U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Taking Measure

Just a Standard Blog

Search Taking Measure

Put exact phrase in quotes (e.g., "artificial intelligence")
Displaying 51 - 75 of 398
patient in a comfy chair having his blood pressure taken. The blood pressure cuff is attached to a tablet.

Making Sure Virtual Doctor Visits Are Private and Secure

August 20, 2020
Jennifer Cawthra
… and secure, you would also want to be sure that all your other health information that is transmitted over the internet or cellular networks … of Excellence (NCCoE) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) launched a project focusing on the cybersecurity and … our NCCoE team with private industry collaborators representing technology vendors, health care cybersecurity experts and health systems …
Laurie Locascio

A Look Back at the Past 3 Years’ Accomplishments, by NIST Director Laurie E. Locascio

December 23, 2024
Laurie E. Locascio
… Maryland, campus of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) almost three years ago to begin my term as its director and under secretary of commerce for standards and technology.   We were all still feeling the impacts of the pandemic, and … and projects that are working to ensure we get the most from this technology, while helping to promote its safe and effective use. And in …
Doctor in futuristic medical concept pressing button

The Next Big Health Care Merger: Biomedical Imaging and Artificial Intelligence

May 21, 2018
Denis Bergeron, Michael Garris
… Two worlds just collided at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland. On May 16, 2018, experts … would leverage large volumes of data, including a patient’s genetic information, medical history and high-resolution imaging data such as CT … the capabilities and performance of AI-powered systems and developing information technology standards. Patient care already generates massive …
see through human body with organs on the left with an arrow pointing to a schematic of the body cube, represented by a CAD drawing with some multicolor inlaid chips that culture cells for different organs

Creating and Commercializing a Human ‘Body Cube’ for Testing New Drugs

May 26, 2021
Mandy Esch
… organize themselves at that length-scale inside our bodies, so using technology that can guide cell organization at that scale in a … to predict exactly what will happen in the human body. To get more information, it’s good to test the drug using something that acts like … 2015, I was asked to come to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to give a presentation about my work and discovered …
cityscape with icons representing various IOT technologies

Lightweight Crypto, Heavyweight Protection

November 27, 2020
Meltem Sonmez Turan
… challenges. Part of my job at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) involves reviewing the cryptographic algorithms developed to protect our information and identifying possible weaknesses that make them less … these devices usually collect, store and process so much important information, users are concerned about their privacy and security. …
Miles Walker poses smiling in front of the spiral staircase in the NIST library.

‌A Summer of Studying Cybersecurity — and Human Error’s Role in Attacks

August 6, 2024
Miles Walker
… internet, new opportunities for cyberattacks open up. So, keeping our technology safe and secure is more important than ever.  As a … I’ve researched the 2011 attack by the hacker group Anonymous on the technology security company  HBGary . Top executives’ poor password … in Tech  Having grown up in the 2000s and 2010s, I was surrounded by technology from a young age. I believe this was the catalyst for my …
Catherine Cooksey adjusting a machine for the measurement of transmittance.

Key Comparisons: Transmitting Correct Measures All Around the World

December 2, 2020
Catherine Cooksey
… New employees at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are often surprised to learn that our agency is part … competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve our … agencies, national laboratories, manufacturers, universities and technology industries. These groups rely on us to provide …
Doug White stands looking at a printed-out list taped to the end of a library shelf.

Software Library Helps Law Enforcement Catch Dangerous Criminals

November 13, 2025
Doug White
… care before their lives were in danger. But the names and contact information for the patients were stored on an old version of this … all of this without violating any copyrights or accessing proprietary information.   The primary users are from law enforcement agencies. The … collections of networked computers, known as distributed systems. The technology landscape was very different back then. I scavenged NIST’s …
Davina Pruitt-Mentle discussing cyber career options at a table of young women.

Turning Cybersecurity Awareness into a Cybersecurity Career

October 26, 2017
Davina Pruitt-Mentle
… I successfully defended my dissertation for my Ph.D. in educational technology, I began to think about all the benefits that came along with … like an overwhelming challenge. The results from the eighth Global Information Security Workforce Study (GISWS) estimates that we will have … Cybersecurity report states that women make up only 11 percent of the information security workforce, and the International Consortium of …
graphic showing how standardized data will connect farmers, inspectors, manufacturers, shippers, and ultimately consumers to ensure the freshest, most high quality food possible.

Getting Food on Our Tables From the U.S. and Around the World, Safely and Less Wastefully

November 12, 2019
Nenad Ivezic
… with the contents. These sensors provide critical and useful information to the monitoring systems of both the sender and the … of the shipments. Also, to achieve efficient delivery, up-to-date information on things like shipment plans needs to be exchanged among … laboratories and their partners must electronically exchange testing information such as inspection orders, test specifications and test …
futuristic saucer-shaped sky homes

Riding the Carousel of Progress to Tomorrow’s Internet (of Things)

October 17, 2017
Katerina Megas
… I love the way it portrays how families remain the same even as the technology around them changes. The father can’t figure out how to work … about something. And while all those things have remained the same, technology changes the context in which and the way in which we do them. … at work. It’s amazing just how quickly a previously unimaginable technology becomes indispensable. I can’t leave the house without my …
woman in a plaid shirt using a set of VR goggles and hand controls, a man sits at a computer in the background

Passing Photons Through Chicken, VR for First Responders, and 3D-Printed Metal: A Sample of Stories on NIST Social Media

June 7, 2021
Riley Wilson
… materials, using virtual reality to test emergency communications technology, bolstering confidence in the latest manufacturing techniques … at NIST is using cutting-edge virtual reality simulations to test the technology that public safety heroes bring with them. NIST postdoctoral … psychology and computer science. Together, we can safely put emerging technology into a first responder’s pocket and trust its reliability …
Howard Yoon with the NIST standard of spectral irradiance, a bright light, well-calibrated light bulb..

