National

Bureau of

Standards

A National Resource

for Science and

Technology

Fiscal Year 1978

JULY 1979

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Juanita M. Kreps, Secretary

Jordan J. Baruch, Assistant

Secretary tor Science

and Technology

National Bureau of Standards

Ernest Ambler, Director

National Bureau of Standards

Washington, D.C. 20234

(301) 921-1000

National Bureau of Standards

Boulder, Colorado 80303

(303) 499-1000

Nat. Bur. Stand. (U.S.), Spec. Publ. 538, 86 pages (July 1979)

Cover: Since 1901 , the National Bureau

of Standards has served as a national resource for science and technology—

helping industry, government, academia,

and the general public. On the cover are

just a few of the activities and individuals aided by NBS research and services.

CREDITS:

Writer: Mat Heyman

Editor: Madeleine Jacobs

Designer: William Welsh

Production Coordination: Nancy Starnes

Editorial Assistants: Virginia Covahey

Suzanne Jones

Photography: Mark Heifer, all photos

except as noted below.

Charles Savadelis, pg. 20, 37, 52, 62 (lower

photo), 66, 74, 76, 77; Darwin Miner, pg.

15, 17, 58 (upper photo); Geoffrey Wheeler

Photography, pg. 10, 11, 12; Lawrence Knab, p. 23; Edgar Etz, p. 24; David

Lashmore, P. 42; Masao Kuriyama, p. 46

(right); David Ballard, p. 58 (lower photo);

Department of Housing and Urban

Development, p. 22; National

Transportation Safety Board, p. 40; American Iron & Steel Institute, p. 41; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, p. 57; National Oceanic & Atmospheric

Administration, p. 72; National Fire Protection Association,

back cover (left).

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402

Stock Number 003-003-02093-1
Contents

Foreword by Dr. Ambler

NBS: A National Resource for Science

and Technology

Increasing Measurement Capabilities

The Electromagnetic Interference Challenge

Bolstering State Weights and Measures

Progress in Basic Research

The Bureau's International Scope

Measurement: The Bureau's Forte

Protecting Public Health and Safety

Medical Aids and Research

Consumer Safety

Building Safety

Fire Research

Other Safety Research

Nuclear Safeguards

Using Energy Resources Efficiently

Conserving Energy in Buildings and

Consumer Products

Boosting Solar Energy Use

Energy Efficiency in Industry

Cleaner, More Efficient Utilities Better Utility Reliability and Performance

Promoting Better Use of Materials

Coping with Corrosion

The Materials-Energy Link

Nondestructive Evaluation Methods

Other Significant Materials Accomplishments

Material Benefits

Improving Industrial Productivity

Advances in Semiconductor Technology

The Power of Semiconductors

Automation and Robots

Technological Innovation

Safeguarding Environmentai Quality

Measuring Toxic Chemicals in Water

On Land, in the Air

2 Making More Effective Use of Computers 60

Standards Development 61 Technical Assistance 64

A Plans for a Restructured Standards Program 65 ^ Science and Technology Transfer:

Services and Special Programs 66

Calibration Services 67

National Standard Reference Data System 67 ^ Standard Reference Materials 67

1 7 Measurement Assurance Programs 67

20 Standards Information Service 67

21 Energy-Related Inventions Evaluation 68

22 Research Associate Program 68

22 State and Local Liaison 68 25 Other Exchange Programs 68

29 Guest Worker Program

30 NBS Postdoctoral Research Associate Program

Conferences, Tours, Exhibits, Films 69

General and Media Information 70

33 Publications 70

35 Funds and Facilities 72

37

38 People 74 ^ Awards from Outside Organizations 75 Gold Medal Award Recepients 76

40 Silver Medal Award Recipients

41 Bronze Medal Award Recipients 78

44 Other Internal Awards 78

45 NBS Executive Board 79

45 Visiting Committee 79

46

Summary of Legislation 80

48 Directory 83

50

52

53

54

55

57
Foreword
As the country's oldest national laboratory, the National Bureau of

Standards started working on measurement problems just after the turn of

the century. Seventy-eight years later, we are still providing the Nation with

the scientific foundations needed for ac- curate measurements, and we are continuing to serve as a resource of technical support and advice for the Federal

Government.

Science and technology have changed

tremendously since NBS first opened

its doors. Basic measurement science

has become much more sophisticated,

and our technical challenges have

become increasingly complex and

numerous.

In many respects, NBS has changed

too. Judging by our expanded Congressional mandates and the variety of

research areas we are engaged in, the need for the Bureau's research and as- sistance in solving national science- and

technology-related problems has grown

substantially.

We have tried to keep pace with the

times and this country's needs, carrying out the scientific and technical tasks

that are consistent with our multiple

missions. This means that in addition to working to provide a better scientific basis for measurements, our researchers have been involved with the tasks of

improving industrial productivity,

promoting better materials use, using

energy efficiently, and other societal challenges.

We have now launched a special effort to renew and enhance our

technical competences in research areas

critical to the Nation and basic to our

goals. This strengthening of technical

excellence is designed to ensure that the Bureau can continue to provide the underpinning essential to our ability as

a Nation to make strides in top priority

and emerging research fields. Even as we build for the future, the Bureau is carrying out today's work.

This report summarizes a number of

significant NBS accomplishments

during fiscal year 1978. There were, of

course, many more. In fact, the Bureau

is working on literally hundreds of

projects at any one time.

One of our prime goals is to make

NBS work more accessible to the

Bureau's varied users in industry,

academia, government, and the general

public. We encourage you to ask for more details on Bureau projects. To

help you use the information resulting

from our research, an appropriate NBS

laboratory or office is noted for each

project cited in this report along with a

list of selected publications. You will also find a Directory with names, addresses, and phone numbers. Feel free to call on us.

The headquarters of the National Bureau

of Standards is located in Gaithershurg,

Maryland.

3
NBS: A National

Resource for Science

and Technology
From the outset in 1901 when it was es- tablished by Congress, the National

Bureau of Standards has been a national scientific and technical

resource working in the public interest. As the Nation's central reference lab- oratory for measurements in the

physical sciences and engineering, NBS

develops, maintains, improves, and dis- seminates hundreds of measurement

standards. These include the fundamental standards relied upon for temperature, time and frequency, mass, amount of substance (mole), length,

and electrical measurements. The

methods for making these measure- ments and the standards themselves are needed by scientists, engineers, and

medical practitioners, as well as

business managers and consumers. These techniques and standards are

used in thousands of ways each day,

constituting the Nation's underlying

measurement network.

Over the course of its 78 years, NBS

has also been a technological problemsolver and an unbiased source of scientific and technological advice for the

Nation. From the very start—and now

more than ever before—the Bureau has

used the technical know-how it has

developed in meeting its measurement

and standards responsibilities to answer problems that the Congress, other government agencies, or industry bring to

it. Whatever the challenge, if it involves

measurement in any way, NBS has

probably been working on the

answers—or helping others to find the

solutions.

The Bureau is not a regulatory

agency, so it does not mandate or

At left, physicist Louis Holdeman

describes the NBS electrical measurements facilities to a delegation

from the Peoples Republic of China.

Above, DOC Assistant Secretary for

Science and Technology Jordan ./. Baruch and members of the delegation

look on as Robert Crowder demonstrates

NBS literature retrieval operations.

enforce any standards. Rather, NBS

provides the technical basis for the actual selection and application of stan- dards by government agencies or domestic and international voluntary

standards organizations.

A part of the U.S. Department of

Commerce, the Bureau's staff of 3,150

includes a large contingent of scientists and engineers in just about every spe- cialization, along with mathematicians, economists, architects, and

professionals in a variety of other disci- plines. This depth and breadth of

expertise is one of the reasons why the Bureau has always been viewed

differently and relied upon by a very

diverse clientele in industry, government, and academia.

• To research scientists in university,

corporate, or government laboratories,

NBS is a source of reference materials,

data, and standards that are needed to calibrate equipment, make essential calculations, or improve measurement

techniques.

• To engineers involved in product or system design—whether it be a waste

incineration plant, a super-sensitive microelectronic device, or an energyefficient refrigerator—the Bureau is an

authoritative distributor of technical

guidelines and standards.

*> To Federal and local government

officials administering energy,

materials, or any number of research

programs, the Bureau is an independent

laboratory that performs research with

objectivity and technical soundness. To

those making decisions about consumer

protection, environmental quality, and

public safety regulations, NBS is an

5
unbiased source of technical

information upon which those decisions can be based.

• To State and local officials

responsible for assuring buyers and sell- ers that a pound is a pound, a gram is a gram, or a liter is really a liter in businesses throughout their jurisdictions, NBS is the measurement agency

that provides uniform sets of weights

and measures, technical training, and

management assistance.

• To American voluntary standards

organizations seeking the technical in- formation needed for writing product

or system standards, the Bureau is a resource for science and engineering

data.

• To international groups concerned

about the compatibility of measure- ments and standards among nations,

NBS is the primary U.S. contact point

for exchanging information and

bringing about that compatibility.

• To the public at large, the Bureau is a source of consumer information on

topics such as energy conservation,

corrosion, smoke detectors, and many

other subjects. And while individuals

may not realize it, the public also benefits directly from Bureau research

in such varied areas as improved clinical chemistry analysis for medical

diagnosis and environmental

protection.

Reexamining, Streamlining

To an unprecedented degree, the

mission, resources, and future

directions of NBS were the subjects of

public attention during fiscal year 1978

as a variety of organizations took

searching looks at the Bureau. Congress

gave special consideration to the

agency: the first Congressional

oversight hearings in recent memory

were held in the Senate and, for the first time in 6 years, in the House of

Representatives. The Congressional

Office of Technology Assessment also reviewed NBS, as did the Bureau's

Visiting Committee and the agency's

management itself. There was a thorough examination of the

institution's present condition, its strengths, and the areas in which it should devote greater attention in order

to perform today's tasks and prepare to meet the science and technology chal- lenges of the future. A major subject of the evaluations was the growth in responsibilities and

short-term projects which NBS has

undertaken as a result of Congressional

assignments and government agency

requests. In step with a resurgence of concern about the Nation's scientific and technological health and capacity

to innovate, there was a reassessment of

the traditional NBS role in performing

basic scientific research and providing

the country with a core of technical

competence in the most advanced measurement sciences and sophisticated

technological applications.

As a result of the assessments both

within and outside the Bureau, NBS

made a number of organizational and

program changes designed to keep itself at the leading edge of science and tech- nology and to make sure that it remains

a source of technical excellence for the Nation.

During the fiscal year, NBS

underwent its first major reorganization

in more than a decade. Designed to help

the Bureau in its multiple roles as the Nation's central measurement laboratory, basic research performer, and

technological problem-solver, this or- ganizational shift replaced the separate

Institutes of Basic Standards, Materials

Research, and Applied Technology

with a new National Measurement Laboratory and a National Engineering

Laboratory. There was also a minor

realignment of the Institute for Computer Sciences and Technology. (A

directory of the new organizational

structure is provided on page 83.)

The Bureau is now more clearly

organized along disciplinary and

functional lines. Technical competences that had matured and grown over

the years in various organizational units

have been consolidated. The number of

formal operating units also has been

reduced.

The regrouping is helping the Bureau

to match its capabilities with its diverse

responsibilities. By permitting more

flexible use of the technical competences lodged within NBS laboratories, the

organizational streamlining also

facilitates the interdisciplinary research

needed in dealing with today's scientific and technological issues. The NBS

mathematical capabilities now located

within the National Engineering Laboratory's Center for Applied

Mathematics, which helps all segments

of the Bureau meet the expanding

mathematical needs inherent in advanced research, exemplify the

benefits of this flexible organizational

setup.

Enhancing Technical Excellence

The reorganization reflects the desire to maintain and enhance the technical resources of the Bureau, especially in areas likely to require more attention in the future as national scientific and

technological priorities and needs

change.

The Bureau must have the required

technical expertise and facilities on

hand, not only to respond quickly and

effectively to requests for immediate

assistance on urgent technological

problems, but also to carry out the basic

measurement and fundamental scientific research functions of the agency. Recent measurement research within

the NBS Center for Absolute Physical

Quantities is a case in point.
NBS Organization

Public Affairs Officer DIRECTOR

Deputy Director

Associate Director for Programs, Budget & Finance

Legal Adviser

National Measurement

Laboratory

Center for Absolute Physical Quantities Center for Radiation Research

Center for Thermodynamics &

Molecular Science Center for Analytical Chemistry

Center for Materials Science

Measurement standards based upon

the atomic frequencies of particular

elements have become increasingly important to those who need the most

precise possible values for the basic

physical constants. The present

measurement standard for the second,

for example, is based upon the

frequency of radiation emitted by a cesium atom. (One second now is defined as the time required for

9,192,631,770 oscillations of the

"undisturbed" cesium atom.) Although

they are the best standards available, all atomic frequency standards are limited

in accuracy mostly because the motion

of the atoms gives rise to frequency

uncertainties. Last year, NBS scientists were able to confine individual atoms in a trap and

EEO Program

Coordinator

Office of the Director NBS/Boulder Laboratories

Director of Administrative & Information Systems

National Engineering

Laboratory

Center for Applied Mathematics

Center for Electronics & Electrical Engineering Center for Mechanical Engineering &

Process Technology

Center for Building Technology

Center for Fire Research

Center for Consumer Product Technology

Center for Field Methods

then "cool" the atoms by using laser radiation. This slowed down the atoms

and reduced the frequency uncertainty.

The new cooling technique will allow

very high resolution spectroscopy of

atoms and molecules that should permit

a better general understanding of

molecular structure and may lead to greatly improved definitions of the units

of time and length. The basic competences in physics making this

experimental breakthrough possible were acquired and cultivated at NBS

during the past several years and

required careful planning.

The Bureau's ability to fulfill its multiple missions and provide the measurement foundations for technological innovation is heavily dependent on

the continued maintenance and

enhancement of its technical

Institute for Computer

Sciences & Technology

Center for Programming

Science and Technology

Center for Computer Systems

Engineering

competence. Thus, NBS last year

embarked on a program to strengthen

key research areas. This competence

enhancement program will enable NBS

to attain its own goals and to meet the projected needs of those who depend on Bureau services. Research fields

selected for this multi-year program will involve long-term theoretical and

experimental studies upon which NBS

and its clients can rely for expertise.

Special competence building initiatives are being undertaken where scientific solutions compatible with the NBS

mission appear possible and where the underlying scientific foundation ap- pears ripe for advancement.

7
Visions of the Future Surface science, one of the fields selected for the first installment of the

special competence enhancement pro- gram, illustrates the fundamental importance and nature of the research

areas being given this special attention.

Even as great strides have been made

over the past decade in understanding

the electronic and chemical properties

of surfaces, it is apparent that there is much more to be learned about the surfaces of materials. Our ability to understand and control processes in such diverse areas as catalysis,

adhesion, corrosion, lubrication,

frictional wear, bonding, and oxidation

and our use of an array of technologies,

including microelectronics and many

energy production processes, rests upon

advances in surface science. Our

understanding of the smallest particles

deemed to be pollutants and certain

biological processes also stands to be

affected by progress in this multidisciplinary research field. Surface science, which relies heavily

upon the joint work of physicists and

chemists—both theorists and experimentalists—is an area of basic research

at the frontier of science, but one which

holds extraordinary opportunity for practical applications.

The properties of surfaces are known

to differ from the properties of the bulk

of many materials. To a great extent,

these surface properties are determined

by the chemical identity and the

position of individual atoms and groups

of atoms at or near the surface.

Scientists working in this field are seeking to understand surface

properties and processes at the atomic

level. One of their principal challenges is to develop improved measurement

Electron Stimulated Desorption Ion A ngular Distributions ( ESDIA D) is a new method for directly determining

surface molecular structure. Researchers

Theodore E. Madey (left) and John T. Yates, Jr., are shown with ESDIA D apparatus, one ofseveral new measurement

tools developed in the Bureau's surface

science program.

methods with the sensitivity, specificity,

and accuracy needed to identify surface

atoms and atom arrangements in both

laboratory and practical situations. NBS scientists are now at the

forefront of current understanding and

abilities in surface science. In both the

National Measurement Laboratory and

the National Engineering Laboratory,

the Bureau last year conducted a number of projects that have brought a more complete understanding of

surfaces and will stimulate improved

application of this knowledge to

industrial processes and technologies

dependent on surface characteristics.

For instance, recent work in the Center for Thermodynamics and

Molecular Science, a unit which has

been heavily involved in surface science

research, led to the development of a method for directly determining the geometrical structure of molecules

adsorbed on surfaces. The Bureau re- searchers have used this technique of

determining the angular distribution of

ions desorbed by electron impact

(ESDIAD) to make the first such measurements.

8
In the ESDIAD method, a focused

electron beam bombards a metal single

crystal containing an adsorbed layer of

gas. Top shows desorbing oxygen ion (0 +

) beams during bombardment of an

oxygen-covered tungsten single crystal.

0+ beams are detected with image

intensifier and displayed visually on a

fluorescent screen. Photos show patterns

ofO + emissions as viewed on screen. A t bottom are two different atom

arrangements of the tungsten surface,

corresponding to photos. This example il- lustrates a direct relationship between ion desorption directions and the orientation

of surface molecular bonds that are ruptured by the electron beam.

ESSDIAD Apparatus

Electron Stimulated Desorption Ion Angular Distributions (ESDIAD)

Schematic view of microscopic process shows desorbing oxygen ion beams during bombardment of an oxygen covered tungsten single crystal

Patterns of oxygen ion emissions as viewed on fluorescent screen.

Top view of tungsten surfaces (black circles represent adsorbed oxygen

atoms).

Also in this Center, NBS scientists showed that a nickel single crystal could

accurately model the practical, highsurface area powder nickel catalysts

used in the production of methane

(synthetic natural gas) from hydrogen

and carbon monoxide. The nickel single

crystal is relatively easy to characterize, so the researchers can readily study at the atomic level the effects of catalytic

poisons and promoters on this important reaction.

A National Academy of Sciences

panel has said that "Surfaces and

interfaces are possibly one of the most

fruitful research topics in materials

science. Knowledge at the most fundamental level in this area can be expected

to be relevant to almost all uses of

materials..." By building upon the base

of technical competence which already

exists at the Bureau in surface science

and surface-important technologies,

NBS will be able to contribute significantly to scientific understanding and a multitude of technological applications

important to society and to the NBS

mission.

Surface science is just one of several research areas chosen for the

competence enhancement program for

fiscal year 1979. The other fields in- clude: nonlinear convection and smoke

dynamics, organic electrochemistry,

small angle neutron scattering, wave

optics, crystal defect physics, and fluid mixtures models.

Each of these areas—and those still under consideration for special emphasis in the coming years—can be

expected to pay dividends in the form of

future science and technology advances

by the Bureau and others throughout

the Nation. Our vision of the future is expanding, and NBS is making a determined effort to prepare for it.

9

The Electromagnetic

Interference Challenge

Last year, an American electronics firm

that was having trouble selling its products in West Germany came to the

National Bureau of Standards for help.

NBS does not offer marketing services,

but the Bureau does offer a range of

expertise in the measurement of elec- tromagnetic radiation and interference

and that is precisely what the electronics

manufacturer needed.

Electromagnetic interference, or EMI, occurs when electromagnetic

radiation interferes with the operation

of electrical or electronic equipment.

The major difficulty is caused not by

ionizing radiation like x-rays—which

present their own benefits and hazards—but by non-ionizing radiation.

This sort of radiation is emitted by a multitude of consumer, industrial, and

communication products. CB radios,

microwave ovens, high voltage trans- mission lines, and radio and TV trans- mitters are just a few of the many

sources of electromagnetic radiation in the United States today.

While we do not yet have a full picture of the EMI situation, the effect of such radiation on electrical and

electronic products is of growing

concern. A CB radio transmission from

a passing car might conceivably trigger

blasting charges at a roadside

construction site. Interference to radio

and television reception can be caused

by CB, amateur, and other radio

operations. Consumer products have

been known to malfunction as a result of EMI. Some electrical and electronic

disorders stemming from EMI can Dean G. Melquist, an electronics technician with the NBS/Boulder lab- oratories, checks the electromagnetic

radiation pattern ofa waveguide horn in a newly constructed anechoic chamber.

Electronics engineer Myron L. Crawford

(left) hands a piece of electronic equipment to technician John L. Workman, who is inside the Bureau's

Transverse Electromagnetic Cell. The

specially-developed cell tests equipment

for susceptibility to electromagnetic

interference, a phenomenon of growing

concern.

indirectly pose public health and safety

hazards. For instance, anyone with a heart pacemaker should be warned to stay clear of microwave ovens which

might interfere with the pacemaker's

sensitive controls. As new electronic

products are introduced, the opportunities for disruption and damage due to EMI increase. The heart of the EMI problem is that there is an inadequate base of measurement techniques for establishing either the total electromagnetic environment

at any point in time or the susceptibility

of electronic systems to that environ- ment. In the case of the U.S. electronics

firm, a desk-top computer it wanted to

sell in West Germany had been rejected

by that country for failing to meet

German standards for controlling elec- tromagnetic radiation—despite the fact that the company's own measurements

1 1
The probe shown here is being used to measure the radio frequency level around

a CB antenna mounted on a vehicle. NBS

is working to resolve the measurement

uncertainties associated with

electromagnetic radiation emitted by and

affecting CB radios and a multitude of

other consumer, industrial, and communication products.

indicated that the product met the applicable standards.

The firm approached NBS for assis- tance in resolving the apparent

measurement discrepancy. The Bureau

has extensive facilities for measuring

electromagnetic radiation, including

the only U.S. facilities similar to those

used by the Germans. It also has a technical staff known for its experience in closely related measurement areas. The manufacturer entered into an agreement with NBS and initiated a Research Associate Program at the Bureau. (The NBS Research Associate

Program enables technical specialists in U.S. firms and professional organizations to work at NBS temporarily in order to carry out projects of mutual

interest. More information about the

program can be found on page 68.) The

program brought company engineers to the Center for Electronics and Electrical Engineering at the NBS Boulder, Colorado, laboratories.

Through this joint effort, NBS and

the electronics firm have been trying to pinpoint and explain the measurement

discrepancies. The results of their

investigations will be published and

distributed by NBS. The likely end pro- duct? The company may yet be able to

sell its products in West Germany, and

other U.S. manufacturers will have

ready-made measurement procedures

for similar situations. This will help not only individual companies, but it will also mean a stronger American export

position at a time when our trade

balance is of utmost importance. It also may mean that American consumers

will be able to purchase products that have less potential for exacerbating the EMI problem in this country.

NBS also aided another U.S. firm last year with a specific EMI measurement

problem. A major communications and

electronics company needed to test electronic telephone equipment for its susceptibility to EMI. Once again, the Center for Electronics and Electrical Engineering was called upon, this time

to construct a transverse electromagnetic (TEM) cell for the company. A

TEM cell is basically a large enclosure

where electronic equipment can be

tested to see how it is affected by known

sources of EMI or to check its own elec- tromagnetic radiation output. NBS

constructed the first such testing tool

several years ago, just one of a variety of

instruments the Bureau has developed

to measure EMI radiation and its effects. The Bureau does not normally build

laboratory equipment for a private

company. But in this case, NBS decided

that the demand for TEM cells would be

growing as a result of the increased awareness of EMI and that the Bureau's guidance on building the cells would

become more important. Six months

after they started on the project, NBS

engineers and craftsmen had built and

shipped the custom-made cell to the company. Records documenting cell design and construction were

maintained as work proceeded. Those

step-by-step guidelines will now be

made available to any firm or laboratory that wishes to build its own TEM cell. As the premiere government agency

for electromagnetic radiation measurement, NBS also provides considerable assistance to other Federal

agencies that are concerned with EMI.

Last year, NBS developed four devices

to help guard sensitive military elec- tronics equipment from EMI which can jeopardize control systems. Under

certain conditions of interference, it is conceivable that a weapon might not be

deployed or detonated when expected.

The devices NBS invented after several years of work for the U.S. Army

Communications Command will sound

an alarm when high levels of electro- magnetic radiation are detected.

Sensitive components of the sophisticated military hardware can then be

shielded or the radiation source can be

tracked and eliminated.

The National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration has been aware of the

possibility that EMI could cause

failures in the electronic controls of

anti-skid braking systems used in trucks. In fact, a regulation which led to the installation of such electronic anti12
Bolstering State Weights and Measures

The responsibility for ensuring the accuracy of weighing and measuring

equipment used in the U.S. marketplace

falls to individual states and territories, making their weights and measures

offices the first line of defense against

chaos in the marketplaces and exchanges

of this country.

In the early 1960's, NBS officials surveyed various State weights and

measures offices and laboratories and

found serious weak points in that measurement system. They discovered that many of the State standards were in disarray. Certain sets of standards could

not even be physically located. That was

not too surprising, since the last official sets of standards had been distributed to the States during the middle of the 19th

century.

As custodian of the national stan- dards of measurement and as the organization which sponsors and assists the National Conference on Weights and

Measures, NBS in 1965 began a program

to distribute a complete set of replacement

standards to the States and territories. Under the replacement program,

weights and measures offices received 67

different mass standards (weights), 4 steel rules for length standards, 17 standards

for volume, and 5 precision balances. NBS also trained weights and measures

personnel in the operation and

maintenance of a modern standards lab- oratory. Last year, NBS moved into the final phase of its 13-year program when it presented sets of standards to Washington and Mississippi. (The Virgin

Islands and Puerto Rico have since received their standards also, completing

the weights and measures program for 53

States and territories.)

NBS instrument maker Jeffrey Kelley

(top) uses a numerically-controlled lathe

to fashion a 5 kilogram mass standard

designedfor use by states and territories. At right, engineering technician Blayne

Keysar tries a standard mass of 5 kilo- grams in a precision balance.

13
An NBS experiment has helped resolve discrepancies surrounding quantum

electrodynamics, a basic theory of

physics. Physicists Albert Henins and

Ernest Kessler ( right) discuss the project,

which has led to a hundredfold improvement in the overall accuracy of

electromagnetic wavelength standards

in the gamma-ray region.

skid systems was withdrawn when the seriousness of the EMI problem was

raised as an issue. In recent tests for that agency in which trucks with

electronically-controlled brakes were

exposed to an electromagnetic radiation

field, NBS engineers confirmed that EMI affected the operation of the

brakes. Additional research is continuing to determine the extent of

the problem.

Also last year, NBS completed work

for the Federal Aviation Administration on specialized measurement in- strumentation and techniques to assess

electromagnetic radiation levels around

antenna sites at airports and in airplanes. Bureau researchers also supplied NBS-developed instrumentation

to assist the Environmental Protection

Agency in developing a data base characterizing electromagnetic radiation in 12 major U.S. cities. The aim was to provide a benchmark which will help

judge the state of the electromagnetic

environment over a number of years. Considering the rapidly mushrooming reliance on electronically controlled

products emitting and simultaneously

standing to be affected by electromagnetic radiation, the Bureau's EMI measurement research and information is certain to become more important.

