on the cutting edge of that revolution. With support from America Makes (the first Manufacturing USA institute), Youngstown State University and the Youngstown Business Incubator, these entrepreneurs and their peers are rethinking manufacturing, rethinking career choices, and rethinking the very idea of how we build and revitalize communities. America Makes: https://www.americamakes.us // Manufacturing USA: https://www.manufacturingusa.com

What is time? — Philosophically, what is "time"? Even if we don’t completely understand what time is, we can precisely measure what time it is, thanks to the atomic clock, humankind’s most accurate measurement device. Atomic clocks have revolutionized navigation. Only time will tell us its future applications. More info: https://www.nist.gov/topics/time-frequency

Detective X: (Re) Discovering Wilmer Souder — A scientist and a historian at NIST team up to discover the mostly forgotten history of Wilmer Souder, a scientist who worked at the National Bureau of Standards (now NIST) from 1911 to 1954. Souder was an early expert in the field of forensic science. His careful analysis of evidence and his expert testimony sent to prison countless murderers, bootleggers, gangsters, and thieves. The most famous case he worked on was the Lindbergh kidnapping case, and this video reveals that his involvement in that case was much greater than previously known.

Introducing NIST on a CHIP — Technological advances demand a new era of measurement science. NIST has answered that call with NIST on a CHIP and is looking to partner with industry, academia, and other government agencies to take their devices from the lab to the world.

Publications

Fire Hazards of Dry Versus Watered Christmas Trees

December 15, 2020

Author(s)

Matthew S. Hoehler, Matthew F. Bundy, Laurean A. DeLauter, Robin L. Materese, Leon Gerskovic, Jose R. Garcia

These experiments were designed to examine the difference in fire hazard between a dry Christmas tree and a watered Christmas tree for fire safety awareness

View more Publications

Created October 9, 2019, Updated June 28, 2024