INTRODUCTION

Management Progress

The National Bureau of Standards has continuing responsibility in a number of areas under terms of the Organic Act which created it in 1901 and through subsequent amendments to the Act. In addition, as a result of changing technology and through special legislative acts, new and expanding activities have been undertaken over the years. Changes in Bureau activity have occasionally resulted in redirection of administrative and management emphasis; the most recent major reorganization came in 1964 with the formation of four Institutes to encompass the various activities that existed at that time.

The significant changes that have taken place in the past fiscal year are discussed below. In each case, the change was designed to make the Bureau more responsive to needs of the commercial, scientific, and industrial groups which it serves.

Center for Radiation Research Created

A Center for Radiation Research was formed to provide more effective management of the Bureau's large radiation facilities, previously under two different Institutes in the NBS structure. With all of its major radiation-producing machines under central management the Bureau will be able (1) to provide special services to all of its programs, (2) to carry out more vigorous basic research and (3) to share its unique resources with other Government agencies and with universities.

Special radiation facilities at NBS include a ten megawatt nuclear research reactor and a 100 million electron volt linear accelerator, as well as a number of other radiation-producing machines and sources. These facilities, especially the large machines, are used in a wide variety of studies by various units in the Bureau, and are available to the Government and academic communities of the Washington area. NBS studies cover radiation measurement and standards, basic nature of matter and radiation, and the effects of radiation on matter and materials.

The new Center for Radiation Research is composed of a Reactor Radiation Division, Linac Radiation Division, Nuclear Radiation Division, and Applied Radiation Division.

Reorganization of Boulder Laboratories

During the fiscal year the NBS Boulder, Colo., Laboratories were unified under a single, local management for the first time since 1964, when the Bureau's programs were divided up between the Institute for Basic Standards (IBS), the Institute for Materials Research (IMR), the Institute for Applied Technology (IAT), and the Central Radio Propagation Laboratory (CRPL). The last has since become part of the Environmental Science Services Administration.

A reorganization which began in midyear was completed June 30, bringing all of the Boulder elements into the NBS Institute for Basic Standards, organized to provide "the central national basis for a complete, consistent system of physical measurement, coordinated with those of other nations."

Transfer of the Boulder Cryogenics Division into IBS and the appointment of a Deputy Director for IBS-Boulder to direct the activities of five research divisions and the services of three support divisions, created a common bond in fulfilling the IBS assignment to develop and maintain standards for physical quantities and for the measurement of physical properties.

New Institute Directors Named

New Directors for the three NBS Institutes were named during the year. The average age of the new Directors is 44, indicative of management policy to fill senior positions with young persons who are scientifically well qualified but also attuned to the expanding and changing role of science and technology in the Nation.

Dr. Ernest Ambler, Chief of the NBS Inorganic Materials Division was named to head the Institute for Basic Standards. Dr. Ambler, a Briton by birth, came to the United States in 1953, and joined NBS the same year. He began performing magnetic research and nuclear orientation studies at temperatures approaching absolute zero and, within eight months after coming to the Bureau, completed the first nuclear alinement experiments to be conducted in the United States.

Dr. Ambler received his B.A., M.A., and Ph. D. degrees at Oxford University in 1945, 1949 and 1953. He shared in the 1964 Samuel Wesley Stratton Award for work demonstrating that the quantum mechanical law of parity conservation does not hold in weak interactions. He was also honored for this work with a Department of Commerce Gold Medal Award in 1957, the Washington Academy of Sciences Award in 1957, and the John Price Wetherill Medal of the Franklin Institute in 1962. In 1960, Dr. Ambler was named one of the ten outstanding young men in the Federal Government, receiving the Arthur S. Fleming Award in recognition of his outstanding work in science.

Dr. John D. Hoffman heads the Institute for Materials Research. He has been with NBS since 1954, when he joined the Polymer Structure Section as a physical chemist. In 1956, a Dielectrics Section under Dr. Hoffman's direction was established to investigate such areas as dielectric properties of polymers, precision dielectric measurements, and theoretical studies on relaxation phenomena in molecular crystals. In 1964 he was named Polymers Division Chief. Dr. Hoffman received his B.S. in chemistry at Franklin and Marshall College in 1942; and in 1948 and 1949, he received his M.S. and Ph. D. degrees in physical chemistry from Princeton University. Dr. Hoffman was presented the 1967 Samuel Wesley Stratton Award. He was corecipient, in 1961 of an NBS Special Act of Service Award. The Washington Academy of Sciences awarded him a certificate of recognition in 1962 "for distinguished service in the science of polymer physics."

Dr. Lawrence M. Kushner was named Director of the Institute for Applied Technology. Before becoming Deputy Director of the Institute in July 1966, Dr. Kushner was Chief of the NBS Metallurgy Division. He joined the Bureau in 1948 as a physical chemist in the Surface Chemistry Section, later becoming Assistant Chief of the Section. In September, 1956, he was appointed Chief of the Metal Physics Section. Dr. Kushner's main scientific research interests are in the relations of defects in the crystal structure of metals to the metal's physical properties.

