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NIST in Washington

$34M

in financial awards from NIST to organizations in the state of Washington since 2022.

NIST supports key sectors in Washington

Food and agriculture

  • NIST’s library of reference materials helps to ensure that foods grown or eaten in the U.S. are safe from contaminants that could cause illness to consumers. Washington companies rely on NIST reference materials such as peanut butter and rice flour to check their food safety testing methods.

Impact Washington, part of NIST’s MEP, helped Fairhaven Mill and Ryp Labs with food safety management systems, technical product development training, human resources program training, and food safety and quality training that resulted in cost savings and new jobs. Impact Washington helped Romac Industries Inc., a manufacturer of pipe products for the waterworks industry, with training on lean and green principles. This resulted in $50,000 in annual cost savings and a 50% reduction in waste.

Advanced manufacturing

  • Washington manufacturers rely on NIST reference materials to check the quality and purity of cement, liquids, glasses, metals and more. This saves time and money and provides manufacturers with the highest quality control for parts where failure would cause catastrophic losses.
  • Since FY 2020, Impact Washington, part of the NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership, has received over $13.9 million in federal funds from NIST, with over $20.2 million matched in nonfederal funds, to help companies and communities succeed, grow and create high-quality jobs by providing consulting, training and connecting services across the state.

Science and technology

  • In FY 2022, NIST awarded Washington small business NuPhY Inc. (now Qualterra) with $100,000 to support plant production optimization.
  • In FY 2023 and FY 2024, NIST awarded the University of Washington with $13.8 million for a quantum technologies teaching and test bed, advanced nano and quantum systems efforts, interdisciplinary engineering building equipment, and molecular analysis facility instrumentation. In FY 2024, NIST also  awarded Washington State University with over $7.5 million for construction of a facility for radioactive materials research.
  • NIST’s calibrated solar cells help manufacturers, energy providers, and researchers and test laboratories measure the output of their solar cells and modules. Among their many applications, these reference cells assure designers of solar powered satellites that they will produce enough electrical energy to provide essential functions, from GPS positioning to weather forecasting.

Public safety, health and resilience

  • From 2012 to 2022, the NIST Public Safety Communications Research Division invested $1.9 million through prize challenges and grants to companies and universities in Washington to increase the safety of first responders and their communities. This investment resulted in:

$5.5M

in economic activity

$2.9M

in household earnings

35

jobs

  • NIST research resulted in new guidance to help improve preparedness for, and protect lives from, wildfires. This also includes a website intended to help community leaders and first responders in wildfire-prone areas, like Washington, make buildings and other structures more resistant to fire.

CHIPS Funding

Analog Devices Inc. (Washington)

Proposed Award Amount
up to $105 million in proposed funding (split across Chelmsford, MA, Beaverton, OR, and Camas, WA)
CHIPS Organization
CHIPS Program Office
CHIPS for America’s proposed investment in Washington would support the expansion of front-end mature node semiconductor manufacturing for devices used in a wide variety of applications, including but not limited to automotive, industrial, and defense applications.

Hummingbird Precision Machine Co. Dba Hummingbird Scientific

Award Amount
$283,500
CHIPS Organization
CHIPS SBIR
Develop a transmission electron microscopy in-situ specimen holder that enables real-time imaging of nano-scale electronic devices. The project will benefit manufacturers and researchers of next-generation high-voltage power converters used in a wide variety of industries.

MEP Success Stories

Strategic Planning + Marketing – E-Commerce Support

Reported Year
2024
Karen Hartman, owner and designer of Astor & Orion, had cultivated a loyal customer base and secured a few small wholesale accounts. The company’s design, pricing, and product presentation were well-received, and Hartman had focused on the DTC (direct-to-consumer) e-commerce model. However, rising ad costs and new privacy regulations made it

Tutta Bella Expands Its Business Amid Challenges, Thanks to a Job Skills Program Grant

Reported Year
2024
During the pandemic, Tutta Bella closed its Bellevue restaurant and manufacturing location and purchased a 15,000-square-foot facility in Seattle to grow its in-house fresh food manufacturing facility. In Bellevue, Tutta Bella was turning out about 2,700 items per day in a cramped space and hoped the move to Seattle would help produce 5,000 items

News & Updates

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.

Research Projects