Progress in Basic Research

A number of measurement studies at NBS fall into the realm of basic science. In this category is a whole range of

investigations aimed at studying the fundamentals of physics by applying ac- curate measurements. These exper- iments strengthen the foundations of our measurement system, but they are

first and foremost designed to improve

our knowledge of physics by testing

basic principles and theories. They are part of the mandate in the NBS Organic

Act to undertake "the determination of

physical constants and properties of

materials when such data are of great

importance to scientific or manufacturing interests and are not to be obtained of sufficient accuracy

elsewhere."

14
This type of basic research is exemplified by the work of physicists in the Center for Absolute Physical

Quantities who have been characterizing the electromagnetic spectrum to a greater degree of accuracy than has

been achieved previously. Using a combination of x-ray and optical inter- ferometry followed by accurate deter- mination of gamma-ray diffraction

angles, these NBS physicists have es- tablished new wavelength standards in the gamma-ray region that are more

closely tied to basic atomic standards in the visible region. Their achievement

represents a hundredfold improvement

in the overall accuracy of electromagnetic wavelength standards.

The new scale has already had several important applications. For instance, it

Recent Bureau research in measurement

science has improved upon the 1887

" Michelson-Morley" experiment which

aided Einstein and others in developing

the special theory of relativity. Physicist

John L. Hall is shown here with some of

the laser equipment which helped to achieve this increased accuracy.

has aided other scientists in resolving

persistent conflict between experiment

and theory involving certain exotic

atoms containing mu mesons. This

discrepancy had led to a questioning of one of the most basic theories of

modern physics, quantum electrodynamics (QED). At the root of this experiment-theory discrepancy was the inconsistency of the wavelength stan- dards in this part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Using NBS research

results, scientists have been able to bring about greater agreement between

experiment and theory, thereby sup- porting QED. In a second application

of the NBS work, other scientists have

compared the radiation emitted by

atoms containing a pi meson to the new NBS wavelength standards, enabling

them to calculate the pi meson mass more accurately.

Another test of QED theory also was made possible last year as a result of an improved measurement method for determining the proton gyromagnetic

ratio to the unprecedented accuracy of

two parts in ten million. When

combined with the measured values of

other fundamental constants, this new

result yields an extraordinarily precise

value for the fine structure constant, a

critical parameter in QED. This has

helped permit the unequivocal

comparison of QED theory with

experimental observation and will allow

testing of theory and experiment for several basic quantities at heretofore

unattainable accuracies.

Like much of the research NBS

performs in measuring fundamental

physical constants, this work by the Center for Absolute Physical Quantities

required unique capabilities. In this case, a first-class nonmagnetic laboratory and expertise in ultraprecise

dimensional metrology were prerequisites. Both are unique to NBS in this country. In fact, this is clearly an exper- iment which no one else in the United

States could have undertaken. At least four other countries have had programs

dating back 10 to 20 years to determine

the proton gyromagnetic ratio. The

NBS results improved by a factor of 20

the previous level of accuracy achiev ed

elsewhere.

A new version of this experiment

which should yield an additional factor of 10 increase in accuracy is now

underway and several measurement

spinoffs should result. For example,

methods for measuring the physical

dimensions of objects at cryogenic temperatures, techniques for determining

the load coefficients of precision

resistors to high accuracy, and a means

to generate, measure, and control

magnetic fields to unprecedented

15
As the national measurement laboratory

of the United States, NBS is a prominent

member of the international research and

standards communities. The Bureau is actively involved in several international standards-setting organizations, in- cluding the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, the International Organization for Legal Metrology,

and the International Standards Organization. Outside of this formal standards arena,

the Bureau also has direct contact with

individual standards and research organizations in developed and

developing countries around the globe.

This liaison facilitates the intercompari- son of a variety of measurement stan- dards and allows NBS to share in the

latest world developments in science and

technology.

Another facet of the Bureau's international role is its assistance to other Federal agencies in policymaking on in- ternational science and technology

issues. Last year, for instance, NBS

helped the Department of State to

accuracy and precision are just a few of

the prospects.

Over the years, NBS has helped usher

in a revolution in measurement science

and in our ability to test fundamental

physical theories through application of

laser technologies. Using new laser- stabilization techniques they had

developed, physicists at the Joint

Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics

(JILA)—operated by NBS and the University of Colorado—last year

reconfirmed and improved upon one of

the seminal experiments fundamental to scientific knowledge about time,

distance, and motion.

Known as the Michelson-Morley test of "ether drift," this famous 1887

experiment has been basic to the

development of the special theory of

relativity by Einstein, Lorentz, and

prepare for the 1979 United Nations

Conference on Science and Technology

for Development. This conference—the

first of its kind since 1963 —covers several aspects of the use of science and technol- ogy to benefit developing countries. The Bureau works frequently on a one- to-one basis with scientists and engineers

from other countries. For example, NBS

last year hosted 42 guest workers from 1

countries who participated in a broad

range of research projects. This international exchange allows the Bureau to draw upon the expertise of researchers around the world and offers foreign

scientists and engineers an opportunity

to become directly involved in studies at NBS. (For more information on this and

other exchange programs, see page 66.) This science and technology sharing is enhanced further by representatives of

foreign governments, standards-writing

organizations, and industries who visit the Bureau's laboratories. During FY

1978, NBS received 695 such visitors from 55 nations.

others. In part, this theory holds that space is isotropic—that is, the same in

all directions. In 1964, Massachusetts

Institute of Technology scientists Townes and Javan demonstrated that the accuracy of that experiment could

be increased by using laser measure- ment technology.

With the assistance of a guest worker

from the Laboratoire de THorloge

Atomique in France, JILA physicists

have developed and put new laser stabilization techniques to work in dramatically improving upon the earlier

tests of isotropy. The recently achieved

results represent a 4, 000-fold improvement over the 1964 experimental

accuracy. With sufficiently sensitive measurements of this type, it may be

possible in the future to actually measure the effects of the curvature of

space due to the gravitation of massive

bodies, such as the earth or the sun. Much of the basic research at the Bureau not only adds to our fundamental scientific knowledge base, but

also finds specific—and many times

diverse—applications in science and

technology.

A number of recent achievements in the Center for Thermodynamics and

Molecular Science illustrate this type of

research. A prime example is the application of a technique (ion-cyclotron

resonance) which can be used to measure the thermodynamic properties

associated with the transfer of electrons

in mixtures of gaseous organic compounds. This method has relevance in comprehending not only the chemical

processing of hydrocarbons but also the behavior of certain dynamic biological processes like photosynthesis.

Similarly, recent accomplishments in explaining the process whereby the

chemical bonds joining carbon atoms to each other are split apart have their roots in the most basic NBS molecular

science and measurement skills. This

work in the Center for Thermodynamics and Molecular Science holds clear promise for important applications in controlling and optimizing the way

fossil fuels perform during combustion.

Another achievement by scientists in that center exemplifies the multiple

directions in which basic research can

lead. By studying the millimeter-wave

spectrum of glycine in its vapor phase,

NBS scientists resolved years of

conjecture among chemists and

biologists about the geometrical form

glycine vapor takes. More detailed

studies now made possible by the NBS

research are expected to yield information which will be useful in modeling

biochemical reactions of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. At the same time, the results are already being

put to use in a search by radioastrono- mers for glycine in interstellar

molecular clouds. Discovery of biological molecules such as glycine could

revolutionize our current ideas about

the origin and natural evolution of life.

16
Measurement: The Bureau's Forte

In addition to those projects cited elsewhere in this report, some of the other

significant NBS achievements of the past year which increase the Nation's measure- ment capabilities are noted below.

Scientists in the Center for Thermodynamics and Molecular Science:

• developed a new way to "fingerprint"

liquid fossil fuels, including gasolines, fuel and machine oils, and industrial hydrocarbon solvents. Utilizing photoionization mass spectroscopy, the technique can be used by police laboratories to compare such fluids and by scientists and

engineers who need to know more about

the characteristics of alternative fuels like shale oils and coal liquefaction products.

I • introduced a new factor to be

considered in modeling the ionosphere by

developing a novel technique (threshold

photoelectron spectroscopy) to analyze

chemicals believed to be similar to those found in that portion of the atmosphere,

but which are not ordinarily observable because of their low concentration.

• made measurements of the thermodynamic properties of rapidly heated graphite in a study supported by the U.S. Air Force. These measurements will provide the Air Force with information

about graphite employed as a heat shield material for rockets. They will also im- prove understanding of the performance of

fuel and structural solids in nuclear

reactors.

• established a service for calibrating low

and medium vacuum measurement in- struments. This service provides an

accuracy 10 to 100 times greater than

previous services and is being used

extensively by industry.

NBS physicist James E. Faller checks

out the new " super spring," a device for

mechanically isolating sensitive equipment from extremely low-level

vibrations. The super spring was

developed at the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics, a research

organization operated by NBS and the University of Colorado.

• improved the equation that describes

the pressure-volume-temperature rela- tionships of ethylene, a chemical widely used in industrial applications. This was

accomplished as part of a joint govern- ment-industry program administered by

the Bureau's Office of Standard Reference

Data.

• constructed a "spherical acoustic resonator" filled with certain gases and

analyzed its sound characteristics in order

to obtain highly accurate measurements of

the thermodynamic properties of these

gases.

Scientists in the Center for Absolute

Physical Quantities:

• determined that time and frequency in- formation from a satellite system that NBS

helped to initiate in 1973 can be corrected

for geographical location to an accuracy

better than 20 microseconds, providing

users with accurate information regardless of their location.

• demonstrated a technique by which the accuracy of today's cesium standards

which serve as the international basis for the definition of the second—may be im- proved by a factor of 10. This im- provement would have a great impact in rapidly expanding use of such standards

for position location, collision avoidance,

and communications applications.

• developed a device, called a "super

spring," that will help isolate equipment

from the disturbing influence of vibrations

as low in level as the earth's natural microseismic background activity.

• established a new way to calculate the rotational and vibrational energy levels of

spherical-top molecules, greatly

simplifying the analysis of high resolution

17
Measurement: The Bureau's Forte (continued)

spectra. The new method will help re- searchers studying laser isotope

separation, time and frequency standards,

and laser-induced chemistry.

• participated in an international comparison of ac-to-dc transfer standards. These standards play a critical role in verifying the performance and accuracy of

ac test and measurement instrumentation. U.S. standards were found to be in excellent agreement with those of the U.S.S.R.,

Japan, and the United Kingdom.

• achieved a stability of two parts in one

billion in a room temperature LC

resonator, a device for controlling

frequency. By far the most accurate in the world, this device opens up a new level of

sensitivity for inductance and capacitance measurements and has potential for application to temperature, pressure, magnetic susceptibility, and displacement measurements.

Scientists and engineers in the Center for Mechanical Engineering and Process Technology:

• designed and developed a new lowvelocity airflow facility which can produce

a uniform airflow with minimal turbulence

at velocities as low as 3 meters per minute.

Laser-optic methods are used as the primary velocity standard. In a series of

tests, a number of anemometers were

evaluated for the U.S. Bureau of Mines.

These results will help establish accurate

safety standards for mine ventilation. The

same facility also allowed NBS to serve as a

third party resource for the General

Services Administration and a private contractor, demonstrating that precise

specifications for ventilation in a new

multimillion dollar office building were

feasible.

• developed a new "Facility for Analyzing Surface Texture," which will aid in characterizing the topography of highperformance optical surfaces and assist in research designed to extend the lifetimes of gyroscope bearings by improving measurement of surface finish. The facility also has been used to study the wear in communications satellites' electrical contacts and to help judge specimens used as Standard Reference Materials for

calibrating instruments in the machine tool and other industries.

• measured the thermal expansion

properties of crude and refined petroleum

drawn from approximately 400 sources around the world. These measurements are

crucial to the computation of petroleum

volumes and thus to the value of

shipments. The work was accomplished

with the support of the American

Petroleum Institute. • developed mathematical models that have greatly improved our understanding

of the fundamental operation of industrial flowmeters, which are used to measure

liquids and gases ranging from water, sewage, and oil to natural gas and air. Errors and uncertainties in flow measure- ment are becoming increasingly important, especially in the metering of liquid

fuels where small percentage errors can make a difference of substantial sums of money.

Scientists and engineers in the Center for Electronics and Electrical Engineering:

• completed measurements on the largest antenna ever evaluated by near-field scanning techniques which were developed

at NBS. There are no conventional (farfield) means for measuring an antenna of

this size to the required accuracy. The new NBS measurements will help calibrate earth terminals of satellite communication

systems.

• developed a new method, known as the "six-port" technique, that is likely to have

a major impact on the design of equipment

that automatically records microwave and

high frequency measurements. More ac- curate, simpler, and less costly than

traditional methods, the Bureau's

innovation will permit microwave

specialists to tailor their measuring

equipment to their particular requirements

rather than procure a general-purpose in- strument with excess measurement

capabilities. The transfer of this technolo- gy was facilitated by a Research Associate

Program sponsored by a major aerospace and data communications system manufacturer.

• used radio stars as a standard signal source to make high accuracy measurements of satellite-earth terminal sensitivity

at extremely high frequencies (above 6

gigahertz). These measurements will become increasingly important as commercial communication satellites move

into these higher frequency ranges in the

early 1980's. • compared electrical energy measure- ment standards of the United States, West

Germany, and Canada, revealing

previously undetected systematic errors and pointing to a need for periodic

comparison. High accuracy is essential in these measurements, which are used to calculate the amount of electricity one

utility system supplies to another, for instance.

Researchers in the Center for Materials

Science: • developed a technique for measuring

the viscosity of liquids at extreme

pressures. This is yielding data with important implications for the manufacture

and use of the "superlubricants" that will be needed for new machine designs. • made a comparative study of flame temperature measurements by

conventional optical methods and novel Raman spectroscopic techniques. The

results have demonstrated improved levels of accuracy and have defined the conditions needed for accurate and repro- ducible temperature measurements used in combustion research and flame inhibition

studies. • successfully obtained pressure measurements on a Bureau of Engraving and

Printing press equipped by NBS with a new

pressure sensing device made from piezoelectric polymers, an unusual class of

materials with which NBS is experimenting in a number of new applications. This agency has not previously

been able to make the sensitive measure- ments permitted by the NBS device and

needed for quality control in the printing of currency.

• developed a new instrument for use in nondestructive evaluation of materials using neutron beams. This "multidetector high-resolution diffractometer for neutron diffraction-profile analysis" is the

first of its kind in the United States.

IX
Researchers in the Center for Analytical

Chemistry:

• studied unusual characteristics of a meteorite which suggest that it is "primitive," that is, relatively unchanged

since its formation. Primitive meteorites

are of special interest to scientists since they provide one of the best clues to the

early makeup of our solar system. NBS

studied the meteorite in cooperation with

scientists from the Smithsonian

Institution. They were able to examine the material and assess its characteristics by

using an extraordinarily sensitive ion microprobe.

• demonstrated a new technique for measuring the fluctuations in concentrations and the average

concentration of individual chemicals in a turbulent gas flow. The improved accuracy

in measurement afforded by this research,

performed in conjunction with the NBS

Center for Fire Research, is important to our understanding of flame and combustion processes and efforts to achieve more fuel-efficient, less polluting combustion. • developed two Standard Reference

Materials (SRM's) for wheat and rice flours. These SRM's will help assure the

accuracy of measurements of important

constituents in flour present only at very low concentration. Developed with partial

support of the Food and Drug Administration, these measurement references will

assist environmentalists, medical re- searchers, nutritionists, and other food

scientists who are interested in the

nutrients and contaminants contained in cereal foods—the source of one-fourth of

the total caloric intake of the U.S.

population.

The Center for Radiation Research:

• completed a measurement of the radius of the carbon nucleus to an unprecedented

accuracy, within 10 attometers (i.e.. + 10X 10 ~ 18 meters). This new value will become the benchmark against which

other nuclei are measured and will be fun- damental to measurement in nuclear

physics.

• measured the continuous light output

of a single electron orbiting in a magnetic

field. This technique permits radiometry to be placed on an absolute physical basis

(that is, in terms of orbit radius and

magnetic field strength). Synchrotron light

in the far ultraviolet wavelength region is being used at NBS for a variety of research

projects in atomic, solid, and biological

systems.

• developed a reliable, high current source of polarized electrons for studying

the spin-dependent interactions of

electrons with materials. The electrons are produced using the photoelectric effect in a semiconductor with circularly polarized

light. Expected to be of great importance in areas of basic research such as surface

science, this steady, reproducible electron source has already found application in significant research projects at NBS and

other U.S. laboratories. A unique low-velocity airflow facility has

been designed and developed at XBS.

Researchers Patrick Purtell (left I and

Philip Klebanoff examine a vane anemometer that has been tested in the

facility for the U.S. Bureau of Mines.

The test results will help establish accurate safely standards for mine

ventilation.

19
Protecting

Public Health

and Safety
Medical Aids and Research

The Bureau's expertise in the measure- ment and physical sciences is brought to bear directly and in a variety of ways on

the protection of public health and

safety. Research in these areas is one of

the more diverse efforts at NBS, in- volving many centers in the National

Measurement Laboratory and the

National Engineering Laboratory.

Typical of this work are recent achievements important in the medical

and health fields. "Getting the most out of x-rays" used

in medical diagnosis and treatment was

the general theme emerging from

several studies in the Center for

Radiation Research. In one project, center researchers demonstrated that physicians and radiologists should be

able to extract more information from

x-ray photographs (radiographs) of

patients than they now are. Like typical

photographic negatives, if x- radiographs are underexposed, they will appear too light to read and analyze.

Consequently, doctors and radiologists use a higher x-ray exposure in order to achieve a sufficiently distinct radiograph.

Actually, the currently unusable light

radiographs in many cases already

contain the information needed by

physicians. In order to use them,

however, emerging "image processing"

techniques have to be utilized. These

methods allow doctors to get more in- formation from the film than the eye can see, but they are used sparingly now

because of the lengthy processing time

required. Still, the fast-paced

development of this technology sug- NBS has helped to foster the use of ul- trasound as a diagnostic tool in the medical community. This interferometer

system and the SonoChromoscope

described on page 29 were developed by

Melvin Linzer and his colleagues and can

be used to examine tissue samples.

NBS physicist Stephen Seltzer examines

a jawbone with the new " Lixiscope," a portable x-ray device that he helped

NASA to develop. The Lixiscope permits

certain x-ray examinations ofpatients

with reduced radiation exposures. It may

also find important industrial uses for

nondestructive evaluation.

gests that image processing will be

available for much wider use in several

years. NBS researchers analyzed the

makeup of x-radiographs and the levels of x-ray exposure at which important

body structures could still be revealed if image processing techniques were to supplement the usual development

methods. Bureau scientists were able to relate mathematically the image content and the patient's exposure, giving

estimates of the minimum exposure

required for detecting particular images

sought. For diagnostic examinations

regularly administered to large

segments of the public, such as chest x- rays, the NBS researchers found that adequate information could be

provided with patient exposures at less than 10 percent of current levels.

21
This same concept, getting more in- formation from lower levels of x-ray exposure, was evident in studies leading to the joint development of an

extraordinary new diagnostic tool by a researcher in the NBS Center for Radiation Research working with a team at the National Aeronautics and

Space Administration's Goddard Space

Flight Center. By coupling a variety of

components not previously used in x- ray diagnosis and utilizing advice and

equipment supplied by other Federal

agencies, the researchers constructed

the first small, hand-held x-ray

fluoroscopic unit. Called the "Lixiscope" (for lowintensity x-ray imaging scope), the new

tool is about the size of a camera and

weighs only a few kilograms, compared

to the heavy, immobile units in hospitals. Although the instrument is not as powerful as conventional x-ray machines—and therefore is most useful for examining an individual's

extremities rather than thicker body

portions—its portability and batterypowered operation have a variety of

advantages. For example, the Lixiscope

may be particularly useful in emergency

situations. One of its major attributes is the possibility of making certain radiographic examinations at dramatically

reduced exposures compared to conventional x-ray machines.

The Lixiscope uses a low-level x-ray emitting material (a radioactive

isotope) which, by itself, produces only

a poor photographic image of the area being examined. However, by adding a night vision scope—widely used in military operations to "see" at night by

intensifying very low light levels—even

those poor images are amplified and

become visible to the physician.

The device has received preliminary

testing in a range of dental and medical

applications. Several manufacturers

Building Safety

Many of the projects undertaken by the Center for Building Technology are intended to promote safety during the construction process and after buildings

are completed. Some of the research performed by this center covers building

materials and construction methods, as well as the safety of building occupants.

Recently this center:

• brought together building community representatives, standards setting

bodies, and Federal agencies to discuss plans to assess and implement tentative building design provisions for mitigating

the impact of earthquake activity on

buildings and their occupants. The

tentative provisions were developed for NBS and the National Science Foundation by the Applied Technology

Council with input by experts from NBS,

other laboratories, and professional

practice. NBS was assigned

responsibility for the development of

seismic design and construction

provisions for buildings by the Federal Earthquake Hazards Reduction Pro- gram submitted by the President to Congress in July 1978. Also, as part of a team of U.S. experts, a Bureau researcher with strong expertise in this field was

dispatched in June 1978 to inspect and

22
analyze the damage caused by an earthquake off the Japanese coast.

• sent researchers to the site of the April 1978 cooling tower collapse at Willow

Island, West Virginia, which killed 51 construction workers. NBS carried out an in-depth engineering investigation of

the collapse at the request of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and examined both

scaffolding design and the strength of

concrete used in the structure. Field and

laboratory investigations were

conducted.

I m

The development of a technical basis for

codes that govern building rehabilitation and research dealing with construction

materials andpractices are two examples

of the wide variety of building-related

safety work undertaken at NBS.

• studied for OSHA the technical provisions in Federal regulations which

govern construction-related excavations,

trenching, and shoring. In addition, Bureau researchers began work on a technique for determining the strength of

concrete in existing structures.

• produced a manual for home safety

design that presents information on home accidents and ways to reduce their frequency and severity. It is intended to be used in the design or rehabilitation of

dwellings. The document is aimed

at architects, but the information

is expected to be useful to homebuilders, product designers, and

homeowners.

• published an analysis of the National Cancer Institute's emergency isolation

facility. Based on studies performed in conjunction with several Federal agencies and other organizations, the

analysis of this building served as a case study to develop a methodology for evaluating buildings once they are oc- cupied. Safety was an important factor

in the building's design, which was

analyzed to see how well it met occupant

needs.

• completed a study of building

rehabilitation, including the develop- ment and enforcement of building

regulations—the major vehicle for en- suring minimum requirements for public

health and safety in buildings. This

study addressed technical needs relating

to rehabilitation and adjustments

needed in the regulatory process. NBS

has been supporting the efforts of

several model code and building

regulatory groups to develop a model

code for building rehabilitations.

• issued a report describing methods to simplify and improve the selection of

criteria for reinforced concrete designs

so that safety margins are set on a firm engineering and statistical basis.

have applied for and been granted

licenses to produce the governmentpatented Lixiscope, which may also find important industrial uses for the

nondestructive analysis of materials

and equipment components.

The Center for Radiation Research

registered a number of other

noteworthy achievements in fiscal year

1978 with implications and potential in the medical field. These include several projects that could aid in cancer

therapy. NBS scientists developed a theoretical method for predicting

certain characteristics of electron beams

that will help calculate radiation

dosage. Since there is a delicate

threshold at which radiation will destroy cancerous cells but permit

healthy cells to live, it is crucial that therapists know precisely what dosage

is received by the patient. The NBS

predictive method could provide a more

accurate way to make that determination. NBS also established exposure stan- dards for iridium-192, a radionuclide

often used in cancer therapy. To assure that treatment centers using this

material are certain of their measurements, NBS has set up calibration

services for their use. In another area of medical research,

scientists in the NBS Center for

Analytical Chemistry have pioneered

the special use of a technique which

could well become an invaluable tool in biomedicine and pathology. The

technique utilizes a laser-excited microRaman spectrometer not previously

used to test biological tissues and cells. The Raman microprobe, as it is called,

is likely to be of special significance in detecting occupational or environmental diseases for which existing tech- niques are inadequate.

23
tern

i"

i w

1 %L^«

I

When medical researchers and

doctors find or suspect that foreign

material has been introduced into body

tissue, they need to know the

distribution and identity of the particles or dissolved material. Conventional

microanalytical tools cannot reveal as much information about the material as medical researchers would like. Having

heard about NBS work using the

Raman microprobe, an instrument used

to characterize microscopic samples, a pathologist at the University of

California, San Diego, approached the

Bureau about its possible application to the analysis of living tissue. NBS agreed

to try out the technique. The

pathologist supplied NBS with thin

sections of lymph node believed to contain foreign particles of silicone polymer. It was suspected that the

particles were related to a silicone finger

joint prosthesis implanted in the

patient.

Research confirmed this suspicion

and supported other previously

The laser-excited Raman microprobe

developed by Greg Rosasco (foreground)

and Edgar Etz has been used successfully

to identify molecular constituents in many materials including microscopic air particulates and geological fluid inclusions

as well as to characterize organic

molecular species in biological tissues and cells. For example, the previously

unidentified foreign particles in the lymph node tissue at left were shown to be silicone rubber microparticles.

undocumented medical indications that microparticles can migrate from an

intact and normally-functioning

implant to a distant lymph node. Many

possibilities have been opened up by the NBS application of the microprobe.

The technique should make it possible

to obtain much needed information

about the identity, precise distribution,

and relative abundance of certain

constituents within tissues and cells and

thus contribute significantly toward

understanding many essential tissue and cellular processes. The experiment

also raises the possibility that the

technique can be used to detect,

pinpoint, and characterize a number of

environmental and occupation-related

contaminants within individuals.

Scientists in the Center for Materials

Science also made progress last year in the areas of synthetic implants and

dental research. Companies fabricating

plastic synthetic implants—used to replace damaged or diseased parts of

the body, such as hip, knee, and ankle

joints —need reliable means for

specifying and testing the plastics in order to guarantee the long-term safety

and durability of this product.

24
Fire Research

Fires take more than 7,500 lives, cause

310,000 injuries, and result in billions of

dollars of property damage in this country each year. As the Federal gov- ernment's prime fire research laboratory, the NBS Center for Fire Research

seeks to reduce that toll by improving our knowledge of the way fire works and

what we can do to prevent, forestall, or minimize its destructive effects. In fiscal year 1978, this center: • developed a new device that can test any installed smoke detector to see whether it is sufficiently sensitive and in good working order. The NBS instru- ment is intended for use by fire depart- ments and maintenance personnel in periodic tests and has been used

successfully in several demonstrations.

