| NIST researchers always
have been, are now, and will continue to be important contributors to
the success of electronics industry. |
The invention of the transistor
in 1947 is the acorn that gave rise to the mighty oak that is today's
$900 billion microelectronics industry. For nearly all of the past half
century, the National Institute of Standards and Technology has been
providing essential technical support to help sustain the growth of
this vitally important and fiercely competitive industry. Continually
branching into new realms of application, microelectronics products
now are at the technological center of the global economy. And NIST-through
the technical services it supplies and the collaborative research it
enables-continues to helping the nation's microelectronics manufacturers
build the capabilities they need to compete successfully. Click on the
image and a more in-depth articulation of this relationship will come
to you courtesy of the Internet and a whole lot of electronics designed
and built with a little help from NIST. This relationship goes from
the nitty-gritty of making microelectronic chips to the solder used
to link electronic components into computers and other products to the
fostering of overall industrial quality. NIST forges these connections
through its four major thrusts:
- the NIST
Laboratories, which for nearly a full century have been pushing
the envelope of measurement science and technology for the benefit
of industry with a strong role in measurements
for semiconductor electronics. For example, NIST's Electronics
and Electrical Engineering Laboratory provides practical measurements
for the electronics, optoelectronics, and electrical industries
while conducting research to advance the electrical and electronic
measurement state of the art.
- Moreover, NIST's Information
Technology Laboratory is devoted to developing the tests and
measuring techniques needed to make the information processing machines
in today's offices, industries, schools and homes work as smoothly,
sensibly, usefully, flexibly, and securely as possible.
- the Baldrige
National Quality Program, which promotes performance excellence
among U.S. manufacturers, service companies, educational institutions,
and health care providers; conducts outreach programs and manages
the annual Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award which recognizes
performance excellence and quality achievement;
- the Manufacturing
Extension Partnership, a nationwide network of local centers
offering technical and business assistance to smaller manufacturers;
and
- the Advanced
Technology Program, which accelerates the development of innovative
technologies for broad national benefit by co-funding R&D partnerships
with the private sector.
|
