Individual awards

Team awards

W80-4 Joint Test Assembly Telemetry Product Realization Team

The team successfully designed, tested and delivered a module on time in support of a flight-test unit critical to the success of the W80-4 program. Seventeen units were delivered for system-level testing in 2022. In addition to fabricating, building and testing the 17 units, the team successfully held their baseline design review and preproduction engineering gate in summer 2022.

B61-12 Life Extension Program, Energetic Component – Internal Product Launch Team

Sandia’s Energetic Production Team established a new internal production capability delivering the first in-house production unit of B61-12 latch indicator and spin rocket motor ignitors. In-house production strengthened the supply chain for nuclear weapon production, sustaining the defense program’s ability to rapidly respond to future deterrence needs. Team members from across Sandia provided leadership, expertise and analysis to provide deliverables on time and under budget.

W80-4 Warhead Controller Unit Embedded Software Team

The team implemented the first software-based controller in the modern stockpile and the first nuclear safety device using software in U.S. history. The team addressed the challenges of software in such critical applications, including the use of formal methods to mathematically prove the correctness of the software and hardware implementation. The team worked across divisions, centers and geographic locations, while staying on schedule and budget. The value of the software-based approach has already been proven by adapting to issues and requirements changes that have occurred during development.

Plastic Ball Grid Array Application-Specific Integrated Circuits

To improve the manufacturability of plastic ball grid array application-specific integrated circuits, the team undertook significant design, manufacturing and execution enhancements . It updated the existing design to overhaul manufacturability, validated a new vendor for greater production capacity and executed against an aggressive production schedule to recover from frequent stoppages between 2013 to 2021. A record number of parts were delivered in fiscal year 2022 and in the first quarter of fiscal year 2023, significantly reducing delivery gaps. The team’s unwavering commitment to producing the highest quality parts and delivering them on time has enabled Sandia’s Microsystems Engineering, Science and Applications Complex to fulfill its core mission needs.

W80-4 Electromagnetic Test Team

The team capitalized on an opportunity to provide critical baseline design characterization information for W80-4 Systems years ahead of schedule. The team collaborated with multiple partners and stakeholders during a tight two-week window to support NNSA’s mission to design and deliver the nation’s nuclear stockpile.

Air Force NNSA Demonstrator Initiative Team

Knowledge gained and technology matured through the initiative will position Sandia and its partners to respond to future national security needs.  It was a system-level technology maturation demonstrator that integrated early development activities with a delivery platform for the first time, emphasizing the highest priority interfaces. The demonstrator was delivered in February 2022.

Annular Core Research Reactor Fissile Material Experiments Team

A cross-organizational multidisciplinary team performed the first series of plutonium experiments at the Annular Core Research Reactor in 20 years. The experiments measured the effects in plutonium samples from pulsed neutron-gamma environments. Sandia , Los Alamos National Laboratory and an external partner designed and executed sophisticated experiments in support of weapon survivability research. The experiments took more than four years to complete and reestablished a modern plutonium test capability for the nuclear security enterprise.

Tech transfer honorees

Nanoporous-Based Sensors for the Electrical Detection of Gaseous
Pollution

The nDETECT sensor was developed to detect a range of gases for a variety of sponsors, including the Department of State, DOE and DOD. When nDETECT is integrated with traditional surveillance and maintenance processes, it will enable a more predictive approach to stockpile management. It will reduce costs and ensure the safety and reliability of weapon systems over their lifecycles. A patent was issued for the sensor on Feb. 7. The technology is highly tunable to different gases of interest, exhibits stable and selective performance over a wide temperature range and requires very little power to operate. The nDETECT team is interested in successfully transitioning and integrating the technology to applicable government sponsors. Integrating the sensor technology into DOE and DOD systems and processes would proactively identify risks and improve overall safety and reliability of weapons. Additional applications could include detection of chemical warfare agents for government partners and monitoring environmental and atmospheric pollutants in the commercial market.

Product Transition for Common Hypersonic Glide Body

Sandia’s Common-Hypersonic Glide Body is a first-of-its-kind technology essential to national security. Commercial industry partners are mass producing it to meet time-sensitive DOD priorities. Sandia partnered with industry through U.S. Army and U.S. Navy collaborations to transfer their build design knowledge. In turn, industry partners helped Sandia make the body’s design more manufacturable. This collaboration has improved the flow of technology transfer and designs. Common-Hypersonic Glide Body best practices could be implemented into technology transfer processes for other mission areas across the nuclear security enterprise, supporting rapid development of technologies.