National Institute of Standards and Technology

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is part of the United States Department of Commerce. Its job is to help make new discoveries and keep American industry strong.

NIST works on many important areas like nanoscale science and technology, engineering, information technology, neutron research, and measurements of materials and physical properties.

From 1901 to 1988, the agency was called the National Bureau of Standards. Today, NIST keeps working to move technology forward and make sure measurements are accurate in many fields. The work at NIST helps make better products and services in the United States and around the world.

The NIST Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021, showing the important history and lasting effect of NIST's work on science and industry.

History

The United States has always needed consistent standards for weights, measures, and money. The Constitution of the United States gave Congress the power to create these standards. Early presidents like George Washington and John Quincy Adams stressed their importance.

In 1901, the Bureau of Standards was created to provide standard weights and measures for the nation. It was later renamed the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 1988. Over the years, NIST has worked on many important projects, including developing new technologies for World War II, creating early computers, and investigating building collapses. Today, NIST continues to advance science and technology for the United States.

Constitution

NIST, known from 1901 to 1988 as the National Bureau of Standards, is a measurement standards laboratory. It is part of the United States Department of Commerce. NIST works to help improve lives in the U.S. by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology.

In 2007, NIST had a budget of about $843 million. By 2009, this grew to $992 million. The institute employs around 2,900 people, including scientists and engineers. NIST works with many partners across the country. It also publishes the Handbook 44, which gives important rules for measuring devices. The U.S. Congress passed the Metric Act of 1866 to support the use of the metric system in trade. Later, the U.S. joined an international agreement called the Metric Convention to work together on measuring standards.

Organization

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is in Gaithersburg, Maryland and also has a place in Boulder, Colorado. NIST has six labs that work on different parts of science and technology. These include engineering, computer science, and materials.

NIST also runs programs to help American businesses. One well-known part of NIST is the NIST‑F1 atomic clock in Boulder. This clock helps keep the nation's official time.

Projects

NIST provides industry, schools, and the government with more than 1,300 Standard Reference Materials. These materials help make sure measuring tools and processes are accurate and reliable.

NIST also makes important rules for cybersecurity to help protect computers and data. In 2014, they published the NIST Cybersecurity Framework to help groups manage cybersecurity risks. They keep updating these rules to match new technologies and threats. In 2024, NIST introduced new tools to protect information from future attacks by very powerful computers called quantum computers.

People

Four scientists at NIST have won Nobel Prizes for their work in physics. William Daniel Phillips, Eric Allin Cornell, John Lewis Hall, and David Jeffrey Wineland received these prizes for studying how to cool atoms using lasers. This research helped make atomic clocks more accurate.

In 2011, Dan Shechtman won a Nobel Prize in chemistry for finding quasicrystals. Many other important scientists have also worked at NIST, including Milton Abramowitz, James Sacra Albus, David W. Allan, and Kathryn Beers, among others.

Directors

Main article: List of directors of the National Institute of Standards and Technology

Since 1989, the President chooses the director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the United States Senate approves this choice. Over time, directors have stayed in their jobs for shorter periods. In 2011, the director got an extra important job title. Many people have been the official director, with some acting as director only for a short time.

Patents

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has patents for the Federal government of the United States. These patents help keep important inventions safe for everyone to use. One example is a patent for a Chip-scale atomic clock. This was made by a NIST team as part of a contest called DARPA.

Controversy regarding NIST standard SP 800-90

In 2013, some people thought a security rule made by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) had a problem. The rule is called SP 800-90. It was about making random numbers, and some worried these numbers might not be truly random.

NIST said they work to make good security rules and listen to everyone’s ideas. They changed the rule to make people feel better.

Publications

The Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology was an important science journal at NIST. It was published from 1904 to 2022. Another journal, the Journal of Physical and Chemical Reference Data, began in 1972. It was a joint effort between the American Institute of Physics and NIST.

NIST also publishes many technical reports on topics like computer technology and construction. These reports and other papers by NIST scientists can be found on the NIST website.