Engineering Laboratory

News and Updates

Glenn Bell speaks at a podium with an IStructE banner behind him.

NIST’s Glenn Bell Is Awarded Institution of Structural Engineers Gold Medal

November 14, 2025

Bell is the associate lead of NIST’s investigation into the 2021 partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium.

A wide view of a concrete beam assembly inside a large metal frame. A hydraulic arm is part of the metal frame, and it’s posed to press down at a section in the middle where the concrete pieces connect.

NIST Engineers Design 5 New Ways to Connect Concrete Pieces for More Resilient Buildings

September 29, 2025

One of the biggest challenges with precast concrete is connecting the concrete pieces at a job site.

Aerial view of Champlain Towers South before the partial collapse is marked with a red grid and smaller green lines clustered on one side of the building.

Champlain Towers South Investigation Nears Completion of Technical Work

September 9, 2025

Investigators share likely failure scenarios, advance indicators of building’s distress.

A large cube made from a box fan, pleated air filters, and duct tape sits on a table in the middle of a large air tight steel room. In the background, a scientist clamps a narrow, flexible hose in place.

Some Air Cleaners Release Harmful By-Products. Now We Have a Way to Measure Them.

September 2, 2025

Many types of air cleaners can generate small amounts of air pollution. Until now, there was no standard way to measure these negative by-products.

Software

Tool for Evaluation of Vaporized Hydrogen Peroxide Disinfection of N95 Masks in Small Rooms

June 3, 2020

This spreadsheet tool estimates the vaporized hydrogen peroxide (VHP) concentration in air of rooms used for VHP mask disinfection systems. The tool employs a

FDS and Smokeview

Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) is a computational model for smoke and heat transport from fires. Smokeview visualizes the output from FDS and CFAST.

BEES

February 5, 2018

The BEES ( Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability) software brings to your fingertips a powerful technique for selecting cost-effective

CONTAM

January 8, 2021

CONTAM is a multizone indoor air quality and ventilation analysis computer program designed to help you determine: (a) airflows: infiltration, exfiltration, and

NIST STEP File Viewer screenshot

STEP File Analyzer and Viewer

September 30, 2025

The free STEP File Viewer supports parts, assemblies, dimensions, tolerances, and more. The Analyzer generates a spreadsheet of all entity and attribute

EVAP-COND, Version 5.0

January 1, 2020

EVAP-COND is a software package that contains NIST's simulation models EVAP and COND for finned-tube evaporators and condensers. The "tube-by-tube" scheme in

CFAST

CFAST (Consolidated Model of Fire and Smoke Transport) is a computer program that helps users understand how fire and smoke spread through a building.

VCCTL Software

(Return to Cement Hydration and Degradation Modeling Software) The Virtual Cement and Concrete Testing Laboratory (VCCTL) software provides a virtual testing

View All Software

Tools and Instruments

TEMP

Additive Manufacturing Metrology Testbed (AMMT)

The NIST Additive Manufacturing Metrology Testbed is a fully custom, open-platform laser powder bed fusion (LBPF) system to advance monitoring, controls, and

FCD-landing-page.jpg

Fire Calorimetry Database (FCD)

The NIST Fire Calorimetry Database (FCD) contains results of fire experiments conducted at the National Fire Research Laboratory.

SPHERE

In the artificial ultraviolet (UV) weathering of materials, a need exists for weathering devices that can uniformly illuminate test specimens with a high level

Additive Manufacturing Powder Metrology Laboratory

NIST researchers are developing and deploying test methods, protocols, and exemplar data for characterizing the properties of metal powders used in commercial

Awards

Mcallister

Terri McAllister Receives the ASCE Mujumdar Resilience Award

Dr. McAllister is being recognized for her contributions to the advancement of resilience.

Alexander Maranghides

Alexander Maranghides Receives the 2025 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal

For decades of important research into how fires that occur in communities adjacent to wildlands spread, what can be done to prevent them

Amy Mensch headshot

Amy Mensch is Selected for the 2025 ASME Lakshmi Singh Early Career Leadership Award

This award recognizes early-career women engineers who have demonstrated considerable leadership in, commitment to, and continued service to

NIBS 2025 Innovator Award

Siamak Sattar Receives the NIBS 2025 Innovator Award

NIST, FEMA, ATC, and STPI were awarded in recognition of their leadership and technical contributions to develop the NIST SP-1254 report to

Press Coverage

ACE

New unit at NIST (usa)

XtreeE, 3D Concrete Printing Solutions

July 5, 2024

We are thrilled to announce that XtreeE has successfully installed our cutting-edge 3D concrete printing system at the prestigious National Institute of

Taking Measure Blog

Jack Glover poses outside on the NIST campus, holding a flat square object with holes of varying sizes.