• examined in laboratory and full-scale

tests the role of various mobile home

interior finish materials in fires as part of

a program sponsored by the Depart- ment of Housing and Urban

Development.

• presented several new test methods

for assessing the flammability of thermal

insulation and saw them adopted for Federal insulation procurement

specifications. (See page 34.) • prepared a system for grading health care facilities in terms of fire safety. The

system offers flexibility to the designers of new facilities and to those remodeling

existing health care buildings. It can be

used to determine how combinations of

fire safety equipment and building construction features may provide a level

NBS is helping to develop a test method

for assessing the potential toxicity oj

combustion products generated when

household materials burn. Left to right,

chemist Susan Womble, physiologist Dolores Malek, and biologist Barbara Levin measure amounts of toxic materials in the blood ofresearch animals and in their immediate environment.

of safety equivalent to that specified in the widely accepted National Fire Protection Association Code. The Center

for Building Technology and the Center

for Applied Mathematics also worked on

this joint project. Several Federal

agencies have asked NBS to prepare a similar evaluation system for application

to housing for the developmentally

disabled and to multi-family residences.

• sponsored the preparation of

audiovisual training aids for health care personnel in the basics of smoke spread

and control and fire "flashover," the point at which a small, nonthreatening

fire suddenly becomes a violent force which can envelop an entire room in flames. The film and slide presentations

are based on NBS research for the Department of Health, Education, and

Welfare.

• saw an NBS test for judging the flammability of corridor flooring systems

adopted by both the National Fire Protection Association and the American Society for Testing and

Materials.

• developed a model for routing people

from buildings under emergency

situations. This work was performed

with the assistance of the Center for Building Technology and the Center for Applied Mathematics. Designed to minimize evacuation time and

bottlenecks, the model will provide

valuable information to architects, municipal building code officials, and

safety officers.

25
Consumer Product Safety

As more attention is focused on the

potential hazards of certain consumer

products and the costs and benefits of

regulating their manufacture to ensure consumer safety, there is an expanding

need for technical expertise in developing

useful and economically efficient testing

and product standards. Recent activities

in the NBS Center forConsumer Product

Technology are aimed at filling this need

and include:

• testing of a device claimed to be

effective in shutting off unvented gas- fueled space heaters so that carbon

monoxide levels in a room will not reach dangerous levels. NBS tests showed that

the apparatus worked well, leading the Consumer Product Safety Commission

(CPSC) to reconsider a total ban it had

proposed on these space heaters.

• completion of a testing device, test procedure, and mathematical model to gauge the likelihood of eye injury from

children's toys which propel objects.

When the prototype device was used in laboratory tests of projectiles, the results correlated well with the model. Work is continuing in this area for CPSC with

Bureau researchers testing human

eyeballs donated to eye banks for research purposes.

• continued development of predictive

methods which will be used in establishing standards for protective

headgear, such as football helmets.

• technical assistance by the NBS Law

Enforcement Standards Laboratory

(LESL) on tests of body armor worn by

police officers. Based on a LESLdeveloped voluntary standard, tests conducted by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration determined that nearly half of

the commercially-available vests tested did not meet performance levels claimed

by manufacturers.

• completion of guidelines on window

and door security by LESL. These guides

are intended to acquaint the general public, architects, and building code officials with the window and door security stan- dards developed by LESL for the Law

Enforcement Assistance Administration.

• assistance to CPSC in evaluating

safety tests for miniature Christmas tree

lights. NBS proposed several of its own

tests in addition to those previously

recommended to CPSC by the National

Consumers League, a group which had

drafted test standards for the Commission. CPSC adopted the proposed

NBS changes as part of its possible stan- dard for the lights. Underwriters Laboratories, a nationally recognized testing

firm, independently adopted the NBS

methods for use in its testing.

The Bureau's Law Enforcement

Standards Laboratory develops

standards and guidelines for law

enforcement and criminal justice

equipment. Ralph Gorden is shown with

laboratory arrangement used to test performance of body armor worn by

police officers.

26
A,s part ofa cooperative program with the American Dental Association, NBShas

made and begun to test dental appliances

cast from a titanium alloy that may he

as good as gold. Below, Richard

Waterstrat, a Research Associate at NBS, examines the structure of the

casting, which is shown in a close-up

being checked against a master casting of

a patient's mouth structure.

Particularly important to such applications is resistance to wear, a characteristic dependent in part on the molecular weight of the plastic. In col- laboration with a guest worker from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA),

NBS researchers in the Center for Materials Science have shown that a commonly used method for measuring

the plastic's molecular weight is unreliable. They are currently working on a more accurate measurement

method.

In cooperation with the American

Dental Association Health Foundation

through its long-standing Research

Associate Program at NBS, the dental

materials and products group within the Center for Materials Science completed

several major projects. With the rising cost of gold, the need for alternative

dental alloys has become more critical. Titanium alloys, used extensively in the aerospace industry and lately for artificial hip joints, have been

considered for dental applications

because of their resistance to corrosion

and compatibility with body tissues. Recent efforts in the dental program

demonstrated for the first time that a

titanium alloy could be used in dental

castings by employing conventional

dental laboratory equipment. This leads the way for use of this less expensive al- loy to supplement or replace gold as a basic dental material.

As part of the same program, re- searchers developed a new fabrication

procedure for dental porcelain that promises better quality control and a reduction in space and labor

requirements. They also demonstrated

a method for significantly improving

the storage stability of certain dental

composites used in fillings and

developed an inexpensive analytical

technique to measure the low levels of

fluoride concentration encountered in dental applications.

NBS has developed and produced more than 70 Standard Reference

Materials (SRM's) for medical measurement applications. SRM's are well characterized materials or measuring

devices which have one or more

physical or chemical properties certified

27
The SonoChromoscope is a unique

medical diagnostic tool which projects

sonic pulses into living tissue and analyzes

the response. The signals are processed

into pictures with the aid of a computer.

Thomas Shawker (foreground) ofNIH is testing the device, aided by NBS

developer Melvin Linzer.

by NBS. They come in many different forms, from fine crystals or powders to sealed vials and thermometers. SRM's

are used widely for calibrating or testing

all kinds of measuring instruments and

are an important Bureau service to many users (see page 67). The Bureau's SRM's are especially needed in the

clinical chemistry area, where 4 billion measurements are made annually and

where accurate measurements are

essential to aid physicians in diagnosing

disease. Working through the NBS

Office of Standard Reference Materials,

the Center for Analytical Chemistry has

completed several projects of immediate usefulness in clinical analysis.

A newly developed SRM will assist physicians in monitoring anti-epilepsy

drugs in the serum of patients under

therapy. Serum is the clear substance

remaining after red blood cells,

fibrinogen, and various other

components of blood samples are separated out. In the case of epilepsy,

knowledge of the exact concentrations

of anti-epilepsy drugs in the patient's serum is very important, especially in the treatment of patients whose disease

is difficult to control. Yet, comparisons

among laboratories have documented

disturbingly large variations in measurement accuracy. The new NBS SRM

consists of freeze-dried human serum

containing four anti-epilepsy drugs at various accurately determined

concentrations. Another new SRM, for use in determining iron in serum, was

issued by NBS and will be relied upon in the diagnosis of hepatitis, obstructive

jaundice, and various anemias.

During FY 1978, a new definitive method was developed by NBS for the accurate analysis of cholesterol in serum. Based on a special technique

(isotope dilution mass spectroscopy),

/-
NBS is one of a handful of labs in the United States studying the basic theory,

properties, and applications ofpiezoelectric polymers, which have a number

of medical uses. Here, physicist Martin

Broadhurst places polymer transducer in a cell for measuring piezoelectric

constants.

this method will be used with previously

developed NBS definitive methods for other serum constituents in the

certification of a human serum SRM.

This SRM will be useful in the accurate

diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of

a range of medical conditions in patients. Like all clinical analysis

SRM's, it will be particularly important

to patients who move from one part of

the country to another or to those who

travel and need assurances that the lab- oratory serum measurements are

correct and based upon comparable

equipment and procedures,

The Bureau is working in other mea- surement-related health areas. Techniques using ultrasonic waves

outside the hearing range of the human

ear have been introduced in medical and

industrial applications over the past

several years and are providing the medical community with new and

exciting diagnostic and therapeutic

tools. NBS has helped to foster use of

this technology. A new Bureau device,

known as the SonoChromoscope was

developed by a scientist in the Center

for Materials Science. It is being

evaluated by the National Institutes of

Health (NIH) and is receiving close attention as an aid in detecting tumors

and fetal defects. It may also prove to be

a safer way to screen for breast cancer than the currently used method of x-ray mammography.

Other Safety Research

Many other projects at NBS designed to protect public health and safety were completed or reached significant milestones during the fiscal year. For

example:

• Scientists in the Center for Thermodynamics and Molecular Science

calibrated and characterized pressure transducers that will help aircraft pilots

keep better track of their altitudes.

• A new instrument which uses low- power microwave radar to monitor coal seam thickness in mines was developed in the Center for Electronics and Electrical Engineering. Use of the instrument is expected to help improve mine safety and

coal mining productivity. Also, the Center for Applied Mathematics devised

a statistical plan for testing coal mine

dust samplers in collaboration with the Bureau of Mines and the Mine Safety and

Health Administration.

• Test methodologies and data have

been developed to assess the mechanical

durability of plastic shipping containers used for hazardous materials trans- portation. This work was conducted in the Center for Materials Science.

• An extensive investigation of an over- the-highway steel pressure vessel that ruptured while being filled with natural gas was conducted by the Center for Materials Science for the Department of Transportation. The NBS investigation of the accident, which killed two people, has pointed to the critical need for developing a data base to evaluate the

susceptibility of pressure vessel steels to hydrogen enbrittlement caused by

harmful chemicals.

29
Ultrasound offers safety, cost, and

application advantages over

conventional equipment for some

purposes. But, like x-ray techniques, ul- trasonic methods require that the

dosage be known accurately if its users are to receive correct information about

the area examined. Furthermore,

studies of possible biological effects and

the development of safety standards for medical uses of ultrasound rely on ac- curate measurements.

Researchers in the Center for

Materials Science have constructed a prototype transducer which gives a

more accurate measurement of ul- trasound dose and will help to calibrate

other transducers—critical components

of ultrasound devices which send out

sonic radiation and receive the return sonic signal which bounces off and

helps characterize the targeted body

area. The new transducer is made of

piezoelectric polymers, materials which

can deliver an electrical charge that is related to the pressure placed on the polymer. NBS is one of a handful of lab- oratories in the United States studying

the basic theory, materials properties,

and applications of piezoelectric

polymers. A pioneer in applying these

materials, the Bureau has developed a number of piezoelectric devices useful

to the medical community.

NBS work on the polymer transducer

prompted FDA to send a guest worker

to the Bureau to investigate the design

and construction of the device. The re- port: the polymer transducer offers a number of advantages over its currently

used crystal or ceramic counterparts

and facilitates more accurate measure- ment of ultrasound dose. While the

total and average dose delivered by an

ultrasonic beam may be considered

Nuclear Safeguards

A number of notable achievements in the area of nuclear safeguards were

registered last year as part of a continuing, interdisciplinary program involving

several NBS centers. Coordinated by the Office of Measurements for Nuclear

Safeguards, NBS work in this area is sup- ported by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission and the Departments of Energy and State. This research aims to improve the quality of nuclear fuel measurements, thus providing sensitive and

timely methods for detecting and

determining diversion of nuclear

materials from government and

industrial facilities in the United States and abroad. Accomplishments in FY

1978 include:

• development of a method for calibrating the volume of storage tanks

for nuclear materials that is 10 to 100

times more accurate than existing

methods. This work by the Center for Mechanical Engineering and Process Technology is of the utmost importance

since accurate knowledge of the volume

of these tanks is essential for the deter- mination of the mass of stored nuclear

material and for subsequent accounting

of this material as it passes through the processing facility. The Center for Applied Mathematics contributed to the im- proved volume calibration by providing

a new methodology for handling the

large amounts of data involved in the

calibrations.

• substantial improvement in the de- termination of the half-life of plutonium

239 in the Center for Radiation Research

as part of a concentrated national effort

in this area.

• demonstration of the feasibility of a technique newly developed by the NBS

Center for Radiation Research for identifying plutonium and uranium

content in nuclear fuel materials. Based on resonance neutron radiography, this technique can reveal differences not only

among elements but also among

isotopes, providing a more accurate

indication of the nuclear material. In a related project, Center for Materials

Science researchers, in conjunction with

the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory,

made progress in the development of a resonance neutron tomography

technique that also could provide greater accuracy in the same difficult measure- ment area.

• development of an improved

uranium assay Standard Reference

Material (SRM). This is one of a series of SRM's being developed by the Center for Analytical Chemistry that will bring

about an improvement in the calibration

of instruments used to measure nuclear

materials.

• completion of a study to determine

whether infrared thermography

techniques would be useful for measuring

plutonium accumulating in pipes and

other segments of the nuclear fuel cycle. Thermography, which measures temperature differentials due to heat

liberated from plutonium, has been

considered a promising measurement

method. However, this research in the Center for Absolute Physical Quantities

indicated that the technique has major

limitations and is not likely to be useful

for quantitative plutonium measure- ment applications.

• development of methods to evaluate

the performance of pressure transducers used to measure the volume of nuclear

materials in fuel tanks. This work was

performed in the Center for Thermodynamics and Molecular Science.

• publication and field demonstration

of a diversion path analysis handbook

written by scientists in the Center for Radiation Research for operators of gov- ernment-owned nuclear facilities.

30
NBS uses its nuclear research reactorfor

a variety ofexperimental work, including, the analysis of environmental and

biological materials. Radiochemist Tom

Gills inserts a sample into the reactor.

safe, there has been no way to tell whether some small part of the beam

focused on a limited area of the body

might be harmful. The NBS transducer can measure the smaller segments of the beam and provide the needed information. Because of this special capability,

FDA has been using the Bureau's

innovation to better characterize ul- trasonic doses.

Meanwhile, the Center for

Mechanical Engineering and Process Technology initiated an international

comparison of measurement methods

used to determine the power output of

conventional ultrasonic transducers.

These powerful measurement methods

are used to help establish safe, effective

levels of ultrasound for medical applications and for establishing perfor- mance characteristics for transducers

used in ultrasonic nondestructive eval- uation of materials. Four specially

designed NBS devices have served as the

basis for the comparison.

Using the NBS nuclear research

reactor, scientists from NBS and a number of other Federal agencies have

helped solve some of today's most

urgent problems, including public

health protection. The reactor has

recently been put to work in analyzing more than 120 foods for toxic and

harmful contaminants. This continuing project for FDA—which has several of its staffers stationed at the NBS

reactor—uses a very sensitive neutron

activation analysis method. The project

has established baseline levels of

contaminants in foods so that over a period of years it will be possible to monitor whether our food is becoming more contaminated.

The reactor was also used by NBS

scientists in a collaborative effort with

the NIH Laboratory of Molecular

Biology in a study of enzyme structures. These researchers developed a method

to determine the structure of very large,

complex macromolecules, such as those

in body enzymes and proteins. They

then used this method and a high

intensity neutron beam to study

ribonuclease, a digestive enzyme.

Scientists conducting this research were

particularly interested in structural

details related to hydrogen bonds in the protein chains—information which is critical to an understanding of all en- zymes but very difficult to obtain with

conventional techniques. This NBS

effort is the only one of its kind in this country and is one of just three such

studies being carried out in the world.

It is a prime example of how unique

NBS experimental facilities and technical talents are put to work in advancing

medical research and contributing to the improvement of public health.

31
Using Energy

Resources Efficiently
Over the past several years, the Department of Energy (DOE), other government agencies, Congress, and private

industry have been looking to NBS

more frequently for the Bureau's

energy-related measurement expertise.

NBS has taken advantage of its broad,

multidisciplinary capabilities in responding to the dual energy technology challenges of increased conversion

efficiency and greater end-use conservation. Guided by the Bureau's Office

of Energy Programs, important energyrelated tasks are being carried out in every major unit of the National

Engineering Laboratory. Several units

of the National Measurement Laboratory also have energy-related

activities underway.

Conserving Energy in Buildings and

Consumer Products

When the National Energy Conservation Policy Act (NEA) was signed into

law in November 1978, it authorized a

full slate of programs for energy conservation in buildings, including tax

credits for homeowners who install energy conserving devices in their

homes, requirements that utilities offer to inspect and analyze the energy effi- ciency of customers' dwellings, and

minimum efficiency standards for appliances.

The law also calls for a series of

guidelines and standards to be adopted

by the Federal government in carrying out the conservation provisions. Even

before the statute was passed, NBS had

been working with DOE on related research programs. The Bureau is formally mentioned in the energy law a The performance of an evacuated tube

solar collector is monitored by NBS

engineer John Jenkins. Solar energy

research at NBS has led to some of the

first voluntary standards for solar col- lectors and storage tanks. Standards are

a first step in boosting confidence in this maturing industry.

number of times and also has been

selected by DOE to provide needed

performance criteria and measurement

technology where there is no specific

Congressional assignment made to NBS or to the Department of Commerce. With its historic role as a focal point for building research within the Federal government and its particular

expertise in buildings and energy conservation, the NBS Center for Building

Technology has contributed to many of

the NEA tasks related specifically to energy conservation in buildings. The

Center for Fire Research and the Center

for Consumer Product Technology also have been involved. The Bureau does

not actually set any of the standards

called for in the statute, because NBS is not a regulatory agency. Rather, NBS

performs the technical energy conser- vation research needed to help vol- untary standards-setting groups or government agencies make their decisions

about standards.

One major portion of the NEA

requires utilities to inform their

residential customers about energy con- servation measures they should

consider and to offer to inspect dwellings and analyze their energy efficiency.

As part of this NEA utility program,

DOE is authorized to develop stan- dards necessary for the general safety

and effectiveness of any residential energy conservation measure, with

installation standards receiving special

mention. Bureau engineers played a sig- nificant part in providing DOE with a technically-sound basis for deciding on

those standards for energy conserving

retrofit measures, including insulation.

replacement oil burners, and storm

windows. These standards may well be

applied to other conservation programs

included in the law. Also at the request

of DOE, the Center for Building Technology developed a computer program

that could be used to determine the most appropriate measures for various

classes of buildings in different climates.

The NEA also directs the estab- lishment of energy conservation targets

for Federal buildings and authorizes a massive energy analysis and retrofit program. NBS has been involved in developing those targets. The law

further mandates the use of "life-cycle cost analysis" on all Federally-owned

buildings, covering both existing and

proposed new structures. Life-cycle cost

analysis is a method for evaluating the economic feasibility of building design

and construction alternatives, taking

into consideration all relevant lifetime costs and benefits. In terms of energy

conservation projects in buildings, this technique offers a way to evaluate the

net effect over time of reducing fuel costs by purchasing, installing, maintaining, operating, repairing, and

replacing energy-conserving features. Although the technique is becoming more commonplace, there has been a lack of uniformity and consistency in its use.Working to implement a Presidential

Executive Order regarding Federal

energy conservation programs and life- cycle cost analysis, economists in the Center for Building Technology devised

and published an approach that could

be used widely, not only by Federal

building managers, but by other

33
building owners, designers, and

operators as well. This NBS analytical

technique is being used to meet similar

life-cycle cost requirements included in the NEA.

An extension and expansion of a grant program to assist low-income

families in making their homes more

energy efficient is among the many

NEA conservation provisions which do

not single out NBS to perform a special

task. However, this program will be

drawing upon the technical information

generated by the Bureau from its previous and current technical research or programs established by other

legislation. NBS has helped DOE select the criteria for materials and products

used in that grant program. Also, at the request of the Community Services Administration, Bureau engineers last year assisted that agency in training

personnel for a similar program in lowincome housing energy conservation.

Minimum energy efficiency stan- dards for major household appliances

to be set by DOE under the energy law

will be based upon research and testing

procedures undertaken by the Center

for Consumer Product Technology and

the Center for Building Technology.

Evolving from an earlier Department of

Commerce program, and as part of its assignment under 1975 and 1976

Federal energy conservation laws es- tablishing voluntary and mandatory ap- pliance labeling and efficiency pro- grams, these centers have now

developed methods for testing more

than a dozen categories of appliances

for energy efficiency. The appliances

range from room air conditioners and

water heaters to kitchen ovens and

dishwashers. Particularly significant

has been the development of testing

procedures for certain appliances based

Technician Tom Prather prepares a sample of insulation for testing in the NBS Attic Flooring Radiant Panel Test

device. Based upon previous Bureau

research in carpet flammability, this NBS-developed test method provides one measure of the relative flammability of

various insulation materials.

on seasonal or "part-load" perfor- mance. This method permits a more

realistic estimate of the annual cost of

using the appliance by taking into ac- count the energy performance effects of

constant on-off cycling.

NBS studies involving energy conservation in buildings are also designed

to meet the goals of other legislation or

to satisfy special needs of government

agencies or the private sector. The testing of insulation flammability carried out in the Center for Fire

Research illustrates this work. Using

the Bureau's extensive fire test facilities and constructing special test apparatus,

engineers in the center were able to gather information about the flammability of a variety of thermal insulation

products and develop two new flammability tests. For one of the recommended test methods, the attic floor radiant panel

test, researchers used a modification of

a laboratory device which had been

utilized to judge the flammability of

carpeting in prior Bureau research. Soon after the NBS methods were recommended, the General Services

Administration adopted them in specifications applying to Federal

insulation purchases. They were also published by the Consumer Product

Safety Commission for public comment

and possible inclusion in the agency's

mandatory cellulosic insulation stan- dard ordered by Congress in 1978.

In this same safety area, researchers

in the Center for Building Technology

tested the effect of sandwiching

electrical wiring between thick layers of

insulation. Preliminary results

indicated that the wires could reach

temperatures higher than currently

accepted code levels. Follow-up

research sponsored by DOE is being

conducted to learn more about this possible hazard.

In addition to this work, listed below

are several significant energy conservation achievements from the Bureau's Center for Building Technology.

• Working with DOE through the NBS Office of Energy Programs, a 5- year national program plan for research on insulation and the building envelope was drafted. The plan will help direct and coordinate Federal and private sector efforts to answer the most important research questions in this area. Special emphasis has been placed on

34
The Bureau carries out a variety of

multidisciplinary, energy conservationrelated research for other Federal

agencies, particularly in the area of

insulation. Here, mechanical engineer

Douglas Burch inspects some cellulosic insulation in the attic ofthe Bureau's test

facility.

current and future NBS and DOE

research to assess how entire building

sections—like walls, floors, and roofs

perform as a system to retard the flow of

heat into and out of buildings. The plan

also addresses problems of insulation

performance and safety.

• Having extensively instrumented

three test homes in Houston, Texas,

Bureau engineers concluded that

powered attic ventilators may not be as

effective in cutting air-conditioning

costs as has sometimes been suggested.

At the same time, the research provided

data to quantify the obvious energy

savings that can be achieved by

ventilating a residence with a wholehouse fan instead of cooling it with an

air conditioner.

• The energy saved by extensively

retrofitting a poorly insulated wood

frame house on the main NBS campus

in Gaithersburg, Maryland, was

documented. A combination of storm

windows and insulation cut the energy

consumption of this particular house by

58.5 percent. While some houses can

expect more and some less energy

savings, this NBS project definitively

showed that commonly advocated

energy conservation measures can

indeed reduce energy requirements and

save on heating bills.

• A new "guarded hot plate" was built which will enable NBS to provide

manufacturers and testing laboratories

with transfer standards and Standard

Reference Materials for calibrating

their own equipment to test the thermal

resistance of thicker layers of

insulation.

• The 11-story administration

building at NBS headquarters was in- strumented as part of a DOE-sponsored

project to determine how much the flow

of outside air in a normally functioning

office building may be reduced without

affecting the comfort of occupants. The

data that are gathered will be useful in several projects concerned with the relationship between ventilation and

energy conservation.

Boosting Solar Energy Use

The many NEA incentive and

demonstration programs for solar

energy applications in home heating,

hot water, and cooling will rely heavily on earlier Bureau research and stan- dards work conducted under the Solar

Heating and Cooling Demonstration

Act of 1974 and other programs. For

example, researchers in the Center for Building Technology's Solar

Technology Program recently revised the interim performance criteria for residential solar heating and cooling

systems. These guidelines are used in the multi-year Federal demonstration pro- gram which has led to assistance for several thousand dwelling units incorporating solar systems.

Bureau engineers also verified a stan- dard for judging the performance of

devices which store up a solar energy

system's heat. This standard had been

drafted originally by NBS and later was

adopted by the American Society of

Heating, Refrigerating, and AirConditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).

Following a Bureau tradition of

developing draft documents that can be

used by voluntary standards organizations and subjected to public review

through established consensus

procedures, NBS engineers last year

35
Researcher Hratch Semerjian peers into the Bureau's new model industrial furnace that is being used to study the combustion process and the transfer of

heat which takes place when fuels are burned in furnaces and boilers.

also helped ASHRAE draft a voluntary

standard for testing entire solar hot water heating systems.

When analyzing performance data on

solar equipment to see whether or not it meets standards or how it compares

with other companies' products, is it first necessary to know where the

equipment tests were run or who

performed the tests? In other words,

does it matter whether the tests took

place in Phoenix or Seattle, or whether

they were administered by a nationallyknown testing laboratory or the

equipment manufacturer?

Manufacturers, designers, and

prospective purchasers of solar

equipment need to know the answers to these questions. Helping in this task,

NBS has been working in a DOEsponsored program to speed the estab- lishment of an accredited network of

solar testing laboratories. The Bureau

completed several major projects to that end. For example, NBS organized a round robin test of solar collectors in- volving 21 laboratories across the

country to see how comparable the test results would be. Although differences were found among the testing laboratories' data, NBS determined that an analytical technique which

compensated for the differences at various test sites could be used and

would improve the validity of the data

comparison.

As the popularity and use of solar energy systems grow, standards for solar energy testing procedures,

materials, equipment, and performance

are becoming more essential. At the same time, more attention must be

given to coordinating the standards

activities of Federal, State, and local governments, as well as professional,

technical, and trade groups which set voluntary standards. Because of its close ties to Federally-run solar pro- grams and to private sector technical

experts and voluntary standards

groups, NBS has served as a focal point

in coordinating these solar standards

actions. Last year, the Bureau issued the second version of a plan for the

development and implementation of

standards for solar heating and cooling

36
NBS has developed test procedures for

measuring the energy efficiency of

various appliances. Engineers Walter

Parken (left) and George Kelly discuss

methodsfor testing heat pump efficiency, one of the Bureau's many projects to help

other agencies implement provisions of

Federal energy conservation statutes.

applications. Prepared by NBS

specialists working in conjunction with

the American National Standards

Institute Steering Committee on Solar

Energy Standards Development (an

umbrella group of 23 organizations),

the plan will help ensure that the needed

standards are being developed with a minimum of overlap and duplication

and that their implementation is orderly, effective, and inspires

confidence in solar energy systems.

