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U.S. Department of Commerce

Technology Administration

' National Institute of

Standards and Technology

n I s t
The National Institute of Standards and Technology

(NIST) is a non-regulatory

federal agency within the

Commerce Department's

Technology Administration.

NIST's primary mission is to promote economic growth by

working with industry to develop and apply technology,

measurements, and standards.

Established by the U.S. Congress in 1901 as the

National Bureau of Standards,

the Institute was renamed and

assigned new responsibilities

in 1988.

Front cover: This colorized

micrograph shows a microrotor,

similar to those in a miniature motor

operated by an integrated circuit.

NIST is working to develop reliable ways for the semiconductor industry

to measure stress, strain, and other

mechanical properties to optimize

the operation of such MicroElectroMechanical Systems or MEMS.

NIST carries out its mission

through a portfolio of four

major programs:

• the Advanced Technology

Program—cost-shared,

competitive awards to industry

for development of high-risk,

preproduct, enabling

technologies;

• the Manufacturing Extension

Partnership—a nationwide

network of extension centers and experts co-funded by

states and local governments

that provides hands-on

technical assistance to smaller

manufacturers;

• laboratory research and

services—planned and

conducted in cooperation with

industry and focused on

infrastructural technologies

such as measurement and test methods and evaluated data; and

• a quality outreach program

associated with the Malcolm

Baldrige National Quality

Award—recognizing quality

improvement by U.S. manufacturing and service

companies.

Budget: $1 billion (estimated

fiscal year 1995 from all sources)

Staff: About 3,200 scientists,

engineers, technicians, and

support personnel, plus some

1,200 visiting researchers each

year

Sites: Gaithersburg, Md.

(headquarters),

234-hectare campus;

Boulder, Colo.,

84-hectare campus

Facilities: Major facilities include a 20-megawatt research

reactor, metals processing

facility, synchrotron radiation source, linear accelerator, and

computer networking and

security laboratories
Satisfying customers. Continuously improving products

and processes. These mandates for the business world

are also a way of life at the National Institute of Standards

and Technology.

Here at NIST our customers are U.S. businesses, large

and small. Unlike any other federal agency involved in science and technology, NIST's pr/'/na/y mission is to support U.S. industry. The Institute works with industry to address economically important technology jobs not covered by private investments.

NIST's Advanced Technology Program helps accelerate

progress on preproduct technologies that are too risky or

too long term to be adequately supported with private

funds alone. The Manufacturing Extension Partnership

helps smaller manufacturers with limited resources find the technical advice they need to stay competitive.

Institute laboratory researchers work side by side with

industry researchers to develop infrastructural

technologies like measurement methods and process

controls that benefit whole industrial sectors. And the

Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award program

provides quality management guidance to help companies

focus on their customers' and their employees' needs.

To ensure that our programs are meeting industry needs,

NIST sponsors workshops, hosts industry guest

researchers, participates in cooperative research and

development projects, attends manufacturing conferences

and trade shows, conducts industry surveys, and assesses

the economic impact of its programs. The feedback

provided through all these channels is invaluable in streamlining our processes and keeping our programs in

step with industry.

This brief brochure is designed as an introduction for corporate managers and others interested in finding out how NIST programs may help meet their organization's

needs. We invite you—our customers—^to join with us in making sure that our investments in technologies,

measurements, and standards strengthen industry and

promote U.S. economic growth. Together we can succeed

in a uniquely American approach to federal investment in

civilian technology that will yield tremendous economic

benefits to our nation.

Arati Prabhakar

Director
Advanced Technology Program

The Advanced Technology Program (ATP) invests directly in the

nation's economic growth by working with industry to develop

innovative preproduct technologies that have significant

commercial potential but are too risky to be developed quickly

without a partnership between industry and government.

Begun in 1990, the program provides cost-shared awards,

through a rigorously competitive process, to both individual

companies and industry-led joint ventures. It accelerates

research progress on promising, but high-risk, enabling

technologies that allow important improvements in products,

processes, or services. ATP does not fund product development.

The program builds bridges between basic research and

product development through two types of funding mechanisms:

general competitions open to all technologies and focused

program competitions in which proposals are sought in specific

technology areas defined through input from industry. Examples

of current focused program areas include: tools for DNA

diagnostics, information infrastructure for healthcare,

manufacturing of composite structures, component-based

software, catalysis and biocatalysis technologies, motor

vehicle manufacturing technologies, and digital video in

information networks.

