diff --git a/gtsam/nonlinear/Makefile.am b/gtsam/nonlinear/Makefile.am
index ee4a061f8..c95d70c0d 100644
--- a/gtsam/nonlinear/Makefile.am
+++ b/gtsam/nonlinear/Makefile.am
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ headers += NonlinearFactorGraph.h NonlinearFactorGraph-inl.h
 headers += NonlinearOptimizer-inl.h NonlinearOptimization.h NonlinearOptimization-inl.h NonlinearOptimizationParameters.h
 headers += NonlinearFactor.h
 sources += NonlinearOptimizer.cpp Ordering.cpp
-check_PROGRAMS += tests/testKey tests/testOrdering
+check_PROGRAMS += tests/testWhiteFactor
 
 # Nonlinear iSAM(2)
 headers += NonlinearISAM.h NonlinearISAM-inl.h
@@ -35,6 +35,10 @@ sources += GaussianISAM2.cpp
 # Nonlinear constraints 
 headers += NonlinearEquality.h NonlinearConstraint.h
 
+# White noise factor
+headers += WhiteNoiseFactor.h
+#check_PROGRAMS += tests/testWhiteFactor
+
 # Kalman Filter
 headers += ExtendedKalmanFilter.h ExtendedKalmanFilter-inl.h
 
diff --git a/gtsam/nonlinear/WhiteNoiseFactor.h b/gtsam/nonlinear/WhiteNoiseFactor.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f53e3543b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gtsam/nonlinear/WhiteNoiseFactor.h
@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
+/* ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+ * GTSAM Copyright 2010, Georgia Tech Research Corporation, 
+ * Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0415
+ * All Rights Reserved
+ * Authors: Frank Dellaert, et al. (see THANKS for the full author list)
+
+ * See LICENSE for the license information
+
+ * -------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
+
+/**
+ * @file WhiteNoiseFactor.h
+ * @brief Test the binary white noise factor
+ * @author Chris Beall
+ * @author Frank Dellaert
+ */
+
+#include <gtsam/nonlinear/NonlinearFactor.h>
+#include <gtsam/linear/HessianFactor.h>
+#include <gtsam/base/LieScalar.h>
+#include <cmath>
+
+const double logSqrt2PI = log(sqrt(2.0 * M_PI));
+
+namespace gtsam {
+
+	/**
+	 * @brief Binary factor to estimate parameters of zero-mean Gaussian white noise
+	 * This factor uses the mean-precision parameterization
+	 * Takes three template arguments:
+	 * MKEY: key type to use for mean
+	 * PKEY: key type to use for precision
+	 * VALUES: Values type for optimization
+	 */
+	template<class MKEY, class PKEY, class VALUES>
+	class WhiteNoiseFactor: public NonlinearFactor<VALUES> {
+
+	private:
+
+		double z_; ///< Measurement
+
+		MKEY meanKey_; ///< key by which to access mean variable
+		PKEY precisionKey_; ///< key by which to access precision variable
+
+		typedef NonlinearFactor<VALUES> Base;
+
+	public:
+
+		/// log likelihood  f(z, p, u) = log(sqrt2PI) - 0.5*log(p) + 0.5*(z-u)*(z-u)*p
+		static double f(double z, double u, double p) {
+			return logSqrt2PI - 0.5 * log(p) + 0.5 * (z - u) * (z - u) * p;
+		}
+
+		/** Construct from measurement
+		 * @param z Measurment value
+		 * @param meanKey Key for mean variable
+		 * @param precisionKey Key for precision variable
+		 */
+		WhiteNoiseFactor(double z, const MKEY& meanKey, const PKEY& precisionKey) :
+				Base(), z_(z), meanKey_(meanKey), precisionKey_(precisionKey) {
+		}
+
+		/// Destructor
+		~WhiteNoiseFactor() {
+		}
+
+		/// Print
+		void print(const std::string& p = "WhiteNoiseFactor") const {
+			Base::print(p);
+			std::cout << p + ".z: " << z_ << std::endl;
+		}
+
+		/// get the dimension of the factor (number of rows on linearization)
+		virtual size_t dim() const {
+			return 2;
+		}
+
+		/// Calculate the error of the factor, typically equal to log-likelihood
+		inline double error(const VALUES& x) const {
+			return f(z_, x[meanKey_].value(), x[precisionKey_].value());
+		}
+
+		/**
+		 * Vector of errors
+		 * "unwhitened" does not make sense for this factor
+		 * What is meant typically is only "e" above
+		 * Here we shoehorn sqrt(2*error(p))
+		 * TODO: Where is this used? should disappear.
+		 */
+		virtual Vector unwhitenedError(const VALUES& x) const {
+			return Vector_(1, sqrt(2 * error(x)));
+		}
+
+		/// Linearize. Returns a Hessianfactor that is an approximation of error(p)
+		virtual boost::shared_ptr<GaussianFactor> linearize(const VALUES& x,
+				const Ordering& ordering) const {
+			double u = x[meanKey_].value();
+			double p = x[precisionKey_].value();
+			double e = u - z_, e2 = e * e;
+			double c = 2 * logSqrt2PI - log(p) + e2 * p;
+			Vector g1 = Vector_(1, -e * p);
+			Vector g2 = Vector_(1, 0.5 / p - 0.5 * e2);
+			Matrix G11 = Matrix_(1, 1, 2.0 * p);
+			Matrix G12 = Matrix_(1, 1, 2.0 * e);
+			Matrix G22 = Matrix_(1, 1, 1.0 / (p * p));
+			Index j1 = ordering[meanKey_];
+			Index j2 = ordering[precisionKey_];
+			GaussianFactor::shared_ptr factor(
+					new HessianFactor(j1, j2, G11, G12, g1, G22, g2, c));
+//			factor->print("factor");
+			return factor;
+		}
+
+		/**
+		 * Create a symbolic factor using the given ordering to determine the
+		 * variable indices.
+		 */
+		virtual IndexFactor::shared_ptr symbolic(const Ordering& ordering) const {
+			const Index j1 = ordering[meanKey_], j2 = ordering[precisionKey_];
+			return IndexFactor::shared_ptr(new IndexFactor(j1, j2));
+		}
+
+	};
+// WhiteNoiseFactor
+
+}// namespace gtsam
+