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Fire Research

NIST to Investigate Rhode Island Fire Under NCST

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has launched an investigation into the tragic fire of Feb. 20, 2003, at The Station nightclub in West Warwick, R.I. The work is being conducted under the authorities of the National Construction Safety Team (NCST) Act. NIST will lead a team of public and private-sector fire and safety experts to carry out the investigation.

Under the act, NIST is responsible for conducting fact-finding investigations of building-related failures that result in substantial loss of life.
The team’s primary objectives will be to:

  • determine the conditions in the nightclub prior to the fire, such as the materials of construction and contents; the location and conditions of doors, windows and ventilation; the installed fire protection systems; the number of occupants and their approximate locations;
  • reconstruct the fire ignition, fire spread and survivability within the building using computer models;
  • examine the impact on survivability of having an installed sprinkler system, all other conditions being the same; and
  • analyze the emergency evacuation and occupant responses to better understand the impediments to safe egress.

    The NIST investigation will be conducted in close cooperation with other federal and private-sector agencies; and state and local fire and law enforcement agencies. It could result in recommendations for specific changes to building codes, standards and practices.

    The decision to launch the NIST investigation was made following an onsite evaluation conducted Feb. 22-23, 2003, by two NIST fire researchers, and discussions with other investigators on the scene in Rhode Island.

    For more on the NCST, go to www.nist.gov/public_affairs/factsheet/constructionact.htm.

Media Contact:
Michael E. Newman, (301) 975-3025

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Budget

President Approves FY 2003 Funds for NIST

On Feb. 20, 2003, President Bush signed into law the fiscal year 2003 omnibus appropriation, which includes $707.5 million for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) after the 0.65 percent rescission mandated by the legislation. The FY 2003 NIST appropriation represents a 3.4 percent increase over the FY 2002 amount of $684.5 million, and provides funding to all of the agency’s four major programs.

Included in the FY 2003 budget are three separate NIST appropriations: $357.1 million for Scientific and Technical Research and Services (including $351.9 million for the NIST Laboratories and $5.2 million for the Baldrige National Quality Program); $284.7 million for Industrial Technology Services (including $178.8 million for the Advanced Technology Program, or ATP, and $105.9 million for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, or MEP); and $65.7 million for Construction of Research Facilities (including $22 million to address the highest priority safety, capacity, maintenance and major repair projects required to operate NIST’s research facilities in Gaithersburg, Md., and Boulder, Colo.; $11 million for construction and renovation projects at the Colorado laboratories; and $4 million for fitup of the nearing-completion NIST Advanced Measurement Laboratory in Gaithersburg, Md.).

Media Contact:
Michael E. Newman, (301) 975-3025

 

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Safety

NY Adopts NIST-Developed ASTM Cigarette Fire Test

Starting this July, New York will become the first state in the nation to require that cigarettes sold in the state meet a standard that limits their ability to start furniture or bed fires. The test method, issued by ASTM International (formerly known as the American Society of Testing and Materials) as ASTM E2187-02b, “Standard Test Method for Measuring the Ignition Strength of Cigarettes,” was developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 1993 as part of the Fire Safe Cigarette Act of 1990.

Carelessly dropped cigarettes are the largest single cause of fire deaths in the United States. Each year, cigarette-initiated fires claim 800 lives, cause another 2,000 serious injuries, cause more than $250 million in property damage, and cost the U.S. economy nearly $5 billion.

ASTM International recently presented the NIST Building and Fire Research Laboratory (BFRL) team that developed the standard—Richard Gann, Thomas Ohlemiller, Emil Braun, Keith Eberhardt, J. Randall Lawson and John Krasny—with its Simon H. Ingberg Award for “the original and comprehensive work in research, testing, and analysis they performed to create the sound scientific basis for ASTM Standard 2187, Test Method for Measuring the Ignition Strength of Cigarettes.”

ASTM International’s standard test method is available at www.astm.org. The NIST report, Test Methods for Quantifying the Propensity of Cigarettes to Ignite Soft Furnishings (NIST Special Publication 851), is available at http://fire.nist.gov/bfrlpubs. For further information on New York’s new fire safety standard for cigarettes, contact Theresa Smolen, (518) 486-9846, tsmolen@dos.state.ny.us.

