Confronting COVID-19 and getting back to work — together
The novel approach of Integrated Service Delivery being practiced in several centers within Sandia’s Integrated Security Solutions Division was tested to its utmost this year, as departments had to suddenly figure out how to accommodate a remote workforce and then just as suddenly overcome dozens of challenges to bring people back to work safely on site.
California site expands footprint
To accommodate Sandia's significant increase in hiring to meet mission needs coupled with the need to ensure workforce safety amid the pandemic, leaders at the Livermore site are taking a multipronged approach, including continued telecommuting, creating flexible “kiosk hubs,” constructing new facilities and temporarily leasing office space near the campus.
A year of change
Lab News sat down for a conversation with Associate Labs Director Andy McIlroy, head of the Integrated Security Solutions Division, as he starts his second year in that role following a year permanently marked by a new reality for Sandia and the nation.
Experiments at solar thermal test facility break new ground
Sandia’s National Solar Thermal Test Facility will host a number of “firsts” in 2020, including testing a particle-to-supercritical carbon dioxide heat-exchanger system, and the world’s first on-sun falling particle receiver connected to a supercritical CO2 loop.
Rose Gottemoeller: The importance of science diplomacy
Rose Gottemoeller spoke to Sandians in a video conference on July 28 in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Labs’ Cooperative Monitoring Center. The talk was part of Sandia’s National Security Speakers Series.
Weapon Intern Program graduates 25th class
Sandia’s Weapon Intern Program has graduated 25 classes in 22 years. The program was created in 1998 to accelerate the learning process and transfer decades of knowledge and experience in all phases of the nuclear weapon lifecycle, from experienced weaponeers to the new generation of stockpile stewards.
Helping protect medical professionals
A media comprised of a sandwich of materials, tested by Sandia, is being manufactured into N95-like respirators that could be used in local medical facilities.
Planning for a pandemic
In 2005, a report directed to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security outlined the potential effects of a global pandemic in prophetic detail. It was one of the ways Sandians laid the foundation for the U.S. response to COVID-19.
Deployed to combat COVID-19
For Sandia employee and Staff Sgt. Tawnya Jones and other members of the New Mexico National Guard, the state governor's declaration of a public health emergency in march meant stepping away from a civilian job and responding to a no-notice military deployment to support the state’s battle against the virus.
Saltzstein featured on DOE Women in STEM site
Sandia manager Sylvia Saltzstein has been recognized by DOE’s Women @ Energy: STEM Rising website, which honors women in STEM fields throughout the DOE complex.