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Communications Technology Laboratory

Public Safety Communications Research Division

News and Updates

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Topic Area

NIST Prize Challenge Launches Research for Unmanned Aircraft in Search and Rescue

July 7, 2021

BOULDER, Colo. — The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has launched a new prize competition to advance the use

New Draft Report Open for Public Comment: Mobile Biometrics for First Responders

June 15, 2021 - July 20, 2021

The National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) has released a new draft report, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Interagency or

PSCR Staff Spotlight: The Magic of Cellular Technology with Max Maurice

May 28, 2021

Max Maurice is an Electronics Engineer and Principal Investigator for the Highly Mobile Deployed Networks project at the Public Safety Communications Research

4 Cutting-Edge Research Sessions at PSCR 2021

May 5, 2021

Since 2010, NIST’s Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) division has annually convened stakeholders across public safety, industry, and academia to

An image of radio frequency indoor localization and mapping hardware with a generator and antenna lines.

PSCR Awards $8M for First Responder 3D Indoor Tracking Prize

April 30, 2021

NIST’s Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) Division has awarded $8 million to the Crisis Technologies Innovation Lab at Indiana University’s (IU)

Illustration shows computer monitor linked to walkie talkie on one side and smartphone on the other.

Low-Cost NIST Demo Links Public Safety Radios to Broadband Wireless Network

April 12, 2021

Engineers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have built a low-cost computer system that connects older public safety radios with the

Spotlight: Kate Kapalo’s Journey Into Virtual Reality for Public Safety

March 11, 2021

The road so far — NIST postdoctoral associate Kate Kapalo followed an unconventional path into research for public safety, but the experiences fuel her projects

A firefighter on the rails of a subway track

Calling All Firefighters: A New Research Study Wants to Hear from You

March 9, 2021

First responders are seeing a significant increase in the amount and types of data available to them while responding to emergencies. To maximize the value of

PSCR Staff Spotlight: Human and Tech Connections with Kate Kapalo

February 9, 2021

Kate Kapalo is the Lead User Experience Researcher at NIST’s Public Safety Communications Research Division. Dr. Kapalo’s expertise lies at the intersection of

A Responder's Critical Path

January 26, 2021

We’ve all come to rely on the navigation apps on our mobile devices to steer our daily itineraries. Within seconds of typing our destination into a blinking

Nearly $500K Awarded to Tech to Protect Finalists

December 1, 2020

The largest prize challenge in NIST's history reached its culmination last month as contestants of the Tech to Protect Challenge, a software development prize

Rendering of a building made by a 3D point cloud

Using Lasers to Save Lives

November 6, 2020

Scenario: you’re driving to your new job at a university campus and using your Global Positioning System (GPS)-enabled smartphone to tell you—and your car—how

Upcoming NIST Publications on Cybersecurity for Public Safety

October 12, 2020

In this digital age, connecting to the Internet can leave us at risk of having personal information stolen. As public safety agencies evolve and adopt new

NIST Crowdsourcing Challenge to De-Identify Public Safety Data Sets

October 1, 2020

BOULDER, Colo. — The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has launched a crowdsourcing challenge to spur new

PSCR 2020: Most Watched Sessions

August 7, 2020

PSCR launched The Digital Experience on July 27 and during our first week - over 1,000 people got their first glimpse of the content we've been preparing all

PSCR Staff Spotlight: From Video Games to Public Safety with Jack Lewis

July 14, 2020

Jack Lewis is the Lead Virtual Reality (VR) developer at NIST's Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) division. At PSCR, Lewis oversees the development

The Great Pivot: Why PSCR is Digitally Convening Stakeholders in 2020

June 19, 2020

The pervasive global pandemic that swept across the world in 2020 has had a significant effect on businesses, travel, events, and more. For NIST’s Public Safety

Exciting On-Demand Sessions to Catch at PSCR 2020

May 26, 2020

The Public Safety Broadband Stakeholder Meeting is an annual event that connects representatives from public safety, federal agencies, industry, and academia to

PSCR Awards More Than $800K to Tech to Protect Contestants

May 21, 2020

NIST’s largest open innovation prize competition to date awarded $810,000 to contestants at the Tech to Protect Challenge National Award Event on May 1, 2020

"A Slice of America" Through a Firefighter's Eyes

May 1, 2020

May 4th is recognized across the globe as International Firefighters' Day. This international observance was instituted in 1998 after a devastating wildfire in

ghostly black and white map of a building

Spotlight: Navigating First Responders Through Unfamiliar Spaces With Laser Light

March 30, 2020

If first responders knew what the inside of a building looked like before arriving at an emergency, they could save time, property and lives. Here at NIST

Modernizing First Responder Training with VR and Speech Recognition

March 16, 2020

With over 60 million American adults owning a smart speaker, human-to-machine conversation have largely become a part of a daily ritual. Though these exchanges

Two men in high-visibility vests (Nguyen and Hamel) stand outside preparing electronic devices for taking measurements.

Can Mobile Networks Connect First Responders in Remote Areas?

