The NIST Materials Science and Engineering Laboratory (MSEL) promotes U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness in the development and use of materials by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology – in ways that enhance economic security and improve the quality of life. 

MSEL research and services lower measurement barriers to innovative materials and devices in a broad spectrum of industries. Recent examples include:

• Test methods that ensure the reliability of high strength steels for petroleum and hydrogen pipelines, and that provide the pipeline industry with key data to predict the lifetime, and safety, of this critical energy infrastructure.
• Nanoparticle standard reference materials, first produced by MSEL researchers, are helping the National Cancer Institute develop biomedical applications of nanotechnology, and will enable assessment of the potential environmental, health and safety hazards of nanomaterials, such as carbon nanotubes.
• Advanced x-ray measurements and models that are helping the automotive industry improve vehicle fuel efficiency with lightweight materials.
• Groundbreaking measurements that enable the semiconductor electronics industry to produce smaller and faster electronic devices, to identify critical limitations in nanomanufacturing processes, and to pioneer the technologies of organic and flexible electronics.