As a Commerce Science and Technology Fellow, Dr. Kushner worked in the office of the Assistant Secretary of Commerce as a Special Assistant for Legislation in 1964-65. Dr. Kushner was graduated from Queens College with a B.S. in chemistry in 1947. He received both his A.M. and Ph. D. in physical chemistry from Princeton University.

Special Programs

Research Associate Program

The Research Associate Program of the National Bureau of Standards makes it possible for qualified scientists and engineers from industrial corporations, technical trade associations, professional societies, and other Government agencies to work on a full-time basis for finite periods of six months to two years or more at NBS. They work on research programs of mutual interest to the sponsoring group and the National Bureau of Standards. Their salary continues to be paid by their parent organizations.

The Research Associate Program has been in operation for over fifty years but has received renewed emphasis since 1964. Primary responsibility for the development of the program was given to the NBS Office of Industrial Services late in that year. In the past, the

program was primarily aimed at serving the needs of researchers from technical associations. The program is now being aimed directly and primarily at industrial corporations performing research and development. The acceptance by industry of this opportunity, as reflected by success to date is most encouraging.

As of June 30, 1968, there were 61 Research Associates at NBS, 29 of whom came in during fiscal 1968. The total is approximately twice as many as there were in November 1963. Further expansion of the program is planned through the efforts of the NBS Office of Industrial Services with participation by management and technical staff from the three NBS Institutes. The ultimate goal is to have about one Research Associate for every ten NBS professional staff members, or about 150 Research Associates.

An all-day meeting was held between representatives of NBS and about 60 manufacturing concerns in the Pittsburgh area. The purpose was to introduce the Bureau and its services to a cross section of industry in the area. The reactions to this meeting indicate that the approach can be a most fruitful one to use in many cities of the U.S.

Foreign Scientist Visitation Program

For many years, the National Bureau of Standards has been engaged in international activities in various ways. It is in the interest of this country to foster sound systems of standardization and measurement in other countries and for this reason NBS cooperates with international laboratories and organizations engaged in pursuits similar to its own. It is in this spirit that the Bureau receives qualified workers from abroad or that NBS staff are sent to other countries. A few examples illustrate the general principles listed above. NBS staff are active in certain international organizations such as the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, the International Standards Organization and similar groups which create the definitions upon which most international systems, measurement, and standardization are based. These organizations are found in both developed and less developed countries.

In the less developed countries, the role of NBS is usually to help establish advanced systems in laboratories. NBS has been often called upon to send experts or teams to various parts of the world where need is felt for a standards laboratory or for a sound system of weights and measures. Examples in the recent past are: Iran, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Taiwan.

The Bureau recently participated in a cultural exchange with the USSR on standards and norms. For this purpose a staff member of NBS served as a member of the delegation going to the Soviet Union and NBS received the Soviet delegation in December 1967.

As part of the international program, the Bureau in the last year received 732 foreign visitors, 24 foreign guest workers from 16 countries, and six foreign trainees for periods ranging from 2 weeks to 6 months. Included among these guest workers are fellows from United Nations, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, International Atomic Energy Agency, and other national laboratories. NBS staff members participated in a great number of international conferences, at many of which they were asked to deliver papers or chair sessions.

The operations described here constitute an effective way of transferring technology to less developed countries. With the present importance of such transfer the relevance of all international exchanges (documents, persons, instruments, or standard samples) cannot be sufficiently emphasized.

Utilization of Federal Laboratories

During the 2nd session of the 90th Congress, the Subcommittee on Science, Research, and Development of the House Committee on Science and Astronautics held a series of hearings on the Utilization of Federal Laboratories. The purpose of the Subcommittee hearings, chaired by Congressman Emilio Q. Daddario, was to determine "how we can make the best use of our existing Federal laboratories." NBS Director Allen V. Astin was invited to testify and did so on March 27, 1967. Excerpts of Dr. Astin's comments before the Subcommittee appear below.

While the basic measurement mission has provided the prime focus of NBS activities through the years, "the Bureau also has served since its inception as a central resource of scientific and technical competence within Government. Other agencies have made extensive use of the Bureau's competence and facilities, particularly in the exploratory stages of new technical endeavors. This has been a constantly changing role that has involved the Bureau, at least temporarily, in a great variety of technical activities, some of which have continued and have grown to become major national programs involving new Federal laboratories. . . ."

"We do a considerable amount of work for other Federal agencies, ranging from fairly fundamental research to testing and calibration. A substantial part of the NBS annual budget-currently 40 percent of the total-is made up of funds transferred to us from other agencies for services rendered."

"NBS laboratories also serve State and local needs, primarily in the weights and measures field."

"NBS interactions with the academic community are varied and growing. They include use of our laboratory facilities in a number of ways."