April 2003

BFRL Monthly Highlights

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April 2002

May 2002

June 2003

July 2003

PAST Highlights

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Techniques Developed for Moisture Detection in Building Envelopes Using Ultra-Wideband Signals

Excess moisture accumulation in buildings has been receiving an increasing amount of attention in the construction industry because of its contribution to mold and decay problems in homes. Current forensic practices for detecting moisture problems within walls typically require investigators to tear into walls to determine the location of unwanted water. BFRL researchers are developing techniques that could allow investigators to non-invasively see the moisture conditions within a wall using ultra-wideband (UWB) radio waves. The signals are reflected from different layers in a wall depending upon the dielectric constant of each material—a property that is highly dependent upon the moisture content of the materials and, to a lesser extent, the frequency of the incoming waves. Reflections occur from all layers within the building system, and those reflections are analyzed to determine any dependence upon the moisture levels of the wall materials. Tests on a wall of gypsum board, fiberglass insulation, and oriented strand board sheathing have shown that the moisture contents of each of the three layers can be differentiated by the UWB reflections without inserting probes within the wall. Work to examine the accuracy of the method and sensitivity of the technique is ongoing. BFRL also is developing protocols for using the system in real walls that have features such as studs, wires, pipes, and windows.

Contact:
William Healy
301-975-4922
william.healy@nist.gov

BFRL’s Bukowski Wins Commerce Engineer of the Year Award

Richard Bukowski, Fire Research Division, BFRL, recently received the 24th Department of Commerce Engineer of the Year Award. This award, sponsored by the National Society of Professional Engineers, rewards sustained engineering achievements, civic and humanitarian activities, and contributions to the professional and technical societies.

Bukowski’s career in fire protection engineering spans 30 years and has resulted in significant improvements and profound changes to test standards, building codes, and engineering practice. His early study of residential smoke alarms changed NFPA and UL standards and was a major factor in the unprecedented growth of smoke alarm use and the attendant drop in fire deaths in the home. Bukowski began working in fire modeling, fire hazard, and fire risk assessment during the early years and led the team that developed HAZARD I, the world’s first comprehensive fire hazard assessment method implemented in personal computer software. In addition, he is a key player in the development of performance-based codes, chairing CIB W14’s TG1, Engineering Evaluation of Building Fire Safety Performance.

Contact:
James Hill
301-975-5900
james.hill@nist.gov

Simiu Wins First Scanlan Medal from Civil Engineering Society

Emil Simiu, NIST fellow in BFRL, has been awarded the first Robert H. Scanlan Medal from the American Society of Civil Engineers. The medal is awarded in recognition of distinguished achievement in engineering, mechanics based upon scholarly contributions to both theory and practice. The areas of achievement are generally in structural mechanics, wind engineering, and aerodynamics. Simiu is a world expert in wind engineering, with 80 publications in refereed journals and textbooks published on wind effects on structures, chaos, and aeroelasticity. He was selected as the Federal Engineer of the Year in 1984 and received the Department of Commerce Gold Medal in 1989.

Contact:
Shyam Sunder
301-975-6061
sunder@nist.gov

NIST Staff Win Best Poster Award at Adhesion Conference

A team of six researchers from BFRL and MSEL won the Best Poster Award at the 26th Annual Meeting of the Adhesion Society, Feb. 23-26, 2003, in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Xiaohong Gu, Tinh Nguyen, Mark VanLandingham, Ned Embree, Mike Fasolka, and Jon Martin won this award from a competition of 43 entrees from around the world for their poster, “Enhancing Sensitivity of Atomic Force Microscopy for Characterizing Surface Chemical Heterogeneity.” The poster describes an important new area of nanoscale chemical characterization of polymeric materials.

Contact:
Tinh Nguyen
(BFRL), ext. 6718
tinh.nguyen@nist.gov

Palmer Wins US PRO Award for Standardization

Mark Palmer of BFRL’s Computer Integrated Construction Group won the 2003 International William J. Conroy Standards Professional Award from the U.S. Product Data Association (US PRO) for more than a decade of work dedicated to the development and implementation of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) product data standards. US PRO is a non-profit membership organization, accredited by the American National Standards Institute, and created to support the development of initial graphics exchange specification and product data exchange standards in the United States. The award was created in 1997 and has been given annually to an individual who has shown exceptional leadership in the development and implementation of product data exchange standards. Palmer is a recognized technical expert in the area of process plant data representation and exchange standardization throughout the world. He was instrumental in bringing European and U.S. process plant projects together to harmonize their requirements for logical piping system design.

Contact:
Kent Reed
301-975-5852
kent.reed@nist.gov
 

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