Sandia/California brings 60th anniversary into the community May 21

Sandia/California will commemorate its 60th anniversary at a community event in downtown Livermore on Saturday, May 21, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Held at the Bankhead Theater at 2400 First Street, the event will feature technology displays and demonstrations, national security speakers, hands-on science activities, and recruiting.

“We take great pride in all that has been accomplished at this site over the past 60 years and want to share this with the community,” says Marianne Walck, vice president of Sandia’s California site and the Energy and Climate program. “This event is a chance to showcase some of the important work that happens here.”

Inside the Bankhead’s 500-seat theater, Labs Director Jill Hruby and Marianne will speak about the history and continued impact of Sandia and the California site. The theater program will also feature remarks by Congressman Eric Swalwell, State Senator Steve Glazer, Assemblymember Catharine Baker, Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty,  Livermore Mayor John Marchand, and LLNL Deputy Director Thomas Gioconda. The program will conclude with two national security speeches: Jarret LaFleur (8118), “The Perfect Heist,” and Levi Lloyd (8965), “Cybersecurity: Challenges and opportunities in the digital age.”

The breadth of Sandia/California’s work will be on display in the theater lobby. Highlights include:

• An additive manufacturing display with 3-D printed memorabilia giveaways
• Visualizations of the Combustion Research Facility (CRF)’s high performance computing-enabled flame modeling and measurements
• An optical engine used in the CRF’s engine optimization research
• A photobioreactor filled with growing algae destined for biofuel and a microscope stage to show algae predators at work
• The SpinDX portable bio-detection unit that runs an array of medical tests from a single drop of blood in about 15 minutes
• A cybersecurity booth featuring demonstrations of password cracking, computer forensics, and encryption method comparisons
• Samples of hydrogen-embrittled metals from Sandia’s research to understand and mitigate the effects of hydrogen on different materials
• An overview of the Explosive Destruction System (EDS) including a small-scale model, examples of post-processed hardware, and videos of past EDS missions
• Sandia-developed radiation detection capabilities including the R&D 100 award-winning triplet harvesting plastic scintillators and anti-neutrino reactor monitoring
• A historical overview of Sandia/California and its national security work
• A fuel-cell electric vehicle, courtesy of the California Fuel Cell Partnership (outside in front of the Bankhead Theater)

The event also will showcase the site’s education outreach programs with hands-on scientific activities from Family Science Night and Expanding Your Horizons volunteers. Students from two Livermore schools — Livermore High School and Mendenhall Middle School — will display their engineering projects.

The human resources department will present another aspect of Sandia/California — as a workplace. Recruiters will be on hand to share information about Sandia careers and job opportunities.

“We are fortunate to work in such an incredible place full of natural beauty, wonderful people, history, and a vibrant economy,” says Marianne. “We invite the community to share in the celebration of Sandia/California’s first 60 years and what we hope to achieve in the next 60 years and beyond.”

For more info, see CA60.sandia.gov.