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Engineering Laboratory

Materials and Structural Systems Division

News and Updates

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NIST Community Resilience Guide Supports Maryland Counties Climate Resilience Planning

March 20, 2020

The NIST Community Resilience Program was invited by the University of Maryland’s (UMD) Center for Global Sustainability to support an initiative to aid local...

NIST Community Resilience Panel at HurriCon 2020

HurriCon 2020: Science at the Intersection of Hurricanes and the Populated Coast

March 11, 2020

Members of NIST’s Community Resilience Program and the NIST-funded Center of Excellence (CoE) for Risk-Based Community Resilience Planning jointly convened a...

Sunlight shines through solar panel backsheet.

NIST Study Uncovers a Potential Driver of Premature Solar Panel Failures

March 10, 2020

Unlike diamonds, solar panels are not forever. Ultraviolet rays, gusts of wind and heavy rain wear away at them over their lifetime. Manufacturers typically...

NIST Renews $20M Award to Community Resilience Center of Excellence

February 3, 2020

The U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has awarded a renewal of a $20 million cooperative agreement to Colorado...

An electron micrograph showing a globular cluster of silver nanoparticles atop the surface of a cutting board from which it was scratched off.

Do Kitchen Items Shed Antimicrobial Nanoparticles After Use?

November 8, 2018

Because of their antimicrobial and antifungal properties, silver nanoparticles measuring between one and 100 nanometers (billionth of a meter) in size, are...

Salt Lake County Among Localities Using NIST Community Resilience Planning Guide

October 17, 2018

Emergency managers, industry professionals, and other staff from Salt Lake County (SLCo) and local jurisdictions gathered on Oct. 10, 2018, in West Valley, Utah...

Registration Is Now Open for the NIST Workshop on Priority Data and Information Needs

September 25, 2018

As more communities take action to improve their overall resilience to natural, technological, and human-caused hazards, there is a growing recognition that...

Schematic shows the five layers of a typical automobile composite body. Mar and scratch damages from five objects, seen as cracks and crevices in the coating layers, are marked.

To Improve Auto Coatings, New Tests Do More Than Scratch the Surface

September 20, 2018

Know that sickening feeling when you exit the grocery store and find your car has been banged up by a runaway shopping cart? It may one day be just a bad memory...

NIST Details Steps to Keep Buildings Functioning After Natural Hazards

August 21, 2018

After an earthquake, hurricane, tornado or other natural hazard, it’s considered a win if no one gets hurt and buildings stay standing. But an even bigger...

A home in the mountains of Puerto Rico lies in ruins as a result of the extreme force winds of Hurricane Maria.

NIST Launches Study of Hurricane Maria’s Impact on Puerto Rico

May 16, 2018

GAITHERSBURG, Md.—The U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced it will study the impacts of Hurricane Maria on...

Join the NIST Center of Excellence Documenting and Modeling Community Recovery Webinar Thursday, May 3, 9-11 AM (MDT)

April 13, 2018

Learn about the NIST-funded Center for Risk-Based Community Resilience Planning and how its research is advancing models of community recovery, and is...

NIST Seeks Comments on “EDGe$” Tool that Can Help Communities Select Cost-Effective Resilience Projects

April 12, 2018

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is seeking feedback about the utility and ease of use of a software-based tool designed to help...

New NIST “EDGe$” Tool Can Help Communities Select Cost-Effective Resilience Projects

January 8, 2018

A powerful software-based technique for selecting cost-effective, infrastructure-based community resilience projects is now available to the public. The...

Historic Preservation, Flooding Threats are Community Resilience Drivers: Could Benefit from NIST Guides

November 14, 2017

Many communities across the country are dealing with flooding threats, but those that rely on historic and culturally important properties face special...

Local Government Managers Learn about NIST Community Resilience Guides

October 30, 2017

City managers, public works department directors, and county administrators learned about NIST’s Community Resilience Planning Guide for Buildings and...

Lighting a Path to 'Smarter' Homes, Roads, and Bridges

September 27, 2017

If you’re worried about carbon monoxide poisoning, you might purchase a detector for your home. But what if your house itself could sense carbon monoxide and...

Federal Program to Reduce Windstorm Impacts Requests Comments on New Strategic Plan

March 14, 2017

“Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.” When time management guru Alan Lakein wrote these words, he likely...

Mayors, County Executives, Other Officials Learn About the Planning Guide

February 7, 2017

The U.S. Conference of Mayors were the latest group of local officials and staff to learn about the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Community...

At-A-Glance Overview of Resilience Economic Decision Guide Now Available

February 1, 2017

A new brochure will help community planners to prioritize potential resilience solutions. The 12-page brochure summarizes the Community Resilience Economic...

NIST Releases Two New Community Resilience Planning Guide Briefs

December 14, 2016

In support of the Community Resilience Planning Guide, the NIST Community Resilience Group has released two additional Community Resilience Planning Guide...

NIST Community Resilience Group Strengthened by New Team Members

November 2, 2016

The Community Resilience Group, part of the Engineering Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), has announced the addition of...

‘Built Environment’ Portal Now Part of Climate Resilience Toolkit

October 3, 2016

As part of the ongoing collaborative federal effort to strengthen the resilience of the nation’s cities, towns and other inhabited areas, the Community...

NIST-Made ‘Sun and Rain’ Detail How Nanoparticles Can Escape from Plastic Coatings into the Environment

September 30, 2016

If the 1967 film “The Graduate” were remade today, Mr. McGuire’s famous advice to young Benjamin Braddock would probably be updated to “Plastics … with...

Illustration shows a tornado with statistics about the Joplin tornado's deadliness and destructiveness.

Progress Toward National Resiliency: NIST Marks Joplin Tornado 5th Anniversary

May 19, 2016

Disaster struck Joplin, Missouri, on May 22, 2011, when the deadliest and costliest single tornado in U.S. history left a 35-kilometer (22-mile) long path of...

Chile Quake at Epicenter of Expanding Disaster and Failure Data Repository

April 26, 2016

Feb. 27, 2010, is a date that most Chileans will probably never forget. On that day, the sixth strongest earthquake in recorded history—packing a force greater...

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