Energy Efficiency in Industry

Improving the efficiency of energy use is also an objective of the Center for Mechanical Engineering and Process Technology. In particular, this center is developing improved combustion measurement technology for new synthetic

fuels, as well as for oil, gas, and coal. In September 1978, a model industrial furnace laboratory was put into

operation and began to assist NBS re- searchers in studying the combustion

process and the transfer of heat which

takes place when fuels are burned in

furnaces and boilers. The new laboratory will help the Bureau reach two

related and important goals: improving

current technology used to measure what actually happens in the harsh

environment of utility and industrial combustors, and developing a way to predict what will occur inside these combustors.

There currently is a critical lack of in- formation on the thermal effectiveness

of high temperature industrial

insulators, particularly refractory

materials used in the walls of furnaces. Although many of these materials are exposed to and operate at temperatures

above 500 °C, there are wide disparities

in the thermal conductance values

assigned to individual materials. If better information were available about

the heat transmission of these insulating

materials, engineers would be able to make more accurate calculations important in a wide range of thermal

processes such as heat treating and

primary metal production. The Center

for Mechanical Engineering and

Process Technology is addressing this challenge by preparing a computer pro- gram to model the heat flows within

these materials. As part of this effort, a computer-controlled "hot wire"

technique for measuring thermal

conductivity of refractory and insulat- ing materials for furnaces was

developed. Less cumbersome and 10 times faster than commercially

available techniques, the hot wire

method automatically runs tests on the

materials. This technique is aiding in the evaluation of a special high temperature Standard Reference Material for industrial testing equipment calibration. This same NBS center has

demonstrated the value of infrared

thermography for assessing the energy

losses of industrial furnaces and

determining appropriate measures to make the furnaces more efficient. Infrared thermography involves use of a device much like a camera which takes

photographs showing in different colors

the hot and cold spots of the area being

3~
examined. This technique has been used

previously by NBS and others to obtain

qualitative information about heat

leaks and retrofit possibilities in industrial equipment and in buildings.

NBS engineers have now used

infrared thermography for the

quantitative measurement of heat losses

in an industrial furnace, a significant

accomplishment. Using an iron-casting

foundry furnace, Bureau researchers were able to calculate accurately the

amount of heat radiating through the

furnace surface and being lost. Currently, engineers typically estimate,

rather than measure, radiative heat

transfer. With the more precisely

calculated information obtained using

infrared thermography, engineers computing the heat losses in furnaces can make more informed judgments about

possible energy-saving measures. With or without the advanced

capabilities that infrared thermography

offers, such "heat balances" are a fun- damental step in any industrial energy

conservation program. Last year, NBS

prepared and distributed a practical

"how-to" guide for performing such

calculations: Energy Management for Furnaces, Kilns, and Ovens. (See page 71 for order information.)

Cleaner, More Efficient Utilities

In addition to developing methods and

standards related to the use of new

energy technologies by utilities as part

of a major Federal Interagency

Energy/Environment Program, NBS

also has been active in other ways to bring about cleaner, more efficient

utilities. For instance, the Bureau has been

providing the technical base for

advancement of the related concept

variously known as cogeneration,

integrated energy systems, and MIUS

(which stands for Modular Integrated

Utility Systems). MlUS-type projects,

for example, provide an option to package into a single processing plant

two or more of the six utility services necessary for community development

(electricity, space and water heating, air conditioning, solid waste processing,

wastewater treatment, and residential water purification). Such plants are intended to recover energy that typically would be wasted by larger-scale

conventional systems and are expected

to minimize the environmental impact

of utility systems.

NBS analyzed a MIUS "total

energy" demonstration plant which

provides electricity, heating and cooling

to an urban residential/commercial

complex in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Acting in its role as a neutral, third- party evaluator, NBS instrumented the plant and collected the data necessary to evaluate the facility's energy conservation, economics, reliability, and environmental impact. Concluding that the plant is a viable and cost-effective system, the project for the first time

provided detailed performance data

and a thorough evaluation of an

operating total energy plant. This in- formation is needed so that equipment

manufacturers, potential users like

utilities and industries, government

energy policy makers, and regulatory

agencies can assess the potential

benefits and risks of the MIUS concept.

The Center for Mechanical

Engineering and Process Technology

also completed an independent

assessment of the design of a Federallyassisted MIUS installation planned for

St. Charles, Maryland. Additionally, in

its capacity as technical assistant to an

international group concerned with the MIUS concept, NBS published an in- ternational catalog of more than 200

MlUS-type projects. (For more infor- mation on other Bureau energy and

environment-related research, see "Safeguarding Environmental

Quality," page 54.)

Better Utility Reliability and

Performance

The Bureau has made several recent

strides to improve the reliability of

electrical power systems and avoid

catastrophic breakdowns like the New

York City blackout of 1977. The Center

for Electronics and Electrical

Engineering for the first time measured

"Kerr coefficients

,, of two materials

used in electric utility insulation

systems. This determination is important because Kerr-effect measurements

of electric fields and space charge contribute to a better understanding of phe- nomena that cause power cables and

transformers to break down. These

failures can occur either spontaneously

over time or as a result of a catastrophic influence, such as lightning in the case of the New York breakdown. This

better comprehension of breakdownrelated phenomena is essential in advancing the electricity transmission

and distribution technologies needed to accommodate a doubling of present

transmission capacity within the next two decades.

In a related project, engineers from

the same NBS group completed a joint

effort with the Bonneville Power Administration, which serves the Pacific Northwest, to improve the tests which

help predict how power systems will react during severe overvoltages. When

a system is struck by lightning, for example, power company engineers

must know how the power network will be affected. The tests now used to simulate such overvoltages are

inadequate because simulated voltage

surges cannot be measured accurately.

In fact, some materials and equipment

might withstand real-life lightning bolts but fail existing tests. The results of this joint research project will now permit

better measurement of simulated

overvoltages and clear the way for more

reliable materials and power system

performance.

38
NBS research has increased the technical

data base for the Modular Integrated

Utility System concept. The "total energy" system demonstration at this Jersey City site was instrumented and

analyzed by Bureau engineers.

39

Also with the aim of improving the performance of electric utility systems,

the Center for Materials Science put

together a test program to evaluate

synthetic porous polymer films for their potential usefulness as insulation in new

energy-saving underground power

transmission cables. Today, underground cable capacity is limited by the

deficiencies of conventional insulation, so the possibilities of polymer

insulation substitutes have become important. As part of a cooperative pro- gram in this area with DOE and the

Electric Power Research Institute, this NBS test program will help measure

qualities of the porous polymer insula- tion material which might lead to

electrical discharges and eventual cable

failure. This information will be particularly useful to polymer manufacturers

in developing products with the

insulating properties required by new

underground cable systems.

In another project which required

expertise in polymer chemistry and

high-voltage measurements. NBS

assisted DOE's Brookhaven National

Laboratory in selecting polymeric tape

for electrical insulation in a prototype

superconducting power cable which

that laboratory is designing for test purposes. Superconducting cables hold

great promise as an economical, very

nigh capacity means of underground

power distribution. NBS became in- volved with this research effort since the

special facilities needed for making the necessary high precision, low-loss measurements of candidate insulation tapes

at cryogenic temperatures and

operating voltages were not available

elsewhere in the United States.

Coping with Corrosion

The highway bridge spanning the Ohio

River at Point Pleasant, West Virginia,

gave no warning when it collapsed on December 15, 1967. NBS helped

investigate that tragedy for the National

Transportation Safety Board and

performed some of the studies which

later put the blame for the disaster on a shallow crack in the structure caused by

corrosion. The human cost of this corrosion? Forty-six lives. Corrosion also carries with it a tremendous economic toll. This

destructive force ends up costing

Americans in the neighborhood of $70

billion a year. There are ways to control

it, but too often we fail to take the necessary precautions that would save

large expenditures. This degradative

phenomenon, which frequently is caused or hastened by the interaction of

metals with air, water, chemicals, and

pollutants, works persistently to shorten the lifetime and—as the Ohio

River bridge fatally showed

sometimes affect the safety of structures and products.

The startlingly high estimate of the economic cost of corrosion was arrived

at last year after the Bureau performed

the most extensive study of metallic cor- rosion costs ever undertaken in the

United States. Requested by Congress

in recognition of the impact corrosion

has on our economy, the study was an

extension of the Bureau's research on

corrosion as part of NBS materials

science and engineering activities. The

CORROSION: WHERE DO THE DOLLARS GO?

TOTAL

ANNUAL

COST

(by economic

sector)

Federal government $7.9B— 11%

State & local governments S2.4B—3%

Industry Industry TOTAL

(replacement of (replacement of capital AVOIDABLE

capital equipment) equipment) COST

(about 15% of

total cost)

Industry (maintenance special materials, design, etc.) TOTALS:

$69.7 Billion 99% (due to rounding)

Industry (maintenance

& materials) TOTALS:

$10.7 Billion 100%,

State & local governments $0.6B—6%

At left is the disastrous aftermath of the Ohio River Bridge collapse at Point

Pleasant, West Virginia. NBS studies showed that corrosion contributed to the catastrophe. The economic consequences

of corrosion are highlighted in the charts

above.

study drew upon the many technical

disciplines that shape the NBS corrosion programs, including chemistry,

physics, and metallurgy.

Bureau researchers quantified many

of the previously uncertain impacts of

metallic corrosion: expenditures to replace corroded materials and parts, costs of painting and other treatments

to ward off corrosion, increased

maintenance expenses, and higher

payouts for corrosion-resistant

materials. The Battelle Columbus Laboratories performed an important part

of the economic analysis, incorporating

a special modification of input-output

analysis techniques that allowed the re- searchers to collect and evaluate the economic cost. For the study year 1975, NBS

estimated that corrosion cost automobile owners between $6 billion and S 14

billion. The Federal Government was

judged to lose $8 billion to corrosion

annually, and the yearly corrosion bill for the electric power industry was esti- mated at $4 billion. A substantial

portion of the cost of corrosion to the economy was deemed to be avoidable.

About $10.7 billion of the $70 billion total expense could be prevented by

making the most economical use of

currently available corrosion-control

technology. This would not entail

taking uneconomical steps to stave off corrosion; the savings estimate reflects only the most cost-effective combination of materials selection, design,

preventive maintenance, and replace- ment. For instance, anywhere from $2

billion to $8 billion of the total cost incurred by car owners as a result of cor- rosion could be saved through the use of

41
Nondestructive Evaluation

An NBS research team led by physicist

Masao Kuriyama has developed a new

device and technique for nondestructive

evaluation that magnifies x-ray images

on a real-time basis with significantly

improved image resolution. Shown

above is a radiograph of a lead-copper

casting taken with the x-ray magnifier.

Today, many material and product

failures that would otherwise occur are prevented through the detection of flaws and defects by nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques. NDE methods

are used to inspect materials and

components without damaging them in the process. Included in the NDE arsenal

are some long-used and familiar techniques, such as x-radiography, as

well as many relatively new methods. For

instance, neutron radiography and

acoustic emission are two NDE tools coming into their own. The Bureau's

centers in the National Measurement

Laboratory and the National

Engineering Laboratory conduct a

varied program to develop, improve, and

apply NDE. The program is coordinated

through the NBS Office of Nondestructive Evaluation. One of the most significant NDE ac- complishments at the Bureau in FY 1978 was the development of a technique and

device for magnifying x-ray images on a real-time basis. Pictured here, the NBS

instrument promises substantial increases in the productivity of industrial operations that require high-resolution

x-ray inspection. Photographic

enlargement of x-ray images provides

this high resolution but is an inherently slow process not always compatible with

industrial operations, where there often

is an immediate need to know about the

structural integrity of a material or pro- duct without waiting for the photographic development. On the other hand,

real-time radiography—in which x-ray images are viewed immediately on a detection screen —has not been readily

adapted to many inspection

requirements because the images are not sharp enough to permit easy detection of

small flaws. Researchers in the NBS Center for Materials Science developed a way to overcome this problem in real-time radiography. Making use of two nearperfect silicon crystals, the Bureau

scientists demonstrated an instrument

that magnifies x-ray images and permits a 25-fold improvement in image resolution over the conventional real-time radio- graphic systems.

42
various anti-corrosion techniques and

maintenance.

NBS was selected to perform the study of corrosion costs because of the experience it has gained in carrying out

a variety of laboratory and field studies

relating to materials and corrosion.

Located primarily in the NBS Center

for Materials Science, Bureau research

in this area includes the development of new techniques for identifying and

measuring corrosion as it is taking place

and experimentation with methods

likely to forestall this destructive force. NBS corrosion research often starts with the most basic materials science

investigations and ends with the application of research results to solve everyday corrosion problems.

For instance, NBS has been

conducting a series of experiments

designed to characterize the corrosion

process and its effects on metals buried

underground. Data are starting to come

in from one such project begun in 1970

when the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) began providing sup- port to the Bureau for studying

conventional and new stainless steel al- loys for application in underground

environments. These alloys are being

considered for below-ground gas, water, telephone, and electrical

distribution systems and for ground

rods, culverts, or sewage disposal

systems. But industry needs better in- formation about how well these more

corrosion-resistant alloys perform.

AISI came to NBS because the Bureau

operates a network of soil corrosion

testing sites. The sites are unique in that the corrosive characteristics of the

different soils at each site have been

measured for more than 20 years. Work

at these sites has helped NBS build a record of unsurpassed experience in soil corrosion test measurements.

In the AlSI-sponsored program,

Center for Materials Science researchers buried several thousand different samples of stainless steel alloys at six different sites across the country.

Formed in a variety of sizes and shapes,

the alloys were prepared to reflect the

different service conditions under which

they might be affected by corrosion

processes. For example, some alloys were coated with protective materials,

others were welded together, and still others were bent or placed under a load.

In FY 1978, test specimens that had

been buried for 8 years were retrieved

from several of the test sites and readied

for evaluation by Bureau researchers. Along with the data to be accumulated

from the remaining samples still buried,

this information will lead to more

reliable use of these materials in various

underground applications.

In a separate project for the Department of Energy (DOE), NBS made

several significant advances in developing methods for the detection of

corrosion conditions in buried

concentric neutral cables used in electric power transmission. In the course of

this research, NBS devised and tested successfully a new low-noise potentiostat, an instrument for measuring the

electrical characteristics of the cable. These electrical measurements

frequently are used in assessing the rate and type of corrosion taking place in metals. The Bureau's instrument is an improvement over commercially

available potentiostats, since the

electrical "noise" it generates is lower

and thus interferes less than conventional instruments with the electrical measurements being monitored by the

researchers. NBS researchers also have been

studying the role that alternating

current leaking from power cables to the ground might play in cable

corrosion. Last year, NBS developed

mathematical models for determining

the effects of leakage. From these models it was concluded that leakage

does in fact speed corrosion under

certain circumstances. This work has

led to better tools for making more

detailed, case-by-case examinations of

the relationship between leakage and

corrosion.

Corrosion strikes metals in the air and water, as well as those

underground, and NBS also studies

corrosion in these environments. In one

of the longest-running NBS research

programs, the Bureau has performed

studies for the Naval Air Systems Command to determine the corrosion

behavior of materials in use or considered for use in naval aircraft construction. This 50-year program

which concluded at the close of FY

1978—included analyses of the effect of

variations in heat treatment on

materials, galvanic corrosion caused

when different metals are coupled, and

the effects of organic and inorganic

coatings and other surface treatments on metals. The resultant data are used

by the Navy and other interested

agencies to develop specifications for aerospace materials.

The increased use of offshore oil and

gas drilling rigs and other metal

structures in the search for energy below

the sea has led to a greater awareness of

the corrosive effects of this environment on steel. More than a quarter of a million tons of steel were put into use in new offshore structures in 1976 alone,

and it is imperative that these materials

be protected from corrosion. Again at the request and with the sponsorship of

the American Iron and Steel Institute,

NBS is studying the effectiveness of

corrosion protection of steel in seawater. Thus far, protective systems

examined have included metallic and

nonmetallic coatings, materials used

singly and in combination coatings, and

cathodic protection. Cathodic

protection involves taking advantage of

basic electrochemical reactions to reverse the usual corrosion processes by

which steel piles degrade.

43
NBS corrosion research starts with the most basic materials science

investigations and ends with the application of research results to solve everyday corrosion problems. Corrosion

protection for steel in seawater is just one of many areas being studied. As part of the Bureau's effort to transfer technical knowledge gained

from these research efforts to the

consumer, NBS last year published and

distributed a pamphlet for the general

public on corrosion and corrosion

protection. This new addition to the

NBS Consumer Information Series,

Corrosion Facts for the Consumer,

explains different types of corrosion

(galvanic, crevice, pitting, and stress) and provides practical tips for minimizing and preventing corrosion. It also contains guidelines for removing

corrosion from household products and

suggests the types of corrosion

protection to look for when buying

metal objects. (See page 71 for order in- formation.)

The Materials-Energy Link

Solutions to many of the most important problems associated with energy

conversion processes require research

and innovations in materials science

and engineering. Because of its strengths in this field, the Bureau is involved in the national effort to hasten

the commercial availability of a variety

of novel energy conversion technologies. Last year, NBS made advances in a number of areas critical to the progress

of these materials-dependent processes.

In a continuing project carried out for DOE, the NBS Center for Materials

Science has been evaluating the

susceptibility of certain alloys to stress corrosion in high temperature gaseous

atmospheres like those found in coal

conversion plants. Stress corrosion can

occur when a metal that has been

formed by pulling or bending is exposed

to a corrosive environment. A crack in the metal often results. Further progress has been made by NBS in applying a new technique developed in Britain, the "slow strain rate test," forjudging stress corrosion tendency. NBS is concentrating on developing and refining the

test method so that others can make

44
NBS research is contributing to a better understanding of the corrosion

characteristics of materials used in high

temperature gaseous atmospheres like those found in coal conversion plants.

NBS chemists David Bonnell (left) and

John Hastie have developed a new- technique, transpiration mass

spectrometry, to characterize corrosive

gases.

decisions about which metals to rely on. A related Bureau project seeks to provide better information about

corrosive gases within coal gasification

plants and about materials that can withstand the hostile environment

found there. A recent development is "transpiration mass spectrometry," a technique devised and tested by NBS to detect and measure chemicals in the high temperature gases found within the

plants. This method permits the direct measurement of molecules present in the gases under real-life situations rather than at the low temperatures and

pressures at which the testing has had to be done until now. It also is the only

technique that can identify and quantify

each of the molecular species within the

gases rather than just provide gross information on the total gas stream

composition. With this new method, it will be possible to judge the corrosion

characteristics of specific materials

under extreme conditions. It is now

being used to test the durability of

materials for coal gasifier applications.

The Center for Materials Science also completed a year-long evaluation of

how the materials used in a coal

gasification pilot plant have held up. This plant in Rapid City, South

Dakota, has been operated by DOE

over a period of several years, pro- ducing low energy-content gas from

lignite. The Bureau's evaluation of the condition of the plant's materials and

components after exposure to this corrosive atmosphere has produced

data which will be valuable to engineers

designing full-sized coal gasification

plants.

Other FY 1978 NBS accomplishments in the materials science and

engineering area which are critical to promising energy conversion technologies include:

• utilization of new techniques to analyze catalyst failure due to poisoning

by sulfur and graphite. Along with

other surface science studies describing

the behavior and properties of nickel

catalysts more precisely, this research in the Center for Thermodynamics and

Molecular Science is valuable to

scientists and engineers developing

processes for producing synthetic gas from coal.

45
Material Benefits

The Bureau's materials research responsibilities encompass all aspects of the materials cycle once the raw material

leaves the ground: processing; design,

manufacturing, and assembly; use; and

recycling. Some of the other results of

this major NBS effort in materials

research which are not part of the energy-materials program are listed below.

• Significant progress was made in resolving a long-standing scientific controversy in theory relating the molecular structure of rubber to its mechanical properties. This was

accomplished by researchers in the Center for Materials Science using the NBS nuclear research reactor in applying

small angle neutron scattering.

• The American Society for Metals and

NBS agreed to cooperate in establishing

a phase diagram data program. Utilized by engineers in the selection, use, and

processing of materials, phase diagrams

are charts that show for a single metal or

for combinations of metals the phases

(liquid, solid, gas) that are present at different temperatures and pressures. These diagrams are important in the

efficient use of metals in industrial processes and in efforts to improve productivity and cut costs. This program is administered by the Office of Standard

Reference Data.

• The first 1 3 of a series of 1 8 Standard

Reference Materials (SRM's) used in the processing of high purity refined copper

were certified by NBS. Based on research

in the Center for Analytical Chemistry,

these SRM's will promote efficient refining and use of copper.

• An improved method for testing the abrasive wear rate of metals was

developed that will lead to better data and decisions about the use and cost- effectiveness of wear-resistant coatings on such items as pumps, grinding

chambers, and centrifugal separators. The method was established through the cooperative efforts of the American

Society for Testing and Materials

This transmission electron micrograph aluminum, which is being used to replace

of a zinc-coated aluminum substrate

indicates epitaxial deposits. The

phenomenon is important in efforts to electroplate protective coatings on

(ASTM), the NBS Center for Materials

Science, and several industrial labs.

• The first evidence that a pure metal forms epitaxial deposits on aluminum

was found in the course of a Research

Associate Program at NBS sponsored by

the Aluminum Association. Epitaxy, a

special matching of crystal lattices of metal and metal deposits, affects the adhesion and corrosion resistance of metal coatings on aluminum.

Understanding this phenomenon is important in efforts to electroplate

protective coatings on aluminum, which

is finding increasing use in place of

heavier metals as a means of saving energy through weight reduction (for example, in motor vehicles).

heavier metals. The Bureau's research

provided the first evidence that a pure

metal forms epitaxial deposits on aluminum.

• Two new SRM's for wrought

aluminum alloys were issued as part of an industry-ASTM-NBS program. They

will improve quality control of the pro- duction of special alloys used in a variety of products, including trucks, marine and

aircraft structures, railroad cars, and

furniture.

• Also, two new steel SRM's were

issued. One is for stainless steel, widely used because of its high temperature

resistance to corrosion and scaling. The

other SRM is for an important machine

tool steel used in the production of bolts and screws. The Bureau was assisted by two ASTM-sponsored Research

Associates in developing the steel and the wrought aluminum alloys SRM's.

46
The Bureau's surface science program

tries to bridge the gap between catalysis

at high pressures and surface science in ultrahigh vacuum. Richard Kelley (left I and Wayne Goodman are making

measurements on nickel single crystals to learn more about the atomic effects of

catalytic poisons and promoters.

• construction of two new laboratory

facilities for sampling and analyzing

solid waste and refuse-derived fuels (RDF) that will help engineers

determine the heating value of these energy sources. This is one of several materials-related projects being

pursued at NBS to meet its responsibilities under the Resource Conservation

and Recovery Act of 1976. Work in this area was performed by the Center for Thermodynamics and Molecular

Science and the Center for Mechanical

Engineering and Process Technology in conjunction with the NBS Office of

Recycled Materials. This collaborative

research is conducted in cooperation

with the American Society for Testing

and Materials and the American

Society of Mechanical Engineers and is funded by DOE and the Environmental

Protection Agency. It is expected to further the multiple goals of environmental protection and energy and

materials conservation.

• application of a laser scanner to detect hairline cracks in photovoltaic

solar cells that can degrade the cell's power output. In developing this detection method for DOE, engineers in the Center for Electronics and Electrical Engineering modified a scanner

originally used to study high frequency

microwave transistors and complex

integrated circuits. It is now being used

by the Bureau in a DOE-sponsored pro- gram on solar cell research and

development.

• gathering of the first atomic data

from the NBS "Theta-Pinch" facility

that produces plasma essential to magnetic fusion energy research.

Specifically, this DOE-sponsored work

conducted in the Center for Radiation

Research has yielded information on

the ionization rates of highly charged

oxygen and nitrogen ions immersed in hot plasma. Another fusion project in collaboration with the Naval Research

Laboratory and the DOE Los Alamos

47

Scientific Laboratory produced infor- mation characterizing molybdenum impurities that are detrimental to the fusion power production process.

• determination of probable reasons

to explain the failure of commercial

temperature-measuring thermocouples.

This research in the Center for Absolute

Physical Quantities will aid efforts to develop coal gasification techniques.

Synthetic gas manufacture has been

slowed by the inability of these thermocouples to survive more than 100 hours

at high temperatures.

• publication of the results of a study

of the performance of materials used in solar thermal energy systems. This

Center for Building Technology report

provides direction to those developing

standards for these materials.

Advances in Semiconductor Technology

During the past year, a number of

individuals and organizations took a

long, hard look at the American

capacity for technological innovation.

Among their conclusions: The U.S.

experience with semiconductor tech- nology may be the signpost to this country's industrial future. Semiconductor devices have become

the basis for heightened global

competition in an array of product

lines, ranging from digital watches,

pocket calculators, and "smart" appliances to the most sophisticated computers and military hardware control

systems. Advances in semiconductor

technology are a driving force behind

this worldwide electronics revolution

and U.S. efforts to improve industrial

productivity.

It is the special significance to productivity and the critical role measure- ment science plays in advancing

semiconductor technology that led NBS

to establish a program in semiconductors. Based in the Center for Electronics

and Electrical Engineering, this pro- gram aims to enhance the performance

interchangeability, and reliability of

semiconductor devices by developing

and disseminating improved measure- ment techniques. The program is conducted in cooperation with the

semiconductor industry and a number

of Federal agencies that depend heavily on semiconductor devices.

The semiconductor industry

routinely deals with the purest materials

and the smallest dimensional tolerances

of any industry. This fact alone would

make it a natural area for the ap- NBS engineer Gordon VanderBrug has

developed a robot with a special vision system. The bar of light across the bearing block is produced by a strobe

light mounted under the robot arm and is "seen" by its camera. The NBS vision system will help government and industry

improve productivity by making more

flexible robots available.

As integrated circuits become smaller,

production-line measurement technology

becomes more important. NBS test patterns provide a means for improving

yield and reliability. Above, needle-like

probes measure electrical resistance and

linewidth over an area 300 x 1600 mm

(about 1 1 16 x 1/64 in.) on an NBS test pattern.

plication of NBS measurement

expertise. However, the situation has

been complicated by the growing

requirement for electronic controls with

increasingly sophisticated capabilities,

which demand that many operations be

carried out at a high rate of speed. To

provide these capabilities, manufacturers pack smaller microcircuits in greater

numbers on individual integrated

circuit "chips" made from

semiconductor materials.

