Industry Trends, Insights, and Government News

NIST: Baldrige Trainees Prepared to Advance Excellence in All Sectors

By Baldridge Customer Service

29 May 2014 — Participants in the recent 2014 Baldrige Examiner Preparation course expressed appreciation for the enriched learning and cross-sector fellowship they experienced in and outside their classrooms

Automated Guided Vehicles Ripe for Standardized Performance Tests

By Mark Bello

21 May 2014 — AGVs are evolving so rapidly in capabilities and electronic intelligence that the need for the equivalent of standardized performance testing has become apriority for the fast-growing AGV industry and its customers.

NIST Seeks Comments on Major Revision to Industrial Control Systems Security Guide

By Mark Bello

21 May 2014 — The NIST guide advises on how to reduce the vulnerability of computer-controlled industrial systems used by industrial plants, public utilities and other major infrastructure operations to malicious attacks, equipment failures, errors, inadequate malware protection and other software-related threats

Nanotube-Infused Clothing May Protect Against Chemical Weapons

By Chad Boutin

8 May 2014 — Scientists at the NIST have demonstrated a way to engineer carbon nanotubes to dismantle the molecules of a major class of Nerve Agents

NIST Awards 19 Advanced Manufacturing Technology Planning Grants

By Mark Bello

8 May 2014 — The grants, awarded to universities and other nonprofit organizations, are the first conferred by NIST's new Advanced Manufacturing Technology Consortia (AMTech) Program.

NIST Scientists Demonstrate Career Options for Earth Science Students

By Linda Joy

30 Apr 2014 — Jennifer Marshall, homeland security manager in the NIST Office of Special Programs and a geology graduate of Dickinson College, arranged for the students to speak with several NIST scientists whose work involves chemical analysis of rock and mineral materials.

NIST Helps Cancer Treatment Drugs Get Past Their Sticking Point

By Chad Boutin

23 Apr 2014 — Research by the NIST, Genentech, the University of Delaware and Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) has revealed the reason why a certain class of proteins tends to form clusters that lead to high viscosity in drug solutions

NIST Conference Will Explore the Role of New Information Systems in Organizations

By Evelyn Brown

23 Apr 2014 — May 22, 2014 conference at the NIST headquarters in Gaithersburg, Md., will examine how a company can organize and integrate information systems for the best results.

Baldrige Program Named Top Leadership Developer in Government

By Michael E. Newman

15 Apr 2014 — First place award in the government and military category of the Leadership 500 Excellence Awards,- an annual recognition of the world's best leadership development programs and initiatives

NIST Advisory Committee 2013 Annual Report Highlights Cybersecurity and Manufacturing

By Jennifer Huergo

9 Apr 2014 — Report supports NIST's ongoing and planned work in cybersecurity and recognizes the level of effort and planning NIST puts into its outreach and partnership mechanisms for cybersecurity.

New Data Analysis Finds Baldrige Framework Improves Management

By Generic Baldridge

7 Apr 2014 — The analysis of University of Cincinnati professor James R. Evans and doctoral student Feng Mai provides insights on the progress of performance excellence efforts across multiple sectors of the U.S. economy.

Value of Baldrige Criteria Affirmed at Conference of U.S. Health Care Executives

By Baldridge Customer Service

31 Mar 2014 — U.S. hospitals and other health care organizations can raise the quality of health care while reducing costs by improving their performance using the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence as a complement to accreditation standards

NCCoE Invites Collaboration on Energy Sector Cybersecurity Challenge

By Jennifer Huergo

27 Mar 2014 — The center is looking for technology vendors interested in working on a standards-based model solution—a "reference design"—that would demonstrate how companies can control physical and computer network access to resources that range from buildings and equipment to information technology and industrial control systems.

Magnetic Attraction: Physicists Pay Homage to the SQUID at 50

By Laura Ost

18 Mar 2014 — Superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDS) are the world's most sensitive magnetometers and powerful signal amplifiers, with broad applications ranging from medicine and mining to cosmology and materials analysis.

NIST’s FY 2015 Budget Request Focuses on Innovation, Expands Technology Transfer and Economic Growth

By Jennifer Huergo

17 Mar 2014 — The FY 2015 budget request of $900 million aligns with the agency’s vision for expanding and strengthening NIST programs in a number of key national priority areas

Over 6 Months, NIST Zero-Energy House Gives Back to the Grid

By Mark Bello

14 Mar 2014 — Suburban Maryland family of four, earned about $40 by exporting 328 kilowatt hours of electricity into the local grid, while meeting all of their varied energy needs.

March Cloud Computing Meetings at NIST Discuss Impact on Mobile Devices, Forensic Science

By Evelyn Brown

10 Mar 2014 — The March 25-27 meeting will explore the advantages of using low-end mobile devices to receive unlimited mobile application services.

