[Credits] [NIST Update
Archives] [Media
Contacts]
[Subscription Information] [NIST Update Search]
![[orange divider]](/peth04/20041107211010im_/http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/update/hrule4.gif)
Budget
President
Approves FY 2001 Appropriations for NIST
On
Dec. 21, 2000, President Clinton signed into law NIST’s fiscal
year 2001 budget appropriation of $598.3 million (84 percent of,
or $114.7 million under, the President’s FY 2001 request
of $713 million). All of NIST’s four major programs were
given sufficient funding to continue promoting U.S. economic growth.
Highlighting
the budget is $307.4 million for the NIST Laboratories (93 percent
of, or $24.9 million under, the President’s FY 2001 request);
$5.2 million for the Baldrige National Quality Program (equal
to the President’s FY 2001 request); $145.7 million (which
with $45 million in carryover and recoveries totals $190.7 million
for FY 2001, 96 percent of the $198.6 million total proposed for
FY 2001 use) for the Advanced Technology Program, including $60.7
million for new awards in FY 2001; and $105.1 million (92 percent
of, or $9 million under, the President’s FY 2001 request)
for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership to continue providing
the federal share of funding needed to support the network of
centers serving smaller manufacturers in all 50 states and Puerto
Rico.
Finally,
the appropriations provide $34.9 million (97 percent of, or $1
million under the President’s FY 2001 request) for safety,
maintenance and capacity work on NIST’s 30- to 45-year-old
research facilities.
A 0.22 percent across-the-board rescission (agreed upon by the
White House and Congress as part of the final budget negotiations)
will take $1.3 million from the NIST FY 2001 appropriation.
A
detailed history of the FY 2001 budget process is available by
faxed request to (301) 926-1630 or on the NIST web site (www.nist.gov;
click on “News” and then “Budget Updates”).
Media
Contact:
Michael
Newman , (301) 975-3025
![[Back to Top]](/peth04/20041107211010im_/http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/update/uporange.gif)
Administration
Kammer
Retires as NIST Director
Ray
Kammer, NIST director since 1997, retired on Dec. 29, 2000, after
31 years in public service. Deputy Director Karen Brown is serving
as acting director. The position of NIST director is a presidential
appointment. Kammer was nominated to be the 11th director of NIST
in September 1997 by President Clinton and began serving in the
position two months later
following confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
Kammer was deputy director of NIST twice, from 1980 to 1991 and
again from 1993 to 1997. During his second tenure as deputy director,
he also served nearly two years on an acting basis as chief financial
officer, assistant secretary for administration and chief information
officer for the Department of Commerce. From 1991 to 1993, Kammer
was deputy under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere,
the chief operating officer of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.
He began his career with Commerce in 1969 as a program analyst
for the National Bureau of Standards, the predecessor to NIST.
Prior to his appointment as NIST deputy director, Kammer held
a number of management positions at NIST and Commerce involving
budgetary and program analysis, planning and personnel management.
Media
Contact:
Michael
Newman , (301) 975-3025
Technology
Partnerships
Process-Improved
ATP Competition Under Way for 2001
A
new,
streamlined proposal submission and review procedure marks the
2001 Advanced Technology Program competition announced by NIST
on Jan. 2, 2001. The program provides co-funding for new and innovative
industrial research projects that are technically challenging
but hold the promise of important economic or social benefits
for the nation.
Two significant changes to this year’s competition are the
elimination of any deadline—the ATP will accept proposals
at any time throughout the year and evaluate them as they come
in—and a new “gated” proposal process that allows
companies to submit proposals in stages. Both changes should significantly
accelerate the pace of the process and simplify the application
procedure for many com-panies, according to ATP officials.
The ATP will accept proposals for the 2001 competition from Jan.
10, 2001, until 3 p.m. Eastern time on Sept. 30, 2001 (the end
of the 2001 fiscal year). The program expects to have approximately
$60.7 million available in fiscal year 2001 for first-year funding
of new projects that can run as long as five years.
The ATP is conducting a series of three Proposers’ Conferences
to familiarize potential interested parties with the new competition
procedures. The scheduled conferences are: Jan. 30, 2001, at the
Holiday Inn O’Hare International in Rosemont, Ill.; Feb.
1, 2001, at the Alexis Park in Las Vegas, Nev.; and Feb. 6, 2001,
at the NIST headquarters in Gaithersburg, Md. There is no charge
to attend these meetings. Details are available online at www.atp.nist.gov/atp/proposers.htm
Detailed competition rules and the current ATP Proposal Preparation
Kit (dated November 2000) are available from the ATP web site
at www.atp.nist.gov, by sending e-mail to
atp@nist.gov, by calling (800) ATP-FUND (800-287-3863), or
by faxing a request to (301) 926-9524 or (301) 590-3053.