Making these individual circuit elements smaller offers great

advantages, but also introduces a

variety of design, manufacturing, and

testing problems requiring specialized

measurement skills. In most instances,

the measurement sensitivity required

usually equals or exceeds the present

state-of-the-art. This means that measurement standards have typically fol- lowed rather than anticipated the semiconductor industry needs. Where

the intuition of design engineers and

production personnel once was

sufficient to solve these problems, the smaller dimensions of today's microelectronic circuitry demand a greater

understanding of the measurement

considerations associated with the

fabrication process and with the

materials themselves. NBS recently

registered a number of accomplishments that will help resolve some of the problems that the "small is better" semiconductor movement brings with

it. Because of systematic differences

among manufacturers and laboratories—including different microscopes,

measurement eyepieces, operating

conditions, and personnel—there have

been suspicions that linewidth measurements important to the fabrication process vary considerably from one

facility to the next. As a result of a joint

effort by two NBS groups, the Center

for Electronics and Electrical

Engineering and the Center for

Mechanical Engineering and Process Technology, several microelectronics

firms received for testing a new NBS

photomask linewidth standard. Similar

to the photomasks used to image

circuits onto the semiconductor chip, the NBS standard comes in the form of

a glass slide with chromium lines. Data from the firms participating in the NBS-run test program vividly

demonstrated the existence of large

differences in measurements among

49
The Power of Semiconductors

Semiconductors are a class of materials

that can conduct electricity better than

insulating materials, but not as well as metals. Their special value as the basic material from which microelectronic

circuits are made rests in our ability to control precisely their electrical properties by adding microscopic

amounts of impurities at specified points.

These controlled impurities change the

electrical behavior of the material in those regions, creating electrically

conductive areas between which the flow

of an electrical charge can be controlled. METAL-OXIDE-SILICON

FIELD-EFFECT TRANSISTOR

Two such areas sandwiching a third area

of differing conductivity can serve, for example, as a transistor. This solid state

electrical switch is capable of turning on

and off a current that is large compared

to the signal current which controls it. It operates far faster and for many more

times than any mechanical device with moving parts. The fact that a small

current may control a large one makes

the device useful in the control of a multitude of industrial machinery and consumer products.

An integrated circuit "chip" less than

REGION PROCEDURE

0.6 centimeter (one quarter of an inch) square with as many as 50,000 transistors

in it can now do the work which

previously required literally a room full of larger transistors. A pocket calculator running on two or three chips can perform the same functions as the first massive computer with relay racks full of vacuum tubes—and do the job much

faster. What is more, the chip with thousands of elements is almost always as cheap to produce as a single transistor fabricated in the days before integrated

circuits came into use.

MEASURED PROCESS VARIABLES

«Source /WWII 1 Drain /I

]

1 f SR^j P-Tvpe

Gate Oxide m mi

Wafer

Wafer

Field

Source/ Drain

Source/ Drain

Source/ Drain Care

Gate

Characterization

Clean Up

Oxidation

Etch ( Mask #1)

Diffusion

Oxidation

Etch (Mask #2)

Oxidation

Resistivity, Dislocations Orientation, Flatness

Residual Contamination

Thickness

Linewidth

Sheet Resistance, Lateral Diffusion

Thickness Alignment

Thickness, Ions, Electron Traps

Interface States

Ifc Mlh rm A -

'

-

Flectron Trap

inn

Interface State Recombination

Generation Site Dislocation

Drain

Oxide

Hole

Silicon

Contact

Metal

Metal

Metal

Wafer

Etch (Mask §3)

Evaporation

Etch (Mask #4)

Alloy

Test

Alignment, Contract Resistance

Resistivity, Thickness, Step, Coverage, Interface States, Electromigration

Linewidth

Contact Resistance, Junction Spiking

Interface States

Threshold Voltage, Random

Faults Leakage Currents

( Lifetime ) Circuit Yield

A single transistor is built up in a block of semiconductor material through a

repetitive combination of chemical and physical processes. NBS research leads

to improved measurements for the material andprocess variables that affect device performance.

50
In the NBS semiconductor fabrication

facility, physicist Y.M. Liu encapsulates

a microelectronic test pattern in an

oxygen-free dry atmosphere, sealing it from moisture and contamination. This

corresponds with the final step in the manufacture of an integrated circuit. Below, circuit design begins on an

automatic digitizer.

companies using their regular non-NBS

calibration standards and procedures.

Consequently, NBS drew up plans to

offer to the entire industry all the

essential elements of a proper measure- ment system: a photomask linewidth

standard and recommended procedures

for evaluating, as well as calibrating,

measurement instruments.

In another project designed to help overcome the problem of assuring that the microcircuit elements will work as expected without being able to test each

of them, Bureau researchers developed

a microelectronic alignment test pattern. The test structures are measured automatically with high- NBS researchers developed a sensitive speed, computer-controlled equipment instrument which, for the first time,

to determine whether or not the made it possible to map the distribu- patterns are properly aligned. By using tion of selected impurities over the

test structures such as this, which can be entire wafer upon which integrated

incorporated directly into microcircuit circuits are built up. Then, using this patterns, device manufacturers can get a device, Bureau scientists showed the

good indication about the expected per- detailed density distribution of gold

formance of that batch of circuits. over a silicon wafer. (Gold is frequently

There have been several major introduced during the fabrication

Bureau accomplishments during the process to control the speed of electrical

last year which will help in characteriz- switching within the circuit.) The gold

ing better both naturally occurring and distribution map was found to correlate

intentionally introduced impurities in well with the leakage of current between

semi-conductor materials. For instance, individual circuit elements in the wafer.

This development is particularly signif- icant since leakage current affects the performance of completed devices. The

Bureau device and the mapping

technique provide a useful indirect, in- process means for monitoring leakage

currents at an early stage in the manufacture of complex microelectronic

devices, thereby helping to boost the

yield of the fabrication process as a whole.

An unexpected phenomenon was

observed in another Bureau project also designed to improve our ability to recognize and measure semiconductor

impurities. While analyzing silicon

wafers to ascertain the effect of sulfur atoms which had been bombarded into the wafer surface by ion implantation,

NBS researchers discovered the

existence of a shift between the deep

energy levels of two isotopes of sulfur. This had not been observed previously

and is expected to provide valuable

insight into the theory of impurities in semiconductors. The discovery was made possible by significant Bureau

advances in the introduction of sulfur impurities by ion implantation and in thermometry at cryogenic (very low)

temperatures. Along the same lines, scientists working in the NBS

semiconductor technology program

began exploring exotic new methods for characterizing the impurities in semiconductor material at exceedingly

low concentrations (less than one part per billion), including an advanced

technique known as resonance ion- ization spectroscopy.

One of the NBS semiconductor pro- gram's most successful troubleshooting projects, which addressed the

problems associated with wire bond

connections, reached a final milestone

last year with publication of a report on

industry wire bond tests. Nearly all microelectronic devices rely on bonded

51
wire connections linking the integrated

circuit chip with the other parts of the product. Breakage in the bonds,

however, has been a major cause of

device failures. At the request of several military agencies which were especially

concerned with these failures, the

Bureau began research on the wirebonding problem in the late 1960's and

uncovered various defects in the design

of ultrasonic bonding machines then in use.The NBS work fostered a more fundamental understanding of the bonding

process, enabling the industry to modify

production bonding equipment and

techniques and to achieve higher

reliability. The Bureau's studies also led

to a new nondestructive method for testing the strength of individual bonds

which identifies poor connections

without damaging adequate ones. This

method has been incorporated into vol- untary standards of the American

Society for Testing and Materials and

has had a profound impact on the

fabrication of microelectronic devices

using wire bonds. The NBS

contribution made possible very large

hybrid devices with 500 or more leads,

and, where manufacturers were

experiencing an average of one bond

failure in each circuit, the Bureau's method provided a means of testing that could reduce field failures from bonding

defects down to zero. Moving on from this work, NBS

engineers have been experimenting with

a technique for testing the strength of

connections made by a newer method,

tape carrier bonding. The Bureau's test works by applying a precise amount of

stress and then recording the ultrasonic

"sounds" emitted from the bonded

surfaces. Like the other projects in the Bureau's semiconductor technology

program, this research is designed to provide the tools necessary to improve

the performance of microelectronic

devices —and thereby boost the

Nation's productivity levels.

Physicist Robert J. Hocken is shown in the Bureau's 3-dimensional metrology

laboratory. NBS helps develop the advanced measurement techniques

needed to bring about more efficient materials use, greater quality assurance, and higher productivity rates associated

with more sophisticated industrial machinery.

Automation and Robots

A significant portion of all goods manufactured in the United States is turned

out by companies producing in small

lots or batches rather than in mass

quantities. Accounting for more than

one-third of manufacturing's share of

the gross national product, these

discrete parts or batch process

manufacturing plants represent a vast opportunity for productivity improvement through the rational application of automation techniques.

Moreover, in addition to improving

quality control and efficiency, selective automation could also enhance

workplace safety by removing the

worker from hazardous environments.

The work performed by NBS re- searchers who are developing sensitive new techniques and standards for

industrial robots and other automated

machinery will help batch manufacturers achieve some of the potential pro- ductivity and workplace improvements. Robots used in industry today

are worlds away from the android

characters made so popular by science

fiction movies. The great majority of

these robots are simply mechanical arms which can be programmed to

perform repetitive tasks. Their relative

inflexibility makes them too expensive

to be used except when products are being fabricated in quantities far exceeding those which batch manufacturers are used to. One of the major problems contributing to the inflexibility of these

assembly-line robots is their lack of

"sensitivity." If the objects they are to process are not placed precisely in the spot that has been programmed into

their memories, the robots are likely to shove, crush, or miss the objects. For

several years, engineers in the Center for Mechanical Engineering and Process Technology have worked on devices

and controls designed to let robots sense and adjust to the locations of the objects

they are to handle. NBS is now at the forefront of this robotic sensory tech- nology.

At the request of the National

Aeronautics and Space Administration, NBS last year designed and built a

vision system for a manipulator arm

which uses a solid state camera and

flash unit. When light is flashed into the area in front of the arm's "fingers," the camera conveys the shape of the object

52
it views back to the operator. NBS has

duplicated the "proximity" vision

system and is coupling it to a computer

that can "read" the information and

relay adjustment instructions back to the arm. This kind of work will help

both government and industry improve

the productivity of their operations by

making more flexible robots available. By avoiding the expense of having to build costly transfer lines to ensure

precise placement of objects before the robot arm, such vision systems will compensate for the robot's inability to "see" and make this type of automation more useful and economically attractive

to batch manufacturers.

Under a contract with the U.S. Air

Force, NBS also began work on a project to develop an integrated computeraided manufacturing (ICAM) facility that could revolutionize the production

of aircraft parts and cut manufacturing

costs drastically through increased pro- ductivity. Aimed at the batch

processing aerospace industry, but applicable to other discrete parts pro- duction as well, the ICAM system is intended to use computers to organize

every step of the manufacturing

process —from parts design and

physical placement of machine tools to parts shipment—in the most efficient and economical way. Bureau engineers

are establishing guidelines for the

selection of robots, robot computer

languages, and robot control systems

and are providing technical support for developing and implementing robot

control systems, programming

languages, and sensory processing

systems.

NBS last year expanded the "3- dimensional metrology" laboratory

facilities which it uses in automation

studies intended to increase the

measurement accuracy and processing

capabilities of industrial machinery.

The measurement techniques developed

in this facility will be applied to numerically controlled machine tools in order to improve accuracy, aid

interchangeability of parts, and reduce

the cost of small batch manufacturing

operations. More precise measure- ment, by cutting and punching

machines, for instance, means more

efficient materials use, greater quality assurance, and higher productivity

rates.

Technological Innovation

In FY 1978, the Bureau established a new office to study the desirability and

feasibility of creating a "cooperative

technology" program that would

stimulate joint efforts by the Federal

government, industry, and academia in developing the science and technology

base critical to U.S. industry. Working

in support of the Department of Commerce's Office of Science and Technology, the NBS Office of Cooperative

Technology has been examining the

proposition that Federal involvement

may be appropriate in catalyzing

industry and government efforts in areas where firms find insufficient

private return to perform the needed

work. Such situations may arise in: emerging technologies which promise

to lay the base for new industries, but in which new firms have not yet generated

sufficient economic strength to support

long-term exploration; fields of tech- nology which are broadly applicable to industries and in which no one firm has

the expertise or economic interest to underwrite advances that would span more than one sector; and disaggregated industries made up of many

firms which are not sufficiently large to support or adequately benefit from

R&D.

To examine industrial needs and

possible program designs, NBS

performed several studies, including an examination of related programs in this country and abroad, that are aimed at encouraging technological innovation.

The Bureau conducted discussions with

leaders in university and industrial research organizations about particular

technologies where special Federal

attention might catalyze new research

and innovation. Welding, corrosion,

radiation processing, semiconductors,

flexible manufacturing systems, and

textile technologies were among the topics investigated in case studies. The

NBS study will be concluded in 1979,

followed by a Commerce Department

decision about whether or not a co- operative technology program should

be launched.

The theme of improving industrial productivity can be found throughout

much of the work performed at NBS

and reviewed in this report, and much of

it has to do with technological

innovation. In addition to carrying out laboratory-based research which often

encourages and leads directly to innovation within industry, NBS also devotes a substantial effort to analyzing

how Federal, State, and local government programs and policies may

stimulate innovation.

Continuing its research in this area, the Experimental Technology Incentives Program (ETIP) in the NBS

Center for Field Methods last year published a report on the management of

Federal research and development

activities. This report recommended

methods for ensuring that the results of

Federally-funded research and devel- opment are "commercialized" in the private sector. ETIP also completed an

indepth study providing insights into the $25 billion annual Federal subsidy

activity affecting capital formation. The

resulting eight-volume document.

Subsidies, Capital Formation, and Technological Change, suggested ways in which Federal managers can use this subsidy power to spark technological

change.

53

Measuring Toxic Chemicals In Water

Tracking down toxic substances that

are present in our environment only in minute or "trace" amounts —

sometimes in the parts-per-billion

range—is a difficult enough task. Finding ways to measure the amounts

of these hazardous pollutants to a high

degree of accuracy puts our most so- phisticated scientific measurement

methods and equipment to an even tougher test. NBS has operated a decade-long program to supply the improved measurement techniques and

standards necessary for safeguarding

the Nation's environmental quality.

Since our physical environment and the contaminants that degrade it are so

closely tied to our personal welfare, this Bureau effort represents another of the ways in which NBS is working to protect public health and safety.

The NBS environmental measure- ment program has led to the

development, production, and

distribution of more than 75 Standard

Reference Materials (SRM's) for use in environmental chemical analysis. Coordinated through the Office of

Environmental Measurement, this combination of SRM's and other en- vironmental research activities at the Bureau offers the Nation's researchers

and pollution abatement experts the

tools to ensure reliability in measurement and to facilitate related

science and technology advances.

Scientists in two NBS groups

provided one such tool when they

developed a new technique for stan- dardizing measurements of a class of

materials called polynuclear aromatic

hydrocarbons (PAH's). These comSolutions of biological materials are analyzedfor toxic organomercurv

species by research chemist William

MacCrehan. Also pictured are an

electrochemical cell and samples of

shark, tuna, and oyster tissues to be

tested.

pounds are of special interest to envir- onmental and energy researchers since many PAH's have been demonstrated

to be carcinogenic. Naturally occurring

in fossil fuels, PAH's are closely

associated with several important

energy technologies, including the pro- duction of petroleum and shale oil and

coal liquefaction and gasification. Their

special threat to our water resources is linked directly to the nature of those

technologies. PAH's may be introduced

into the marine environment via oil spills during drilling operations or tanker mishaps. They also may find

their way into water in the aqueous

effluent from coal liquefaction and gasification operations.

In order to measure accurately the concentrations of PAH's found in any

single water source, laboratories need

55
an SRM for comparison. But measure- ment of PAH's poses special problems.

First, their low solubility in water makes it impossible to use the more

traditional techniques for preparing ac- curate chemical measurement stan- dards. In conventional standards,

known quantities of the chemicals to be

measured are typically dissolved in a solution, which is then analyzed and can

be packaged for use in calibrating laboratory equipment, evaluating samples,

or performing research. But when

PAH's are placed in water, they tend to adsorb onto the walls of storage vessels and tubing of the laboratory

equipment. Moreover, since they are carcinogenic, they are dangerous to handle. This means that special care needs to be taken in working with these chemicals so that they do not enter the laboratory environment.

Scientists in the NBS Center for Analytical Chemistry and the Center

for Thermodynamics and Molecular

Science last year discovered a way to overcome these difficulties. Glass beads

coated with PAH's were packed in short

stainless steel tubes. Saturated solutions

of PAH's were first generated by

pumping water through a tube and were

then analyzed, enabling NBS to certify the stainless steel tube and its contents

as a new SRM. The generation of small

quantities of known concentrations of

PAH's within the tube ensures

instrument calibration while limiting

both environmental contamination and

exposure to the laboratory analyst.

The full significance of this

development goes far beyond the

provision of an SRM for polynuclear

aromatic hydrocarbons. As part of the Bureau's work in a special national pro- gram of research about the environmental implications of energy pro- duction and use, this technique now

Engineering technician James Suddueth

(standing) and Research Associate

Robert Miller prepare to analyze

gaseous Standard Reference Materials

using a computer-operated gas analysis

system developed at NBS. At right,

engine exhaust from a new automobile is measured at an EPA facility using NBSrecommended techniques.

opens the door to the generation of

SRM's for the whole range of toxic

organic chemicals found in water. For

instance, the method also may be applicable to the measurement of pesticide

compounds that are otherwise difficult or impossible to measure. Also in the quest to provide more

precise measurements of environmental contaminants in water, NBS last year developed SRM 1643, Trace

Elements in Water. This SRM is already

helping State environmental and public

health scientists to evaluate the

accuracy of trace element measure- ments in filtered and acidified fresh water. It also is useful for calibrating in- strumentation used in making these determinations. The SRM was prepared

using high purity water and 23 elements

to simulate the elemental composition

of natural fresh water. The

Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA) has set maximum contaminant

levels for a number of the elements

contained in the SRM under authority

provided by the Safe Drinking Water

Act enacted in 1974. The potential for using new

electrochemical techniques to reveal in more detail how toxic chemicals travel through our environment was vividly

demonstrated last year in the Center for Analytical Chemistry. Bureau scientists working in cooperation with the

University of Maryland coupled two

56
traditional yet separate techniques used

by chemists—liquid chromatography

and differential pulse electrochemical

detection—to identify and measure

methylmercury, a toxic organometallic

substance. Conventional analytical

methods can be used to measure the

total mercury content in an environmental sample, but it is the

organometallic mercury species which

are deemed most harmful. This NBSapplied hybrid technique allows lab- oratory researchers to determine

selectively the toxic forms of mercury.

Bureau scientists used this method

during FY 1978 to measure the

methylmercury levels in tuna and shark

meat. On Land, in the Air

The Bureau's environmental research

and measurement programs also address the problems of pollutants on land

and in the atmosphere. In FY 1978, for example, the Center for Materials

Science devised a new method to separate and measure individual

organic derivatives of tin and arsenic at trace concentrations in soil as well as in water. These derivatives often are contained in herbicides, antifoulants

(like those used to slow the growth of

Darnacles on hulls of ships), and a

variety of pesticides. By combining

traditional chemical separation and

detection techniques—liquid chromatography with graphite furnace atomic

absorption or with an ultraviolet

detection technique—NBS researchers

demonstrated a vastly improved

method for analyzing metal-based

biocides in the environment.

This Bureau innovation permits the

measurement and characterization of

individual elements in the parts-perbillion range and provides greater

sensitivity than conventional measure- ment methods. It also allows quicker

evaluations and does less damage to the sample being analyzed, which means

that the sample can be used again for other tests. With this method,

researchers can follow the progress of

these materials as they degrade, are transported, and concentrate in parts of

the environment. They can also observe

the transformation of what may be a relatively harmless herbicide, for

instance, into a toxic or carcinogenic

form.

The first phase of another Bureau

project important for safeguarding both

land and water resources was completed

in FY 1978 when NBS researchers

developed test procedures which can be

used to compare recycled oils with

"new" (virgin) oils. This effort by the Office of Recycled Materials will en- courage the reuse of once-used oil which

would otherwise be wasted or possibly

become a serious environmental hazard

if dumped into sewers, rivers, or landfills. The NBS test procedures were

called for in the Energy Policy and

Conservation Act enacted in 1975 and

are to be used to establish the

"substantial equivalency" of recycled

oil with virgin oil for each potential end

use. The Bureau's test procedures are being provided to the Federal Trade

Commission, which will then remove

certain restrictive labeling requirements

for recycled oils that can pass the tests. This should enable recycled oils to compete more effectively with virgin

oils in the marketplace.

The Bureau's measurement capabilities are also applied in controlling air pollution from automobile exhausts

and achieving Federal clean air standards. And since auto fuel economy

ratings are calculated on the basis of

exhaust gas measurements, NBS measurement skills are also important in this facet of Federal automobile stan- dards concern. Along these lines, several advancements in auto exhaust

analysis were made in FY 1978 at the Bureau, which has been providing

SRM's and performing research in both

automobile fuel economy and pollution

measurements for a number of years. Through an agreement signed last year, the Bureau is assisted in its development and production of SRM's in this area by a 2-year Research Associate

Program sponsored by the Motor

Vehicle Manufacturers Association.

The program aims to develop and pro- duce 26 new gas SRM's for use in es- tablishing the accuracy of motor vehicle

emissions tests, with primary emphasis

57
NBS research on the atmosphere ranges from studies at ground level to the upper

regions. At top, physicist Ken Evenson

adjusts a laser magnetic resonance spectrometer used in a project that has

helped to revise estimates of how ozone

levels are affected by fluorocarbons and

supersonic transports.

The lower photo shows particulate matter

in an urban air specimen as seen through an NBS electron scanning microscope.

Urban air particulates are among the Standard Reference Materials that NBS

is developing to help in monitoring air

quality.

on measurement of emissions from

heavy duty engines.

An automated gas analysis system for the certification of primary gas mixture

SRM's was developed last year in a project cosponsored by NBS and EPA.

Termed COGAS, for computeroperated gas analysis system, the

arrangement is designed to sequentially

sample and analyze up to 25 cylinders of

a given gas mixture without supervision. COGAS has permitted a substantial reduction in the costs associated

with SRM certification, while also pro- ducing a larger, more precise data base

upon which the absolute gas concentration is derived. With slight modification, the system can also be used by

other Federal agencies, State governments, and motor vehicle manufacturers as an instrument to significantly

reduce the labor requirements in exhaust sampling and analysis.

Also in the area of auto emission

testing, a long wavelength acoustic

flowmeter was invented for measuring

the rate of exhaust flow from the

tailpipe of an automobile or truck. Linked with pollutant concentration

detectors, this flowmeter could be used on production lines and in State and

local test stations to determine

compliance with EPA emission

regulations. There is no competing

technique for measuring the exhaust

flow rate and the NBS device could

eventually replace conventional testing

equipment, which is comparatively

expensive and cumbersome. Moreover,

the flowmeter could provide more ac- curate information and be operated by

unskilled personnel. Developed in the Center for Mechanical Engineering and

Process Technology in cooperation

with the Office of Environmental

Measurements, the flowmeter may also have applications in developing fuel- efficient engines or in medical research

for measuring human or animal breath

flow rates. In addition to auto-related pollution, the Bureau also addresses measurement

needs associated with other sources of

air pollution. For instance, NBS issued

a sulfur dioxide SRM useful in measuring the pollutants from fossil fuel power plants. Also in FY 1978,

Bureau researchers developed a nitrogen dioxide SRM which will be

used to analyze emissions from nitric acid plants and power generation

facilities. Emissions from waste incinerators

are still a significant air pollution

problem, despite advances in control

technology. In order to control these

pollutants, engineers must know the chemical makeup of the waste material.

Studies in the Center for Thermodynamics and Molecular Science led to the publication last year of thermodynamic

data for 331 selected materials important to waste incineration processes. The data provide engineers with

information that will help them design

facilities to handle waste materials in a more effective and environmentally

acceptable manner. This publication

also offers engineers better measure- ments of the potential energy content of

the waste stream for use in projects to recover heat from the incineration

process. Undertaken in conjunction

with a committee of the American

Society of Mechanical Engineers and

administered through the NBS Office of

Standard Reference Data, its inclusion

in the Bureau-operated standard

reference data network ensures its
widespread distribution and use as a carefully evaluated and accurate data

source. (For more information about

the National Standard Reference Data

System, see page 67.)

The Bureau also focuses on what happens in the upper levels of the

atmosphere. During FY 1978, NBS

carried out basic research studies

leading to a revision in previous

estimates about possible damage to the

earth's protective ozone layer posed by

supersonic transport planes and by

fluorocarbons from aerosol propellants

NBS scientists are involved in determining rates of elementary

reactions important in understanding the

earth's atmosphere. One of the Bureau's

postdoctoral research associates, David

Shold (left), compares notes on one of

these projects with his advisor, NBS

chemist Pierre Ausloos.

and other sources. Because of the

complex individual and chain interac- tions of various pollutants with each

other and with naturally occurring concentrations of atmospheric constituents, it is necessary to determine many

reaction rates in order to estimate how

the addition of each pollutant would

affect the present quality of our

atmosphere. Using these reaction rates between pollutants and atmospheric

constituents and between each other,

the atmosphere can be accurately

modeled or simulated. This model can

then be utilized to estimate the effects of

specific substances in the atmosphere.

In a joint program with the National

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NBS identifies and experimentally measures critical chemical

reactions using advanced laser spectroscopic techniques developed at the Bureau. Scientists in the Bureau's

Center for Absolute Physical Quantities

last year reported on research to determine the reaction rates when hydroperoxyl radicals —important

components of the upper atmosphere

interact with nitric oxide. The NBSNOAA research involved the direct measurement of this chemical reaction

for the first time. When this information was plugged into acomputer model

of the upper atmosphere, it significantly altered earlier analysis of the ozone depletion problem. Accordingly,

supersonic transports are now judged to have little effect on the ozone layer. In

fact, at some altitudes, they may actually create ozone. As a result of this research, however, damage to the ozone

layer from fluorocarbons is estimated to be three times greater than had been

previously assumed.

The latest basic data used as input by

all models of stratospheric pollution

effects were published in FY 1978 by the Bureau as part of the NBS program of

standard reference data evaluation and

dissemination. Reaction Rate and

Photochemical Data for Atmospheric

Chemistry, NBS Special Publication

513, is a compilation of over 400

critically evaluated reaction rate items.

It was cosponsored by the Department

of Transportation, the National

Aeronautics and Space Administration

and three NBS groups—the Office of

Standard Reference Data, the Office of

Environmental Measurements, and the Center for Thermodynamics and

Molecular Science. Like most of the Bureau's environmental research and

services, this publication provides the measurement necessities for monitoring, evaluating, and improving the quality of our environment.

