The U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is the "lead national laboratory for providing the measurements, calibrations, and quality assurance techniques which underpin United States commerce, technological progress, improved product reliability and manufacturing processes, and public safety." By statute, NIST is "to assist private sector initiatives to capitalize on advanced technology; to advance, through cooperative efforts among industries, universities, and government laboratories, promising research and development projects, which can be optimized by the private sector for commercial and industrial applications; and to promote shared risks, accelerated development, and pooling of skills which will be necessary to strengthen America's manufacturing industries." NIST conducts leading-edge research in its seven research laboratories located in facilities in Gaithersburg, MD, and Boulder, CO. NIST employs approximately 3,000 scientists, engineers, technicians, and support personnel, and hosts about 3,500 guest researchers and associates from academia, industry, and other government agencies, who collaborate with NIST staff and access user facilities. Research is focused on measurement, standards, test methods, and basic "infrastructural technologies" that enable development of advanced technologies. Infrastructural technologies assist industry in characterizing new materials, monitoring production processes, and ensuring the quality of new product lines. Cooperative research with industry to overcome technical barriers to commercialization of emerging technologies is a major component of NIST's work. In addition, NIST manages extramural programs such as the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program and the Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NMI, also referred to as Manufacturing USA). Several other extramural programs previously conducted by NIST have been eliminated or integrated into other NIST activities. These programs are discussed in the next section. Unlike most federal laboratories, NIST has a mission specified by statute (15 U.S.C. 271-282a), has a separate authorization and appropriation, and is headed by a Senate-confirmed presidential appointee (the Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology and Standards). NIST was originally created by the NBS Organic Act of 1901 (P.L. 56-177) as the National Bureau of Standards (NBS), at a time when the first centralized industrial labs were being established. Under the act, NBS was charged with working on "the solution of problems which arise in connection with standards" and to engage in the "determination of physical constants and the 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." These objectives remain central to NIST's laboratory work today. In 1987, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Improvement Act of 1987 ( P.L. 100-107 ) established the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award under the management of NBS. The act directs the President or the Secretary of Commerce to "periodically make the award to companies and other organizations which in the judgment of the President or the Secretary have substantially benefited the economic or social well-being of the United States through improvements in the quality of their goods or services resulting from the effective practice of quality management, and which as a consequence are deserving of special recognition." The following year, amid widespread concerns about the state of U.S. industrial competitiveness, the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 ( P.L. 100-418 ) significantly expanded the role of NIST as the "lead national laboratory for providing the measurements, calibrations, and quality assurance techniques which underpin United States commerce, technological progress, improved product reliability and manufacturing processes, and public safety" by "moderniz[ing] and restructur[ing] that agency to augment its unique ability to enhance the competitiveness of American industry." The act also changed the name from NBS to the National Institute of Standards and Technology to reflect its expanded mission. In addition to its long-standing work in standards and metrology, NIST was directed to offer support to the private sector for the development of precompetitive generic technologies and the diffusion of government-developed innovation to users in all segments of the U.S. economy. Among its provisions, the act established the Advanced Technology Program (ATP), and a program now known as the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership program. The MEP is a program of regional centers that assist smaller, U.S.-based manufacturing companies in identifying and adopting new technologies. Operating under the auspices of NIST, centers in all 50 states and Puerto Rico provide technical and managerial assistance to firms. Federal funding for the centers is matched by nonfederal sources. The Advanced Technology Program was designed "to serve as a focal point for cooperation between the public and private sectors in the development of industrial technology," according to the report accompanying the bill, and to help solve "problems of concern to large segments of an industry." Placed within the National Institute of Standards and Technology in recognition of the laboratory's ongoing relationship with industry, ATP provided seed funding to single companies or to industry-led consortia of universities, businesses, and/or government laboratories for development of generic (broad-based), precompetitive technologies that have many applications across industries. Awards, based on technical and business merit, were for high-risk work past the basic research stage but not yet ready for commercialization. Market potential was an important consideration in project selection. Scientific and technical review generally was performed by federal and academic experts. Business plan assessments were made by individuals from the private sector. The America COMPETES Act ( P.L. 110-69 ) and the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 ( P.L. 111-358 ) authorized NIST appropriations and several programs and activities. In 2007, the America COMPETES Act replaced ATP with a new program, the Technology Innovation Program (TIP). While similar to ATP in the promotion of R&D expected to be of broad-based economic benefit to the nation, TIP appeared to have been structured to avoid what was seen as government funding of large firms that opponents argued did not necessarily need federal support for research. The committee report to accompany H.R. 1868 , part of which was incorporated into P.L. 110-69 , stated that TIP replaced ATP in consideration of a changing global innovation environment focusing on small and medium-sized companies. The design of the program also "acknowledges the important role universities play in the innovation cycle by allowing universities to fully participate in the program." Appropriations for TIP were provided from FY2008 to FY2011; no appropriations have been provided for TIP since FY2011. The America COMPETES Act authorized appropriations for NIST accounts for FY2008-FY2010, and the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 authorized appropriations for NIST accounts for FY2011-FY2013. The authorization levels for NIST were part of a larger effort to double funding for selected accounts—all of the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy Office of Science, and the NIST laboratory and construction accounts—that support physical sciences and engineering research. Congress's appropriations fell short of the authorizations in these acts, and President Obama's FY2017 request did not refer to the doubling goal. President Trump's FY2018 and FY2019 budgets do not include any reference to the doubling effort. As part of the Public Safety Trust Fund provided for in the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 ( P.L. 112-96 ), a share of spectrum auction proceeds are to be made available to NIST as part of a Wireless Innovation (WIN) Fund to help develop cutting-edge wireless technologies for public safety users. WIN funds are to be used for developing leading-edge wireless technologies for public safety users, including helping industry and public safety organizations conduct research and develop new standards, technologies, and applications to advance public safety communications in support of the initiative's efforts to build an interoperable nationwide broadband network for first responders. The spectrum auction provided NIST with approximately $285.0 million for this purpose; efforts began in FY2015 and are continuing in FY2018. In his FY2013 budget, President Obama proposed the creation of a National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) to help accelerate innovation by investing in industrially relevant manufacturing technologies with broad applications, and to support manufacturing technology commercialization by bridging the gap between the laboratory and the market. Congress did not act on this request or a subsequent one made in President Obama's FY2014 request. President Obama renewed the request in his FY2015 budget. In December 2014, Congress enacted the Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation Act of 2014 (RAMI Act) as Title VII of Division B of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 ( P.L. 113-235 ), establishing a Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NMI), largely similar to President Obama's concept for the NNMI. As specified in the act, the purpose of the NMI is to improve the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing and to increase the production of goods manufactured predominantly within the United States; to stimulate U.S. leadership in advanced manufacturing research, innovation, and technology; to facilitate the transition of innovative technologies into scalable, cost-effective, and high-performing manufacturing capabilities; to facilitate access by manufacturing enterprises to capital-intensive infrastructure, including high-performance electronics and computing, and the supply chains that enable these technologies; to accelerate the development of an advanced manufacturing workforce; to facilitate peer exchange and the documentation of best practices in addressing advanced manufacturing challenges; to leverage nonfederal sources of support to promote a stable and sustainable business model without the need for long-term federal funding; and to create and preserve jobs. The act did not appropriate funds specifically for the NMI program but instead authorized NIST to spend up to $5.0 million of its appropriated funds each year from FY2015 to FY2024 to carry out the program.