February 26, 2020

The high plateaus of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, known for panoramic vistas, wildlife, old gold mines and sports of all kinds, are attracting new pioneers

PSCR Staff Spotlight: "Paving the Way" with Ellen Ryan

February 19, 2020

Ellen Ryan is the Deputy Division Chief and team lead for the Open Innovation program with NIST’s Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) division. Ryan’s

PSCR Staff Spotlight: "Viewing the Invisible" with Alison Kahn

February 3, 2020

Alison Kahn is an Electronics Engineer with NIST's Public Safety Communications Research Division (PSCR) in Boulder, CO. In a predominantly male-dominated field

Advanced communications
-Quantum communications
-Wireless (RF)
Bioscience
-Biomanufacturing
-Biomaterials
-Cell biology
-Engineering / synthetic biology
-Genomics
-Glycomics
-Metabolomics
-Microbial measurements
-Proteomics
Buildings and Construction
-Building codes and standards
-Building control systems
-Building damage and repair
-Building economics
-Building materials
-Energy efficiency
-Heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment
-Indoor air quality
-Structural engineering
-Thermal comfort
Chemistry
-Analytical chemistry
-Chemical engineering and processing
-Chemical thermodynamics and chemical properties
-Molecular characterization
-Theoretical chemistry and modeling
-Thermochemical properties
Electronics
-Electromagnetics
-Flexible electronics
-Magnetoelectronics
-Optoelectronics
-Organic electronics
-Semiconductors
-Sensors
-Superconducting electronics
Energy
-Alternative energy
-Conventional energy
-Electric power / smart grid
-Fuels
Environment
-Air / water / soil quality
-Climate
-Environmental health
-Greenhouse gas measurements
-Marine science
-Sustainability
Fire
-Emergency building evacuation
-Fire detection
-Fire dynamics and science
-Fire fighting
-Fire modeling
-Fire risk reduction
-Materials flammability
-Structural fire resistance
-Wildland urban interface fire
Forensic Science
-Ballistics
-Digital evidence
-DNA and biological evidence
-Drugs and toxicology
-Fingerprints and pattern evidence
-Trace evidence
Health
-Biopharmaceuticals
-Clinical diagnostics
-Dentistry
-Food and nutrition
-Medical imaging
-Precision medicine
-Regenerative medicine and advanced therapy
Information technology
-Artificial intelligence
--AI measurement and evaluation
--Applied AI
--Fundamental AI
--Hardware for AI
--Machine learning
--Trustworthy and responsible AI
-Biometrics
-Cloud computing and virtualization
-Complex systems
-Computational science
-Conformance testing
-Cyber-physical systems
--Smart cities
-Cybersecurity
--Cryptography
--Cybersecurity education and workforce development
--Cybersecurity measurement
--Identity and access management
--Privacy engineering
--Risk management
--Securing emerging technologies
--Trustworthy networks
--Trustworthy platforms
-Data and informatics
--Human language technology
--Information retrieval
--Natural language processing
-Federal information processing standards (FIPS)
-Health IT
-Internet of Things (IoT)
-Interoperability testing
-Mobile
-Networking
--Mobile and wireless networking
--Network management and monitoring
--Network modeling and analysis
--Network security and robustness
--Network test and measurement
--Next generation networks
--Protocol design and standardization
--Software defined and virtual networks
-Privacy
-Software research
--Software testing
-Usability and human factors
--Accessibility
-Video analytics
-Virtual / augmented reality
-Visualization research
-Voting systems
Infrastructure
Manufacturing
-Additive manufacturing
-Factory communications
-Factory operations planning and control
-Interoperability in manufacturing
-Machining
-Manufacturing economics
-Manufacturing systems design and analysis
-Monitoring, diagnostics and prognostics
-Process improvement
-Process measurement and control
-Product data
-Quality assurance
-Robotics in manufacturing
--Agility and adaptability
--Collaborative robots
--Dexterous grasping
--Manipulation
--Mobility and industrial autonomous vehicles
--Navigation / actuation / control
--Sensing and perception
-Supply chain
-Sustainable manufacturing
-Systems engineering
-Systems integration
-Technology commercialization
Materials
-Ceramics
-Composites
-Concrete / cement
-Materials characterization
--Composition and structure
--Mechanical properties
--Thermal properties
-Metals
-Modeling and computational material science
-Polymers
-Superconductors
Mathematics and statistics
-Experiment design
-Image and signal processing
-Modeling and simulation research
-Numerical methods and software
-Statistical analysis
-Uncertainty quantification
Metrology
-Amount of substance
-Dimensional metrology
-Electrical / electromagnetic metrology
-Flow metrology and rheology
-Force metrology
-Humidity metrology
-Ionizing radiation metrology
-Mass metrology
-Metric
-Optical / photometry / laser metrology
-Pressure and vacuum metrology
-Thermometry metrology
-Time and frequency metrology
-Weights and measures
Nanotechnology
-Nanobiotechnology
-Nanochemistry
-Nanoelectronics
-Nanofabrication / manufacturing
--Lithography
--Self-assembly
-Nanofluidics
-Nanomagnetics
-Nanomaterials
-Nanomechanics
-Nanometrology
-Nanophotonics
-Nanophysics
-Nanoplasmonics
Neutron research
Performance excellence
-Assessment tools and services
-Baldrige award
-Baldrige examiners
-Baldrige Framework and Criteria
-Best practices
-Leadership development
Physics
-Atomic / molecular / quantum
-Biological physics
-Condensed matter
-Electron physics
-Magnetics
-Nuclear physics
-Optical physics and communications
-Quantum information science
-Radiation
-Spectroscopy
-Thermodynamics
-Time and frequency
Public safety
-Chemical / Biological / Radiological / Nuclear / Explosives (CBRNE)
-First responder preparedness
-Law enforcement
-Public safety communications research
-Response robots
Resilience
-Community resilience
-Disaster and failure studies
-Earthquake risk reduction
-Resilience economics
-Resilient materials
-Windstorm impact reduction
Standards
-Accreditation
-Calibration services
-Conformity assessment
-Documentary standards
-Frameworks
-Reference data
-Reference instruments
-Reference materials
-Standards education
Transportation
-Aerospace
-Automotive