Manufacturing

Line drawing labeled "Industrial Symbiosis" shows a circle of arrows over a factory with smokestacks and a cooling tower with a leaf design.

Nature’s Lessons: Creating a Greener Future for Manufacturing

November 13, 2024

What if one manufacturer’s trash could be another’s treasure? A NIST researcher looks to nature for answers to this question.

Brad Sutliff wears safety glasses as he stands in the lab in front of a computer monitor.

From Trash to Cash: How AI and Machine Learning Can Help Make Recycling Less Expensive for Local Governments

May 15, 2024

Can AI help us recycle better? A NIST researcher is working to make that happen.

Samuel Márquez Gonzalez leans forward to look through a microscope in the lab.

From Pokémon to Physics: My Journey of Perseverance Into Research

February 14, 2024

A childhood love of video games led Samuel Márquez Gonzalez to a career in science and a NIST internship program for early career researchers.

A small orange is packaged in a plastic container with a lid.

A Polymer Scientist Wrestles — Literally and Figuratively — With the Frustrations of Plastic Packaging

January 24, 2024

If you’ve resolved to be a more eco-conscious consumer this year, learn about how NIST’s circular economy lead thinks about plastic packaging in our everyday

Diana Ortiz-Montalvo, wearing safety glasses and holding a small circular filter with tweezers, poses with Abigail Lindstrom in the lab.

Microplastics Mystery: Sampling Airborne Microplastics at a Recycling Facility

October 11, 2023

During National Hispanic Heritage Month, a NIST researcher shares how her upbringing in Puerto Rico inspired her to study air quality.

Grace Waters poses smiling in the lab, leaning against a desk with a computer monitor showing data and graphs.

A Summer of Science: NIST Interns’ Stories of Their Time in the Lab

August 2, 2023

From measuring UV light to working on virtual reality software, a summer at NIST is not your average internship.

Christine McGinn wears safety glasses as she handles plastic bottles and other materials in the lab.

My Science Project Collapsed, but My Science Career Was Just Getting Started

June 7, 2023

Representation and mentors are key to promoting diversity in America’s science and technology workforce into the future.

Benchy the Boat, Irradiated Mangoes, Quantum Window: A Sample of Stories on NIST Social Media

May 31, 2023

NIST’s research can range from the complex to the downright whimsical, but all the papers published here can trace back to a benefit for everyone in the U.S.

We Need a Second Earth to Support Our Current Consumption. We Can Do Better if We Think ‘Circular.’

April 19, 2023

If we’re going to secure a sustainable future on the only planet we have to live on, we must transition to a circular economy, where we keep material in use

Foiled! NIST Unwraps What’s Baking Under Aluminum in Its Labs

April 5, 2023

Here at NIST, we do a different kind of baking, but we often use the same foil you use in your own kitchen.

Researcher Brandon Lane making adjustments inside the large 3D printer

Technology That Will Change Our World in 2023 and Beyond: Manufacturing Innovation

January 4, 2023

The director of NIST’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership looks ahead to the most transformative technology taking hold in the manufacturing world.

The Twelve Days of Metric

December 20, 2022

As we approach the end of 2022, we wanted to share with our readers a NISTified version of a classic seasonal song about a topic that is near and dear to our

Teaching Computers to Read ‘Industry Lingo’ — Technical vs. Natural Language Processing

October 26, 2022

People generally are very good at learning and translating context and intent. Computers, however, are not.

A person in coveralls and white gloves holds out a circular wafer of reflective silicon chips.

Why NIST Is Putting Its CHIPS Into U.S. Manufacturing

October 7, 2022

The CHIPS Act aims to help U.S. semiconductor manufacturers grow, and NIST is going to play a big role in this effort.

Two women in hiking gear stands at the top of a canyon, which is in the background.

Speeding Up Carbon Capture: A Q&A With NIST Scientist Pamela Chu

August 24, 2022

She explains what NIST is doing to speed up the chemical reactions — and the innovations — that might help slow down climate change.

A man wearing a face mask touches a computer screen in a lab with robotic arms in the foreground.

Solving a Robotics Puzzle During a Summer Internship at NIST

January 26, 2022

For nine years, I have been obsessed with the Rubik’s Cube. It is a puzzle that has simultaneously stumped and interested the whole world since it was first

A white telescope dish is surrounded by wooded mountains in autumn colors.

In Case You Missed It From NIST: 2021 Edition

December 21, 2021

While the pandemic still grips the world, researchers at NIST continue their work on COVID-19 related research, as well as the wide range of other science and

Robotic Motion and Drug-Carrying Nanoparticles: A Look at Two Paths Through the Diverse World of Manufacturing Research

October 1, 2021

Manufacturing is a colossal industry and key pillar of the U.S. economy. It takes millions of workers to keep this juggernaut moving forward every day

Passing Photons Through Chicken, VR for First Responders, and 3D-Printed Metal: A Sample of Stories on NIST Social Media

June 9, 2021

Sending “spooky” pairs of photons through biological materials, using virtual reality to test emergency communications technology, bolstering confidence in the

3D Printing With Light: A Q&A With NIST's Callie Higgins

May 3, 2021

Callie Higgins is a materials research engineer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). She studies a special branch of additive

The NIST Summer Undergraduate Fellowship Program Goes Virtual

February 2, 2021

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) designed the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program to inspire undergraduate students

Internships in the Time of COVID: A Q&A With Shelby Platner and NIST's Zach Trautt

February 4, 2021

Across the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), internships are a very important experience for students and staff members alike. But for most

Need Some Good News? NIST’s 2020 Highlights

December 22, 2020

2020 has been a challenging year, but we at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have worked as hard as we can to fulfill our mission for

Sustainable Manufacturing Is Smart Manufacturing

October 2, 2020

The COVID pandemic has highlighted the role that manufacturing plays in our society. Manufacturing is important not only for improving our quality of life but

A.I. for Smarter Factories: The World of Industrial Artificial Intelligence

September 2, 2020

As the digital age moves forward, it’s becoming impossible to avoid interacting with artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Computer assistants and AIs perform

Industrial XR: Fulfilling Human Potential in Smart Factories

July 14, 2020

Step into the factory of the future. Alicia, an operations manager, sits at her workstation viewing a digitally enhanced video feed of the facility using

Cybercrime: It’s Worse Than We Thought

June 30, 2020

The cyber world is relatively new, and unlike other types of assets, cyber assets are potentially accessible to criminals in far-off locations. This distance

How Can NIST Help: Collaborating at a Distance to Defeat COVID-19

June 16, 2020

I’ve been working from home since March 13. But even though I’ve been remote, I am still really connected to my colleagues — and have even created some new

Manufacturing Standards for Biopharmaceuticals: A Q&A With NIST’s Sheng Lin-Gibson and Vijay Srinivasan

January 28, 2020

Biopharmaceuticals, also known as biological drugs or biologics, are manufactured from living organisms or contain living organisms that have been genetically

Operation Tech Transfer

March 10, 2020

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is a world-class research organization. We have phenomenal scientists and engineers with impeccable

Taking Measure