The ATP relies on ideas supplied, co-funded, and carried out by

industry. Successful ATP project sponsors range in size from

start-up companies with a handful of employees to major

industrial firms with international scope. Awards to individual

companies are limited to $2 million over three years and can be

used only for direct R&D costs. Awards to joint ventures can be

for up to five years, and joint ventures must provide more than

50 percent of the project's funding. During fiscal year 1995,

the ATP expects to sponsor more than 200 projects with

appropriations totaling $431 million.

Right. Engineering Animation Inc.,

Ames, Iowa, is using its ATP award to

develop the technology for a "virtual

human." The company hopes to use

three-dimensional images like this

knee graphic and high-speed computer

systems to realistically visualize every

aspect of human physiology.

2
Right. Accuwave, Santa Monica,

Calif., has used ATP co-funding to

apply holographic technology to

fiber-optic communications. The

company is developing ways to use

holograms as filters so that many

"channels" of optical signals can

share a single optical fiber

simultaneously.

Two heads are better than one and teams can be even better. A three-year ATP project co-funded

with the Auto Body Consortium proves the point.

ABC, eight small manufacturers that supply the auto industry with assembly processes, has

worked in cooperation with General Motors,

Chrysler, and two universities to make major

improvements in how well auto body parts fit

together. "I can't say enough about the wisdom

of whoever put together the ATP," says Dwight

Carlson of Perceptron, an ABC member. "I would

not change anything."

h n 0 I 0 g y

3
i n n 0 V a t

Just as Eagle-Picher Research Laboratory,

Miami, Okla., was making major headway in developing a durable, true green light-emitting

diode, the company lost a major funding source. Despite a wealth of potential commercial

applications for such devices, the company was

unable to fund the work on its own. A three-year

ATP award helped the company stick with the

high-risk project. Soon they hope to be selling

the world's brightest, most durable green LEDs.

Above. The National Storage Industry

Consortium—with about 40 industry

members, including Digital Equipment

Corp., Eastman Kodak Co., and IBM

won an ATP award to develop multilayer,

magnetic read heads that may greatly

increase the storage capacity of

computer disks. NIST research chemist

Bill Egelhoff has helped the consortium

better understand how factors such as

surface topography affect the materials'

performance.

Engineering Animation Inc., Ames, Iowa, is a

small company with big ambitions. It is applying

its expertise in computer simulation to create a

"virtual human," a three-dimensional, animated

computer visualization that can walk, breathe,

grasp objects, pump blood, sustain injury, and

undergo surgery. According to company

president and CEO Matthew Rizai, winning

an ATP award was the turning point that helped

the company attract additional revenue and

grow from five employees to 96 employees.

"Today we are a growing company adding

high-paying, highly skilled jobs," he says.

4
Left. The Kopin Corp. is the

coordinator of The American

Scaled-Electronics Consortium,

an ATP award recipient working to

apply thin-film integrated circuits to

flat-panel displays and multilayered

microelectronic devices.

n

Right. This atomic-force micrograph

shows the surface topography of a new type of information storage

material under development by Optex

Communications Corp., Rockville,

Md., with ATP co-funding. The

erasable, luminescent material is

an enabling technology that allows

18 hours of video to be stored on a

single CD-sized disk.
Left. Fairmont Tamper, Columbia, S.C.,

manufactures fieavy-duty railroad

maintenance equipment. NIST's

extension center in Columbia

analyzed a redesigned track lifting

and aligning machine and confirmed

that the new design met the

company's performance goals.

Below. Valtronic Inc., Solon, Ohio,

assembles miniaturized electronic

circuit boards. The company sought

help from the NIST affiliated center

in Cleveland, Ohio, while developing

a new high-precision machine tool.
Manufacturing Extension Partnersliip

There are more than 370,000 U.S. manufacturers with fewer than 500

employees. These small and medium-sized companies account for about 95 percent of all U.S. manufacturing plants and about half of

the nation's manufacturing capacity.

The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Is a nationwide

network of affiliated manufacturing extension centers dedicated to helping smaller manufacturers improve their competitiveness by

adopting modern technologies and production techniques. Each

center is a partnership typically involving federal, state, and local

governments; industry; educational institutions; and other sources

of expertise, information, and funding support.

Since the MEP's creation in 1989, the number of non-profit

extension centers providing smaller manufacturers with hands-on

technical assistance has grown rapidly. By the end of 1994,

44 centers were either in operation or getting under way. Most were initiated with funding from the Defense Department's

Technology Reinvestment Project. By 1997, plans call for NISTto

have established a truly national network with approximately 100

extension centers across the country.

Smaller manufacturers face some unique barriers that hinder

their ability to successfully modernize their operations. The MEP

links these companies with information and experienced

manufacturing experts to help the companies improve their ability

to compete. The centers sponsor seminars, training programs,

and forums and serve as a conduit for these manufacturers to

private consultants, vendors, universities, federal agencies,

and other sources of technical help.

