Engineering Laboratory

Lidar image of building collapse site looks like a black-and-white photo with some parts of the remaining walls marked in yellow and red.

NIST Report to Congress Provides Update on Champlain Towers South Investigation

50 Years of Fire Safety Advances at NIST

Photograph of large residential-style home with blue tile roof and solar panel in suburban campus setting.

A House Ahead of its Time

News and Updates

Horizontal concrete slab is visible in a forest of scaffolding and equipment in a large indoor space.

Champlain Towers South Investigation Team Provides Update to Structural Engineers

April 11, 2025

This outreach will help ensure that the team’s findings and recommendations lead to improvements to codes, standards and practices that can prevent similar

A black and white image of the aluminum alloy under a microscope. Most of the image is light grey, but there are many small black spots that have lines extending out from them like cracks.

Rare Crystal Shape Found to Increase the Strength of 3D-Printed Metal

April 7, 2025

NIST researchers have found special atomic patterns called quasicrystals in 3D-printed aluminum alloys.

NIST Report to Congress Provides Update on Champlain Towers South Investigation

February 5, 2025

The report notes that the team has completed all experimental work on the physical evidence from the building’s structural elements.

NIST Hosts Second Stakeholder Workshop on Digital Twins

January 1, 2025

On January 14, 2025, NIST held the second of three stakeholder workshops in its ongoing series on Digital Twins, building upon the initial workshop held in

Events

Additive Construction The Path to Standardization III

Additive Construction – The Path to Standardization Continues III

Mon, Aug 18 - Wed, Aug 20 2025

The event, Additive Construction – The Path to Standardization Continues, will bring together industry and academic

Software

Tool for Evaluation of Vaporized Hydrogen Peroxide Disinfection of N95 Masks in Small Rooms

June 3, 2020

This spreadsheet tool estimates the vaporized hydrogen peroxide (VHP) concentration in air of rooms used for VHP mask disinfection systems. The tool employs a

FDS and Smokeview

Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) is a computational model for smoke and heat transport from fires. Smokeview visualizes the output from FDS and CFAST.

BEES

February 5, 2018

The BEES ( Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability) software brings to your fingertips a powerful technique for selecting cost-effective

CONTAM

January 8, 2021

CONTAM is a multizone indoor air quality and ventilation analysis computer program designed to help you determine: (a) airflows: infiltration, exfiltration, and

STEP File Analyzer and Viewer

March 27, 2025

The free STEP File Viewer supports parts, assemblies, dimensions, tolerances, and more. The Analyzer generates a spreadsheet of all entity and attribute

EVAP-COND, Version 5.0

January 1, 2020

EVAP-COND is a software package that contains NIST's simulation models EVAP and COND for finned-tube evaporators and condensers. The “tube-by-tube” scheme in

CFAST

CFAST (Consolidated Model of Fire and Smoke Transport) is a computer program that helps users understand how fire and smoke spread through a building.

VCCTL Software

(Return to Cement Hydration and Degradation Modeling Software) The Virtual Cement and Concrete Testing Laboratory (VCCTL) software provides a virtual testing

View All Software

Tools and Instruments

Fire Calorimetry Database (FCD)

The NIST Fire Calorimetry Database (FCD) contains results of fire experiments conducted at the National Fire Research Laboratory.

SPHERE

In the artificial ultraviolet (UV) weathering of materials, a need exists for weathering devices that can uniformly illuminate test specimens with a high level

Additive Manufacturing Metrology Testbed (AMMT)

The NIST Additive Manufacturing Metrology Testbed is a fully custom, open-platform laser powder bed fusion (LBPF) system to advance monitoring, controls, and

Additive Manufacturing Powder Metrology Laboratory

NIST researchers are developing and deploying test methods, protocols, and exemplar data for characterizing the properties of metal powders used in commercial

Awards

Ann Virtz Receives 2025 ASTM International James A. Thomas President's Leadership Award

The ASTM International James A. Thomas President's Leadership Award is an honor presented to individuals who have demonstrated exceptional

Jordan Weaver Receives 2024 Journal of Manufacturing Processes Outstanding Reviewer Award

For providing exceptional quality and number of peer-reviews for the SME Journal of Manufacturing Processes.

