Udall Resolution Honoring NIST Wins Approval
The U.S. House of Representatives today approved a resolution by Congressman Mark Udall (D-CO) and Congresswoman Connie Morella (R-MD) honoring the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on its 100th anniversary. The City of Boulder, which is located in Udall's congressional district, is home to one of the nation's two NIST laboratories.
"NIST has grown to become a vital arm of the Department of Commerce's Technology Administration. In its first one hundred years, NIST has partnered successfully with industry, science, and government to establish the foundations for this country's technological advances," said Udall. "I am pleased that Congress is acknowledging the critical role NIST has played in helping build this country's science and technology infrastructure in the 20th century."
Over the years, the Boulder NIST lab has been involved in projects for which it has been widely recognized. NIST and the University of Colorado (CU) joined forces to create the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA), a cooperative effort that has gained widespread recognition in atomic physics and other fields, including a Nobel Prize in Physics for Dr. William Phillips for his work in trapping and cooling atoms. NIST also developed research that enabled the design and construction of one of the world's most accurate clocks. Electric power companies, radio and television stations, telephone companies, air traffic control systems, the Global Positioning System, participants in space exploration, the Internet, and navigators of ships and planes need this clock to compare their own timing equipment to a reliable, internationally recognized standard. And in 1980, NIST received an Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for the development of technology that provided the basis for closed captioning.
Udall used the occasion to call attention to the construction and maintenance needs of NIST's Boulder campus, which is next in line to receive funding to upgrade its 50-year old facilities.
"I am hopeful that the new Administration will recognize the value of the Boulder labs' contributions and the necessity of upgrading the facilities so that the Boulder scientists can continue to produce top-flight research. NIST's Boulder campus has done much for Colorado and for the nation - and it can continue to do so. But to get the full value from this asset, we must invest properly in its upkeep," concluded Udall.
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