Selected Programs and Initiatives

Materials Genome Initiative

NIST is working to build the materials innovation infrastructure in support of the Administration's Materials Genome Initiative. Our mission is to accelerate materials innovation with a material genome approach in order to decrease the cost and time-to-market by 50%.

Biomanufacturing Initiative

The NIST biomanufacturing program supports U.S. biopharmaceutical industry delivery of high quality and low cost protein drugs around the world.

Precision Medicine

NIST is playing a pivotal role in helping to define the measurements and standards needed to ensure the promise of precision medicine, which is an emerging approach for disease prevention and treatment that takes into account an individual’s genes, environment and lifestyle.

Engineering Biology

NIST is focused on the development of measurements and other tools that will enable improved predictability and scalability in the engineering of biological systems.

Additive Manufacturing

Additive manufacturing fabricates parts by building them up layer-by-layer (as opposed to cutting material away or molding it). It shows great promise for applications as diverse as lightweight aerospace structures and custom biomedical implants.

Data & Informatics

NIST's Office of Data and Informatics is a premier, pioneering resource for researchers and institutions in the biological, chemical, and materials sciences who need to leverage both large and information-rich data sets now common in many disciplines.

Safety, Security, & Forensics

Our research and measurement services support safety, security, and forensics, from gunshot and explosive residue detection, to ensuring the performance of body armor materials, to DNA-based human identity testing.

nSOFT

nSoft is a NIST-led consortium of industrial, government, and academic members designed to further the NIST mission to promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science and reducing barriers for industrial research programs at peer-review based user facilities. 

NIST Center for Automotive Lightweighting

Our objective is to develop the measurement methodology, standards and analysis necessary for the U.S. auto industry and base metal suppliers to transition to advanced lightweight materials for auto body components without wasteful trial-and-error development cycles, and successfully transfer this technology to our customers in industry.

Facility for Adsorbent Characterization and Testing

The NIST Facility for Adsorbent Characterization and Testing (FACT) is a state-of-the-art laboratory recently commissioned with support from the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to address the challenges inherent to measuring gas and vapor sorption properties.