Dr. S. Shyam Sunder

The Engineering Laboratory has an annual budget of $90 million, 260 employees, and about 200 guest researchers from industry, universities, and foreign laboratories. It is the primary federal laboratory serving the U.S. manufacturing, construction, and infrastructure industries. The Laboratory promotes innovation and industrial competitiveness in areas of critical national priority by anticipating and meeting the measurement science and standards needs for technology-intensive manufacturing, construction, and cyber-physical systems. The Laboratory's strategic goals are:  

• Smart Manufacturing, Construction, and Cyber-Physical Systems to enable advanced manufacturing processes and equipment; next-generation robotics and automation; real-time monitoring, control, and performance optimization; integration of complex information networks; and smart grid devices and systems.
• Sustainable and Energy-Efficient Manufacturing, Materials, and Infrastructure to enable sustainable manufacturing processes; sustainable materials used in manufacturing and construction; net-zero energy, high-performance buildings; and embedded intelligence for operating building systems.  
• Disaster-Resilient Buildings, Infrastructure, and Communities to enable fire risk reduction in buildings and communities; earthquake risk reduction in buildings and infrastructure; and structural performance under multi-hazards.  

Dr. Sunder also:

• Serves as a Vice President of the International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction (CIB).
• Serves on the boards of ASTM International, the Construction Industry Institute (CII), VTT Technical Centre of Finland, the National Research Council-Canada's Institute for Research in Construction, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Energy and Environmental Sciences Directorate.
• Oversees the $125 million/year U.S. National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program.
• Led the federal building and fire safety investigation of the World Trade Center Disaster in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
• Served as founding co-chair of the Buildings Technology R&D Subcommittee of the President's National Science and Technology Council.  

Dr. Sunder was appointed to the U.S. Senior Executive Service in 2005. He has held a succession of positions at NIST including: Manager of the High-Performance Construction Materials and Systems Program (1994-1996), Analyst and Senior Program Analyst in the Office of the NIST Director (1996-1997), Chief of the Structures Division and then the Materials and Construction Research Division (1998-2005), Acting Deputy Director and then Deputy Director of the Building and Fire Research Laboratory (2004-2007), and Acting Director and then Director of the Building and Fire Research Laboratory (2006-2010). Prior to joining NIST in 1994, he served on the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for thirteen years.   

Dr. Sunder holds an undergraduate degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and master's and doctor of science degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has received several awards, including the Gold Medal Award for distinguished leadership from the U.S. Department of Commerce in 2005.

El Newsletters

Selected Publications

• Federal Building and Fire Safety Investigation of the World Trade Center Disaster: Final Report of the National Construction Safety Team on the Collapses of the World Trade Center Tower

• Final Report on the Collapse of World Trade Center Building 7