The Wireless Laboratory

A May 14 press release from the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) (“Wireless Platforms for Smart Manufacturing”) solicited participation in site surveys for secure wireless, smart manufacturing. One of the pictures included with the release shows a petrochemical complex. Petrochemical plants run on data from laboratories and process monitoring equipment.

NIST aims to study industrial processing environments in order to develop criteria for secure wireless communication systems to replace hard wiring in industrial processes. Wireless communication needs to be reliable, even in the extreme conditions that can exist in various manufacturing environments.

Since labs support many manufacturing operations, we can expect that laboratory instrumentation will be drawn into the study. Plus, the advantage of wireless communication, including greater flexibility and reductions in cabling, also applies to the laboratory.

You can jump aboard by contacting:

Rick Candell, project leader, 100 Bureau Dr. M/S 8230, Gaithersburg, Md. 20899-8230; tel.: 301-975-4287; e-mail: [email protected]

Robert L. Stevenson, Ph.D., is Editor Emeritus, American Laboratory/Labcompare; e-mail: [email protected].

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