The MEP also works with states in the planning and development

of coordinated manufacturing extension and modernization

programs to serve the needs of smaller businesses. In addition,

the MEP supports other projects to bring information, services,

and resources to the affiliated MEP centers and to individual

companies.

u r i n g

Clipper Diamond Tool Co. Inc., Long Island City,

N.Y., was losing customers to Japan and Europe

and badly needed modernization. The NIST

manufacturing extension center in New York City

helped the company get the advice It needed to

relocate within the city and to automate its manufacturing and office operations. "Our

company has been revitalized," says President

Joseph Klipper. "We are once again able to compete both here in the United States and

around the world."

Above, Horsburgh & Scott, Cleveland,

Ohio, manufactures industrial gears

and speed reducers. The company

has worked with the NIST extension

center in Cleveland on numerous

projects to improve its operations.

7
-c 0 m p e

Left. Working at the NIST affiliated

center in Troy, N.Y., IVIanufacturing

Extension Partnership staff members

demonstrate the capabilities of a

computer-controlled machine tool as

it shapes a prototype wax part. NIST

extension centers have helped many

smaller manufacturers get the advice

they need to automate their

operations with computer-controlled

equipment or computer-aided design

and manufacturing systems.

Accuspray Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, manufactures

commercial and industrial paint spraying

equipment. When the company needed help

refining a paint sprayer design, it turned to the

NIST extension center in Cleveland. The center

put the company in touch with university

researchers who helped make the sprayer

50 percent more efficient. The center also

recommended changes in plant layout that saved

$500,000 in construction costs and shortened

lead times for manufacturing the sprayers from

10 days to two.
t V e n e s s

Under its new management, Thomson Berry

Farms, Duluth, Minn., was looking for a makeover. The NIST extension center affiliate in

Virginia, Minn., helped the company hire an

engineering consultant who redesigned the firm's

plant layout and suggested other changes that turned the company—in one year—into a

profitable enterprise. "Our changes allowed us to cut our labor costs in half," without eliminating

any jobs, says CEO Paul Leonidas. "They also

helped us go out and seek more business.

We have almost quadrupled the production

capabilities of the plant."

Above. Located in Canton, Ga.,

Evenflo makes plastic baby bottles

by injection molding. The company

receives advice from the NIST

extension center in Atlanta, Ga. MEP

centers can offer hands-on advice to

help smaller companies improve their

productivity and competitiveness.
Laboratory Research and Services

Above. Physical scientist Tinh Nguyen places a sample into an

infrared microscope to study factors

affecting the failure of plastics used

to protect structural steel from

corrosion.

Above. NIST engineering technician

Daniel Saw/yer IV calibrates an

articulating arm coordinate

measuring machine, a tool w/idely

used in the automotive and aircraft

industries. NIST is working with

industry to develop national

standards for evaluating the

performance of such machines.

NIST laboratory research and services provide the

infrastructural technologies, such as measurements,

standards, reference materials, evaluated data, and

test methods, that U.S. industry needs to continually

improve its products and services.

NIST plans and implements its laboratory program in conjunction with U.S. industry through workshops,

discussion forums, consortia, and extensive formal and

informal cooperative research efforts. It measures the

results of its work through feedback from industry about

tangible economic benefits. The Institute has participated

in more than 500 Cooperative Research and Development

Agreements since 1988. Ninety-five percent of NIST CRADA

partners are businesses, with about equal numbers of

large and small companies participating.

Specific areas of NIST research expertise include

electronics and electrical engineering, manufacturing

engineering, chemical science and technology, physics,

materials science and engineering, building and fire

research, and information technology. NIST also provides

industry with a wide range of technology services.

These include Standard Reference Materials and Data,

information on national and international standards,

laboratory accreditation, and equipment calibration.

Fiscal year 1995 appropriations for NIST laboratory research

and services total $265 million. In addition, NIST has begun

receiving appropriations for construction of the advanced

laboratory facilities needed to bring the Institute's facilities up to the 21st-century needs of industry.

m e a

10
/

Precise control of fiber diameters is a critical

factor in the quality of connections for the

$2 billion optical fiber industry. A recently issued

NIST Standard Reference Material has helped

the industry reduce uncertainty in its measure-

'

ments of fiber diameters by a factor of 10. "The

opportunity to work with NIST on this project,"

says Jan Suwinski, executive vice president of

Corning Inc., Corning, N.Y., "gave Corning and

other American fiber manufacturers a clear

competitive advantage."

