Engineering Laboratory

Equipment stands on tripods on a balcony with the beach and sea in the background.

Update on NIST’s Champlain Towers South Investigation

Animation shows particles as blue dots circulating through a living room via windows, fans and filters.

Streamlined NIST Tool Could Help Homeowners, Renters Reduce Airborne Exposure to COVID

Joannie Chin stands with arms crossed, wearing safety goggles, in front of scientific equipment.

Building in a Changing Climate: A Q&A With NIST’s Joannie Chin

News and Updates

A researcher wearing a face mask gestures to a Christmas tree set up in a metallic box with a large spotlight shining on it.

Live Christmas Trees Affect Indoor Air Chemistry, NIST Researchers Find

December 22, 2023

Many families enjoy the fresh fragrance of a real tree. That smell comes from chemicals called volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Flood protection sandbags buffer waters around flooded homes with rescue team pushing boat through flooded streets.

In National Climate Assessment, NIST Offers New Insights on Community Resilience and Adaptation

December 4, 2023

NIST researchers contributed to chapters that explore how communities can adapt to climate change while promoting the fair treatment and meaningful involvement

Spotlight: Using Robots to Assess Photovoltaic Cells

October 4, 2023

How can we make photovoltaic cells (such as those used for solar panels) work more efficiently, even in diffuse or indirect light?

A slab of concrete with ragged edges sits on a warehouse floor as researchers use equipment to extract core samples.

NIST Provides Update on Investigation Into the Collapse of Champlain Towers South

September 7, 2023

Preliminary evaluations show additional deviations from design in pool deck construction, no underground voids.

Software

Tool for Evaluation of Vaporized Hydrogen Peroxide Disinfection of N95 Masks in Small Rooms

June 3, 2020

This spreadsheet tool estimates the vaporized hydrogen peroxide (VHP) concentration in air of rooms used for VHP mask disinfection systems. The tool employs a

FDS and Smokeview

Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) is a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of fire-driven fluid flow. The software solves numerically a form of the Navier

BEES

February 5, 2018

The BEES ( B uilding for E nvironmental and E conomic S ustainability) software brings to your fingertips a powerful technique for selecting cost-effective

CONTAM

January 8, 2021

CONTAM is a multizone indoor air quality and ventilation analysis computer program designed to help you determine: (a) airflows: infiltration, exfiltration, and

STEP File Analyzer and Viewer

The STEP File Viewer supports parts, assemblies, dimensions, tolerances, and more. The Analyzer generates a spreadsheet of all entity and attribute information

EVAP-COND, Version 4

May 1, 2016

EVAP-COND is a software package that contains NIST's simulation models for a finned-tube evaporator and condenser. The "tube-by-tube" modeling scheme allows for

CFAST

The Consolidated Model of Fire and Smoke Transport, CFAST, is a computer program that fire investigators, safety officials, engineers, architects and builders

VCCTL Software

(Return to Cement Hydration and Degradation Modeling Software) The Virtual Cement and Concrete Testing Laboratory (VCCTL) software provides a virtual testing

View All Software

Tools and Instruments

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Wildland-Urban Interface Fires

NIST with US Forest Service (USFS) have invested in the development of instrument packages and measurement science to enable the successful scientific use of

Robotics Test Facility

Located on the NIST Gaithersburg campus, the Robotics Test Facility – also known as Building 207 – is a laboratory for developing standard test methods of

Smart Manufacturing Systems (SMS) Test Bed

The Smart Manufacturing Systems (SMS) Test Bed is comprised of three major components: Computer-Aided Technologies (CAx) Lab Manufacturing Lab Data publication

Integrating Sphere-based Weathering Device

In the artificial ultraviolet (UV) weathering of materials, a need exists for weathering devices that can uniformly illuminate test specimens with a high level

Awards

Adam Jacoff Receives The Homeland Security Today: Mission Award

For individuals who devote their personal time, energy, and resources to work for causes related to homeland security.

Ryan Falkenstein-Smith Receives 40 under 40: E-lecture Series on Combustion Award

For outstanding work on "Characterizing ventilation in fire safety science.

A Group From The Fire Research Division Receive The Sheldon Tieszen Award

In recognition of excellence in an IAFSS symposium paper in fire safety science.

Adam Jacoff Receives Supporting Those Who Serve Award

In recognition of excellence in the unmanned systems industry, embodying the FLYMOTION mission of “Supporting Those Who Serve.

Taking Measure Blog

A Scientific Christmas Tale

December 19, 2023

’Twas the night before Christmas; NIST staff had gone home. Our director was left to reflect all alone. She thought about NIST and the breadth of its work, from

A man faces away from the camera, gesturing as he speaks to three actors seated behind desks on a film set.

Standing Up for Scientific Integrity: A Q&A With Writer-Director José Ricardo García on the New Film ‘The AD-X2 Controversy’

December 13, 2023

In the 1950s, scientific integrity was put into question by a packet of salt. That controversy is the center of a new NIST film.

Historical photo shows Grace Hopper in uniform standing next to a rack of computer equipment.

Fellowship and Fearlessness: Carrying On the Legacy of Rear Admiral Grace Hopper

December 6, 2023

On her birthday, we look at the life of Rear Admiral Grace Hopper — a trailblazing woman in computing — and how we can continue to carry on her legacy.

Jerilyn Izac sits at a lab bench with her hands inside a plastic shield, using a device to draw liquid from a plastic container into a tube.

I’m Using Measurement Science to Test Antibodies and Protect Us From Viruses

November 29, 2023

Imagine if for the next dangerous virus, we could quickly and easily test everyone’s levels of defenses — known as antibodies.