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Budget
Administration Seeks $735
Million for NIST in FY 2000
President Clinton has submitted to Congress
a fiscal year 2000 budget request for NIST of $735 million, a 16 percent increase above
the FY 1999 appropriations of $641 million.
Included in the FY 2000 request
are three separate appropriations: $290 million for Scientific and Technical Research and
Services (including $285 million for the NIST Measurement and Standards
Laboratories and $5 million for the Baldrige
National Quality Program); $339 million for Industrial Technology Services (including
$239 million for the Advanced Technology Program and
$100 million for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership);
and $107 million for Construction of Research Facilities to maintain and improve existing
facilities, and begin construction of the Advanced Measurement Laboratory in Gaithersburg,
Md. (with $95 million of proposed FY 2000 funds to be combined with $108 million from FY
1998 and 1999). The CRF funds are necessary to bring NIST's 30- to 45-year-old research
facilities up to the state of the art and meet U.S. industry and science needs well into
the next century.
Three initiatives under the STRS
appropriation would receive $5.5 million in NIST's Measurement and Standards Laboratories
to remove standards barriers to expanded global trade, protect the information technology
elements of critical national infrastructures and begin work on a program to foster
professional development of mathematics and science teachers in Grades K-12.
Additional highlights of the FY
2000 request are an increase from FY 1999 of $41.2 million for the NIST Advanced
Technology Program to continue current projects and conduct a new competition open to all
areas of technology; and $1 million to gather, promote and effectively deploy to all NIST
Manufacturing Extension Partnership centers the highest-priority best practices in areas
such as employee development and service delivery.
More data on the proposed budget
are found in "FY 2000 Technology Administration Budget Highlights," a document
available by faxed request to (301) 926-1630 or on the World Wide Web at http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/budget/2000budget_hilite.htm
Media Contact:
Michael E. Newman, (301)
975-3025 
Technology Partnerships
NIST Passes 800
CRADA Mark in FY 1998
Fiscal year 1998 (Oct. 1, 1997 - Sept. 30,
1998) saw NIST enter into 74 cooperative research and development agreements with U.S.
industry, bringing the agency's total to 834 since the CRADA mechanism was established by
Congress in 1988. The 74 partnerships forged in FY 1998 included 43 with small businesses,
or 58 percent of the agreements. During the year, there were 328 CRADAs still active.
Along with CRADAs, the agency's
Industrial Partnerships Program also was busy with inventions, patents and licenses in FY
1998. NIST submitted 33 invention disclosures and filed 58 patent applications with the
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office during the year. Seventeen NIST patents were issued by
USPTO, and 14 were allowed (to be issued in FY 1999). Sixteen licenses were executed in FY
1998, with an additional 14 being negotiated.
For information on establishing a
CRADA partnership with NIST or to learn more about NIST inventions, patents or licenses,
contact Bruce E. Mattson, NIST, 100 Bureau Dr., Stop 2200, Gaithersburg, Md. 20899-2200,
(301) 975-3084, bruce.mattson@nist.gov.
Media Contact:
Michael E. Newman, (301)
975-3025
Biotechnology
NIST, BioSpace
Reach New Heights with Space Crystals
NIST and BioSpace International, a start-up
biotech company, recently entered a cooperative research and development agreement to
explore new ways to crystallize proteins. The CRADA partners currently are evaluating the
protein crystals they grew on the ground and on space shuttle Discovery between
Oct. 29-Nov. 7, 1998. NIST and BSI scientists grew the crystals using DCCS™, the BSI
Dynamically Controlled Crystallization System. Crystallizing a protein is usually the
first step in determining its three-dimensional structure. Since knowing a protein's
structure allows scientists to capitalize on its strengths and weaknesses, protein
crystallography is a hot research area in most pharmaceutical companies.
NIST and BioSpace are testing the
BSI technology to improve protein crystal growth both on the ground or in space. The BSI
device grew crystals of a well-characterized protein onboard Discovery and
concurrently in Spacehab on the ground at Kennedy Space Flight Center. Four identical
units flew on Discovery. Simultaneously, four identical units conducted the same
crystallization experiments on the ground. Both systems were monitored with computers at
NIST.
NIST researchers Travis Gallagher
and David Black now are conducting a series of detailed measurements on the crystals to
compare their properties. Data from the recent space and ground-based crystallization
experiments could lead to improved crystallization techniques. BSI's ultimate goal is for
DCCSTM to facilitate the discovery of new drugs.