Left. Research chemists Angela Might

Wall<er and Richard Suenram use a

NIST-developed microwave

spectrometry system to identify trace

gases commonly found in automotive

emissions. The spectrometer is much

faster and easier to use than current

emission analysis methods.

Left. Reliable "pocket chemistry" is

the goal of NIST work to develop

miniaturized environmental and

medical sensors. Research chemist

Brigitte Ramos transfers a

holographic grating onto a glass wave guide.

Background. This DNA profile was

made using the polymerase chain

reaction (PGR) method, a technique

that allows ana^is of a suspect's DNA even if only a few cells are

available. NIST has developed a

Standard Reference Material to help

ensure theTjtrality of PGR laboratory

tests.

u r e

11
Internal jet engine parts must perform

flawlessly while exposed to hot, corrosive

gases and rotating hundreds or thousands of times per minute. In 1987, NIST joined forces

with a consortium of companies to improve

understanding of the metal powders used in making these and other high-performance parts.

A computer model developed during the project

helped consortium member companies optimize

their powder metallurgy processes. One

company. Crucible Compaction Metals,

improved its percentage of usable powder

produced by over 40 percent while reducing

operating costs.

bear

Left inset. Research engineer Rob

Gettings studies the effect of

machining on the strength of a

ceramic test sample, NIST is working

with a 20-member consortium of

companies and universities to

optimize the machining process for

different ceramic materials.

Left. The NIST Cold Neutron

Research Facility is among the best

places in the world to study

materials properties using neutrons.

These multiple images were made

looking down polished nickel guide

tubes that direct the "cold" or

slowed down neutrons from the

NIST reactor core to a wide variety

of scientific instruments.
Above. Using a laser-based technique

called atom optics, NIST physicists

laid these narrow rows of chromium

atoms (only one-thousandth the width

of a human hair) on a silicon surface.

The technique opens new avenues for

creating smaller, faster microelectronic devices.

Left. Measurements of light intensity,

color spectra, and other variables

provide objective indicators forjudging

the performance of video displays.

NIST physicist George Jones positions

a flat-panel television set within a

2-meter-wide hemisphere used in

making such measurements.

Left. NIST is working with more than

25 vendors to implement paperless

systems to streamline government

procurement. Computer scientist

John Garguilo demonstrates use of

an electronic catalog. Additional

applications for electronic commerce

include transfer of health-care records

and of manufacturing specifications.

13
Below. A 1993 Malcolm Baldrige

award winner, Eastman Chemical Co.

of Kingsport, Tenn., employs more

than 17,000 people and produces more than 400 different chemicals.

fibers, and plastics. Quality manage- ment principles—such as a strong

focus on customers' needs—are woven throughout the company's

business activities.

qua t y
National Quality Award

The Malcolm Baldrlge National Quality Award has quickly

become both the U.S. standard of quality achievement and a comprehensive guide to quality improvement. Congress

established the award in 1987 to promote quality awareness, to recognize the quality achievements of U.S. companies, and to

publicize successful quality strategies. In conjunction with the

private sector, NIST developed and manages the award program.

Two awards may be given annually in each of three categories:

manufacturing, service, and small business. Planning is under

way to extend the benefits of the Baldrige award to the health- care and education communities.

Applicants for the award undergo an extensive evaluation by an

independent review board of private- and public-sector quality

experts. Examiners rate applicants on seven key criteria:

leadership, information and analysis, strategic planning, human

resource development and management, process management,

business results, and customer focus and satisfaction. Facts, not

flash, are needed to make it through the tough screening process.

A General Accounting Office report calls the award criteria,

"the most widely accepted formal definition of what constitutes

a total quality management company." About 1 million copies of the criteria have been distributed worldwide, and thousands of

organizations are using the criteria as a quality improvement

road map.

Above. Ames Rubber Corp., Hamburg,

N.J., also won the Baldrige award in

1993 and employs about 500 people.

Ames manufactures rubber rollers for

office copiers and specialized parts

for front-wheel-drive vehicles. Its

quality management efforts resulted

in dramatic improvements in reducing

defect rates, increasing productivity,

and improving profitability.

Wainwright Industries manufactures stamped

and machined parts for the automotive,

aerospace, home security, and informationprocessing industries. A 1994 Baldrige award

winner, the company credits its quality

management efforts with streamlining of its

requisition procedures, a 35 percent reduction

in product cost, a tenfold reduction in defect

rates, and an improvement in on-time delivery

to nearly 100 percent.

15
Left. The NiST Biomonitoring

Specimen Bank stores thousands of

tissue samples (e.g., human liver,

oysters, and whale blubber) for

monitoring long-term pollution and

health trends. Here, biologist Barbara

Koster removes a container of

samples for analysis.