Pilot Projects to Launch Manufacturing Technology Acceleration Centers

By Jennifer Huergo

6 Mar 2014 — The projects will bring together teams of experts in specific technology and supply chain areas to offer services and deep expertise relating to technology acceleration, transition and commercialization.

Funding Available for a New Center to Support Manufacturing in Florida

By Jennifer Huergo

5 Mar 2014 — The award will provide up to $3.5 million for the first year, to help the state's small- and medium-sized manufacturers enhance their productivity, innovative capacity, technological performance and global competitiveness.

Stirred, Then Shaken: NIST Atomtronic Study May Pave the Way for New Devices

By Chad Boutin

26 Feb 2014 — The findings may pave the way for a host of novel devices based on "atomtronics," an emerging field that offers an alternative to conventional electronics

NIST SBIR Program Soliciting Proposals

By Jennifer Huergo

26 Feb 2014 — Proposals sought for solutions to technology challenges in the areas of cyber-physical systems, cybersecurity, health care, manufacturing and technology transfer.

Baldrige Performance Excellence: 2013 Improvement Survey Results Available

By Baldridge Customer Service

24 Feb 2014 — Survey purpose was to inform fundraising and to identify areas for improvement in products and services. The survey also asked for input on products and services that respondents would like the program to offer.

New NIST Method Evaluates Response to Oxidation in Live Cells

By Michael E. Newman

14 Feb 2014 — Technique measures changes in a living cell's internal redox (reduction-oxidation) potential, a chemistry concept that expresses the favorability of reactions in which molecules or atoms either gain or lose electrons.

NIST Awards Funding to Support Manufacturing in Nebraska and Alaska

By Jennifer Huergo

7 Feb 2014 — The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) has announced two funding awards that will support small and mid-sized manufacturers in Nebraska and Alaska.

U.S. Exports Reach $2.3 Trillion in 2013, Set New Record for Fourth Straight Year

By Sarah Horowitz

6 Feb 2014 — U.S. exports reached $2.3 trillion in 2013, up nearly $700 billion since 2009. The U.S. trade deficit improved $63.1 billion from the past year to $471.5 billion, the lowest since 2009

NIST Seeking Input on the Criteria for Performance Excellence

By Baldridge Customer Service

3 Feb 2014 — What are the top five leading-edge strategic and competitiveness challenges facing companies and specific, actionable suggestions for improving the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence

Nearly Everyone Uses Piezoelectrics. Be Nice to Know How They Work

By Chad Boutin

31 Jan 2014 — Researchers at the NIST & Canada's Simon Fraser University believe they've discovered why relaxors behaves in distinctly different ways from other piezoelectrics

NIST March Meeting Showcases Advanced Technologies to Help Manage the Nation's Infrastructure

By Michael Baum

31 Jan 2014 — The NIST has invested $73 million since 2008 in a portfolio of competitively selected projects led by research universities and industry consortia to leapfrog the state-of-the-art in monitoring and inspection technologies for the nation's aging infrastructure.

NAM’s Council of Manufacturing Associations Recognizes ISA’s Anderson with Annual Leadership Award

By Jamie Hennigan

20 Jan 2014 — Award is given annually to the chief staff officer who has done the most to further the CMA’s mission.

President Obama Announces New Public-Private Manufacturing Innovation Institute

By Michael F. Molnar

17 Jan 2014 — North Carolina headquartered consortium of 18 companies and 6 universities partnering with the federal government to strengthen U.S. manufacturing

Layered Security: Carbon Nanotubes Promise Improved Flame-Resistant Coating

By Mark Bello

15 Jan 2014 — Uniform, multi-walled carbon-nanotube-based coating that greatly reduces the flammability of foam commonly used in upholstered furniture and other soft furnishings.

NIST-MEP Supply Chain Optimization Program to Aid U.S. Manufacturers

By Jennifer Huergo

15 Jan 2014 — Manufacturers of any size can benefit from the program, which seeks to increase competitive advantage through stronger, more collaborative supply chains.

31,558,149,764 Milliseconds in Review: NIST Highlights from 2013

By Mark Bello

18 Dec 2013 — Review of the many and varied accomplishments and contributions arising from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2013.

NIST Programs for Undergraduates, Teachers, Precision Measurements Announced

By Michael Baum

18 Dec 2013 — Grants are available in a pair of programs aimed at undergraduate students and middle school teachers, as well as the latest round of the agency's long-running Precision Measurement Grants program.

No More Passwords? Trusted Identities to Secure Critical Infrastructure

By Jennifer Huergo

11 Dec 2013 — White House push to allow users to choose from a variety of more secure, privacy-enhancing identity solutions that they can use in lieu of passwords for safer, more convenient experiences everywhere they go online