Aspasia "Sissy" Nikolaou Receives 2025 Engineer of the Year

Awarded on the basis of her career successes, support to the university, and giving back to her communities. The University of Buffalo

David Yashar is Named ASHRAE Fellow

For substantial contributions in Heating, Ventilation, Air-Conditioning, Refrigeration, and the built environment.

Press Coverage

New unit at NIST (usa)

XtreeE, 3D Concrete Printing Solutions

July 5, 2024

We are thrilled to announce that XtreeE has successfully installed our cutting-edge 3D concrete printing system at the prestigious National Institute of

Taking Measure Blog

Krister Shalm, wearing safety glasses, smiles over a lab table covered with electronics equipment.

Quantum and Dance: It Takes 2 to Entangle

April 14, 2025

Quantum physics and dancing may seem very different, but they both rely on creativity and precision. Both have shaped one NIST researcher’s outlook on life.

Julie Haney sits at a table in the NIST library with a laptop, looking at a smartphone in her hand.

7 Tips to Keep Your Smart Home Safer and More Private, From a NIST Cybersecurity Researcher

April 2, 2025

Our smart home devices can be compromised, but you can take a few simple steps to reduce your risks.

Leroy Jia poses smiling at his desk, with piles of books in the background.

Mathematical Models Can Help Us Understand — and Possibly Treat — Complex Diseases

March 26, 2025

What if a computer model could help make us healthier? Researchers at NIST and elsewhere are working to make this a reality for patients with a condition of the

Alexander Kramida looks up as he sits at his desk in front of a computer screen full of data.

Shedding Light: How NIST’s Light Database Helps Bring You Computer Chips, Welded Steel and More

March 20, 2025

Atomic spectroscopy helps to bring us many things we use every day, but without updated information, it would be harder for scientists and experts to create

Justyna Zwolak poses for a casual photo outdoors on the NIST campus.

Marie Skłodowska-Curie: A Legacy of Innovation and Empowerment for Women in Science

March 12, 2025

Growing up in a country where the first scientist to win a Nobel Prize was a woman helped inspire a NIST researcher to pursue her career in science.

A researcher in a lab coat and safety glasses poses next to a large piece of lab equipment.

The Insulation That Melts in Your Walls — and Could Reduce Your Energy Costs

February 26, 2025

Wherever humans go, we take some form of insulation with us to keep us at just the right temperature. But just because the idea is old doesn’t mean that there

A rectangular box coated with reflective foil hangs from cables over a parking lot.

High-Flying Science: How and Why We Sent a Refrigerator Halfway to Space

February 12, 2025

NIST-developed tools can study the remnants of the Big Bang and more, and now researchers are working to launch these tools high above the Earth’s atmosphere —

A researcher wearing safety glasses reaches into a box of circuitry and other equipment, which emits a green glow.

5 Concepts Can Help You Understand Quantum Mechanics and Technology — Without Math!

February 5, 2025

Quantum is everywhere, and you can understand the basic quirks of life at the quantum level … no math required.

Four men are protected by a net structure as they look away from the camera toward a drone flying in a large high-ceilinged room with street signs on the walls.

Drones in Disaster Zones: How Advanced 3D Mapping Technology Can Help First Responders Save Lives

January 29, 2025

NIST is working to help emergency workers have more information in a crisis by encouraging the development of advanced drones at an affordable price.

Peter Beaucage wears safety glasses as he stands in the lab, holding a piece of equipment on display.

Robots and AI Are Working Together to Bring You Better Medicines, Shampoo and More

January 15, 2025

Products you use every day are carefully formulated in a lab. Experts at NIST are now working to revolutionize how those products are made.

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

January 8, 2025

Forensic science is not as easy as it looks on TV. But NIST resources are helping crime labs examine evidence more efficiently — so the justice system can work