Research

Innovation at the interface of science and engineering

Committed to science with the mission in mind, Sandia creates innovative, science-based, systems-engineering solutions to our nation’s most challenging national security problems.

Recent Highlights

DOE, DOE Office of Science, Earth, Energy & Environmental Science, Research Area

A multidisciplinary team has combined measurements in the Amazon forest with experimental and theoretical kinetics to...

DOE, Earth, Energy & Environmental Science, Laboratory Directed R&D, Purdue University, Research Area

Experimental war gaming provides insightful data for real-world cyberattacks In Greek mythology, Tantalus was the king...

Biological Science, Earth, Energy & Environmental Science, Laboratory Directed R&D, Research Area

The major challenge with using algae as a feedstock is growing it economically, which hinges strongly...

DOE, Laboratory Directed R&D, Materials & Advanced Manufacturing, Research Area

Brittle material failure can appear random and unpredictable at subcritical stresses. A fundamental understanding of how...

DOE, Laboratory Directed R&D, Materials & Advanced Manufacturing, Research Area

As counterfeiting methods become more sophisticated, countermeasures must be developed at the same pace. In this...

Materials & Advanced Manufacturing, Research Area

Jonathan Pegues, a researcher in Sandia’s Coatings & Additive Manufacturing department, was approved to be the...

DOE, Laboratory Directed R&D, Materials & Advanced Manufacturing, Radiation Effects & High Energy Physics, Research Area

The development of equations-of-state and transport models in areas such as shock compression and fusion energy...

DOE, Laboratory Directed R&D, Radiation Effects & High Energy Physics, Research Area

Predictive design of experiments in Radiation, Electrical, and High Energy Density Science (REHEDS) requires knowledge of...

DOE, Laboratory Directed R&D, Materials & Advanced Manufacturing, Research Area

Chalcogenide thin films that undergo reversible phase changes show promise for next-generation nanophotonics, metasurfaces, and other...

DOE, Laboratory Directed R&D, Physical Science, Research Area

Atmospheric corrosion is a critical materials degradation problem, yet the ability to predict its kinetics remains...

DOE, Laboratory Directed R&D, Physical Science, Research Area

Gallium nitride (GaN) is a very hard, mechanically stable wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductor that permits devices to...

DOE, Laboratory Directed R&D, Physical Science, Research Area

Subcritical fracture controls deformation and permeability of rocks and degradation of manmade materials. To further understand...

DOE, Laboratory Directed R&D, Nanodevices & Microsystems, Research Area

Novel material and device concepts previously took years for iteration. Discoveries in this LDRD project will...

DOE, Laboratory Directed R&D, Nanodevices & Microsystems, Research Area

Underfilling is a widely used manufacturing process that helps stabilize and reinforce solder joints in electronic...

DOE, Laboratory Directed R&D, Nanodevices & Microsystems, Research Area

Data-heavy workflows such as AI require in to increase system efficiency. Work on this memory computing,...

Biological Science, Earth, Energy & Environmental Science, Laboratory Directed R&D, Research Area

An integrated data science and experimental approach is being taken to the challenges of direct capture...

Biological Science, Earth, Energy & Environmental Science, Laboratory Directed R&D, Research Area

Representation of soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics in Earth system models (ESM) is a key source...

Computing, Information Science, and Mathematics, Laboratory Directed R&D, Research Area

While ML classifiers are widespread, output is often not part of a follow-on decision-making process because...

Computing, Information Science, and Mathematics, Laboratory Directed R&D, Research Area

Multiscale materials modeling fundamental insight into microscopic mechanisms that determine materials properties in nuclear stockpile applications...

Computing, Information Science, and Mathematics, Laboratory Directed R&D, Research Area

Multimaterial problems exist in mission applications such as mechanics and subsurface transport. To capture effects arising...

Earth, Energy & Environmental Science, Laboratory Directed R&D, Research Area

Proposed actions to reduce ever-increasing global temperatures include geoengineering the Earth’s climate by injecting matter into...

DOE, Engineering Science, Research Area

Accurately capturing solidification of fluids and the development of residual stress is critical for fully predictive...

DOE, Engineering Science, Research Area

Computer aided design (CAD) to simulation workflows for nuclear deterrence (ND) have shown dramatic performance improvements...

DOE, Engineering Science, Research Area

Predicting explosive performance at length scales near the minimum needed for a detonation to propagate is...

DOE, Laboratory Directed R&D, Materials & Advanced Manufacturing, Research Area

The team, led by Sandia principal investigator Jessica Rimsza, developed new modeling capabilities for evaluating multiphase...

Laboratory Directed R&D, NNSA, Radiation Effects & High Energy Physics, Research Area

Low density plasmas are predicted to impact Sandia’s Z machine experiments in a variety of ways....

Biological Science

Ryan Davis, a principal member of Sandia’s technical staff in Bioresource and Environmental Security, and his...

Biological Science

The Intrinsic Control for Genome and Transcriptome Editing in Communities (InCoGenTEC) project team, exploiting the CRISPR-associated...

Biological Science, DOE Office of Science

Catherine Mageeney, a senior member of Sandia’s technical staff in bioengineering and biotechnology, has expertise in...

Radiation Effects & High Energy Physics, Research Area

Electrothermal instability (ETI) is driven by Joule heating and arises from the dependence of resistivity on temperature....

DOE, DOE Office of Science, Nanodevices & Microsystems, Research Area

Many polymer liquids flow easily when stretched gently but become viscous and solid-like when stretched rapidly....

Computing, Information Science, and Mathematics, Nanodevices & Microsystems, Research Area

Try this thought experiment: imagine a small measurable quantity of something—perhaps a grain of sand or...

Computing, Information Science, and Mathematics, Earth, Energy & Environmental Science

Sandia visualization experts are working with climate scientists to visualize complex simulation results from the Energy...

Research Areas

Biological Science

Investigating cellular and biomolecular processes for bioenergy and biodefense.

Computing, Information Science, & Mathematics

Developing essential tools for solving the world’s most difficult problems.

Earth, Energy, & Environmental Science

Recognized world-class earth and atmospheric sciences R&D and biological solutions.

Engineering Science

Applying predictive simulation to engineering design and decision-making.

Materials & Advanced Manufacturing

Leading the nation in the knowledge of materials engineering, processing, and aging.

Nanodevices & Microsystems

Developing and delivering custom microsystems and national security hardware.

Physical Science

Securing the nation’s critical infrastructures and environment against attacks, threats, and climate change.

Radiation Effects & High Energy Physics

Exploring science in extreme environments – from the earth’s center to black holes.

Laboratory Directed R&D (LDRD)

This R&D funding source encourages revolutionary explorations of science and technology to solve our nation’s greatest challenges.

Programs

Sandia’s research underpins the success of our nuclear weapons, national security, global security, and energy programs

Facilities & Centers

Gain access to Sandia’s research facilities, capabilities, and resources for either proprietary or nonproprietary work.

Awards & Recognition

Our people and their innovations have been recognized internationally among universities, private corporations, and government agencies.


Career possibilities at Sandia

Turn your passion for engineering into a career. Join our team of scientists, engineers, and innovators to solve challenging national security problems that defy easy textbook answers.

Partnering with Sandia

Sandia collaborates with external partners to bring emerging technologies to the marketplace. Our partners include industry, small businesses, universities, and government agencies.