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Fire
NIST
Will Lead Study on Danger of Fire Smoke
NIST
and the Fire Protection Research Foundation are announcing
a research initiative to study how smoke and heat impede
escape and survival in fires.
The
research will help policy makers determine whether, when
and how to incorporate sublethal effects of hot fire smoke
in safety decisions. Sublethal effects are those that do
not kill quickly.
Fire
smoke consists of fine particles and hundreds of gases,
some of which are toxic. Most fire deaths are due to smoke
inhalation rather than burns from flames. Much is already
known about how smoke inhalation can kill fire fighters
and building occupants, but little information exists about
more subtle effects of smoke exposure. These include mental
disorientation, eye irritation and coughing that make it
difficult for someone to escape a burning building.
Richard
G. Gann, of the NIST Building and Fire Research Laboratory,
will lead the NIST research team. James R. Hoover, global
regulatory manager of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.,
will coordinate the effort with domestic and international
standards committees.
The
data portion of the program will examine existing information
on post-fire health effects and prior studies of laboratory
animals exposed to gases typical of those in fire smoke.
Fire scenario analyses will help determine the types of
fires in which sublethal effects are likely to affect survival.
Researchers will develop a standard method for measuring
gases produced when everyday products burn and will construct
a database of that information.
Media
Contact:
Philip Bulman, (301) 975-5661 
Fire
Research
Dollars May Save Lives, Property
Increased
funding for fundamental fire science and engineering research
may substantially reduce the human and economic tolls of
fires in the United States, said NIST Deputy Director Karen
Brown at a recent hearing before the Subcommittee on Basic
Research of the House Science Committee.
America
has enjoyed a nearly 50 percent decrease in annual fire
deaths since 1974, Brown testified. However, she said, further
research could produce even better results.
"The
nation is on the threshold of achieving cost-effective,
assured fire safety," Brown said. "Many products--and
even entire buildings--could be made much safer. A 'fire-safety-engineered'
building could be expected not to burn, just as a structurally
engineered building can be expected to stand. The nation
can achieve this through a combination of technologies such
as more sophisticated smoke alarms, advanced fire sensing
equipment, better use of fire resistant materials and improved
sprinkler systems."
Brown
described how NIST's goals for future fire research are
in line with these efforts. She also noted that the agency's
Building and Fire Research Laboratory has a strong working
relationship with the U.S. Fire Administration, including
a formal agreement to coordinate priorities and programs
in fire research and engineering. The complete text of Brown's
testimony is available at www.nist.gov/testimony/kbfire.htm.
Media
Contact:
Philip Bulman, (301) 975-5661
Biotechnology
ATP
Credited for Boosting Field of Gene Expression Analysis
Like
many other recipients of research co-funding from NIST's
Advanced Technology Program,
CuraGen Corp. of New Haven, Conn., has developed novel technologies
with important uses. Based on strategies, hardware and software
developed in two projects co-funded by the ATP, the six-year-old
company developed biotechnologies that have revealed new
clues to the process and possible treatment of human cancer
and crop diseases. Beyond that, however, the company credits
the ATP with helping to nurture an often-overlooked field.
Whereas
conventional genetic studies typically analyze the chemical
sequence or mutations in genes, CuraGen focused instead
on the then-unfashionable and complicated issue of gene
expression, or how cells use the genetic information in
DNA to make proteins, and what the proteins do after that.
"We think that when people look back in 50 years, they
will see that ATP's support for gene expression analysis
was the most efficient, cost-effective investment the government
ever made in any technology," said Jonathan Rothberg,
company founder, president and CEO.
The
venture has been highly successful so far. One new process
developed with ATP funding boosted scientific power to analyze
gene expression from 100 genes simultaneously to 50,000
genes, according to CuraGen, and the new technologies are
expected to help improve treatments for disease and reduce
substantially the costs of developing new drugs. The ATP-funded
research has led to more than $100 million in deals with
five companies.
For
more information on the ATP, call (800) ATP-FUND (287-3863)
or check out www.atp.nist.gov
on the World Wide Web.
Media
Contact:
Michael Baum, (301) 975-2763
Economics
Tech
Trends Shape U.S. Economic Future
Narrower
research horizons, shorter product cycles, and stiffer global
competition are among key science and technology trends
that will determine whether the United States can continue
its success in sowing the seeds of innovation and in harvesting
the resulting economic benefits, concludes a new report
from NIST.
