Contact Amanda Farnan Press Secretary (774) 571–3639 [email protected] Boulder-based NIST scientist honored with top government award November 10, 2021 Higgins, a materials research engineer at NIST, will receive the Emerging Leaders Medal, one of seven Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals awarded by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, at a ceremony at in Washington, D.C., on Thursday night.