Lighting the Way Toward Better Measurements

January 15, 2016
Howard Yoon
… causes rainbows also allows fiber optic cables to faithfully carry information thousands of miles. Our understanding of light—and our … Earth’s gravity. Key to the watt balance is a laser interferometer, a technology that uses the wavelengths of light like the gradations on a …
glass roof overlaid with binary

Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond and Recover: The NIST Cybersecurity Framework

October 22, 2018
Amy Mahn
… than regulation and legislation in the face of quickly changing technology and threats. NIST updates the Framework based on regular … activities from a small business perspective is Small Business Information Security: The Fundamentals (NISTIR 7621 Rev. 1) . We … their cybersecurity risks. NIST will be producing more accessible information and resources, and amplify awareness of helpful resources …
A medical worker wears gloves as she prepares to swab the nose of a female patient.

Measuring the Accuracy of PCR Tests Can Improve Health Care Beyond COVID-19

September 11, 2023
Robert DeJaco
… used to detect specific sequences of molecules that contain genetic information, known as nucleic acids (such as human or bacterial).   In … fluorescence-based PCR test is regularly used to extract important information from samples. For a given genetic sequence, the goal is not … improve the PCR test process by giving patients and providers more information. Our goal is to empower medical providers to make the …
A man modeling a safety helmet talks with two others standing behind a table in a conference hotel.

What Is $300 Million Worth? The Evolution of NIST’s Public Safety Research

April 21, 2022
Dereck Orr
… small program, housed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), was able to achieve significant impact. For this I … Everyone was there to do whatever it took to improve public safety technology. That was an incredibly eye-opening experience that made me … with low visibility. Specifically, we were focusing on haptic technology, which simulates the feeling of touch. We wanted to test …
Jabez, McClelland, Adam Steele and Brenton Knuffman pose in their lab with their cesium ion source.

An Invention in Focus: When Science Gets Real

May 24, 2018
Jabez McClelland
… up pretty often at a lab like the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). When they do, it’s important for us to recognize … them, protect them for future licensees, and then transfer the technology as smoothly as possible into the commercial sphere.   My … grow from a small seed into a first demonstration and then seeing the technology launch into a bona fide business. The research that led to an …
collage of images from the WTC disaster and the NYC skyline with a representation of a DNA molecule and the letters DNA,

Reflections on Assisting With the 9/11 World Trade Center DNA Identifications

August 3, 2021
John Butler
… incidents involves comparing antemortem records with postmortem information. Intact bodies may be identified visually by dental records … methods had to be developed and software deployed to correlate DNA information between the remains recovered and reference samples obtained … time. Before long, thousands of DNA samples were being tested by Bode Technology, a laboratory under contract with NYC OCME, using modified …
NICE Framework Work Categories People Image

End Your FOMO: Ten Ways to Celebrate National Cybersecurity Career Awareness Week With NICE

October 29, 2020
Davina Pruitt-Mentle
… (NICE) program led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). In celebration of National Cybersecurity Career … 800-181 , is a fundamental reference for describing and sharing information about cybersecurity work in the form of Task statements and … algorithm , Cryptograms in Computer Center Open House , and information on the Standards Eastern Automatic Computer (SEAC).   5. …
Briana Capistran wears safety glasses as she poses smiling in the lab with computers and other equipment in the background.

Speeding Up the Wheels of Justice: How NIST Resources Can Help Crime Labs Work Faster

December 4, 2024
Briana Capistran
… analyst looking at a sample in a way that gives them broad chemical information about the sample’s contents. We call this a screening … that step, they will use other tools or methods to get more detailed information.  Screening is an important part of the analyst’s work, but … for forensic laboratories to use in validating their rapid GC-MS technology for seized drugs and ignitable liquids. Access our resources …
Blue open double doors and walls covered with computer code

Bringing Clarity to the Cloud

May 16, 2016
Brian Stanton
… without having to install them on your own computer—can help make technology more usable for a broader population of people.   The idea … One of the benefits of using the cloud is that you can access your information from many different types of devices, even someone else’s … workspace to make sure things were within reach and the important information was in an easy line of sight. With all of our computers and …
man with goggles, blue shirt and blue cap adjusts a pipe on top of a gleaming aluminum ultra-high vacuum (UHV) metal deposition chamber

Seeking the Power of Quantum Computing in Silicon

February 14, 2020
Josh Pomeroy
… possible values, 0 and 1, quantum algorithms use “qubits” in which information is encoded in multiple dimensions, i.e., a qubit can be composed of both 0 and 1 at the same time. Furthermore, the information in qubits can be coded to generate “entanglement,” a unique … majority opinion is that modifying conventional silicon transistor technology to host quantum computation seems like the best way forward. …
Was this page helpful?