Science-Backed Standards Keep You Safer in the Skies

November 19, 2025

A NIST researcher’s expertise in physics helps ensure that airport security machines are tested effectively, keeping you safer in the skies.

Four people stand talking in a converted factory space near a large interior window through which a complex, high-tech manufacturing line is visible.

From the Machine Shop to Cutting-Edge Technology: How NIST Helps Grow American Manufacturing

September 30, 2025

For more than a decade, Manufacturing USA has worked to grow and improve the U.S. manufacturing sector.

Andrew Iams wears safety glasses as his face is framed in an opening between two horizontal pieces of equipment in the lab.

From the Steel City to the Lab: Strengthening the U.S. Steel Industry Through Science

September 24, 2025

A NIST researcher from Pittsburgh — known as the Steel City — is working to understand how we can better make steel right here in the U.S.

Angie Hight Walker and Amber McCreary stand side by side in the lab adjusting a complex scientific device.

From Postdoc to Quantum Physicist: How NIST Made Me a Better Scientist and Leader

September 17, 2025

A former NIST postdoctoral researcher recalls how hands-on science and supportive mentoring helped develop her science career.

A bearded man poses smiling next to an open cabinet of equipment in a lab.

Laser Focused: How Light Reflections Could Revolutionize 3D Printing of Metals

September 10, 2025

A NIST researcher is working to better understand 3D metal printing — in hopes that the technology could make more consistent parts.

A woman sits in the passenger side of a parked car, looking at a large monitor attached to the dashboard.

A Summer of Science: How Our Interns Spent Their Summers in the Lab

August 27, 2025

From self-driving cars to advancing forensics technology, NIST’s interns had a busy summer in the lab.

A researcher in safety glasses stands holding a remote control near a large blue model of a human head and torso with red marks on the chest.

Wearable, Implantable and Ingestible Medical Devices Could Revolutionize Your Health Care

August 13, 2025

A NIST researcher is using measurement technology to monitor fluid in the lungs, with the hope of helping providers care for patients with a dangerous lung

A researcher wearing safety glasses stands in the lab, reaching into a metal device on the lab table.

When Concrete Cracks: How Science Can Save Buildings

August 6, 2025

NIST concrete research has already saved billions of dollars, and we’re working to help homeowners address expensive cracks in their homes’ foundations.

Researcher Ming Zheng looks with interest at a small vial he is holding up in front of him.

How Nature’s Symmetry Might Help Us See Early Warning Signs of Cancer

July 30, 2025

A NIST researcher is looking to see molecules in a new way — from two perspectives. The goal is to learn more about molecules in our bodies that could help lead

Researcher in safety glasses and gloves sits at a lab bench working with small test tubes.

Measure Twice, Cut Once: How Measuring Molecular ‘Scissors’ Can Further Groundbreaking Research

July 16, 2025

A NIST researcher solved a measurement mystery that can help with the development of medical treatments.

Lisa Ng kneels, holding parts of a circular fan built into a room divider.

Clearing the Air: How an Air Quality Researcher Takes Care of the Air Her Family Breathes

July 9, 2025

These are the simple and inexpensive steps a NIST air quality researcher takes to keep her home’s air as clean as possible.

A model of a human head lies face up on the platform of an MRI machine.

Precise Measurements Can Help Cancer Patients Live Longer, Healthier Lives

June 25, 2025

NIST researchers are working to better measure radiation — to help keep cancer patients living long, healthy lives after they complete their treatments.

Corey Stambaugh poses smiling outdoors on the NIST campus.

A Quantum Leap Forward: How Tiny Particles Can Bring Us Exciting New Tech

June 18, 2025

Researchers are using quantum science to develop computers that can do tasks traditional computers can’t do as efficiently. That’s why it’s an exciting time to

Two NIST researchers, wearing hardhats and protective jackets, watch a small shed burn as part of a setudy.