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EVENTS

Can We Design Buildings to Resist Tornadoes?

July 28, 2026
5:30 - 6:30pm EDT

NIST - Administration Building 101, Green Auditorium
100 Bureau Drive
Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899

This event is limited to U.S. citizens and permanent residents due to the security clearance required to enter the NIST site. The event will be held in a hybrid format; to register for in-person attendance, you must meet these eligibility criteria. Virtual registration is open to all participants.

Registration for in-person attendance closes on July 21, 2026. Virtual registration will remain open.

Registration Contact

Crissy Robinson

[email protected]

(202) 507-0683

Technical Contact

Riley Wilson

[email protected]

(301) 975-3790

Speaker: Marc Levitan, NIST research wind engineer

Conventional wisdom has been that the only safe place to be in a tornado is underground. However, recent decades have brought significant advances in our understanding of tornadoes, their effects on buildings, and engineering design and construction techniques to withstand Mother Nature’s most powerful storms.

This presentation will explore how tornadoes are different from all other windstorms and the effects of those differences on buildings. Design of tornado shelters and safe rooms to provide life-safety protection from the most intense twisters will be explored, along with new building code requirements for tornado-resistant design of schools, hospitals, and other critical facilities.

Throughout the year, NIST will host lectures, tours, and special programs on our campus and partner with local organizations across the region. We encourage you to stay connected as we celebrate 125 years of service to the American public by visiting the dedicated NIST 125th anniversary webpage

Visitor Access Requirement:

For US Permanent Residents: Please have your valid/non-expired green card for photo identification.*
For US Citizens: Please have your valid/non-expired state-issued driver's license. NIST will only accept a REAL ID-compliant form of identification. Visitors with state-issued identification must now present a REAL ID or a different form of government-issued photo identification, such as: a valid/non-expired passport, passport card, DOD's Common Access Card (CAC), Veterans ID, Federal Agency HSPD-12 IDs, and Military Dependents ID.*

*Use of apps, physical photocopies, and/or digital screenshots of your ID, Passport or Green card will not be accepted. 

Failure to show proper valid and compliant/non-expired photo identification upon check-in will result in denied entry into the facility.

For more information please visit our Campus Access and Security page.