unbiased source of technical information upon which those decisions can be based.

To State and local officials responsible for assuring buyers and sellers that a pound is a pound, a gram is a gram, or a liter is really a liter in businesses throughout their jurisdictions, NBS is the measurement agency that provides uniform sets of weights and measures, technical training, and management assistance.

• To American voluntary standards organizations seeking the technical information needed for writing product or system standards, the Bureau is a resource for science and engineering data.

To international groups concerned about the compatibility of measurements and standards among nations, NBS is the primary U.S. contact point for exchanging information and bringing about that compatibility.

To the public at large, the Bureau is a source of consumer information on topics such as energy conservation, corrosion, smoke detectors, and many other subjects. And while individuals may not realize it, the public also benefits directly from Bureau research. in such varied areas as improved clinical chemistry analysis for medical diagnosis and environmental protection.

Reexamining, Streamlining

To an unprecedented degree, the mission, resources, and future directions of NBS were the subjects of public attention during fiscal year 1978

a variety of organizations took searching looks at the Bureau. Congress gave special consideration to the agency: the first Congressional

oversight hearings in recent memory were held in the Senate and, for the first time in 6 years, in the House of Representatives. The Congressional Office of Technology Assessment also reviewed NBS, as did the Bureau's Visiting Committee and the agency's management itself. There was thorough examination of the of the institution's present condition, its strengths, and the areas in which it should devote greater attention in order to perform today's tasks and prepare to meet the science and technology challenges of the future.

A major subject of the evaluations was the growth in responsibilities and short-term projects which NBS has undertaken as a result of Congressional assignments and government agency requests. In step with a resurgence of concern about the Nation's scientific and technological health and capacity to innovate, there was a reassessment of the traditional NBS role in performing basic scientific research and providing the country with a core of technical competence in the most advanced measurement sciences and sophisticated technological applications.

As a result of the assessments both within and outside the Bureau, NBS made a number of organizational and program changes designed to keep itself at the leading edge of science and technology and to make sure that it remains a source of technical excellence for the Nation.

During the fiscal year, NBS underwent its first major reorganization in more than a decade. Designed to help the Bureau in its multiple roles as the Nation's central measurement laboratory, basic research performer, and technological problem-solver, this organizational shift replaced the separate Institutes of Basic Standards, Materials Research, and Applied Technology with a new National Measurement Laboratory and a National Engineering Laboratory. There was also a minor realignment of the Institute for Computer Sciences and Technology. (A

directory of the new organizational structure is provided on page 83.)

The Bureau is now more clearly organized along disciplinary and functional lines. Technical competences that had matured and grown over the years in various organizational units have been consolidated. The number of formal operating units also has been reduced.

The regrouping is helping the Bureau to match its capabilities with its diverse responsibilities. By permitting more flexible use of the technical competences lodged within NBS laboratories, the organizational streamlining also facilitates the interdisciplinary research needed in dealing with today's scientific and technological issues. The NBS mathematical capabilities now located within the National Engineering Laboratory's Center for Applied Mathematics, which helps all segments of the Bureau meet the expanding mathematical needs inherent in advanced research, exemplify the benefits of this flexible organizational setup.

Enhancing Technical Excellence

The reorganization reflects the desire to maintain and enhance the technical resources of the Bureau, especially in areas likely to require more attention in the future as national scientific and technological priorities and needs change.

The Bureau must have the required technical expertise and facilities on hand, not only to respond quickly and effectively to requests for immediate assistance on urgent technological problems, but also to carry out the basic measurement and fundamental scientific research functions of the agency. Recent measurement research within the NBS Center for Absolute Physical Quantities is a case in point.

Measurement standards based upon the atomic frequencies of particular elements have become increasingly important to those who need the most precise possible values for the basic physical constants. The present measurement standard for the second, for example, is based upon the frequency of radiation emitted by a cesium atom. (One second now is defined as the time required for 9,192,631,770 oscillations of the "undisturbed" cesium atom.) Although they are the best standards available, all atomic frequency standards are limited in accuracy mostly because the motion of the atoms gives rise to frequency uncertainties.

Last year, NBS scientists were able to confine individual atoms in a trap and

then "cool" the atoms by using laser radiation. This slowed down the atoms and reduced the frequency uncertainty. The new cooling technique will allow very high resolution spectroscopy of atoms and molecules that should permit a better general understanding of molecular structure and may lead to greatly improved definitions of the units of time and length. The basic competences in physics making this experimental breakthrough possible were acquired and cultivated at NBS during the past several years and required careful planning.

The Bureau's ability to fulfill its multiple missions and provide the measurement foundations for technological innovation is heavily dependent on the continued maintenance and enhancement of its technical

competence. Thus, NBS last year embarked on a program to strengthen key research areas. This competence enhancement program will enable NBS to attain its own goals and to meet the projected needs of those who depend on Bureau services. Research fields selected for this multi-year program will involve long-term theoretical and experimental studies upon which NBS and its clients can rely for expertise. Special competence building initiatives are being undertaken where scientific solutions compatible with the NBS mission appear possible and where the underlying scientific foundation appears ripe for advancement.

Visions of the Future

Surface science, one of the fields selected for the first installment of the special competence enhancement program, illustrates the fundamental importance and nature of the research areas being given this special attention.

Even as great strides have been made over the past decade in understanding the electronic and chemical properties of surfaces, it is apparent that there is much more to be learned about the surfaces of materials. Our ability to understand and control processes in such diverse areas as catalysis, adhesion, corrosion, lubrication, frictional wear, bonding, and oxidation and our use of an array of technologies, including microelectronics and many energy production processes, rests upon advances in surface science. Our understanding of the smallest particles deemed to be pollutants and certain biological processes also stands to be affected by progress in this multidisciplinary research field.

Surface science, which relies heavily upon the joint work of physicists and chemists-both theorists and experimentalists-is an area of basic research at the frontier of science, but one which holds extraordinary opportunity for practical applications.

The properties of surfaces are known to differ from the properties of the bulk of many materials. To a great extent, these surface properties are determined by the chemical identity and the position of individual atoms and groups of atoms at or near the surface. Scientists working in this field are seeking to understand surface properties and processes at the atomic level. One of their principal challenges is to develop improved measurement

Also in this Center, NBS scientists showed that a nickel single crystal could accurately model the practical, highsurface area powder nickel catalysts used in the production of methane (synthetic natural gas) from hydrogen and carbon monoxide. The nickel single crystal is relatively easy to characterize, so the researchers can readily study at the atomic level the effects of catalytic poisons and promoters on this important reaction.

A National Academy of Sciences panel has said that "Surfaces and interfaces are possibly one of the most fruitful research topics in materials science. Knowledge at the most fundamental level in this area can be expected to be relevant to almost all uses of materials..." By building upon the base of technical competence which already exists at the Bureau in surface science and surface-important technologies, NBS will be able to contribute significantly to scientific understanding and a multitude of technological applications important to society and to the NBS mission.

Surface science is just one of several research areas chosen for the competence enhancement program for fiscal year 1979. The other fields include: nonlinear convection and smoke dynamics, organic electrochemistry, small angle neutron scattering, wave optics, crystal defect physics, and fluid mixtures models.

Each of these areas-and those still under consideration for special emphasis in the coming years-can be expected to pay dividends in the form of future science and technology advances by the Bureau and others throughout the Nation. Our vision of the future is expanding, and NBS is making a determined effort to prepare for it.