Organizational Contacts

General Inquiries

(301)975-3058

inquiries@enh.nist.gov

Advanced Technology Program

(800) ATP-FUND

atp@micf.nist.gov

Manufacturing Extension

Partnership

(301)975-3593

mepinfo@micf.nist.gov

Malcolm Baldrige

National Quality Award

(301)975-2036

oqp@micf.nist.gov

Laboratory Programs

Electronics and Electrical

Engineering

(301)975-2220

Manufacturing Engineering

(301)975-3400

Chemical Science and Technology

(301)975-3145

Physics

(301)975-4200

Materials Science and Engineering

(301)975-5658

Building and Fire Research

(301)975-5900

Computer Systems

(301)975-2822

Computing and Applied

Mathematics

(301)975-2728

Technology Services:

Standards Information Center (301)975-4040

Weights and Measures

(301)975-4004

Laboratory Accreditation (301)975-4016

Standard Reference Data (301)975-2208

Standard Reference Materials

(301)975-6776

Calibrations

(301)975-2002

Technology Evaluation

(301)975-5500

Additional Information on NIST Programs

The following free publications

are available by sending a selfaddressed mailing label to:

Public Affairs, Administration

A903, NIST, Gaithersburg, Md.

20899-0001 or by faxing your

request with your name and

address to (301)926-1630.

Guide to NIST 116 pgs —

a comprehensive catalog providing

details and contact information on more than 250 separate program

activities.

NIST Industrial Impacts:

A Sampling of Successful

Partnerships, 80 pgs.

a compilation of 32 brief case

studies describing NIST/industry

cooperative efforts.

Setting Priorities and

Measuring Results at the

National Institute of Standards

and Technology, 38 pgs.

a description of how NIST matches

its programs to industrial needs

and evaluates impact.

Technology at a Glance,

quarterly, 4 pgs.—a lay-language

newsletter providing updates about

NIST award programs, extension

services, and research results.

NIST also provides extensive information on its programs through the

Internet Gopher and World Wide

Web systems.

Gopher system access: telnet to

gopher.nist.gov. At the log in

prompt type gopher. (Gopher

clients may use the NIST server:

gopher-server.nist.gov.)

World Wide Web access:

http://vvww.nist.gov/item/

NIST_GUIDE.html

Technology Commercialization

(301)975-3084
format 0

U.S. Department of Commerce

Ronald H. Brown, Secretary

Mary L. Good, Under Secretary

for Technology

National Institute of Standards

and Technology

Arati Prabhakar, Director

National Institute of Standards

and Technology

Gaithersburg, Md. 20899-0001

(301)975-2000

Boulder, Colo. 80303-3328

(303) 497-3000

February 1995

NIST Special Publication 875

Prepared by the Public Affairs

Division

SP 875 Staff

Project Manager: Sharon Shaffer

Writer/Editor: Gail Porter

Graphic Design: Beverige Seay

Production: Virginia M. Covahey

Printing Coordination: Warren

Overman

Public Affairs Division A903 Administration BIdg.

National Institute of Standards

and Technology

Gaithersburg, Md. 20899-0001

(301)975-2758

Any mention of commercial products is for information only;

it does not imply recommendation

or endorsement by the National

Institute of Standards and

Technology nor does it imply that

the products mentioned are necessarily the best available for the

purpose.

Photography and Graphics:

Andras Vladar/Nick Seay cover;

Robert Rathe, pp. 1,10-bottom,11-13,16:

Engineering Animation Inc., p. 2; Robert J.

Paz, p. 3-top; Susan Houszar, p. 3-bottom;

Providence JoumaZ/Mercury Pictures,

p. 4-top; Lester Lefkowitz, p. 4-bottom;

Optex Communications Corp., p. 5;

Thomas Radcliffe/Point of View Studio,

pp. 6,7,8-top; Kathy Koenig-Simon,

p. 8-9-bottom; Stanley Leary/GT

Telephoto, p. 9-top; H. Mark Heifer, p. 10-

top; Jabez McClelland, p. 13-top right;

Eastman Chemical Co., p. 14; Richard

Kane, p. 15-top; Steuben, p. 15-bottom;

Geoffrey Wheeler, inside back cover.

Above. Electronics engineer Katherine

MacReynolds readies an antenna for

near-field measurements. Developed

by NIST the indoor technique allows

accurate characterization of the performance of large antennas.

I
1^ II^HH National Institute of Gaithersburg, Maryland Boulder, Colorado 1^1^31 Standards and Technology 20899-0001 80303-3328

(301)975-2000 (303)497-3000