SP500215 Inside Cover inside cover National Institute of Standards and Technology D. K. Harman he National Institute of Standards and Technology was established in 1988 by Congress to "assist industry in the development of technology . . . needed to improve product quality, to modernize manufacturing processes, to ensure product reliability . . . and to facilitate rapid commercialization . . . of products based on new scientific discoveries." NIST, originally founded as the National Bureau of Standards in 1901, works to strengthen U.S. industry's competitiveness; advance science and engineering; and improve public health, safety, and the environment. One of the agency's basic functions is to develop, maintain, and retain custody of the national standards of measurement, and provide the means and methods for comparing standards used in science, engineering, manufacturing, commerce, industry, and education with the standards adopted or recognized by the Federal Government. As an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department's Technology Administration, NIST conducts basic and applied research in the physical sciences and engineering and performs related services. The Institute does generic and precompetitive work on new and advanced technologies. NIST's research facilities are located at Gaithersburg, MD 20899, and at Boulder, CO 80303. Major technical operating units and their principal activities are listed below. For more information contact the Public Inquiries Desk, 301-975-3058. Technology Services * Manufacturing Technology Centers Program * Standards Services * Technology Commercialization * Measurement Services * Technology Evaluation and Assessment * Information Services Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory * Microelectronics * Law Enforcement Standards * Electricity * Semiconductor Electronics * Electromagnetic Fields' * Electromagnetic Technology' Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory * Biotechnology * Chemical Engineering1 * Chemical Kinetics and Thermodynamics * Inorganic Analytical Research * Organic Analytical Research * Process Measurements * Surface and Microanalysis Science * Thermophysics2 Physics Laboratory * Electron and Optical Physics * Atomic Physics * Molecular Physics * Radiometric Physics * Quantum Metrology * Ionizing Radiation * Time and Frequency1 * Quantum Physics1 `At Boulder, CO 80303. 2Some elements at Boulder, CO 80303. Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory * Precision Engineering * Automated Production Technology * Robot Systems * Factory Automation * Fabrication Technology Materials Science and Engineering Laboratory * Intelligent Processing of Materials * Ceramics * Materials Reliability' * Polymers * Metallurgy * Reactor Radiation Research Laboratory Building and Fire * Structures * Building Materials * Building Environment * Fire Science and Engineering * Fire Measurement and Research Computer Systems Laboratory * Information Systems Engineering * Systems and Software Technology * Computer Security * Systems and Network Architecture * Advanced Systems Computing and Applied Mathematics Laboratory * Applied and Computational Mathematics2 * Statistical Engineering2 * Scientific Computing Environments2 * Computer Services2 * Computer Systems and Commun,catlons2 * Information Systems