59
Making More

Effective Use of

Computers
Ever since NBS developed one of the

world's first stored program electronic

computers about 30 years ago, the

Bureau has been a source of expertise on computer use for the Federal Government. As Federal utilization of computers has grown, the scope of NBS

activities has been broadened to include

a technical and scientific role in the

overall management of Federal

automatic data processing (ADP) tech- nology.

In 1965, Public Law 89-306 (Brooks

Act) established the goal of economic

and efficient purchase, lease,

maintenance and operation, and use of

ADP equipment by Federal departments and agencies. Under this Act, the

NBS Institute for Computer Sciences

and Technology (ICST) is responsible

for developing and recommending computer standards for Federal use and for participating in the development of vol- untary computer standards. ICST

provides technical support for the

formulation of Federal ADP

management and procurement policies, the selection and direction of Federallysponsored computer research and

development, and the resolution of

issues affecting computer utilization. ICST also helps other government

agencies solve computer-related

problems and conducts computer

research needed for standards

development and advisory services.

Standards Development

During the past year ICST completed a broad range of technical projects in computer standards, technical assis- tance, and computer science research. Recently developed computer stan- NBS computer standards ensure that Federal agency computer users will be

able to purchase equipment competitively

from independent suppliers. In the Bureau's magnetic media laboratory,

electronic engineer William Truitl calibrates flexible disks for use as Standard Reference Materials.

61
dards for Federal use, issued as Federal

Information Processing Standards, in- clude the following:

• standards for recorded magnetic

tape, magnetic tape cassettes and

cartridges to facilitate interchange of

data recorded on magnetic media, and

reproducing equipment used in Federal

ADP systems;

• standard codes to identify more

than 136,000 U.S. cities, towns, and

places for use in the processing and

exchange of information;

• standard sizes and formats for microforms to improve the handling of

computerized data in microimage form;

• guidelines for evaluating the

performance of interactive network

systems;

• guidelines to help ADP managers

solve problems that may arise in planning, acquiring, operating, and

maintaining ADP systems composed of

components from different vendors.

These multivendor systems are expected

to increase as computer system interface

standards are issued. Three standards for the input/output

channel level interfaces of medium and

large scale computer systems were

proposed for Federal use and were dis- seminated for public review and comment. The standards will assure the proper interconnection of peripheral

equipment, such as magnetic tape and

disk equipment, to computer systems.

This means that Federal agencies will be

able to use fully competitive procure- ments when purchasing new magnetic

tape and disk equipment, resulting in significant cost savings.

To keep pace with changing technology, ICST proposed a program of close industry-government cooperation in developing the technical foundation for future interface standards. Individual

computer companies as well as trade

NBS provides other Federal agencies

with technical advice to help improve

their use of computers. Computer

scientist Belkis Leong-Hong (top photo)

studied the problems of Federal database

administrators. The study will help NBS

in developing standards for database

management systems.

The Bureau is developing interface standards for computer networks which

will improve user access to the resources of those networks. Below, in the NBS

experimental computer facility are Robert Rosenthal, Shirley Ward

Watkins, and Robert Blanc ( left to right j.
An explanation of some of the current and upcoming uses of computer

technology in the supermarket, retail stores, and hanking is offered in a new NBS pamphlet, Automation in the Marketplace.

63

and professional associations were

invited to work with ICST staff through

the NBS Research Associate Program.

The focus will be the computer systems,

network architectures, and interconnection techniques that are likely to be

in widespread use in the next 5 to 10

years. Protection of the Federal Government's computers and the data they process from accidental or deliberate

destruction, modification, or disclosure

continued to receive emphasis at NBS.

Studies covering a variety of ap- proaches to system security were published: analysis of available safeguards

for detecting and preventing intentional

computer misuse, development of

security controls in a computer

network, and evaluation techniques to detect fraud and errors and to assure the accuracy of computer data. Work also continued on the development of test methods for evaluating equipment that controls individual access to computer

systems through verification of

personal characteristics such as voice,

fingerprints, or hand shapes.

A major step to protect computer

data that are transmitted between

terminals and computers or between

computers was taken in 1977 when NBS

issued the Data Encryption Standard

(DES). The DES provides for cryptographic techniques, carried out in computer hardware, to encode computer

data before transmission and to decode

it before use. A secret computer key is used to encode and decode the data. Electronics manufacturers have now

developed a variety of encryption

devices for implementing the DES.

Before these commercial devices can be

sold to Federal agencies, however, they

must be submitted to the ICST Data

Encryption Validation Service for a series of tests. After successful

completion of the tests —which

compare the operation of the device to
the standard—a validation certificate can be issued to the manufacturer.

By the end of FY 1978, seven devices

from six different manufacturers had

been tested and validated. These devices

may be imbedded in computer

terminals, communications processors, cash issuing machines, and personal

identification devices. ICST has also been developing standard protocols for transmitting encrypted data through a communications network.

Technical Assistance

ICST's technical assistance to other

agencies involves aid in the selection,

procurement, and application of computers. Such projects help the

sponsoring agency make more effective use of computers and, at the same time,

contribute to ICST's standards-making

and research programs.

About 10 years ago, the Federal

Bureau of Investigation asked NBS for help in automating its fingerprint

identification system. In 1967 there were about 17 million fingerprint cards

in the FBI arrest file. Today there are more than 21 million cards in the file, and four six-drawer file cabinets of rec- ords are added to the collection each

day. As many as 30,000 requests for fingerprint identification are received

daily.

NBS research efforts have been

devoted to devising automated

techniques for reading fingerprint data,

organizing files, searching files, and

The Bureau's computer expertise has

been called upon by the FBIfor aid in automating their fingerprint

identification system. In an extension of

this work, mathematician Joe Wegstein

(left) and electronic engineer John

Rafferty discuss a new method for reading latent scene-of-the-crime

fingerprints.

matching fingerprint data. Computer

programs and special devices have been

developed to read the patterns created

by fingerprints and to convert the

characteristics of the patterns into computer data that can be compared to data

in a fingerprint file. ICST is now helping

the FBI prepare specifications and

monitor the work of private contractors who are producing prototype and pro- duction models of equipment that will read and match fingerprints.

Special methods also have been

developed recently for reading latent scene-of-the-crime fingerprints and

matching them with rolled file fingerprints. Because of their poor

quality, latent fingerprint characteristics are read by a fingerprint expert

using a semi-automated reader. The

data are then compared to the data read

automatically from rolled prints by a special matcher. Techniques for

automatic classification of fingerprints are also being explored.

Other projects completed in FY 1978

include:

• design of an advanced system of

computerized security techniques to protect special military weapons and

materials storage sites. Developed for the Defense Nuclear Agency, the system

design provides a network of microprocessors linked with devices for detecting disturbances and also

connected with a central processor. Warnings for security forces are
In developing computer security and risk management standards, NBS is testing

devices which identify individuals seeking

access to computer networks and the information they hold. Electronic

engineer Paul Meissner is shown in the Bureau's personal identification lab- oratory with a signature identification

device. HZ**

...NOlltrtlN'

.SICNA1U"

computer-generated based on input

from the network.

• technical assistance to the National

Commission on Libraries and Infor- mation Science in the development of a

high-level networking protocol to improve information interchange between

libraries.

• study of the legal, economic, and

technical issues involved in extending

copyright protection to computerreadable works. The study, sponsored

by the National Science Foundation,

recommended copyright protection for computer programs written in a source language and computer-readable data

bases.

• an NBS consumer information

pamphlet, entitled Automation in the Marketplace, that explains some of the current and upcoming uses of computer

technology in the supermarket, retail

stores, and banking. (Order information is provided on page 71.)

Plans for a Restructured Standards

Program

Top-level government officials have

stressed the important role that ADP

technology plays in making government work more efficiently and

effectively. As the world's largest ADP

user, the Federal Government spends over $10 billion a year on ADP

equipment and personnel and owns or

leases more than 11,100 computers.

Recent studies of Federal ADP

activities by Congressional and

Executive offices have reinforced the importance of standards in the effective management of ADP resources and the control of costs. During the past year ICST developed

a long-range plan to strengthen the government-wide computer standards pro- gram and to improve implementation of

the Brooks Act. The plan was endorsed

by the White House Office of

Management and Budget and Congress

approved funds to begin implementation in FY 1979. The new program will concentrate on

developing families of standards to help

Federal users trim their ADP costs and

improve the effectiveness of their computer systems. Standards for the

interconnection of computer system

components to promote the competitive

procurement of components and

systems, and standards for computer

security and risk management

procedures to protect computers and

data are examples of these types of stan- dards.

There will also be increased emphasis on standards for computer software, now a significant portion of overall ADP costs. These include: high-level

programming language standards to reduce the costs of converting software

from use on one manufacturer's system

to another's; quality control standards

to improve the reliability of software

and to reduce the costs of maintaining

it; and data base management stan- dards to improve the effective use of

files and to cut the costs of converting

common data from one use to another.

As part of the 5-year plan, ICST will monitor changing technology and the

costs, benefits, and impacts of stan- dards to assure that planned standards

activities continue to meet the needs of

the Federal Government. And, it will continue to cooperate closely with the General Services Administration and

the Office of Management and Budget

to assist Federal agencies in the use of

standards, to keep the program

responsive to agency needs, and to survey agency compliance with stan- dards.

65
Science and

Technology Transfer:

Services and

Special Programs
NBS offers a broad range of services

and opportunities for cooperative

activity with Federal, State, and local governments, industry, universities,

technical societies, voluntary stan- dards groups, trade associations,

international organizations, and the

general public. Supplementing an

informal, long-standing tradition of

consultation with the public and private

sectors, these efforts are designed to

foster the transfer of science and tech- nology from the Bureau to NBS users. Listed below are some of these services

and programs, along with information

about how to obtain additional details.

Calibration Services

By facilitating the calibration of

instruments and devices, NBS helps

accomplish a critical portion of its total mission: to provide the basis for a complete and consistent national

system of physical measurements. The

Bureau's calibration services cover: mass and dimensional metrology;

mechanics and acoustics; electrical and

magnetic measurements (dc and low

frequency); electromagnetic measure- ments at radio, microwave, millimeter wave, and laser frequencies; time and

frequency; thermodynamic quantities;

optical measurements; and ionizing

radiation. A complete description of

these and related measurement services, several of which are also described

below, is provided in Calibration and

Related Measurement Services of the National Bureau of Standards. (Order

information can be found on page 7 1 .)

Engineer Jim Hill describes NBS solar energy research to a group ofhigh school

students as part of the Bureau's Science

and Technology Enrichment Program, a community outreach effort in which NBS

scientific and technical staff work with

Washington-area public schools.

National Standard Reference Data

System (NSRDS)

NSRDS was established in 1963 as a nationwide program designed to give

scientists and engineers easy access to

critically evaluated, reliable data. The

program is coordinated by NBS, but

involves many groups in universities,

government laboratories, and private

industry. NSRDS now has more than

50 data centers located at NBS and

throughout the country which pull

together the results from many diverse

research activities around the world and

organize these data into a more

dependable and useful form. Further in- formation, including lists of data

centers, is available from the NBS

Office of Standard Reference Data,

Physics Building, Room A323, (301)

921-2467.

Standard Reference Materials ( SRM's)

SRM's are well-characterized, homogeneous, stable materials or artifacts with specific properties measured and

certified by NBS. They are widely used

throughout the world in a variety of

measurement applications, including

the evaluation of the accuracy of test methods, improvement of measure- ment compatibility among different laboratories, and establishment of measurement traceability to NBS. Since the

first SRM was issued in 1906, the

Bureau has made available over 1,000

different SRM's. During FY 1978, NBS

sold 37,000 SRM units to more than

10,000 users around the world. The pro- gram is operated by the NBS Office of

Standard Reference Materials,

Chemistry Building, Room B31 1, (301)

921-2045.

Measurement Assurance Programs

(MAP's)

Over the past decade, NBS has

developed a series of Measurement

Assurance Programs (MAP's) to assist laboratories that wish to improve or

verify their capabilities for making ac- curate measurements. Measurement

assurance services provided by NBS al- low public or private laboratories to test their entire measurement system, from

people to equipment to basic

methodologies, for accuracy and

traceability to NBS. At present, NBS

offers MAP's in areas including voltage, mass, resistance, laser power and

energy, and several others. For more in- formation, contact the NBS Office of

Measurement Services, Physics

Building, Room B362, (301) 921-2805.

Standards Information Service

The NBS Standards Information

Service (NBS-SIS), operated by the Bureau's Office of Engineering

Standards, maintains a comprehensive

reference collection cf engineering and

related standards. The NBS-SIS col- lection includes over 240,000 stan- dards, specifications, test methods,

codes, and recommended practices

issued by U.S. technical societies,

professional organizations, trade

associations, State purchasing offices. Federal agencies, and foreign national

and international standards organizations. The collection also contains

reference books, articles, reports,

newsletters, and microfilm files. Free

lists of standards compiled by NBS-SIS.

together with names of organizations

where copies of the standards can be

obtained, are available. Requests

67
should be as specific as possible and addressed to the Standards Information

Service, Technology Building, Room

B162. Requests can also be made by

telephone at (301) 921-2587 or by Telex

89-8493.

Energy-Related Inventions Evaluation

To ensure that all promising energyrelated inventions receive a thorough

and objective review —particularly

inventions from individual inventors

and small firms—the NBS Office of

Energy-Related Inventions offers free evaluations. Established by the Federal

Nonnuclear Energy Research and

Development Act of 1974, the NBS pro- gram provides a way for anyone with a nonnuclear, energy-related invention to have a technical review of the device,

material, process, and/or procedure. If the evaluation by NBS shows that an

invention has significant promise for

either saving or producing energy, NBS

recommends it to the Department of

Energy, which will consider providing

the inventor with assistance to help

develop the invention.

Last year, NBS received 3,437

requests for evaluations and recom- mended 35 inventions to DOE as

especially promising. From mid- 1975

when NBS opened its inventions evaluation office through September 30,

1978, the Bureau received a total of

9,697 requests for evaluations and rec- ommended a total of 81 inventions to DOE. For more information and an

evaluation request form, write to the

NBS Office of Energy-Related

Inventions, Polymers Building, Room

A346, (301) 921-3694.

Research Associate Program

This program enables scientists and

engineers from industrial, professional,

trade, and other organizations to work

at NBS for specified periods under the opportunity for cooperative research

The NBS Research Associate Program

enables technical specialists in U.S. firms

and professional organizations to work at the Bureau temporarily to carry out

projects of mutual interest. Chemist

Marlene Morris of the International

Centre for Diffraction Data is that group's liaison with NBS.

sponsorship of their employers on

projects of clear mutual interest to the

sponsor and NBS. The Research

Associate Program offers industry an under the supervision of and in consultation with NBS professionals

and makes available the use of the Bureau's extensive laboratories and

related facilities. The program provides

a means of communicating directly to NBS the views of industry on needs and

problems requiring attention.

During FY 1978, more than 100

Research Associates worked with NBS

on 30 different projects. Of these pro- grams, 60 percent were sponsored by

trade and professional organizations,

with most of the remainder sponsored

by private industrial companies. Since

the program began in 1920, more than

400 organizations and 1 ,000 individuals

have participated. For additional in- formation, write or phone the Industrial

Liaison Officer, Administration

Building, Room A402, (301) 921-3591.

State and Local Liaison

An important portion of NBS research

activities addresses matters of

substantial interest to State and local

governments. Prime examples of this segment of the Bureau's efforts include

equipment standards, weights and

measures, and Standard Reference

Materials. NBS seeks to make the

results of its research readily available

to State and local jurisdictions by

maintaining contacts with national

organizations and by a program of

outreach to individual jurisdictions.

These governments are also encouraged

to contact NBS directly for information about areas of interest in which the Bureau is now working or may have

been working in the past.

As part of its efforts to stay in close touch with the needs of States and

localities, NBS participates in the

Intergovernmental Personnel Exchange

(IPE) program. IPE is a mechanism to bring employees from these

jurisdictions and from universities to the Bureau in order to work with NBS

staff on particular areas ofjoint interest.

It also enables NBS employees to work

for State and local governments. For more information about IPE or about

any Bureau activity, State and local representatives should contact the NBS

State and Local Government Liaison

Officer, Administration Building,

Room A402, (301)921-3814.

Other Exchange Programs

In addition to the Research Associate

and IPE programs, NBS offers several other opportunities for personnel

exchange in order to bring researchers

to the Bureau to work on specific

projects and to provide better

dissemination of NBS research directly

into user communities. These include a Guest Worker program which permits

specialists to work with NBS staff on

projects of mutual interest for periods

of several months to 2 years. Foreign

institutions and governments, international organizations, or U.S. groups

sponsoring the guest worker provide

68
Richard Custer of the Center for Fire

Research explains the Bureau's

extensive fire testing facilities to a group

of radio and television broadcasters

touring NBS. Several thousand visitors are conducted on special tours each year.

Ill

support for the NBS guests.

Researchers from abroad seeking more

information about this program should

contact the NBS Office of International Relations, Administration Building,

Room A511, (301) 921-2463. U.S.

researchers should contact individual

NBS divisions or centers directly.

The NBS Postdoctoral Research

Associate Program provides opportunities to postdoctoral scientists and engineers of unusual promise and

ability to conduct research on problems

that are compatible with Bureau

interests and thereby contribute to the

overall NBS research effort. Operated

in cooperation with the National

Research Council, this program is intended to be analogous to fellowships,

associateships, and similar temporary

programs at the doctoral level in universities and other organizations.

Further details about this program may

be obtained from the Coordinator,

Postdoctoral Research Associate Pro- gram, Materials Building, Room A355,

(301) 921-2901.

Conferences, Tours, Exhibits, Films

As one of the world's crossroads for science and technology, NBS is a meeting place for the exchange of in- formation and ideas. During FY 1978,

the Bureau sponsored or cosponsored

70 major conferences with more than

18,000 participants. These meetings

help channel the details of Bureau

research to those who need this infor- mation. They also provide a forum for NBS professionals and other attendees

to keep pace with the latest advances

and needs in a wide range of science and

technology areas. Each year, the Bureau receives

several thousand visitors who are conducted on special tours of NBS

facilities. Last year, scientists,

engineers, and other researchers, as well as government officials from the Soviet

Union, South Korea, Venezuela, Japan,

the People's Republic of China, and

West Germany, were among the many

international visitors to the Bureau. NBS also offers a general guided tour of

its Gaithersburg, Maryland, facilities on a regular basis, and of its Boulder,

Colorado, facilities by special

arrangement. For tour information,

write or call the Public Information

Division, Administration Building.

Room A633 (301) 921-2721 in Gaithersburg, or Program Information

Office, Radio Building, Room 4001.

325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80303,

(303)499-1000, ext. 3244.

Contact with Bureau activities and

services is also provided through

exhibits and films. During FY 1978.

special exhibits explaining a variety of

NBS activities were shown at 45

conferences, workshops, and other

events, where they were viewed by more

than 2 million people.

A variety of films describing specific

activities are available to the public for

free loan. During FY 1978, two new

films were added to the Bureau's film

library: "The Marketplace," which

describes the role and importance of

local weights and measures officials,

and "Flashover: Point of No Return,"

which provides instructions about fire safety for health care personnel. For a

film catalogue, write the NBS Technical

Information and Publications Division,

Administration Building, Room A617.

or call (301) 921-2318.

69
The Bureau responded to nearly 65.000

requestsfor informationfrom the general

public last year. Information specialist

Norma Redstone handles many of these requests by telephone.

General and Media Information Last fiscal year, the Bureau received and

responded to nearly 65,000 requests for information from the general public.

These included requests for NBS publications, general and technical information about Bureau programs, and

metric guides. Anyone wishing more

detailed information on any aspect of

NBS activities is encouraged to contact

the NBS Technical Information and

Publications Division, Administration

Building, Room A617, (301) 921-2318.

The news media rely on NBS to provide the most accurate information on an array of subjects spanning every Bureau activity from time and

frequency measurements to consumer

product safety. In addition to providing support to all NBS programs and

publishing the Bureau's general magazine, DIMENSIONS/NBS, the Media

Liaison and General Publications Unit answers inquiries about NBS research

from newspapers, magazines, radio,

and television. More than 1,300 press queries were responded to last year. Members of the news media can contact

the Media Liaison Office, Administration Building, Room A627, (301) 921-

3181, for general information about the Bureau and specific details about NBS

research. Information on the Bureau's Boulder facilities may be obtained by

contacting the Program Information

Office, Radio Building, Room 4001,

325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80303, or by calling (303) 499-1000, ext. 3244.

Publications

NBS publications are among the most

important conduits through which the Bureau shares the results of its research

and studies with its many user

audiences. Fifteen categories of publications, ranging from the Consumer In- formation Series to the NBS Journal of

Research and technical handbooks and

monographs, are issued. (Last year, N BS published in excess of 59,000 pages

of research in the open literature.)

During FY 1978, more than 1,900

papers appeared in NBS publications

and external journals. A selected list of

Bureau publications issued during this period is provided below, along with

several bibliographies. Unless

otherwise stated, all publications are

available at the price indicated from

either the Superintendent of

Documents, U.S. Government Printing

Office (Supt. Docs.), Washington, DC

20402, or the National Technical Infor- mation Service (NTIS), Springfield, VA

22161, as noted. For foreign orders, there is a 25 percent mailing charge

through Supt. Docs, and a $3.00 charge

per document through NTIS. For a complete annual list of NBS publications, write Supt. Docs, for Publications

of the National Bureau of Standards,

NBS SP 305, Supplement 9, S/N003-

003-01951-8, $7.50. The NBS

Publications Newsletter provides a free, bimonthly listing of all Bureau publications with abstracts. To be placed on the mailing list for this document, write the Technical Information and Publications Division, National Bureau of

Standards, Washington, DC 20234.

Timely reports of both technical and

general interest on the work performed

by NBS are available in the pages of

DIMENSIONS/NBS, the Bureau's

monthly magazine. A year's subscription is available from Supt. Docs, for $11.00.

70
Measurement Capabilities

Calibration and Related Measurement

Services of the National Bureau ofStandards

(SP 250), B. C. Belanger, Editor. Supt. Docs. S/NOO3-OO3-01916-0, $3.00.

NBS Standard Reference Materials Catalog,

1979-80 Edition, Office of Standard

Reference Materials, National Bureau of Standards, Washington, DC 20234, free. From Sundials to Atomic Clocks:

Understanding Time and Frequency (MN

155), James Jespersen and Jane Fitz- Randolph. Supt. Docs. S/N003-003-01650-

1, $4.00.

National Standard Reference Data System

Publication List (L.P. 8 1 ), Office of Standard

Reference Data, National Bureau of

Standards. Washington, DC 20234. free.

Public Health and Safety

Fire Research Publications (NBSIR 78-

1504), 1977, Nora H. Jason, Editor. NTIS

#PB284462, $3.50.

Reliability Basis of Load and Resistance Factorsfor Reinforced Concrete Design (BSS

110), Bruce Ellingwood. Supt. Docs. S/N003-003-0 1888-1, $2.75.

Properties and Interactions of Oral

Structures and Restorative Materials

(NBSIR 78-1573), James M. Cassel. NTIS

#PB289913, $6.00.

Energy Resources Energy-Related Publications (L.P. 78), JoAnne R. Debelius, Editor, Center for Building Technology, National Bureau of

Standards, Washington, DC 20234, free.

Life-Cycle Costing: A Guide for Selecting

Energy Conservation Projects for Public

Buildings (BSS 113), Rosalie T. Ruegg, John

S. McConnaughey, G. Thomas Sav, and

Kimberly A. Hockenberry. Supt. Docs. S/N003-003-0 1980-1, $2.75.

Plan for the Development and

Implementation of Standards for Solar

Heating and Cooling Applications (NBSIR

78-1 143A), David Waksman, James H.

Pielert, Robert D. Dikkers, Elmer R. Streed,

and William J. Niessing. NTIS #PB283237,

$5.25.

Energy Management for Furnaces, Kilns, and

Ovens (HB 124), Lawrence A. Wood, John

F. Ward, and Kenneth G. Kreider. Supt. Docs. S/N003-003-01811-2, $1.60.

Better Materials Use NDE Publications: 1972-1977 (NBSIR 78-

1557), Leonard Mordfin, Editor. NTIS

#PB289755, $4.50.

Corrosion Facts for the Consumer (CIS 9), Consumer Information Series, Jerome

Kruger. Supt. Docs. S/N003-003-01947-0,

80 cents. Economic Effects of Metallic Corrosion in the United States (SP 511-1), Lawrence H.

Bennett, Jerome Kruger, et al. Supt. Docs. S/N003-003-0 1926-7, $2.30.

Materials for Fuel Cells (NBSIR 78-1472), Lawrence H. Bennett, Martin I. Cohen, et

al. NTIS #PB285360, $7.25. Solar Energy Systems—Survey of Materials Performance (NBSIR 77-1314), Leopold F. Skoda and Larry W. Masters. NTIS

#PB273305, $6.50.

Industrial Productivity

Semiconductor Measurement Technology

Publications List (L.P. 72) and

Semiconductor Technology Program Progress Briefs, Electron Devices Division,

National Bureau of Standards, Washington,

DC 20234, free. An Architecture for a Robot Hierarchical Control System (SP 500-23), Anthony

Barbera. Supt. Docs. S/N003-003-01874-1,

$4.25.

Subsidies, Capital Formation, and

Technological Change: Summary and Conclusions (NBS GCR-ETIP 78-47), Charles River Associates, Inc. NTIS #PB285295,

$6.50.

Environmental Quality

Reaction Rate and Photochemical Data for Atmospheric Chemistry-1977 (SP 513),

Robert F. Hampson, Jr. and David Garvin,

Editors. Supt. Docs. S/N003-003-01924-1,

$2.75.

Workshop on Asbestos: Definitions and

Measurement Methods (SP 506), C.C.

Gravatt, Philip D. LaFleur, and Kurt F. J. Heinrich, Editors. Supt. Docs. S/N003-003-

01993-3. $6.75.

Thermodynamic Data for Waste Incineration (NBSIR' 78-1479), Eugene S. Domalski.

William H. Evans, and Thomas L. Jobe, Jr. NTIS #PB284659, $8.00.

Computer Science Automation in the Marketplace (CIS 10), Consumer Information Series, Shirley M.

Radack and Grace G. Burns. Supt. Docs. S/N003-003-0 1969-1, 90 cents. The Computer Science and Technology Series

(L.P. 88) and Computer Science and Tech- nology Publications (L.P. 84), Institute for Computer Sciences and Technology,

National Bureau of Standards, Washington,

DC 20234, free. Performance Assurance and Data Integrity Practices (SP 500-24), Robert L. Patrick and

Robert L. Blanc, Editors. Supt. Docs. S/N003-003-01 879-1, $2.20.

