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Environment
NIST
Joins the National Particulate Matter Research Program
With
the signing of a recent agreement, NIST
has joined an interagency effort led by the Environmental Protection
Agency—the National Particulate Matter Research Program—aimed
at improving the nation’s air quality and public health. NIST
will develop and provide the fundamental chemical measurements
and standard reference materials that will serve as the basis
for improved monitoring of air quality by government and industry.
Particulate
matter is a mix of coarse and fine particles in the air produced
by natural processes as well as human activities. About 10 to
100 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair, fine particulate
matter can consist of dust, ashes, soot and sea salt aerosols.
The challenge is to identify and measure accurately the chemical
components—specifically, the toxic ones—and collect enough particulate
to constitute a representative sample. Under the two-year agreement
with the EPA, NIST and its partners will develop urban particulate
matter reference materials, a special thin-film glass standard
for X-ray fluorescence analysis and technology for large-scale
collection of fine airborne particulate matter. This work will
enable the accurate measurement of emissions from various pollutant
sources such as industrial plants and vehicles.
For
more information about NIST’s particulate matter research, contact
chemist Mike
Verkouteren, NIST’s representative to the interagency coordinating
committee, (301) 975-3933.
Media
Contact:
Pamela
A. Houghtaling, (301) 975-5745
Awards
Two
NIST Boulder Researchers Honored as PECASE Recipients
President
Clinton named two NIST researchers on Oct. 24, 2000, as recipients
of the fifth annual Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists
and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government
on young professionals at the outset of their independent research
careers.
Deborah
Jin and Mark
W. Keller, physicists at NIST’s
Boulder, Colo., Laboratories, were among 59 US researchers
chosen for the 2000 PECASE award.
Jin
was recognized for her innovative and pioneering work leading
to the realization of the world’s first degenerate Fermi atomic
gas. In 1999, Jin and her colleagues at JILA,
a research institute jointly operated by NIST and the University
of Colorado at Boulder, cooled fermionic atoms (those that exhibit
a particular quantum mechanical behavior) to near absolute zero
where the most basic nature of gas is dominant. Study of the Fermi
degenerate gas will increase our knowledge about and understanding
of fermions, which are important throughout physics since the
basic building blocks of matter—electrons, protons and neutrons—are
all fermions.
Keller
designed and fabricated the world’s first electron pump containing
seven ultra-small electrical devices called tunnel junctions.
Operating at temperatures less than one-tenth of a degree above
absolute zero, the pump passes and counts individual electrons
with an uncertainty of 0.01 parts per million. In other words,
the pump would miss tallying only one electron in every 100 million
passing through. Keller’s research paves the way for a new type
of capacitance standard.
Both
scientists receive five-year research grants to further their
studies in support of critical government missions.
Media
Contact:
Fred
McGehan (Boulder), (303) 497-3246
Collier
Smith (Boulder), (303) 497-3198
Manufacturing
NIST,
Partners Seek Smooth Sailing for Shipyard Processes
Every
Mr. Fixit knows that to perform the fastest, least expensive and
most effective construction and repairs, you must either have
the experience to do the job or be able to get guidance from those
who do. The same logic is the basis for a successful partnership
between NIST’s
Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory, the U.S. Navy and the
nation’s shipbuilders, which seeks to develop and implement improved
practices and advanced technologies for the construction, repair
and conversion of commercial and military ships.
Begun
in 1999, the National Shipbuilding Research Program’s Advanced
Shipbuilding Enterprise Initiative—a collaboration of the U.S.
shipbuilding industry, academia and government agencies—has managed
and focused national shipbuilding research and development funding
on technologies that will reduce the cost of warships to the U.S.
Navy and establish U.S. competitiveness in this field. MEL is
currently involved with two NSRP ASE-funded projects: (1) a multi-shipyard
effort led by the National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. in San Diego,
Calif., that is developing and implementing a “world-class” manufacturing
model for ship construction based upon best manufacturing practices
and lean manufacturing principles, and (2) a joint effort with
the Atlantic Marine Holding Co. in Mobile, Ala., that is focused
on reducing cycle time and costs, as well as improving the precision
and overall quality of repair and conversion processes at American
shipyards, by incorporating precision metrology techniques and
advanced modeling/ simulation technologies.
The
first project follows a system engineering approach, supported
by industrial engineering analysis and simulation modeling, to
utilize and validate a selected “world-class” model. This model
targets a 50 percent improvement in construction cycle time and
labor cost by 2006. The second project, known as Knowledge Based
Modular Repair, expects to reduce rework and costs, as well as
shorten cycle times, by developing and implementing precise, effective
reverse engineering techniques that will be used within a characterized
and controlled manufacturing system.
For
more information, contact David
Stieren, (301) 975-3197. Information on NSRP projects, including
the two NIST partnerships, may be found on the World Wide Web
at www.nsrp.org.
