Author: manufacturing.com.de

The manufacturing sector has undergone a profound transformation over the past decade. Yet one of the most significant shifts remains underreported: the rising prominence of women leaders reshaping the industry’s future. From boardrooms to factory floors, these pioneering professionals are driving innovation, challenging outdated norms, and setting new standards for what’s possible in modern manufacturing. This comprehensive feature celebrates 50 women whose visionary leadership, technical expertise, and bold thinking are making undeniable waves across automation, sustainability, digital transformation, and workforce development. The State of Women in Manufacturing Before we introduce these remarkable leaders, it’s essential to acknowledge the landscape. Women…

Credit: Aleksey Matrenin/Shutterstock When a major storm or wildfire hits, the headlines focus on the disaster. At NIST, we study what happens days, months and years later, after the headlines have faded away.Resilience is what we call this long-term effort and associated actions. It’s a community’s ability to not only withstand a disruption but also recover its functions and services — such as schools, hospitals and shops — in a way that sustains its people and allows them to better prepare for future events. A community can be any geographic area with a leadership structure, from a school campus to…

IYKYK.* But if you don’t know why it’s beneficial to be a Baldrige examiner®, I invite you to find out what experienced Baldrige examiners have discovered about the value of this volunteer role.Consider the reasons, shared below, of three highly experienced Baldrige examiners from a variety of sectors, namely, business, K-12 education, and health care. All three of these individuals have served in the key role of leading an examiner team in assessing an applicant organization’s performance against the Baldrige Award Criteria, both in past years and in the Baldrige Award evaluation process of 2024.  Bruce Requa Bruce RequaBruce Requa is…

Credit: iStock/izusek Manufacturing Day (MFG Day), held on the first Friday of October every year, is a great opportunity for manufacturers to address workforce challenges. MFG Day is an initiative of the Manufacturing Institute, the workforce development and education affiliate of the National Association of Manufacturers. Thousands of manufacturers open their doors to students, parents, educators, and community leaders to demonstrate the reality and future of modern manufacturing careers as part of this annual event.By participating in MFG Day, manufacturers take a proactive approach to address workforce needs and help ensure a sustainable future for their businesses. MFG Day provides an opportunity to:Dispel…

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Cyber AI Profile Workshop NIST hosted this past April! This work intends to support the cybersecurity and AI communities — and the input you provided during this workshop is critical. We are working to publish a Workshop Summary that captures themes and highlights from the event. In the interim, we would like to share a preview of what we heard.Background on the Cyber AI Profile Workshop (watch the workshop introduction video)As NIST began exploring the idea of a Cyber AI Profile and writing the  Cybersecurity and AI Workshop Concept Paper leading up to…

The International Space Station Credit: NASA Wrapped snugly in a custom container, seven carefully chosen materials left Earth on Aug. 24, 2025, traveling at 17,500 mph. Nestled at the top of a Falcon 9 rocket, house dust, freeze-dried human liver and cholesterol joined four other scientific specimens to travel to the International Space Station (ISS). Called reference materials, these thoroughly studied samples serve important roles on Earth — and now beyond. These reference materials will play a critical role in understanding the effects of outer space on everyday objects as space becomes a place where people live, conduct research and…

Credit: M. King/NIST When you go to a medical appointment, does the doctor look at you while you talk? Or are they busy typing everything you say into a computer? If it’s the latter, you may find it will change soon, thanks to artificial intelligence (AI).Some doctors’ offices are using AI transcription services to transcribe your discussion with the doctor and automatically enter the results into your electronic medical records.That’s a time-saver for doctors, who often spend hours filling out their patients’ records. It also allows them to look at the patient rather than their computer screen.You may have also…

In a blog last week, I provided a multitude of reasons to apply to be a 2025 Baldrige examiner®. The benefits of serving in this volunteer role were conveyed by three highly experienced Baldrige examiners with career expertise from the business, K-12 education, and health care sectors. Each served as evaluation team leaders both in previous years and in the revamped process launched in 2024. But wait: there are more reasons to apply to be a Baldrige examiner®! Consider what two other highly experienced examiners—this time with backgrounds in higher education and nonprofit and government organizations, respectively—recently conveyed about the value…

Members of the Material Flammability Characterization Project recently presented or co-authored a series papers at the 16th International Conference and Exhibition on fire science and engineering (Interflam 2025, UK), the Flame Retardancy of Polymeric Materials conference (FRPM25, Spain) and the US National Combustion Meeting (Boston, MA).These talks describe new experimental tools and analytical techniques that support both the Material Flammability Characterization and Functional Barriers for Low-Flammability Products projects. These talks highlighted a range of topics including:ASTM E3367: Conception and Development of a New Standard Test based on Cone CalorimetryEvaluating Variability in the Fire Behavior of multiple version of commercially available…

Credit: NIST Today is the day! Digital Identity Guidelines, Revision 4  is finally here…it’s been an exciting journey and NIST is honored to be a part of it. What can we expect?Serving as a culmination of a nearly four-year collaborative process that included foundational research, two public drafts, and about 6,000 individual comments from the public, Revision 4 of Special Publication 800-63, Digital Identity Guidelines, intends to respond to the changing digital landscape that has emerged since the last major revision of this suite, published in 2017. The guidelines presented in Revision 4 explain the process and technical requirements for meeting digital identity…