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Neal Singer
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The largest project in Sandia’s history is complete.
In an Aug. 23 ceremony at Sandia, top officials of the Department of Energy, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), and Congress signaled completion of the Microsystems and Engineering Sciences Applications (MESA) complex.
The 400,000-square foot complex consists of a Microfabrication Facility, a Microsystems Laboratory, and a new Weapons Integration Facility. Taken together, the complex contains optical, electrical, fluidic, visualization, and computer laboratories, as well as workspace for more than 600 scientists and engineers.
The Weapons Integration Facility, occupied in July, was the last facility in the MESA complex to be completed.
MESA’s initial mission, already underway, is to produce electronic circuits and computer chips designed to withstand high levels of radiation. These “hardened” electronics are critical to national security needs.
“The MESA complex provides NNSA with a capability you can’t find anywhere else,” said NNSA Administrator Tom D’Agostino. “With the technology developed here, anything from our country’s nuclear weapons to communications satellites will be able to withstand the worst of conditions.”
Beyond its security role, MESA’s combination of high-performance computing simulations, scientific research, and production capabilities in electronics and optics at the micro and nano level will make it a world leader in a new type of simulation-led engineering that will ultimately improve the quality of consumer goods.
“MESA uniquely provides a design environment and combines the power of the world’s most powerful computers with the development of small, smart things that are integrated into applications of unlimited potential,” said Tom Hunter, Sandia’s president and director. “There is no other place like it. We are proud the nation chose Sandia for this investment.”
The eight-year, $516 million MESA project
was completed three years ahead of schedule
and $40 million below budget.