Belonging at Sandia

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Belonging is a cornerstone of Sandia’s culture. It drives innovation, cultivates high performance, and fosters the acceptance of different learning, work, and communication styles. Belonging at Sandia means valuing, respecting, and appreciating both our similarities and differences, harnessing our rich diversity to deliver exceptional service in the national interest. Diversity, by definition, is any mixture of individuals, groups, or ideas not limited by race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability (physical or mental), sexual orientation, or any other non-merit factor.

Opportunity, diversity, and belonging are fundamental to our ethos, embodying one of the most important aspects of Sandia’s aspirational culture: we belong. Belonging is a deliberate choice. It is Sandia’s choice.

Recent Awards

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Delivering excellence

David Gibson and Larry Thomas

Profiles in Diversity Journal – Black Leadership award

David Gibson, Deputy Laboratories Director and Chief Operating Officer, Larry Thomas, Sandia Chief diversity, equity and belonging officer were both recognized with Black Leadership awards by the Black Leadership award from Profiles in Diversity Journal.

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Dr. Sal Rodriguez

Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Conference – 2023 Scientist of the Year

Great Minds in STEM, which recognizes America’s top engineers and scientists from the Hispanic community, honored Dr. Sal Rodriguez as Scientist of the Year at its annual Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Conference. It’s a first for a Sandia employee. Scientist of the Year and Engineer of the Year are the highest of the conference’s honors, reserved for individuals who model excellence and leadership, making profound contributions to industries, STEM fields, communities and the nation.

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2023 Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA)

Three Sandians received 2023 Black Engineer of the Year Awards. Danielle Stephenson was lauded as a Senior Technology Fellow, Coby Davis as a Science Spectrum Trailblazer and Ned Adams as a Modern-Day Technology Leader.

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Ali Pinar

2023 Fellow of the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM)

Ali Pinar was selected by the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics as a 2023 Fellow in recognition of his passion for and leadership in the area of computing network research. The organization named him a Fellow “for theoretical, algorithmic, and application impacts, and community leadership in combinatorial scientific computing and network science.”

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Stan Atcitty

2023 Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineer

Sandia Senior Scientist Stan Atcitty has been named a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), one of the world’s largest technical professional organizations. Atcitty’s research focuses on power electronics needed to integrate energy storage and distributed generation with the electric utility grid. Six of his projects have won R&D 100 awards and one Gold Green Energy award from Research & Development magazine.

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Hongyou Fan

2023 Fellow of the American Chemical Society

Researcher and manager Hongyou Fan has been named a fellow of the American Chemical Society. The society recognized Fan “for outstanding contributions to the novel design, synthesis, functionalization and integration of nanomaterials leading to innovative applications in nanoelectronics, clean energy, sensor development and photocatalysis.” It also recognized him “for impactful service in organizing ACS symposia, promoting the Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry, STEM outreach events, ACS journal publications and the ACS Petroleum Research Fund program.”

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Society of Women Engineers Awards

The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) has bestowed awards on three Sandia employees. Senior scientist Tina Nenoff received the society’s highest honor, the Achievement Award, chemical engineer Yuliya Preger received a Rising Technical Contributor Award and Nedra Bonal received a Patent Recognition Award.

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Rudy Garcia

Rudy Garcia

2022 Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers Technical Achievement and Recognition Award

Sandia National Laboratories data engineer Rudy Garcia received the 2022 Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers Technical Achievement and Recognition, or STAR, Award for his work in research and engineering of large software systems and remote-sensing applications, along with his expertise in cloud computing and big geospatial-data architectures.

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Women Worth Watching Awardees

National Women Worth Watching Awards three Sandians

Sandia National Laboratories’ Robin Jones and Kimberly Pino recently were recognized by Profiles in Diversity Journal as Women Worth Watching in Leadership award winners for 2022, while Sondra Spence received a Women Worth Watching in STEM award.

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Christian (Chris) O’Gorman

American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) – Executive Excellence Award

Division 7200 Director Chris O’Gorman received the 2022 American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) Executive Excellence Award. AISES recognizes significant contributions by American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, First Nations and other North American indigenous peoples to the STEM disciplines. O’Gorman, who began his Sandia career in 1994, leads programs that ensure the reliability and safety of the U.S. nuclear stockpile. He is also chair of the Stockpile Governance Board and the Nuclear Deterrence chief data officer.