Database Administration: Concepts, Tools, Experiences, and Problems (SP 500-28), Belkis Leong-Hong and Beatrice Marron.

Supt. Docs. S/N003-003-0 1900-3, $2.20.

COBOL Instrumentation and Debugging: A

Case Study (SP 500-26), Gordon Lyon.

Supt. Docs. S/N003-003-01875-2, $1.40.

Miscellaneous

List of Voluntary Product Standards, Commercial Standards, and Simplified Practice Recommendations (L.P. 53), Standards In- formation Service, National Bureau of Standards, Washington, DC 20234, free.

List of NBS Handbooks (L.P. 56) and NBS

List of Monographs (L.P. 48), Technical In- formation and Publications Division,

National Bureau of Standards, Washington,

DC 20234, free.

Publications and Services of the Cryogenics

Division (TN 1005). National Bureau of Standards 1953-1977, D. J. Frizen and J. R. Mendenhall, Editors. Supt. Docs. S/N003-

003-01920-8, $2.75.

Some References on Metric Information

(L.C. 1070), Technical Information and

Publications Division, National Bureau of

Standards, Washington, DC 20234. free. Consumer Product Technology Publications

(L.P. 85), Center for Consumer Product

Technology, National Bureau of Standards,

Washington. DC 20234, free.

71
Funds and

Facilities
In addition to the Gaithersburg site, NBS has a major laboratory in Boulder, Colorado.

To carry out its research and services,

NBS operates modern physical facilities in two locations. In Gaithersburg,

Maryland, located north of Washington, DC, NBS has 27 buildings in a campus-like setting on 230 hectares (575

acres). The Bureau also has 14 buildings on 83 hectares (208 acres) in Boulder,

Colorado. The Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics, cosponsored by

NBS and the University of Colorado, is also located in Boulder. Here scientists carry out studies in atomic and

molecular physics and astrophysics.

At Ft. Collins, Colorado, NBS radio

stations WWV and WWVB broadcast

standard time and frequency information. Another station, WWVH,

broadcasts from Kauai, Hawaii.

As one of the Nation's largest

physical science laboratories, the

Bureau houses a number of special

facilities and equipment. A high flux nuclear research reactor is used daily by

scientists from NBS, other agencies,

and universities in projects ranging

Total NBS Operating Funds — All Sources

(in millions of dollars)

Fiscal Fiscal 1978

(actual)

1979

(est.)* Measurement Research and Standards (62.1) (67.9)

Physical and chemical measurements and standards 23.5 24.0

Materials and thermodynamics measurements

and standards 22.6 24.3 Measurement assurance program 1.5 2.5

Applied measurement programs 14.5 17.1

Engineering Measurements & Standards (58.2) (62.6)

Engineering standards 2.5 2.8

Safety & engineering standards 18.2 19.0

Technical support to industrial productivity 27.8 30.2

Mathematical sciences 3.0 3.6

Fire science and engineering 6.7 7.0 Computer Sciences & Technology (6.8) (13.8) Government-wide ADP standards 4.3 1 1.3

Scientific & technological advisory services 2.5 2.5

Cooperative Technology (.6) (1.9)

Central Technical Support (1.5) (4.5) Competence programs 1.9

Central planning .8

Postdoctoral research fellowship program 1.5 1.8

Capital Transfers and Facilities (.8) (1.5)

Facilities .8 1.5

Non-technical Supporting Services for Other Agencies (3.3) (3.5)

Total NBS 133.3 155.7

'Includes pending pay raise supplemental of $2.7 million.

from nuclear theory to analysis of food

contaminants. An electron accelerator

capable of producing well-focused

electron beams of 140 million volts is used to produce high energy electrons,

positrons, photons, and neutrons for nuclear research by NBS scientists and

in cooperative studies with a number of

university groups. Another facility, the Synchrotron

Ultraviolet Radiation Facility (SURF),

is one of the few of its kind in North

America. Having been converted into a storage ring, SURF is now capable of

producing intense short wavelength ul- traviolet radiation, which is especially useful for radiometry in studies of

controlled nuclear fusion energy

sources and atmospheric and space

science programs.

Among other NBS facilities are a fire research laboratory, an experimental

computer facility, and several environmental chambers. In addition, an

extensive instrument shops division answers specialized research needs.

Shop capabilities include glass blowing,

optics, and metalworking.

Many of the Bureau's facilities are

available for use by the scientific and en- gineering communities. These facilities are described more fully in Special

Technical Facilities at the National

Bureau of Standards. This 50-page

booklet is available from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington,

DC 20402, and may be ordered by Stock

No. 003-003-01601-2/1976 Ed., for $1.35.

The Bureau's budget for FY 1978 was

$133.3 million. Direct Congressional

appropriations accounted for about 53

percent of NBS funds, with an additional 41 percent resulting from work

performed by NBS for other government agencies. The sale of NBS goods

and services, such as Standard

Reference Materials and calibrations,

provided the final 6 percent. Support

for Bureau programs from other

agencies reflects NBS' role as a major

physical sciences research laboratory

for the entire Federal Government.

73
Guided by the NBS Executive Board

and the Visiting Committee, the Bureau

staff works to increase measurement

competence and share its expertise with

the scientific and technical community,

industry, and the public.

The NBS Executive Board oversees

the efforts of the entire Bureau staff.A

series of evaluation panels appointed by

the National Academy of Sciences

(National Research Council) provides

the Executive Board with valuable aid

in these oversight functions. At the top

of these evaluation and advisory

functions is the NBS Visiting Committee, created by the NBS Organic Act

and responsible for reporting annually

to the Secretary of Commerce "upon

the efficiency of its (NBS) scientific work and the condition of its equipment. 

The staff has grown from its original

team of 1 1 in 1901 to about 3,150 full- time employees. Approximately 2,750

are located in Gaithersburg, Maryland,

with the remainder in Boulder, Colorado. The 1,225 Bureau physical

scientists and engineers are complemented by 275 economists,

architects, and other professionals.

More than 44 percent of the research

and scientific staff have earned

doctorates. The research and scientific

staff, the largest percentage of the NBS

staff, is supported by almost 300

technicians, and by administrative,

clerical, housekeeping, and

groundskeeping personnel.

The contributions of NBS employees

to the advancement of science and tech- nology are often recognized by outside

organizations. During the fiscal year, those staff members honored by

independent and professional organizations included:

The Bureau's staff of 3,150 includes

a

large contingent of scientists and

engineers in every specialization, along

with professionals in

a variety of other

disciplines. Above, Ruth Bussie explains career opportunities at NBS to a group

of university students in Washington,

D.C.

People ;

I,
Michael Baum of the Public Information

Division received an award from the Washington, D.C. chapter of the Society for Technical Communication and an award

from the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the American Medical Writers Association for authoring outstanding periodical articles on NBS research. John W. Cahn of the Center for Materials

Science received the Acta Metallurgica Gold

Medal, presented by the International

Metallurgical Society for demonstrated

ability and leadership in materials research. William C. Cullen of the Office of Engineering Standards received the American Society of Testing and Materials 1978 Walter C. Voss Award for distin- guished contributions to knowledge in the

field of building technology.

Churchill Eisenhart of the Applied

Mathematics Division was awarded the Samuel S. Wilks Memorial Medal for 1977 by the U.S. Army and the American

Statistical Association for his contributions

to the field of statistics. Charles M. Eisenhauer of the Nuclear

Radiation Division was elected a Fellow of

the American Nuclear Society. Ken Evenson of the Time and Frequency

Division received the National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration's Distin- guished Authorship Award for coauthoring

"Kinetics of the Reaction of HO- with

NO." 2

Judson C. French, director of the Center for Electronics and Electrical Engineering, was

elected a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Geoffrey Frohnsdorff, James Clifton, and

Paul Brown of the Structures and Materials

Division received the P. H. Bates Award

given by the C- 1 Committee of the American

Society for Testing and Materials for the most outstanding paper in cement research developed in the previous 2 years.

J. William Gadzuk of the Surface Science

Division was awarded a guest professorship

by the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Atomic Physics to work at the Institute for Theoretical Physics, Chalmers University in Sweden.

Sandra Greer

Sandra C. Greer of the Thermophysics

Division received the Annual Award for Scientific Achievement in the physical

sciences for 1977 from the Washington

Academy of Physical Sciences for her outstanding achievement as a research

scientist in helping to produce a better understanding of the behavior of systems

near critical points.

Kurt F. J. Heinrich of the Gas and

Particulate Science Division received the 1978 Presidential Award from the Microbeam Analysis Society for his outstanding contributions to the theory and

practice of microbeam analysis.

Robert J. Hocken of the Mechanical

Processes Division was awarded the F. W.

Taylor Medal of the International

Institution of Production Engineering

Research for a paper on a unique NBS three dimensional metrology machine.

.Madeleine Jacobs of the Public Information

Division received a total of six awards from

the Washington. D.C. chapter of the Society

for Technical Communication (STC), the International STC. and the National Association of Government Communicators for outstanding writing of news releases,

periodical articles, and NBS' annual report.

Kurt F. Heinrich

Seymour Jeffery, chief of the Systems and

Software Division, received a Certificate of Appreciation from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Computer

Society for distinguished service as Chairman of the Software Engineering

Technical Committee.

David M. Kerns of the Electromagnetic

Fields Division received the Institute of

Electrical and Electronics Engineers Harry

Diamond Memorial Award for outstanding

technical contributions to microwave theory

basic to power, impedance, and antenna

standards and measurements.

F. Ralph Kotter of the Electrosystems

Division received the IEEE Power Engineers

Society Power System Instrumentation and

Measurement Committee Distinguished

Service Award.

Richard Kropschot, chief of the Thermophysical Properties Division, was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society.

Howard P. Layer of the Length and Mass

Measurements and Standards Division

received one of Industrial Research/ Devel- opment magazine's IR-100 awards for inventing a mini-stepping motor driver which increases the accuracy of the stepping

motors commonly used in scientific equipment.

75
Fredric E. Scire (left) and E. Clayton

Teague

Paul S. Lederer of the Electrosystems

Division was elected a Fellow of the Instrument Society of America.

E. P. Mabie, a research associate with the American Dental Association Health

Foundation program in the Polymer Science

and Standards Division, received a citation

for meritorious service given by the Air Force Medical Center, Lackland Air Force

Base. Robert P. Madden of the Radiation Physics Division received the William F. Meggers

Award of the American Optical Society for his contributions to ultraviolet

spectroscopy.

Billy W. Mangum and Donald D. Thornton of the Temperature Measurements and

Standards Division received one of Industrial Research/ Development magazine's IR100 awards for development of a highly ac- curate gallium melting-point reference in a part of the temperature scale where

convenient references did not exist and

where hospitals and clinics regularly make

delicate and temperature-sensitive measurements.

Wilfrid P. Mann of the Center for Radiation

Research was elected President of the Inter- national Committee for Radionuclide

Metrology.

J. Franklin Mayo-Wells of the Electrosys- tems Division received the Instrument

Society of America Distinguished Society- Service Award.

Robert E. Michaelis of the Office of

Standard Reference Materials was elected an Honorary Member of the American

Society for Testing and Materials, the

society's highest honor. James S. O'Connell, acting deputy director of the Center for Radiation Research, was

elected a Fellow of the American Physical

Society.

Elio Passaglia of the Center for Materials

Science received an Award of Appreciation

from the American Society for Testing and

Materials Committee on Publication for outstanding service as an ASTM committee

chairman.

Frederic E. Scire and E. Clayton Teague of

the Mechanical Processes Division received one of Industrial Research/ Development

magazine's IR-100 awards for designing a "Piezo-Flex" specimen stage for use in measuring very small dimensions with

optical or electronic microscopes.

Collier Smith of the Program Information

Office in Boulder received an award from

the National Association of Government

Communicators for outstanding writing of a news release. Stephen J. Smith of the Quantum Physics Division received the Senior U.S. Scientist Award of the Alexander von Humboldt

Foundation.

Jack L. Tech, chief of the Radiometric

Physics Division, received a Service Citation Award of the Society of Photo-Optical

Instrumentation Engineers.

John B. Wachtman, director of the Center

for Materials Science, was elected president of the American Ceramic Society, serving a 1-year term beginning May 1978. Sharon Washburn of the Public Information

Division received an award from the National Association of Government Communicators for outstanding editing on the NBS annual report.

Sheldon M. Wiederhorn of the Fracture and

Deformation Division received the Morey

Award from the American Ceramic Society

for outstanding research on the mechanical

properties of glass. John T. Yates of the Surface Science

Division served on a 1-year appointment as a Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Scholar

at the California Institute of Technology.

Department of Commerce Awards

Fifty-seven NBS staff members received Department of Commerce Gold, Silver, and

Bronze Medal Awards for fiscal year 1978 work. The Gold Medal Award, the Department's highest employee honor, recognizes "rare and outstanding contributions of major significance to the Department, the Nation, or the world." The Silver Medal

Award is the second highest honor and is presented for "contributions of unusual

value to the Department." The Bronze Medal Award recognizes extremely

competent performance of official duties in the Department of at least 5 years. Gold Medal Award Recipients

Walter Braun of the Chemical Kinetics Division for outstanding contributions to modern gas kinetics through the

development of flash photolysis resonance

fluorescence and studies on laser augmented

reactions.

76
Johanna M H. Levelt Sengers

Thomas D. Coyle, Chief of the Chemical

Stability and Corrosion Division, for advances in measurement methods and

understanding of inorganic synthesis and

transformation and for applications in im- portant fields of technology.

Judson C. French, Director of the Center for Electronics and Electrical Engineering, for unique and outstanding leadership of NBS

solid-state electronics research and for exceptional management skills in developing the Semiconductor Technology

Program.

Kurt F. J. Heinrich for his outstanding

contributions to the Federal Government

and to the Nation in advancing microanalysis techniques and applying them to problems of national significance.

Johanna M. H. Levelt Sengers of the Thermophysics Division for outstanding

research on scaling and universality in the

field of critical phenomena and its ap- plication to problems in engineering

processes.

Silver Medal Award Recipients

Martin J. Aronoff of the Application

Systems Division for exceptional leadership

in the development of computer data

services to support important national

projects. Daniel B. Butrymowicz of the Metal Science and Standards Division for developing

expert reviews highly valuable to industry

and science covering diffusion in metal alloy

systems. Burton H. Colvin, Director of the Center for Applied Mathematics, for distinguished contributions to the solution of national problems through the application of the mathematical sciences. John R. Dise of the Office of Engineering Standards for outstanding contributions and leadership of the NBS Cement,

Concrete, and Materials Reference Laboratories. Joseph E. Fones in the Office of the

Associate Director for Programs, Budget,

and Finance for outstanding contributions

to the fiscal and administrative management

of the former Institute for Basic Standards. James A. Grundl of the Nuclear Radiation

Division for the development of standard

neutron fields and measurement methods

and their dissemination to the nuclear

industry.

Robert J. Hocken of the Mechanical

Processes Division for outstanding technical contributions to accurate measurement of

three dimensional objects.

Charles P. Howard of the Product

Performance Engineering Division for outstanding skill in the development of energy test methods and efficiency targets

for ten categories of appliances.

Clayton M. Huggett, Chief of the Office of Extramural Fire Research, for significant contributions in focusing public and private sector research on fundamental fire problems.

Frederick C. Johnson, Chief of the Mathematical Analysis Division, for im- proving the management of Pacific salmon

fisheries through the development of

mathematical modeling techniques.

George E. Kelley of the Building Thermal

and Service Systems Division for developing

rating procedures that encourage the design of energy-efficient heating and cooling

equipment for homes.

Ernest G. Kessler, Jr., of the Center for Absolute Physical Quantities for outstanding contributions to measurement

science by the establishment of improved

standards in the gamma-ray region.

Neil T. Larsen of the Electromagnetic Technology Division for major innovations in microwave power standards and measuring

instruments.

George P. Lewett, Chief of the Office of Energy-Related Inventions, for exemplary

leadership in the design and implementation

of the NBS Office of Energy-Related

Inventions. Sharon G. Lias of the Chemical Thermodynamics Division for outstanding

contributions to the experimental and

theoretical interpretations of the

interactions of ions with matter. Gordon E. Lyon of the Programming

Sciences Division for original research and

outstanding authorship in computer science. Harold E. Marshall of the Building

Economics and Regulatory Technology

Division for outstanding leadership in developing and applying economics

research to the solution of prominent

national problems.

Taki Negas of the Ceramics, Glass, and

Solid State Science Division for his work on

the structural chemistry of complex oxides

useful for their magnetic, electronic, and

catalytic properties. Arthur V. Phelps of the Quantum Physics Division for extraordinary achievement in transferring results of fundamental research

to technological communities concerned

with meeting national and industrial goals.

Darrell H. Reneker of the Polymer Science and Standards Division for his many im- portant contributions to our understanding

of the structure and properties of plastics. Martin R. Shaver, Chief of the Computer

Services Division, for outstanding

leadership and contributions to the management and utilization of computing

resources. George A. Uriano, Deputy Chief of the Office of Standard Reference Materials, for outstanding contributions to the Standard

Reference Materials Program in areas of

health and industrial measurements. James H. Winger of the Fire Safety

Engineering Division for outstanding

leadership in increasing public safety

through the development of U.S. flam- mabilitv standards.

77
J. Michael Rowe and John J. Rush of the Reactor Radiation Division for their outstanding contributions to the Federal Government and the Nation through

creative research in metal-hydrogen systems

in areas of national need. Robert J. Celotta and Daniel T. Pierce of the Radiation Physics Division for the

development of greatly improved sources,

detectors, and measurement methods for spin-polarized electron beams.

P. Thomas Olsen and Edwin R. Williams of

the Electrical Measurements and Standards

Division for significantly advancing science and metrology through a high accuracy de- termination of the proton gyromagnetic

ratio. Robert P. Blanc, Robert Rosenthal, and

Shirley W. Watkins of the Institute for Computer Sciences and Technology for the

creation of a major new concept to signifi- cantly improve user access to computer

networks and for the development and application of this concept so as to contribute

to improved Federal computer utilization. Bronze Medal Award Recipients

L. Kenneth Armstrong of the Office of the Director of Administrative and Information Systems for dedication, competence,

and effective performance of duties in the professional and public relations of the National Bureau of Standards. William H. Bailey of the Fire Safety

Engineering Division for consistently

outstanding support of fire research at the National Bureau of Standards. Robert J. Boreni of the Ceramics, Glass, and

Solid State Science Division for outstanding

contributions to the design, construction,

and use of the crystallographic data base.

E. Gail Crum of the Office of the Director of

the National Engineering Laboratory for unusually competent performance of official duties over a prolonged period of time. Jose E. Cruz of the Center for Electronics and Electrical Engineering for dedicated

initiative and creativity in improving

activities at the Boulder Laboratories. Ronald D. Hunter of the Center for

Electronics and Electrical Engineering for superior technical ability, effective

management, and dedication to duty in sup- port of electromagnetic measurement.

Donald C. Jensen of the Center for Information Systems for outstanding efforts to maximize the availability, cost effectiveness,

and performance of the NBS central computer. Elizabeth S. Kershow of the Center for Analytical Chemistry for superior

performance of her official duties in the Center for Analytical Chemistry over a long

period of time. Elizabeth L. King of the Center for Absolute

Physical Quantities for outstanding

performance as secretary and administrative

assistant to the Center for Absolute Physical

Quantities.

Margery H. King of the Office of Cooperative Technology for excellent

contributions as a Writer/Editor for the Director and as an expert member of the Programmatic Center for Cooperative

Technology's Shoe Team.

Edgar H. MacArthur of the Office of the Comptroller for extraordinary competence

in fulfilling the essential mission of ensuring

a reliable financial system for NBS, NTIS,

and NTIA.

Robert F. Martin of the Office of the Director of the National Measurement Laboratory for outstanding contributions to the

fiscal and administrative management of the former Institute for Materials Research. Harvey E. McCoy of the Center for Facilities Management in recognition of his outstanding performance in providing NBS

with dependable and effective transportation services. John L. Mills of the Radiation Physics Division for sustained and exceptionally

competent performance of official duties in the NBS programs concerning measure- ments and applications of ionizing

radiation.

Patricia A. Mullen of the Nuclear Radiation

Division for sustained and exceptionally

competent performance of official duties in the NBS radioactivity measurements pro- gram. Edward P. Muth of the Center for Facilities Management for ingenuity, dedication, and

leadership in extending optical fabrication techniques in support of scientific research. Earl R. Pfeiffer of the Temperature

Measurements and Standards Division for outstanding success in discharge of duties as Administrative Officer and technical aide to the Chief, Heat Division.

Carol A. Price of the Office of Engineering

Standards for outstanding performance of

duties and contributions beyond usual expectations as Secretary to the Director of

the former Institute for Basic Standards. Edwin B. Randall, Jr., of the Office of Engineering Standards for outstanding

contributions to the National Bureau of Standards Collaborative Reference Pro- grams.

Lucille E. Sithens of the Center for Information Systems for extraordinary competence

and devotion to duty in ensuring a reliable financial system for NBS, NTIS, and NTIA.

Crittenden Awards

The Crittenden Award recognizes superior

achievement by full-time, permanent

employees who perform supporting services which have a significant impact on technical programs beyond their own offices. The

award consists of a certificate and $500. Carl R. Barry of the Center for Facilities Management in recognition of his extremely

valuable contributions to the fabrication of complex scientific instruments for research

efforts in the National Measurement Laboratory.

Ruby W. Brantley of the Center for Facilities Management in recognition of her continuing excellence and polite efficiency in the complex scheduling of conference facilities, equipment, and personnel at the National Bureau of Standards. William J. Rice of the Center for Information Systems in recognition of his 35 years of

capable, cheerful, and reliable service in the National Bureau of Standards Library and

his strong support of the demands of technical and administrative programs.

Russell J. Rinehart of the Center for

Facilities Management in recognition of his excellent support to the Bureau-wide

activities of the scientific and administrative

staff in the area of shipping and trans- portation.

Frank B. Saunders of the Center for

Facilities Management in recognition of his effective, congenial, and dedicated service provided to the National Bureau of

Standards and its staff as a valuable member

of the Guard Force.

78
John P. Slusarz of the Center for Facilities Management in recognition of his expert

purchasing guidance and his outstanding

service in organizing improvements to the storeroom services of the National Bureau

of Standards.

Charles K. Summers of the Center for

Facilities Management in recognition of his economically valuable contributions in the

fixture design and construction phase of the Liquefied Natural Gas tank measurement

project.

Clyde C. Wachter of the Office of Standard

Reference Materials in recognition of his valuable contributions to the Standard

Reference Materials Program through his accurate and meticulous preparation,

handling, and packaging procedures.

Stratton Award

The Stratton Award recognizes unusually

significant research contributions to science or engineering in support of the National Bureau of Standards objectives which merit

the acclaim of the scientific world. The

award consists of a bronze plaque and

$1,500.

Theodore E. Madey and John T. Yates, Jr., of the Surface Science Division for their many original research contributions in surface science, the sustained high quality

and creativity of their work, and the signifi- cant practical benefits to catalyst chemistry.

Rosa Award

The Rosa Award recognizes outstanding

achievements in the development of

meaningful and significant standards of

practice in the measurement field. The

award consists of a brass plaque and $1,500. Alexander F. Robertson of the Center for

Fire Research for his outstanding leadership

and participation in the United States vol- untary standards system and his notable contributions to the advancement and

development of standardization of flammability testing methods.

Condon Award

The Condon Award recognizes

distinguished achievement in written

exposition in science and technology. The

award consists of an aluminum plaque and

$1,000.

Roy G. Saltman of the Center for Programming Science and Technology for his scholarly report entitled, "Copyright in Computer-Readable Works: Policy Impacts

of Technological Change," which has been

highly acclaimed for its technical excellence. Applied Research Award

The Applied Research Award recognizes

superior achievement in the practical application of the results of scientific or engineering research. The award consists of a mixed metal plaque and $1,500.

Melvin Linzer of the Center for Materials

Science in recognition of his development of

a highly sensitive ultrasonic system—

a

major development embodying new tech- nology, novel design, and theoretical approaches—immediately applicable to medical diagnosis and nondestructive eval- uation of materials. Equal Employment Opportunity Award

The Equal Employment Opportunity

Award recognizes significant contributions

to EEO which have been performed in an

exceedingly outstanding manner by a Bureau employee. The award consists of an engraved plaque.

Melvin R. Wallace of the Center for Materials Science in recognition of his exceptionally significant and extremely

effective service as the Equal Employment

Opportunity Officer of the National Bureau

of Standards. Employees Honored by Major Federal

Service Awards

The Presidential Recognition Program

recognizes with a letter of commendation all employees who make exceptional

contributions which reduce costs and

conserve energy or significantly improve

Government operations and services. John W. Lyons, Director of the National

Engineering Laboratory, in recognition of

his unique and outstanding leadership in restructuring the diverse fire research

activities at the National Bureau of

Standards to support the development of the technology needed for solving the Nation's

fire problem. A special certificate was

presented to Dr. Lyons as part of the Presidential Management Improvement

Awards Program.

Margie E. Kaszuba of the Center for

Facilities Management in recognition of her outstanding day-to-day management of the mail and distribution activity at the National Bureau of Standards and the savings of nearly a quarter million dollars. NBS Executive Board

Dr. Ernest Ambler

Director

Dr. Thomas A. Dillon Deputy Director Dr. John D. Hoffman

Director National Measurement Laboratory

Dr. John W. Lyons

Director National Engineering Laboratory James H. Burrows*

Director

Institute for Computer Sciences and

Technology

Bascom W. Birmingham

Director NBS/Boulder Laboratories

Richard P. Bartlett, Jr. Director of Administrative and Information Systems

Raymond G. Kammer

Associate Director for Programs, Budget,

and Finance

*During FY 78. ICST Deputy Director M. Zane Thornton served on the NBS

Executive Board.

Visiting Committee

Dr. Robert H. Dicke

Professor of Physics

Princeton University Dr. W. Dale Compton

Vice President, Research

Ford Motor Company

Mr. William D. Carey

Executive Officer American Association for the Advancement of Science Dr. William K. Linvill Department of Engineering-Economic

Systems

Stanford University Dr. Dorothy M. Simon

Vice President for Research

AVCO Corporation

79
Summary of

Legislation

The Bureau's work is carried out under the founding "Organic Act" and a number of

other U.S. laws. Summaries of some of the most important legislation authorizing NBS

activities are provided below.

Highlights of the Organic Act of the National Bureau of Standards, 1901

15 U.S.C. 271 The Secretary of Commerce is authorized

to undertake the following functions:

(a) The custody, maintenance, and

development of the national standards of measurement, and the provision of means

and methods for making measurements

consistent with those standards, including

the comparison of standards used in scientific investigations, engineering,

manufacturing, commerce, and educational

institutions with the standards adopted or recognized by the Government.

