USU signs contract with NIST
Utah State University recently signed an agreement with the National Institute for Standards and Technology, to develop and calibrate optical sensors.
For 30 years, USU’s Space Dynamics Laboratory has built and calibrated infrared sensors for NASA, the Air Force, the Navy, and the Missile Defense Agency.
The Director of the Calibration, Test and Evaluation Division of SDL, Alan Thurgood, said NIST and USU have worked together on projects for nearly 20 years. They have co-sponsored annual calibration conferences held in Logan for 14 years. The contract, signed March 14, formalized their long standing relationship.
The agreement does not involve any money, said Thurgood, but further cooperation between NIST and USU will create financial gains for both organizations. The university has technical strengths that NIST does not have, and NIST has strengths that will benefit USU. The partnership will allow the two institutions to pool their resources and “go after contracts together.”
“Together we’re stronger than separate,” Thurgood said.
USU President, Stan Albrecht said this is an “absolutely wonderful opportunity” for students, faculty and staff. The agreement may attract additional research funds greatly needed by the university.
NIST staff members may come to USU to lecture or to teach classes on sabbatical, Albrecht said. NIST employs two physics Nobel Prize winners, who may be among those to visit the campus.
Albrecht added that the recent agreement may also “open the door” for undergraduate and graduate-student internships with NIST, which will expose students to “cutting-edge science and scientists.”
“This is part of a large, comprehensive set of things [to help USU] become a national player in research,” Albrecht said, particularly for defense, homeland security, climate research and weather prediction.
The signing ceremony was held in Washington, D.C., hosted by Utah Sen.Bob Bennett. Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology Philip Bond, NIST Acting Director Hratch Semerjian and USU President Albrecht also attended.
-acbeck@cc.usu.edu