Media
Contact:
Michael
Baum, (301) 975-2763
Physics
Just
a Phase? Better Neutron Analysis with Lower Radiation
Researchers
from NIST, the University of Melbourne, and the University of
Missouri at Columbia have demonstrated a new form of neutron radiography
that produces greatly enhanced images of fine structural details
in test samples with relatively low levels of radiation. Conventional
radiography, using either X-rays or neutrons, works by detecting
the absorption of the radiation as it passes through different
materials. For example, the radiograph shows the “shadows”
cast by tumors (X-rays) or cracks in jet engine turbine blades
(neutrons). But if two materials have very similar absorption
characteristics or the feature under inspection is very small,
radiographs often show very little detail.
In recent years, researchers have explored a more subtle effect
called phase-sensitive imaging. As radiation passes through a
specimen, the phase of the wave can shift at the boundary between
materials of two different densities, just as light diffracts
when passing through a glass of water. Because the phase-shift
effect is often much stronger than the absorption effect, images
based on the phase differences of the emerging waves can show
much greater detail—particularly of boundaries or edges—with
relatively smaller doses of radiation.
Phase-contrast X-ray images have been studied for several years,
producing dramatic images of tissue specimens that clearly show
fine details. The experiments at NIST are the first to demonstrate
the same phenomenon—and achieve equally dramatic image enhancement—using
neutron beams, which have broad industrial applications in materials
research.
Preliminary
details of this research were published in Nature, Brief
Communications, Vol. 408, November 2000. For more information,
contact Muhammad
Arif, (301) 975-6303.
Media
Contact:
Michael
Baum , (301) 975-2763
Standards
NIST,
ANSI Reaffirm Partnership for U.S. Standards Success
In
one of the first acts in the implementation of the recently established
National Standards Strategy, NIST and the American National Standards
Institute signed a revised version of the Memorandum of Understanding
(first signed in 1995) between the two organizations on Dec. 27,
2000. The NSS was developed under ANSI’s leadership by representatives
of public and private-sector organizations in order to strengthen
the U.S. voice in international standards arenas.
The
revised MOU cements the NIST/ANSI partnership for strengthening
the national voluntary consensus standards system of the United
States and enhancing U.S. competitiveness in the global marketplace.
In the agreement, NIST reconfirms its recognition of ANSI as (1)
the U.S. member body of the International Organization for Standardization
(known as ISO); (2) sponsor of the U.S. National Committee to
the International Electrotechnical Commission; and (3) the U.S.
representative to and member body of various private-sector regional
standards organizations. NIST also pledges to facilitate ANSI’s
efforts to foster cooperation among U.S. private and public sector
organizations engaged in standards-related activities.
In turn, ANSI recognizes and supports NIST’s responsibility
for coordinating federal activities in voluntary standards and
conformity assessment. Under the National Technology Transfer
and Advancement Act, NIST is responsible for coordinating federal
standards and conformity assessment policies and activities, and
for coordinating with the private sector and with state and local
governments with respect to standards-related matters. NIST chairs
the Interagency Committee on Standards Policy, works closely with
other federal agencies and recognizes accreditation programs for
conformity assessment activities.
To access an online copy of the NIST/ANSI MOU, go to the World
Wide Web at http://ts.nist.gov/ts/htdocs/210/nttaa/ansimou.htm.
Media
Contact:
Michael
Newman ,
(301) 975-3025
Materials
NIST/Industry
Consortium to Tackle Complex Polymer Interphases
The
non-stick coating on a frying pan, the coat of paint on a car
bumper and the multiple layers of fibers and polymers in a tire—what
keeps them together? In all three cases, it’s the interface
region or interphase, the area where the molecules of two materials
interact with each other.
The interphase is vital to the durability and performance of nanocomposites,
particle-filled materials, paints on plastics and metals, and
fiber-reinforced polymer composites. In December, NIST and industry
partners established the Consortium on Characterization and Modeling
of the Interface and Interphases of Polymeric Materials and Systems
(also known as the Polymers Interphase Consortium or PIC) to conduct
a three-year investigation of the chemical, physical and morphological
characteristics of the interface/interphase region.
Material properties in the interphase are different from those
of the bulk materials being joined together. With computer models,
as well as with laboratory tests of both polymer blends and polymer
films on various substrates, the scientists expect to learn how
properties at or near the interphase region change with processing
conditions and diverse external stresses (such as different temperatures
and humidities). Such information could help manufacturers reduce
costs for products and increase their international competitiveness.
Three NIST laboratories—Building
and Fire Research, Chemical
Science and Technology, and Materials
Science and Engineering—are participating in the consortium,
along with manufacturers from the plastics, paint and automotive
parts sectors.
The consortium is open to new industrial members until May 15,
2001. For more information, contact Tinh
Nguyen, (301) 975-6718, or Charles
Han, (301) 975-6772.
Media
Contact:
John
Blair , (301) 975-4261
Go back to NIST News Page