§7506 Department of Commerce programs

Summary

The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology must, as part of the Program activities under section 7501(b)(7), create a research program on nanotechnology development and manufacturing. The work must cover measurement, reliability, quality and process control, and manufacturing best practices, and use the Manufacturing Extension Partnership program to help reach small- and medium-sized manufacturing companies. The Secretary of Commerce, or a designee, working with the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office and using National Technical Information Service resources when possible, must set up a central clearinghouse. It will collect and share information on commercializing nanotech research, regional and local nanotech efforts, moving federal research into commercial and military products, tech-transfer best practices, examples of overcoming deployment barriers, and use of manufacturing facilities and workforce.