(b) The determination of physical

constants and properties of materials when

such data are of great importance to scientific or manufacturing interests and are not

to be obtained of sufficient accuracy

elsewhere.

(c) The development of methods for testing materials, mechanisms, and

structures, and the testing of materials, supplies, and equipment, including items

purchased for use of Government depart- ments and independent establishments.

(d) Cooperation with other governmental agencies and with private organizations in the establishment of standard

practices, incorporated in codes and

specifications.

(e) Advisory service to Government

agencies on scientific and technical

problems.

(f) Invention and development of devices

to serve special needs of the Government... The Bureau is authorized to exercise its functions for the Government of the United

States and for international organizations of which the United States is a member; for governments of friendly countries; for any

State or municipal government within the United States; or for any scientific society,

educational institution, firm, corporation,

or individual within the United States or

friendly countries engaged in manufacturing

or other pursuits requiring the use of stan- dards or standard measuring instruments: provided, that the exercise of these functions

for international organizations, governments of friendly countries and scientific societies, educational institutions, firms,

corporations, or individuals therein shall be

in coordination with other agencies of the United States Government, in particular, the Department of State in respect to foreign

entities.

Standard Reference Data Act, 1968

15 U.S.C. 290

The Congress hereby finds and declares that

reliable standardized scientific and technical reference data are of vital importance to the progress of the Nation's science and

technology. It is therefore the policy of the Congress to make critically evaluated

reference data readily available to scientists, engineers, and the general public. It is the purpose of this Act to strengthen and

enhance this policy.

The Secretary is authorized and directed

to provide or arrange for the collection,

compilation, critical evaluation, publication, and dissemination of standard

reference data. In carrying out this program,

the Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, utilize the reference data

services and facilities of other agencies and

instrumentalities of the Federal Govern- ment and of State and local governments,

persons, firms, institutions, and

associations, with their consent and in such a manner as to avoid duplication of those

services and facilities. All agencies and

instrumentalities of the Federal Govern- ment are encouraged to exercise their duties and functions in such manner as will assist in carrying out the purpose of this Act. This

section shall be deemed complementary to existing authority, and nothing herein is intended to repeal, supersede, or diminish

existing authority or responsibility of any

agency or instrumentality of the Federal Government.

The Congress included in the National

Standard Reference Data Act Amendments

of 1978 (P.L. 95-322) an amendment to the NBS Organic Act which, in effect, provides

for periodic reauthorization of NBS pro- grams and activities. The first such

reauthorization will be required for fiscal year 1981.

Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974

15 U.S.C. 2201, Public Law 93-498 There is hereby established within the Department of Commerce a Fire Research

Center which shall have the mission of performing and supporting research on all aspects of fire with the aim of providing sci- entific and technical knowledge applicable

to the prevention and control of fires. In implementing this section, the Secretary is authorized to conduct, directly or through

contracts or grants, a fire research program

including:

(1) basic and applied fire research for the purpose of arriving at an understanding of

the fundamental processes underlying all aspects of fire, (2) research into the biological,

physiological, and psychological factors

affecting human victims of fire, and the performance of individual members of fire services, and

(3) operation tests, demonstration

projects, and fire investigations in support of

the activities set forth in this section. The Secretary shall ensure that the results and advances arising from the work of the research program are disseminated broadly.

He shall encourage the incorporation, to the

extent applicable and practicable, of such

results and advances in building codes, fire codes, and other relevant codes, test methods, fire service operations and

training, and standards. The Secretary is authorized to encourage and assist in the development and adoption of uniform

codes, test methods, and standards aimed at reducing fire losses and costs of fire protection.

The Federal Fire Protection and Control Act Amendments of 1978 amended the Organic Act to include "methods,

procedures, and equipment for arson

prevention, detection, and investigation."

80
Brooks Act, 1965

Public Law 89-306 The Secretary of Commerce is authorized:

(1) to provide agencies, and the

Administrator of General Services with sci- entific and technological advisory services

relating to automatic data processing and

related systems, and

(2) to make appropriate recommendations to the President relating to the establishment of uniform Federal automatic

data processing standards. The Secretary is authorized to undertake the necessary

research in the sciences and technologies of automatic data processing computer and

related systems.

Fair Packaging and Labeling Act, 1966

15 U.S.C. 1454 Informed consumers are essential to the fair and efficient functioning of a free market

economy. Packages and their labels should

enable customers to obtain accurate infor- mation as to the quantity of the contents and

should facilitate value comparisons.

Therefore, it is hereby declared to be the

policy of the Congress to assist consumers

and manufacturers in reaching these goals in the marketing of consumer goods.

Whenever the Secretary of Commerce

determines that there is undue proliferation of the weights, measures, or quantities in which any consumer commodity or

reasonably comparable consumer commodities are being distributed in packages

for sale at retail and such undue

proliferation impairs the reasonable ability of consumers to make value comparisons

with respect to such consumer commodity

or commodities, he shall request manufacturers, packers, and distributors of the commodity or commodities to participate in the development of a voluntary product stan- dard for such commodity or commodities

under the procedures for the development of

voluntary product standards established by

the Secretary pursuant to section 2 of the Act

of March 3, 1901 (31 Stat. 1449, as amended;

15 U.S.C. 272). Such procedures shall provide adequate manufacturer, packer, dis- tributor, and consumer representation.

If ( 1 ) after one year after the date on which

the Secretary of Commerce first makes the request of manufacturers, packers, and dis- tributors to participate in the development

of a voluntary product standard as provided

in subsection (d), or (2) if such a standard is published and the Secretary of Commerce

determines that it has not been observed, he

shall promptly report such determination to the Congress with a statement of the efforts that have been made under the voluntary standards program and his recommendation

as to whether Congress should enact

legislation providing regulatory authority to deal with the situation in question.

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976

Public Law 94-580

This Act establishes in the Environmental

Protection Agency, an Office of Solid Waste

to provide technical and financial assis- tance to State and regional agencies and to

utilize information, facilities, personnel, and

other resources of Federal agencies, in- cluding the National Bureau of Standards

and the Census Bureau, on reimbursable

basis, to perform research and analyses and

conduct studies and investigations related to resource recovery and conservation and to otherwise carry out the Administrator's

functions under this Act. The Secretary of Commerce, acting

through the National Bureau of Standards,

and in conjunction with national standardssetting organizations in resource recovery,

shall, after public hearings. ..publish

guidelines for the development of

specifications for the classification of

materials recovered from waste which were

destined for disposal. The specifications

shall pertain to the physical and chemical

properties and characteristics of such

materials with regard to their use in replacing virgin materials in various

industrial, commercial, and governmental

uses. In establishing such guidelines, the Secretary shall also, to the extent feasible, provide such information as may be

necessary to assist Federal agencies with procurement of items containing recovered

materials. The Secretary shall continue to cooperate with national standards-setting

organizations, as may be necessary, to en- courage the publication, promulgation, and

updating of standards for recovered

materials and for the use of recovered

materials in various industrial, commercial,

and governmental uses.

Federal Nonnuclear Energy Research and Development Act of 1974

Public Law 93-574, Sec. 14 The National Bureau of Standards shall give

particular attention to the evaluation of all promising energy-related inventions,

particularly those submitted by individual inventors and small companies for the purpose of obtaining direct grants from the Administrator of the Energy Research and

Development Administration (which is now

part of the U.S. Department of Energy). The

National Bureau of Standards is authorized

to promulgate regulations in the furtherance of this section.

Solar Heating and Cooling Demonstration Act of 1974 42 U.S.C. 5501 Under various sections of the Act, NBS shall

assist the Department of Housing and

Urban Development (HUD) in determining

interim performance criteria for solar heating and combined solar heating and

cooling components and systems to be used

in residential dwellings and interim

performance criteria (relating to suitability for solar heating and cooling) for such

dwellings themselves. NBS shall also work

with HUD to establish test procedures and

definitive performance criteria for solar heating and cooling components and

systems and suitable dwellings. In addition. NBS is to aid in monitoring and evaluating

the performance and operation of solar heating and combined solar heating and

cooling systems installed in residential dwellings under the Act.

Energy Policy and Conservation Act, 1975

Public Law 94-163

This Act provides for an energy conservation program for consumer products other than automobiles. The Act states that the Administrator of the Federal Energy Administration (now part of the U.S. Depart- ment of Energy) shall direct NBS to develop

test procedures for determination of (A)

estimated annual operating costs. ..(B) at least one other useful measure of energy consumption of such products which FEA

determines is likely to assist consumers...

81
In addition, the Act encourages the

recycling of used oil and promotes the use of

recycled oil. NBS shall develop test proce- dure for the determination of substantial equivalency of re-refined or otherwise

processed used oil and new oil or additives with new oil for a particular end use. As soon

as practicable after development of such test procedure, NBS shall report such proce- dure to the Federal Trade Commission.

Energy Conservation and Production Act, 1976

Public Law 94-385

This 1976 Act amends the Energy Policy and

Conservation Act providing that FEA shall direct NBS to develop energy efficiency im- provement targets for major energy- consuming household products. The Act

requires the Department of Housing and

Urban Development in consultation with FEA, Commerce, NBS, and GSA to develop

and promulgate performance standards for new commercial and residential buildings within three years.

National Energy Conservation Policy Act, 1978

Public Law 95-619 These multiple laws provide for the direct and indirect involvement of NBS in a number of areas. The Bureau, along with

several other agencies, is called upon to

assist the Department of Energy (DOE) in the development of rules describing appropriate residential energy conservation measures in State residential energy conser- vation plans for regulated utilities. Provisions in previous energy statutes regarding appliance energy efficiency are amended and mandatory efficiency stan- dards are authorized. Provisions for improving the energy

efficiency of industrial equipment state that DOE may direct NBS to assist in the development of test procedures for such equipment. Several provisions regarding energy conservation and solar energy pro- grams for Federal buildings require DOE to consult with NBS in the development of life- cycle costing procedures and methodology

and to assist in the development of energy

efficient targets for Federal buildings. NBS

is also cited to provide consultation to DOE

in a study of the usefulness of the second law of thermodynamics in assessing the

efficiency of certain energy uses. Consumer Product Safety Act, 1972

15 U.S.C. 2056

This law directs the Consumer Product

Safety Commission to "utilize the resources and facilities of the National Bureau of Standards. ..to perform research and

analyses related to risks of injury associated with consumer products, develop test methods, conduct studies and

investigations, and provide technical advice and assistance...'

Noise Control Act of 1972 42 U.S.C. 4907

This Act authorizes the Environmental

Protection Agency to develop improved

methods and standards for measuring and

monitoring noise in cooperation with the National Bureau of Standards.

Metric Conversion Act of 1975

Public Law 94-168

This law provides for "Consultation by the Secretary of Commerce with the National

Conference on Weights and Measures in order to assure that State and local weights

and measures officials are appropriately involved in metric conversion and assisted in their efforts to bring about timely

amendments to laws. ..Financial and

administrative services. ..needed by the Board, may be obtained by the Board from

the Secretary of Commerce..."

Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977

Public Law 95-124 The Act directs the President to establish and maintain a coordinated earthquake haz- ards reduction program. This program

should provide for development of technologically and economically feasible design

and construction methods and procedures, a system for predicting damaging

earthquakes, and coordination of information about seismic risks with land-use policy decisions and building activities. NBS is among the agencies to be relied upon in carrying out this Act.

82
Directory

NBS technical work is carried out in the National Measurement Laboratory, the National Engineering Laboratory, and the Institute for Computer Sciences and

Technology. These groups are supported by

the Office of the Director of Administrative

and Information Systems; the Office of the

Director, NBS/Boulder Laboratories; and

the Office of the Associate Director for Pro- grams, Budget, and Finance. This amalgam

of people and programs forms a community

dedicated to service. The interdisciplinary

approach allows NBS to provide the Nation

with scientific measurements of high

precision and accuracy, coupled with so- lutions for current and future technological

problems.

This report has only highlighted some of

the Bureau's programs. For more information on specific projects contact the people

listed in this directory. To reach members of

the Gaithersburg, MD, staff, dial (301) 921 + extension or write to the National Bureau

of Standards, Washington, DC 20234. Bureau staff located in Boulder, CO, can be contacted on (303) 499-1000 and ask for the extension noted in the directory, or write to the National Bureau of Standards, Boulder,

CO 80303. Boulder staff members are designated in the directory with asterisks.

Office of the Director

Dr. Ernest Ambler, Director (241 1) Dr. Thomas A. Dillon, Deputy Director

(2451) Mr. Allen J. Farrar, Legal Adviser (2425) Mrs. Esther C. Cassidy, Congressional

Affairs Officer (2441) Mr. Richard S. Franzen, Public Affairs

Officer (3112) Mrs. Ana B. Jankowski, Equal Employment

Opportunity Program Coordinator (2385)

Dr. Howard E. Sorrows, Technology

Advisor to the Director (2226) Mr. Peter R. De Bruyn, Industrial Liaison

Officer (3591) Mr. James M. Wyckoff, State and Local

Liaison Officer (3814) Dr. Edward L. Brady, Associate Director

for International Affairs (3641) Mr. Frederick L. Haynes, Director, Office

of Cooperative Technology (2446)

Office of the Associate Director for Programs, Budget, and Finance

The Office of the Associate Director for Pro- grams, Budget, and Finance plans, develops,

and evaluates Bureau-level programs and

formulates and carries out policies and

strategies for programmatic, budgetary, and

financial matters. It develops techniques for and coordinates the review of technical and

overhead programs; serves as the NBS

Director's staff for Bureau-level programmatic, budget formulation and execution,

and finance matters; and develops and

maintains mechanisms to monitor planned

and actual uses of resources by providing

integrated, evaluated information on pro- gram progress, opportunities, and resources

to the NBS Director. In addition, the Office advises management on significant changes

and deviations and recommends program,

budget, finance, and accounting priorities to the NBS Director. Mr. Raymond G. Kammer, Associate

Director (3361) Dr. Peter L. M. Heydemann, Chief, Pro- gram Office (3132) Mr. Thomas A. Gary, Chief, Budget Office (2544) Mr. Larry D. Stout, Comptroller, Office of

the Comptroller (2507) Dr. Kenneth Gordon, Acting Director,

Planning Office (3872)

Office of the Director of Administrative

and Information Systems

The Office of the Director of Administrative

and Information Systems directs the management of Bureau-wide facilities and

information and administrative systems in- cluding information and office services, procurement, technical and public information functions. Bureau-wide computing,

personnel, and management consulting

services, health, safety, and security

functions, as well as physical plant, facilities, space management, and instruments shops

functions. The Office also decides on

policies and plans and directs implementation actions to assure the responsiveness of

these services to the needs of the technical programs. Mr. Richard P. Bartlett. Jr.. Director (2477) Mr. Karl E. Bell. Deputy Director for Administrative Systems (3444)

Mr. Roger A. Dixon, Deputy Director for Information Systems (358 1

)

Mr. Eugene I. Grunby. Chief, Computing

Systems Design Division (3384) Mr. Marvin A. Bond, Acting Chief. Library

Division (3567) Mr. W. Reeves Tilley, Chief, Technical

Information & Publications Division (2493) Mr. Martin R. Shaver, Chief, Computer

Services Division (3424) Mr. Richard S. Franzen, Chief, Public Information Division (3112) Mr. Wayne B. Davis, Acting Chief,

Management and Organization Division

(3581) Mr. John N. Brewer, Chief, Plant Division

(2825) Mr. David S. Bettwy, Chief. Instrument Shops Division (2436) Mr. Walter J. Rabbitt, Chief, Facilities Services Division (2525) Mr. Lyman E. Pevey, Chief, Occupational

Health and Safety Division (3366) Mr. Clarence Hardy. Chief. Personnel

Division (3555) Mr. Richard de la Menardiere, Chief, Office Management Division (21 13)

Boulder Executive Office Mr. Arthur R. Hauler, Executive Officer (3955)*

Vacant, Chief, Instrument Shops Division

(3855)* Mr. Robert L. Rodger, Chief, Plant Division (3886)*

Office of the Director, NBS/Boulder

Laboratories

The Office of the Director. NBS/Boulder

Laboratories, which is located in Boulder. CO, provides support to the technical pro- grams of the NBS Boulder Laboratories. These laboratories conduct research comprising work on measurement science for the National Measurement Laboratory in time and frequency, quantum physics,

thermodynamics, and materials science. The

laboratories also carry out programs for the National Engineering Laboratory in electromagnetics, thermophysical

properties, and fluid dynamics. Mr. Bascom W. Birmingham. Director

(3237)*

83
National Measurement Laboratory

The National Measurement Laboratory

provides the national system of physical,

chemical, and materials measurement; co- ordinates the system with measurement

systems of other nations; and furnishes

essential services leading to accurate and

uniform physical and chemical measure- ment throughout the Nation's scientific community, industry, and commerce. It conducts materials research leading to im- proved methods of measurement, stan- dards, and data on the properties of

materials needed by industry, commerce,

educational institutions, and government.

NML also furnishes advisory and research

services to other government agencies;

conducts physical and chemical research; develops, produces, and distributes

Standard Reference Materials; and provides standard reference data and calibration

services. Dr. John D. Hoffman, Director (2828) Dr. Emanuel Horowitz, Deputy Director

for Resources and Operations (2878) Dr. Donald R. Johnson, Deputy Director

for Programs (2822) Dr. David T. Goldman, Acting Associate

Director for Long-Range Planning (3304)

Dr. Arthur O. McCoubrey, Associate

Director for Measurement Services (3301) Mr. Harold Berger, Chief, Office of Nondestructive Evaluation (3331) Dr. Cary Gravatt, Chief, Office of Environmental Measurements (3775) Mr. George A. Uriano, Chief, Office of Standard Reference Materials (3479)

Dr. David R. Lide, Jr., Chief, Office of Standard Reference Data (2467)

Dr. H. Thomas Yolken, Chief, Office of Measurements for Nuclear Safeguards

(3868) Dr. Harvey Yakowitz, Chief, Office of Recycled Materials (2113) Mr. Albert T. Tholen, Chief, Office of Weights and Measures (3677) Dr. Brian C. Belanger, Chief, Office of Measurement Services (2805) Mr. David E. Edgerly, Chief, Office of Domestic & International Measurement

Standards (3307)

Center for Absolute Physical Quantities Dr. Karl G. Kessler, Director (2001)

Dr. Ralph P. Hudson, Deputy Director

(2034) Dr. Richard D. Deslattes, Senior Research

Fellow, Leader, Quantum Metrology

Group (2061) Dr. Barry N. Taylor, Chief, Electrical Measurements and Standards Division

(2701) Dr. James F. Schooley, Chief, Temperature Measurements and Standards Division

(3315) Dr. Ralph P. Hudson, Acting Chief, Length

and Mass Measurements and Standards

Division (2034) Dr. James A. Barnes, Chief, Time and

Frequency Division (3294)* Dr. Gordon H. Dunn, Chief, Quantum

Physics Division (3527)*

Center for Radiation Research

Dr. Chris E. Kuyatt, Acting Director(2551)

Dr. Wayne A. Cassatt, Acting Deputy

Director (2551) Dr. Wolfgang L. Wiese, Chief, Atomic and

Plasma Radiation Division (2071) Dr. Randall S. Caswell, Chief, Nuclear

Radiation Division (2625)

Dr. Lewis V. Spencer, Acting Chief,

Radiation Physics Division (3201) Dr. Jack L. Tech, Chief, Radiometric

Physics Division (3864) Dr. Samuel Penner, Chief, Radiation Source and Instrumentation Division (2503)

Center for Thermodynamics and Molecular

Science Dr. Milton D. Scheer, Director (271 1) Dr. William H. Kirchhoff, Deputy Director

(2711) Dr. Cedric Powell, Chief, Surface Science Division (2188) Dr. Wing Tsang, Chief, Chemical Kinetics Division (2792) Dr. David Garvin, Chief, Chemical Ther- modynamics Division (2131)

Dr. Harold J. Raveche, Chief, Thermophysics Division (2443) Dr. Merrill M. Hessel, Chief, Molecular

Spectroscopy Division (2021)

Center for Analytical Chemistry

Dr. Philip D. LaFleur, Director (2851) Dr. Curt W. Reimann, Deputy Director

(2852)

Dr. I. Lynus Barnes, Chief, Inorganic

Analytical Research Division (3674) Dr. Harry S. Hertz, Chief, Organic

Analytical Research Division (3778) Dr. Harry L. Rook, Acting Chief, Gas and

Particulate Science Division (2886)

Center for Materials Science Dr. John B. Wachtman, Jr., Director (2891) Dr. Elio Passaglia, Deputy Director (2893) Dr. Thomas D. Coyle, Chief, Chemical

Stability and Corrosion Division (2847)

Dr. Richard P. Reed, Acting Chief, Fracture and Deformation Division (3870)*

Dr. Ronald K. Eby, Chief, Polymer Science and Standards Division (3734) Dr. Arthur W. Ruff, Jr., Acting Chief, Metal

Science and Standards Division (281 1) Dr. Hans P. R. Frederikse, Chief, Ceramics,

Glass, and Solid State Science Division

(2845) Dr. Robert S. Carter, Chief, Reactor

Radiation Division (2421)

Institute for Computer Sciences and

Technology

The Institute for Computer Sciences and

Technology develops computer standards,

conducts research, and provides scientific and technical services to aid Federal

agencies in the selection, acquisition, application, and use of computer technology to improve effectiveness and economy in gov- ernment operations in accordance with Public Law 89-306, relevant Executive

Orders, and other directives. ICST manages

a government-wide program for standards development and use, including

management of Federal participation in ADP voluntary standardization activities. In addition, ICST provides technical support in: the development of Federal ADP

management and procurement policies, the selection and direction of Federally

sponsored computer research and

development, and the resolution of computer utilization issues. Mr. James H. Burrows, Director (3151) Mr. M. Zane Thornton, Deputy Director

(3151)
Center for Programming Science and

Technology Mr. S. Jeffery, Director (3531)

Dr. Selden L. Stewart, Chief, Programming

Science Division (3485)

Dr. Dennis W. Fife, Chief, Application

Systems Division (3491)

Dr. Thomas C. Lowe, Chief, Operations

Engineering Division (2750)

Center for Computer Systems Engineering Mr. Thomas N. Pyke, Jr., Director (3436) Mr. Robert P. Blanc, Chief, Systems and

Network Architecture Division (3768) Mr. Thomas N. Pyke, Jr., Acting Chief,

System Components Division (3436)

National Engineering Laboratory

The National Engineering Laboratory

furnishes technology and technical services

to users in the public and private sectors to address national needs and to solve national problems in the public interest. NEL

conducts research in engineering and applied science in support of objectives in these

efforts; builds and maintains competence in the necessary disciplines required to carry out this research and technical service; and

develops engineering data and measure- ment capabilities. NEL also provides engineering measurement traceability services; develops test methods and proposes engineering standards and code changes;

develops and proposes new engineering

practices; develops and improves

mechanisms to transfer results of its research

to the ultimate user; and develops and

demonstrates new institutional practices to stimulate the use of technology.

Dr. John W. Lyons, Director (3434)

Dr. James R. Wright, Deputy Director

(3574) Mr. Samuel Kramer, Associate Director for Program Coordination (3231) Mr. Kenneth R. Goodwin, Associate

Director for Program Planning (3235)

Dr. George A. Sinnott, Associate Director

for Technical Evaluation (3235)

Center for Applied Mathematics

Dr. Burton H. Colvin, Director (2541) Dr. Joan R. Rosenblatt, Deputy Director

(2541) Dr. Frederick C. Johnson, Chief,

Mathematical Analysis Division (2631) Dr. Alan J. Goldman, Chief, Operations

Research Division (3855) Dr. Glenn R. Ingram, Chief, Scientific Computing Division (2541) Dr. Harry H. Ku, Chief, Statistical Engineering Division (2315)

Center for Electronics and Electrical Engineering Mr. Judson C. French, Director (3357) Dr. Alvin H. Sher, Deputy Director (3357) Dr. W. Murray Bullis, Chief, Electron Devices Division (3786) Dr. Oskars Petersons, Chief, Electrosystems

Division (2328) Mr. Charles K.S. Miller, Acting Chief,

Electromagnetic Fields Division (3131)*

Dr. Robert A. Kamper, Chief,

Electromagnetic Technology Division (3535)*

Center for Mechanical Engineering and

Process Technology

Dr. John A. Simpson, Director (3421) Mr. Gene A. Rowland, Deputy Director

(3421) Dr. Russell D. Young, Chief, Mechanical

Processes Division (2181) Dr. George E. Mattingly, Chief, Fluid Engineering Division (3681) Dr. Kenneth G. Kreider, Chief, Thermal

Processes Division (3281) Mr. Gene A. Rowland, Acting Chief,

Industrial Engineering Division (3421)

Vacant, Chief, Acoustical Engineering

Division (3381) Mr. Jesse Hord, Acting Chief, Thermophysical Properties Division (4108)*

Center for Building Technology

Dr. Richard N. Wright, Director (3377) Mr. Harry E. Thompson, Deputy Director

(3375) Dr. Edward O. Pfrang, Chief, Structures and Materials Division (2196)

Dr. Preston E. McNall, Chief, Building

Thermal and Service Systems Division

(3637) Dr. Francis T. Ventre, Chief,

Environmental Design Research Division

(3704) Mr. James G. Gross, Chief, Building

Economics and Regulatory Technology

Division (3447)

Center for Fire Research

Dr. Frederic B. Clarke, Director (3143)

Dr. Clayton M. Huggett, Acting Deputy

Director (3143) Dr. Robert S. Levine, Chief, Fire Science Division (3845) Mr. Irwin A. Benjamin, Chief, Fire Safety

Engineering Division (3255)

Center for Consumer Product Technology

Dr. Stanley I. Warshaw, Director (375 1

)

Mr. John L. Donaldson, Deputy Director

(3751) Dr. Harold P. Van Cott, Chief, Consumer

Sciences Division (2907) Dr. Andrew J. Fowell, Chief, Product

Performance Engineering Division (3748) Mr. Walter G. Leight, Chief, Product Safety

Technology Division (3750)

Center for Field Methods

Mr. Richard T. Penn, Acting Director

(3185)

Office of Engineering Standards

Dr. Lawrence D. Eicher, Director (3731) Mr. William C. Cullen, Deputy Director

(3731) Dr. Lawrence D. Eicher, Acting Chief. Office of Standards Information, Analysis,

and Development (2092) Mr. James O. Bryson, Chief, Office of

Testing Laboratory Evaluation Technology

(2368)

Vacant, Chief, Office of International Engineering Standards (3662)

Office of Energy Programs

Dr. Jack E. Snell, Director (3275) Mr. George P. Lewett, Chief, Office of Energy-Related Inventions (3694)

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : I97Q-O-297-509
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Bureau of Standards