Media Contact:
Jan Kosko, (301) 975-2767

 

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Research

New Web Site Showcases NIST’s Big Efforts in Tiny Technology

Ever smaller and ever faster. The pursuit of nanotechnology—chips, sensors, pumps, gears, lasers, novel materials and an unending assortment of other useful “things” with features on the scale between one-billionth of a meter (about 10 hydrogen atoms across) and 100-billionths of a meter—is driving science and engineering to extremes.

A new Web site, www.nist.gov/nanotech, details work under way at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where research truly is pushing the limits of technology. NIST scientists and engineers are building atom and electron counters, single-photon turnstiles, ultracold ion and atom traps, and lasers that generate uniform pulses of light that last only a few trillionths of a second.

The nanotechnology Web site explains how NIST’s seven major laboratories are developing measurements, standards and data crucial to private industry’s development of products for a nanotechnology market that could reach $1 trillion during the next decade. Topics covered on the Web site include: NIST and the National Nanotechnology Initiative; fundamental science and basic measurement capabilities; characterization of nanostructured materials; nanoscale electronics, optoelectronics and magnetics; nanochemistry and nanobiotechnology; and quantum computing and communications. There’s even a “What’s Your Nano IQ?” quiz for visitors to take for fun.

A separate Web site, www.nist.gov/public_affairs/factsheet/quantum.htm, features a more in-depth look at NIST research on quantum information systems.

For more information on NIST’s nanotechnology work, contact Barbara Goldstein, (301) 975-2304, barbara.goldstein@nist.gov.

Media Contact:
Mark Bello, (301) 975-3776

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Chemistry

Gas and Liquid Won’t Mix? New NIST Device May Be the Answer

One can broadly consider mixing as a process by which individual components in a container are made homogeneous, such as blending whipped cream and chocolate to make cake filling. Mixing in industry, however, often can be more difficult. For example, mixing a gas into a liquid traditionally has been a complicated procedure.

Now, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) scientist Thomas J. Bruno and technician Michael Rybowiak have developed a new device to simplify this important process. A magnetically coupled entraining (“to carry along in a current”) rotor, developed for a measurement program in support of the gas industry, is the basis for the innovation. Bruno and Rybowiak found that their rotor can mix gas into liquids in a matter of seconds, whereas previous devices often take hours.

The new mixer has been used for chemical reactions and extractions, in addition to the gas industry measurements. In one case, a postdoctoral associate on the NIST research team, Wendy C. Andersen, used the device to help extract heavy metals from water, an application with important environmental implications.

The research team will continue to develop new applications for the mixer. A description of the mixer has been published (Fluid Phase Equilibria, Vol. 178, pgs. 271-276, 2001), and Bruno and Rybowiak have a patent pending on the device.

For more information, contact Bruno at (303) 497-5158 or bruno@boulder.nist.gov.

Media Contact:
Fred McGehan, Boulder (303) 497-7000

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Weights and Measures

NIST Says: ‘Hug a Weights and Measures Official in March!’

Imagine if every time consumers ran to the grocery store, stopped for gasoline or bought new carpeting, they had to bring along their own measuring devices to make certain that they got their fair share for each purchase based on weight, volume or some other quantity. That would affect about half of all consumer transactions—enough to grind the $10 trillion US economy to a halt.

Thanks to some 3,000 state and local weights and measures officials, consumers and businesses are spared this major hassle. By checking the accuracy of commercial weighing and measuring devices, these professionals protect both sides in marketplace transactions. They also help ensure that products and services sold by weight or measure comply with federal, state and local laws.

To acknowledge these contributions, March 1-7, 2003, has been designated National Weights and Measures Week. The tribute marks the 204th anniversary of the signing of the nation’s first weights and measures law.

This year’s theme is “Weights and Measures - Working for Integrity in the Marketplace.”

“The work of the nation’s approximately 700 state and local weights and measures jurisdictions underpin consumer confidence and marketplace efficiency,” says National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Director Arden Bement Jr. NIST provides technical assistance to these offices, and it helps to promote state-to-state uniformity.

Even tiny measurement inaccuracies can be tremendously costly. The National Conference of Weights and Measures (NCWM), a professional organization, estimates that an error of slightly more than 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons at the gas pump equals a charge of $125 million annually that, depending on the direction of the error, is borne either by consumers or retailers.

Tips for consumers and information on NIST’s weights and measures activities may be found at www.nist.gov/owm.

Media Contact:
Mark Bello, (301) 975-3776

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Editor: Michael E. Newman

Date created: 2/27/2003
Contact: inquiries@nist.gov