Livermore facility to create fast links between labs
By Betsy Mason
LIVERMORE, Calif -- Information technology takes center stage at Sandia/California National Laboratories today, as officials dedicate the new Distributed Information Systems Laboratory.
The $37.9 million facility is designed to better enable high-speed information transfer between labs, particularly those involved with nuclear weapons research.
Sandia operates sites in both Livermore and Albuquerque, N.M., where researchers work on nuclear weapons design. Rapid, secure communication between the two labs is vital, says Ken Washington, director of the new information lab in Livermore.
There, computer and information tools will be developed and tested in a safe environment, and then put to use throughout the Sandia lab complex. This will allow researchers at both sites to effectively use high-level computer platforms from a distance.
The new lab is part of the Department of Energy's program to maintain the nuclear weapons stockpile through computer modeling and simulation. This strategy has been in place since the U.S. moratorium on nuclear testing began in 1992.
The 70,000-square-foot facility will house approximately 130 researchers, including computer scientists working on information tools and technology, and weapons engineers. There is also unclassified space where 20 to 30 visiting researchers and students
can collaborate with Sandia employees.
"It is absolutely essential to do this kind of work in collaboration with academia and industry," Washington said.
The new facility will put Sandia at the forefront of distributed information technology, which will help the lab recruit top-flight scientists.
The Distributed Information Systems Laboratory "is designed for modeling and simulation and computer intensive work," Washington said. "The environment really unleashes their creativity and allows them to be the best that they can be."