Media Contact:
Linda Joy, (301) 975-4403
MEP
New Study Captures
Successes of Extension Center Clients
At first glance, Breidert Air Products, a
manufacturer of commercial fans in Jacksonville, Fla.; Tiffany Fine Woods, a lumber
products manufacturer in Whitehall, Wisc.; and Sterling Machine Inc., a small precision
machine shop in Enfield, Conn., appear to have little in common. But they do. These three
small manufacturers, and thousands like them throughout the country, have worked with
their local Manufacturing Extension Partnership
affiliate to save money, improve productivity, gain new customers and create new jobs.
Their stories, and others, are
documented in the latest volume of a series of case studies on MEP's client companies.
This collection captures the daily "nuts and bolts" activity of MEP field
engineers, the wide variety of services the program offers and the major improvements of
MEP client firms. For example, after working with the Northwest Wisconsin Manufacturing
Outreach Center, an MEP affiliate, Tiffany Fine Woods created 22 new jobs, decreased
inventory by 10 percent and reduced costs by $250,000 the first year.
Reporters and editors can obtain
a copy of the report, Exemplary Projects Case Studies, by calling or e-mailing
the media contact listed above. All others should call 1-800-MEP-4MFG (637-4634) to reach
their nearest MEP center.
Managed by NIST, MEP is a
nationwide network of manufacturing extension centers providing business and technical
assistance to smaller manufacturers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto
Rico.
Media Contact:
Jan Kosko, (301) 975-2767
Electricity
Guide to
Calibration Service for Capacitance Standards Available
NIST is offering the first publication that
provides a comprehensive description of its calibration service for capacitance standards
at low frequencies.
These standards are used by
industry to calibrate secondary laboratory standards that ensure the quality of various
other capacitors contained in electrical and electronic products. Traceability of the
capacitance value and/or the uncertainty of the value is important for safety,
performance, reliability and stability reasons.
NIST Special Publication 250-47
includes new information, such as improved uncertainty figures for the NIST calibration of
fused-silica capacitance standards, which are gaining widespread use in industrial
standards and calibration labs. It also contains material taken from National Bureau of
Standards (NIST's predecessor) work dating back to the 1950s.
SP 250-47 can be ordered under
stock no. SN 003-003-03549-1 from the U.S. Government Printing Office, (202) 512-1800; or
under order no. PB 98-144587 from the National Technical Information Service, (800)
553-6847.
Media Contact:
Emil Venere, (301) 975-5745
Ceramics
Young Consortium
Already Making an Impact
The Ceramic Processing Characterization
Consortium, founded by NIST in 1997 to develop better measurement techniques for
processing ceramic powders into products, already has molded its first success story.
Learning about a newly available
infrared radiation metrology technique at a recent CPCC meeting, one of the member
companies used the knowledge to design a novel system that instantly measures the moisture
content of ceramics during processing.
The CPCC has a membership of
about 80 corporations, universities and government agencies. Its membership ranges from
firms such as IBM and Motorola, which are using advanced ceramics in electronics, to
companies that make more traditional ceramic products, like floor tiles and whitewares. It
also includes companies that design the instruments needed to make critical measurements
during manufacturing, creating a communications link that will help foster the development
of better measurement methods.
The consortium held its most
recent semi-annual meeting in November 1998 to update members on progress in four major
areas that have been identified as central to improving measurement techniques. The next
meeting will be held in April 1999 in Indianapolis.
For more information, contact
Stephen Freiman, NIST, 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 8520, Gaithersburg, Md. 20899-8520, (301)
975-6119, sfreiman@nist.gov; or Ajit Jillavenkatesa
at the same address, (301) 975-5089, ajit.jilla@nist.gov.
Media Contact:
Emil Venere, (301) 975-5745
Standards
New Directory Lists
Federal Certification and Related Programs
A newly revised NIST directory,
distributed via the Internet,
lists federal
certification and related requirements for hundreds of products and services regulated or
purchased by 18 federal departments and independent agencies. An update of a 1988 edition,
the new directory outlines requirements for items ranging from bottled water to building
products, and from nuclear facilities to narcotic test kits and other law-enforcement
equipment.
For each federal program,
entries explain its purpose, whether
requirements are mandatory or voluntary, and procedures for ensuring compliance and identifying
conformance. Additional particulars include agency contact points, authorizing laws and
regulations, inspection and testing requirements, sources of documentation, manufacturer
or vendor obligations, and reciprocity arrangements.
The intended audience for the directory includes industry, government agencies
(federal, state, local and foreign) and the general public.
The Directory of Federal Government Certification and Related Programs is one
output of NIST's efforts to build a comprehensive database on
U.S. standards, regulations and conformity assessment programs.Printed
copies of the directory will be available later this year. For more
information,
contact Maureen Breitenberg, Office of Standards Services, NIST, 100
Bureau Drive, Stop 2100, Gaithersburg, Md. 20899-2100, (301) 975-4031, maureen.breitenberg@nist.gov.
Media
Contact:
Philip Bulman, (301) 975-5661
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