MATTR Program


The MEP-Assisted Technology and Technical Resource (MATTR) program offers clients of MEP Centers, small and mid-sized manufacturers (SMMs), direct access to wide-ranging, world-class technical expertise available at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) research labs and user facilities. A partner to the U.S. manufacturing sector for more than a century, NIST has a proven track record of collaboration with existing manufacturers and aspiring start-ups.

MATTR has been piloting operations since 2016, successfully connecting NIST Lab technical experts with MEP client manufacturing companies around the U.S. on numerous occasions to provide meaningful technical assistance. Currently MATTR operates in an informal mode, in which NIST staff share technical expertise relating to manufacturer issues, essentially as a professional courtesy that MATTR facilitates. No funding is exchanged in the current mode of MATTR operation.

NIST MEP, in the process of expanding MATTR to include more extensive engagements among NIST Lab staff and MEP Center clients, is exploring the boundaries and constraints associated with this planned MATTR expansion. Funding will be available later in 2019 to NIST Lab staff for such engagements. These engagements may include NIST staff consultation with companies, along with the conduct of NIST services such as special measurements, special tests, and NIST user facility access. MATTR engagements, likely involving Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) between MEP Centers, their clients, NIST, and NIST MEP, may be funded (up to $50,000) by NIST MEP.

Though not every technical problem submitted through MEP Centers by small or midsized manufacturers has a solution at NIST, the MATTR program staff make every effort to find NIST Lab expertise appropriate to the submission.

 

OFFERS OF ASSISTANCE
Click on the Offer Number(s) below to read more about each offer of assistance; including,
the researcher's current projects, instrumentation used, and software proficiencies.

If you are interested in requesting assistance, please click here to complete a formal request.
 
Offer Number Discipline
OOA_2020-001 Chemical and Materials Engineering
OOA_2020-002 Mechanical Engineer
OOA_2020-003 Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Technician
OOA_2020-004 Physics, Optics, Chemistry
OOA_2020-005 Materials Science
OOA_2020-006 Materials Science and Engineering
OOA_2020-007 Physics
OOA_2020-008 Polymer Chemistry, Organic Materials Synthesis, Soft Materials Science
OOA_2020-009 Materials Science
OOA_2020-010 Physics
OOA_2020-011 Physics
OOA-2020-012 Materials Chemistry and Material Science
OOA-2020-013 Materials Science
OOA-2020-014 Physics, Mechanical Engineering
OOA-2020-015 Physics
OOA-2020-016 Analytical Chemistry
OOA-2020-017 Chemistry, Biophysics and Surfaces
OOA-2020-018 Physics
OOA-2020-019 Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science
OOA-2020-020 Mechanical Engineering
OOA-2020-021 Mechanical Engineering, Applied Physics
OOA-2020-022 Nuclear/Radiochemistry
OOA-2020-023 Industrial Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain Logistics
Please note: Though technical assistance through the MATTR service is currently offered at no-cost, other services at NIST such as instrument calibrations, special measurements, or standard reference materials may have an associated fee.