Media
Contact:
Michael
E. Newman, (301) 975-3025
Superconductivity
All
About Squids ... and Their Father
Say
“squid” to most people and they envision a slender sea creature
with 10 arms or a calamari dinner at a Japanese restaurant. Thanks
in part to James E. Zimmerman, a physicist who worked at NIST’s
Boulder Laboratories from 1970 to 1985, the word SQUID—in
all caps—means something entirely different to scientists. The
acronym refers to a Superconducting QUantum Interference Device,
a physical tool for very sensitive magnetic field measurements.
While
working as a researcher at the Ford Motor Co. in the early 1960s,
Zimmerman performed experiments related to quantum effects in
superconductors (materials that conduct electrical current without
resistance at very low temperatures). As a result, he was a co-inventor
of the rf SQUID, or radio-frequency biased superconducting quantum
interference device. This got Zimmerman recognized as one of the
fathers of SQUID, a technology that he continued to develop at
Ford and the Aeronutronics Division of Philco-Ford.
Zimmerman
joined NIST’s Boulder Laboratories in 1970 where he advocated
the use of Squids in metrology, geomagnetism and biomagnetism.
He later focused his attention on the development of low-power,
closed-cycle refrigerators called cryocoolers that were tailored
to cooling Squids He retired from NIST in 1985 but continued to
work as a contractor and a guest researcher for many years afterward.
Zimmerman died in 1999.
To
honor Zimmerman’s career, a symposium on Squids was held in his
honor at the NIST Boulder Laboratories. A publication, Squids
Past, Present and Future (NIST Interim Report 5095), which
chronicles that symposium is now available.
NISTIR
5095 is available free of charge from Sarabeth
Harris, Div. 104, NIST, Boulder, Colo. 80305-3328; (303) 497-3237.
Ask for publication no.
48-00.
Media
Contact:
Fred
McGehan (Boulder), (303) 497-3246
Standards
Looking
for a Quality-System Registrar?
NISTs
semi-annually updated listing of North American organizations
that register quality and environmental-management systems is
now available over the Internet.
For each of the 96 registrars listed, entries specify the status
and scope of accreditation, other types of recognition, contacts,
web addresses and related items. Information was compiled from
a periodic NIST survey focusing on so-called 9000 series
quality standards and on ISO 14000, the family of
Environmental Management System standards issued by the International
Organization for Standardization (known as ISO).
Using the 80-page directory, a business can identify registrars
that serve its particular industry and decide whether registration
by a particular organization will be honored by customers and
regulators. Increasingly, businesses require suppliers to meet
quality standards. Also, regulators in export markets may waive
product-certification requirements for companies whose quality
systems are registered by organizations recognized as competent.
Last year, 72,000 organizationsincluding about 8,000 US
businessesreceived certificates attesting that their quality
systems conform with ISO 9000. Since 1987, almost 344,000 organizations
have been registered as ISO 9000 compliant. An additional number
have registered their systems as conforming with different but
related quality standards, such as the auto sectors QS 9000
standard, the TL 9000 standard for telecommunications suppliers,
or the aerospace sectors AS9000 standard.
About 14,000 organizations worldwide have been registered as meeting
requirements of the newer ISO 14000 series. This generic
standard focuses on organizational and management processes to
minimize harmful environmental impacts.
Available in Adobe Acrobat PDF format, Semi-Annual Listing:
North American Quality System Registration Organizations (NAQSRO)
(NISTIR 6515) may be downloaded from http://ts.nist.gov/ts/htdocs/210/216/iso9000.htm.
For more information, contact Michael
E. Squires, (301) 975-4039.
Media
Contact:
Mark
Bello,
(301) 975-3776
Quality
Video
Shows Small Businesses Are Big on Baldrige
Small
businesses are responsible for 51 percent of the US gross national
product, employ 52 percent of workers, represent 96 percent of
all US exporters, and provide almost 75 percent of Americas
net new jobs. Keeping this segment strong and competitive is key
to the US economy. Many small businesses have found that the Baldrige
performance excellence criteria and the competition process for
the Baldrige Award are
a great way to improve performance and the bottom line.
A new 16-minute video, Take the Journey! A Baldrige Invitation
to American Small Business, includes interviews with top
executives of several of the 10 small business Baldrige Award
winners explaining why the Baldrige program leads to the kind
of improvements that translate into bottom-line success.
Two examples of what the small business CEOs have to say:
The Baldrige based criteria is a very practical process
that I think applies to all business, large and small. Its
about doing things that
make a lot of good common sense,
says Jerry Rose, president of Sunny Fresh Foods, a 1999 winner.
And Bruce Woolpert, president and CEO of Granite Rock Co., a 1992
winner, says, There is no better assessment of your organizations
performance available than applying for the Award.
The
video (in either VHS or CD formats), the Baldrige performance
excellence criteria and other material are available free of charge
by calling (301) 975-2036 or sending e-mail to nqp@nist.gov.
Media
Contact:
Jan
Kosko ,
(301) 975-2767