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NIST in North Carolina
$286M
in recent and planned financial awards from NIST to organizations in the state of North Carolina since 2022
NIST Supports Key Sectors in North Carolina
Advanced manufacturing
- In FY 2025, NIST’s CHIPS for America program awarded $285 million to Durham-based SRC to establish a Manufacturing USA institute, called SMART USA, for the creation of digital twins for the semiconductor industry. Digital twins accelerate innovation by providing virtual environments for experimentation, prototyping and training in an industry sector where physical facilities are out of reach for most developers and educational organizations.
- Since FY 2020, the North Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NCMEP), part of the NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership, has received over $17 million in federal funds from NIST, which spurred more than $17 million in nonfederal investments, to enhance the productivity, innovative capacity and technological performance of North Carolina-based manufacturing firms.
NCMEP helped ABT Metals Manufacturing in Iredell County implement the ISO 9001 standard for quality management. The transition required additional training, documentation, and a commitment to consistent performance based on new procedures and policies. NCMEP’s help resulted in an additional $75,000 investment into ABT’s production processes.
- NIST helps North Carolina’s biotechnology sector innovate more quickly with quantitative analytical measurement tools for nucleic acids, proteins, metabolites and cell systems so that manufacturers and clinical test labs can monitor and improve methods and products.
- North Carolina’s manufacturers rely on NIST reference materials for steels, titanium, iron ore and more to ensure the highest quality control for products from the smallest electronics to the largest heavy equipment.
- NIST’s Mass Spectrometry Data Center produces data libraries that speed chemical identification and quality control for the chemical manufacturing sector and many other industry sectors. This data is so widely trusted that it is packaged with nearly every mass spectrometer sold.
- The NIST ThermoData Engine is used by chemical companies around the world. It provides thermophysical properties for industrially important fluids and fluid mixtures so that chemical plants can optimize production processes through computer modeling without running expensive full-size experiments.
Food and agriculture
- NIST helps to ensure that foods grown or eaten in the U.S. are safe from contaminants that could cause illness to consumers. Companies in North Carolina rely on NIST reference materials such as nutritional formulas, avocado powder and rice flour to check their food safety testing methods and help them comply with the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act.
- NIST develops and updates inspection procedures and trains state regulatory officials on how to verify the net contents of packaged foods to protect consumers and businesses and ensure fair trading for grocery stores, restaurants and customers.
Financial services
- NIST supports North Carolina’s financial sector with highly regarded standards and guidelines for IT security. NIST’s National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence collaborates with financial services industry experts and technology vendors on best practices and standards that mitigate cybersecurity and privacy risks.
- NIST’s NICE program advances cybersecurity education, training and workforce development. In 2024, NICE funded a North Carolina regional partnership for $200,000 to prepare students for high-paying jobs in the sector, which has thousands of open positions.
- An additional $625,000 in funding from NIST is helping the University of North Carolina Wilmington advance research, workforce development, and standards for maritime cybersecurity.
- NIST’s post-quantum cryptography standards are designed to withstand the attack of a future quantum computer. They can secure a wide range of electronic information, from confidential email messages to e-commerce transactions.
- NIST’s time service, based on the world’s most accurate atomic clock, ensures accurate timestamps on electronic trades that often occur just microseconds apart, preventing stock market fraud and manipulation.
Public safety, health and resilience
- From 2012 to 2022, the NIST Public Safety Communications Research Division invested nearly $7 million through prize challenges, grants and contracts to North Carolina companies and universities to increase the safety of first responders and their communities. This investment also resulted in:
$15.8M
in economic activity
$20.3M
in household earnings
289
jobs
CHIPS Funding
MEP Success Stories
News & Updates
Blog Posts
Learn how NIST improves the lives of all Americans by conducting research and fostering collaborations that make possible everything from reliable vaccine storage and fair fuel transactions to next-generation MRIs and fair stock trades. Check out NIST Works for You.