"The
dominance of the United States as a source of technology
for other economies is declining, with reduced shares in
practically every foreign market," writes NIST economist
Gregory
Tassey. In his review of studies and economic data,
Tassey highlights trends and global developments that are
changing the nature of innovation and underlying research
and development activities.
For
example, technology is increasingly "science-based,"
major advances typically require contributions from a variety
of fields, and high value-added products are growing in
complexity. The report notes that technological progress
is recognized almost universally as the major driver of
long-term productivity growth.
And
among economists and business researchers, it adds, there
is strong consensus that a base of R&D is necessary
not only to foster innovation and to gain "first-mover"
advantages in the market but also to "efficiently assimilate
technology from external sources."
The
report, R&D Trends in the U.S. Economy: Strategies
and Policy Implications, examines important issues and
challenges confronting decision makers in government and
industry.
To
request a copy of NIST Planning Report 99-2, contact Denise
Herbert at (301) 975-2657. The report is available in
Adobe Acrobat format on the World Wide Web at www.nist.gov/director/prog-ofc/report99-2.pdf.
For
more information, contact Gregory
Tassey at (301) 975-2663.
Media
Contact:
Mark Bello, (301) 975-3776
Information Technology
NIST's
ITL Documents Year of Accomplishments
1998
was a busy time for NIST's Information
Technology Laboratory.
ITL
took a leading role in the introduction of needed security
technology standards during the past year, helping break
down barriers to more effective use of information technology.
In the international arena, the lab played a key part in
the historic signing of the Common Criteria Mutual Recognition
Arrangement.
The
pact, signed by five nations, established a precise but
common language specifying security requirements in information
technology products and systems.
Another
highlight was the progress made toward a new data scrambling
standard, the Advanced Encryption Standard. In 1998, ITL
selected and began evaluating 15 encoding algorithms submitted
by researchers from 12 different countries.
Information
about these projects and a host of others, ranging from
biometrics to pervasive computing, is now available in a
new report titled 1998 Information Technology Laboratory
Technical Accomplishments. This report, along with other
ITL publications, is available at www.itl.nist.gov/lab/pubs98/index.htm
or by contacting Elizabeth
Lennon, NIST, 100 Bureau Dr., Stop 8900, Gaithersburg,
Md. 20899-8900.
Media
Contact:
Philip Bulman, (301) 975-5661
Baldrige Program
Quality
and Performance Excellence Star in Four-Video Set
NIST
has released a new four-video set showcasing the Baldrige
National Quality Program. The first two videos are long
and short versions of the program Quest for Excellence
XI. Both spotlight the successful strategies of the
1998 Baldrige Award winners: Boeing Airlift and Tanker Programs,
Solar Turbines Inc. and Texas Nameplate Company, Inc. Also
included in the VHS package are two other videos: A Journey
Worth Beginning that encourages organizations to consider
applying for the award and A Uniquely Rewarding Experience
that profiles the volunteer examiners who evaluate award
applications.
The
videos are available on VHS or CD-ROM for $20. Request copies
from the American Society for Quality, 611 E. Wisconsin
Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisc. 53202-4606, (800) 952-6587. The
item numbers are T1076 for the VHS version and T1084 for
the CD-ROM.
For
more information, contact the Baldrige National Quality
Program, (301) 975-2036, nqp@nist.gov,
or see the BNQP web site at www.quality.nist.gov.
Media
Contact:
Jan Kosko, (301) 975-2767
Laboratories
Heydemann
Retires from Technology Services
NIST
Director Ray Kammer recently announced that Peter Heydemann,
a recognized leader in the international standards and trade
arenas, has retired as director of Technology
Services. Among its components are the Standard
Reference Materials Program, Standard
Reference Data Program, the Office
of Weights and Measures, the National
Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program, the
NIST Calibration Program, the Office
of Technology Partnerships, NIST's Small Business Innovation
Research Program and the Metric
Program.
Heydemann,
who started at NIST in 1964, served as head of the Center
for Chemical Physics and the Center of Basic Standards.
Heydemann assumed the TS Director's position in 1993 after
a five-year detail as science counselor to the U.S. Embassy
in India.
Media
Contact:
Michael E. Newman, (301) 975-3025
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