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Bishu Khanal

Asian American Engineer of the Year (AAEOY) – 2022 Most Promising Engineer of the Year

Sandia National Laboratories research and development manager Bishnu Khanal was recently honored with the Most Promising Asian American Engineer of the Year award for his work in next-generation optical lithography process development for numerous technologies, along with his deep-reaching community service. Khanal was selected for his technical leadership and contributions in nanotechnology, semiconductor device fabrication and materials science.

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Heather Spalding

Careers and the disABLED – 2022 Employee of the Year

Heather Spalding, a Labs business lead, was named Employee of the Year by CAREERS & the disABLED magazine, recognized for her advocacy efforts, professional accomplishments and community outreach. Heather advocates for diversity in Sandia’s workforce, is a mentor for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central New Mexico and works with Albuquerque’s homeless population.

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Demographics

Ethnicity
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Gender
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Veterans & Individuals with Disabilities
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Detailed view of Sandia demographics available here.

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Outreach and Networking Groups

Several networking groups at Sandia have been formed by employees with common interests. The following groups are open to all employees and share a common goal of supporting, celebrating, retaining, and attracting a world-class workforce:

Learn more about Sandia's Outreach and Networking Groups

American Indian Outreach Committee

The American Indian Outreach Committee at Sandia was established in 1979 as a representative group of technical and administrative professionals whose key interest is to recruit American Indian professionals into the Sandia workforce. We also strive to increase public knowledge about our customs, heritage, art, traditions, and technical achievements through a variety of events and activities.

Asian Leadership & Outreach Committee

The Asian Leadership & Outreach Committee promotes teamwork and communication among all cultural groups; career growth, development, and success of Asian Americans at Sandia; and an awareness of Asian cultures, values, accomplishments, and activities.

Black Leadership Committee

The Black Leadership Committee (BLC) serves the laboratories by providing leadership to Black employees in support of Sandia’s mission. The BLC also participates in identifying and recruiting qualified Black employment candidates, and promoting cultural awareness at the Laboratories.

Abilities Champions of Sandia

Abilities Champions of Sandia helps Sandia employees understand the abilities that each individual brings to their position within the company. We assist, counsel, and serve as a liaison between candidates, visitors, and members of the workforce with disabilities, as well as employees with disabled children. We promote awareness and help build a culture of openness, trust and respect for everyone.

Sandia Pride Alliance Network (SPAN)

SPAN contributes to an open, supportive, and respectful environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered employees at Sandia by raising awareness about sexual orientation and gender issues; supporting outreach and recruiting activities; and supplying resources that address transgender, bisexual, lesbian, and gay workplace issues.

Hispanic Outreach for Leadership and Awareness

Hispanic Outreach for Leadership and Awareness promotes community involvement and inspires career success for Hispanics at Sandia by striving for equal representation at all levels, supporting Hispanic employees and students in reaching their full potential, and promoting cultural diversity.

Military Support Committee

The Military Support Committee engages all levels of the workforce to create and foster a military-friendly community and culture that supports Sandia’s mission. We support veterans, active military personnel, guardsmen and reserves, along with our non-military employees who have family members deployed.

Sandia Women’s Action Network

The Sandia Women’s Action Network encourages all women to participate, network, and work together toward common goals; promotes participation in community outreach activities that encourage women and girls to pursue fulfilling careers; and assists Sandia in becoming a model employer with a hospitable working environment for women.

Sandia Parents Group

The Sandia Parents Group was created to engage and retain Sandia’s workforce by fostering a culture of connectedness and work-life balance so all working parents can thrive in their careers. Our mission is to ensure Sandian’s continue to be successful, productive, and healthy within their workplace while managing caregiving responsibilities. 

Sandia is committed to Equal Employment Opportunity and providing reasonable accommodation in its application process for qualified individuals with disabilities. If you have difficulty using our online system due to a disability and need special assistance or accommodation, please send an email with your request to the Job Accommodation Specialist in (NM) trsanch@sandia.gov or (CA) dcunnin@sandia.gov. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation are made on a case-by-case basis.