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NIST in Texas

$4.8B

in recent or planned financial awards from NIST to organizations in the state of Texas since 2022.

NIST supports key sectors in Texas

Advanced manufacturing

  • NIST’s CHIPS for America program is growing the semiconductor industry in Texas with $4.8 billion in planned incentives for advanced manufacturing facilities, research and development and workforce development.
  • An FY 2024 award of nearly $1 million from NIST is helping the University of Texas at Dallas establish a new high-performance computing center for advanced manufacturing, virtual reality and other topics. 
  • In FY 2023 alone, nearly 200 Texas manufacturers saved time and money by using more than 300 NIST reference materials to check the quality and purity of materials and gases, the accuracy of measurements and instruments, and the efficiency of processes.
  • Since FY 2020, Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center (TMAC), part of the NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership, has received over $38.2 million in federal funds from NIST, with over $12.8 million matched in nonfederal funds, to increase the global competitiveness of the Texas economy by working to grow the extended manufacturing enterprise.

Aerospace, aviation, and defense

  • Texas manufacturers in this sector rely on NIST reference materials for aluminum, titanium, glass, fuels, solders, thermal analysis, polymers, hydraulic systems and more to ensure small engineering tolerances and the highest quality control for parts where failure would cause catastrophic losses.
  • NIST standards, calibrations and other services ensure accuracy in measurements of altitude and airspeed, and in remote sensing via satellites. The atomic clocks used by global positioning systems and telecommunications networks rely on precision timekeeping disseminated by NIST, starting with the NIST primary standard atomic clock.
  • NIST supports deployment of the fifth generation of wireless communications including providing world-class test beds for characterizing antennas for space applications. This research helps the industry make smaller antennas for smaller, less expensive satellites.
  • In FY 2024, NIST awarded nearly $1 million to fund a new National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining in El Paso to accelerate digital engineering research for the aerospace sector.

Biotechnology, life sciences and health care

  • NIST reference materials help the biotechnology industry with quantitative analytical measurement tools for nucleic acids, proteins, metabolites and cell systems so that manufacturers can monitor and improve manufacturing methods and products — and innovate more quickly.
  • NIST’s guidance on temperature control for vaccine storage has reduced waste by 30%, so more doses are available for more people. Our calibration materials for magnetic resonance imaging help medical researchers develop quantitative tests that can rapidly determine if treatments for glioblastoma and other cancers are working, speeding clinical decisions.
  • In 2023, biopharmaceutical companies in Texas used NIST’s monoclonal antibody reference material for quality assurance in the production of treatments made from living cell lines. These newer drugs can treat cancers, autoimmune diseases and other diseases that are resistant to traditional treatments.

With the help of TMAC, Mor-Medical International in South Texas obtained ISO certification, a validation of its processes for ensuring quality and consistency in its medical equipment products. With this widely recognized stamp of approval, the company’s sales increased by 25%.

Energy and climate

  • Trillions of dollars of commerce in the energy, aerospace, chemical, automotive and aerospace sectors are traceable back to NIST calibrations of gas flow meters. Each year, NIST’s measurement standards help to validate the volume of liquid fuel in billions of dollars’ worth of transactions. Our calibrations of  industrial natural gas flow meters ensure fair and transparent sales of millions of dollars’ worth of product.
  • NIST helps Texas oil producers ensure the quality of their products with reference materials such as those for moisture, ethanol, contaminants and trace elements.
  • NIST calibrations help Texas companies, research labs and testing labs accurately measure the output of their solar cells and modules. NIST standard reference materials allow for calibrations under different light conditions — from standard solar irradiance for space applications to indoor ambient light for energy harvesting — supporting a wide range of Texas industries and residential users.

Public safety, health and resilience

  • From 2012 to 2022, the NIST Public Safety Communications Research Division invested $18.5 million through prize challenges, grants and contracts to Texas companies and universities to increase the safety of first responders and their communities. This investment resulted in:

$47.2M

in economic activity

$43.1M

in household earnings

621

jobs

  • In FY 2024, NIST granted nearly $4 million to Southern Methodist University, Texas A&M and the University of Texas at Austin for projects to improve the resiliency of community infrastructure and the electric grid, and for a data collaborative to inform better decision-making about extreme weather events.
  • A 2021 grant of $475,000 to the University of Texas at Arlington, operator of the Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center, funded assessments of businesses affected by Hurricane Laura to help them restore operations as quickly as possible.

CHIPS Funding

Sumika (Texas)

Proposed Award Amount
up to $52.1 million proposed funding
CHIPS Organization
CHIPS Program Office
The proposed CHIPS funding would support the manufacturing of ultra-high purity (UHP) isopropyl alcohol (IPA) used in advanced logic and memory chip production.

IntelliEPI (Texas)

Proposed Award Amount
up to $10.3 million in proposed funding
CHIPS Organization
CHIPS Program Office
The proposed investment would support the expansion and modernization of IntelliEPI’s existing manufacturing facility in Allen, Texas.

X-Fab (Texas)

Proposed Award Amount
up to $50 million in proposed direct funding
CHIPS Organization
CHIPS Program Office
The proposed investment in X-Fab would support the modernization and expansion of its existing silicon carbide fab in Lubbock, Texas.

MEP Success Stories

FluxWorks: Empowering Progress,Transforming Motion

Reported Year
2024
DFARS 252.204-7012 initially allowed companies to self-attest that they met DoD minimum cybersecurity requirements in alignment with NIST SP 800-171 (Rev 2). However, in November 2020, DFARS252.204-7019 and DFARS 252.204-7020 were introduced to ensure more accurate reporting of cyber security compliance. These new requirements provided a higher

From Standards to Success: Mor-Medical’s Journey to ISO Certification

Reported Year
2024
Mor-Medical International offers a full variety of manufacturing solutions for almost any medical product. Recognizing the importance of growth and expansion, they set their sights on obtaining ISO certification to bring structure and increase quality through their processes. However, the path to ISO certification seemed daunting and unfamiliar

Sticky Solution Solves Slippery Stacking Situation

Reported Year
2024
As part of a pollution prevention and CARES Act grant providing onsite assistance to food and beverage manufacturers, TMAC, part of the MEP National Network™, reached out to B.C. Williams to see if they were interested in receiving assistance from the grants. Director of Operations Shane Collins welcomed the opportunity and asked TMAC to review

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.

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