A memorandum of understanding between Sandia and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was signed at an official ceremony April 3 at the Urbana-Champaign campus.

The agreement formalizes the relationship between the two institutions and describes common fields of research interest in nanoscience, cognitive neuroscience, information technologies, water technologies, high-performance computing, energetics/combustion, complex systems/system-of-systems, and high-frequency imaging and communications.

Sandia Senior Manager Russ Skocypec (6340), who earned his BS, MS, and PhD in mechanical engineering at Illinois, serves as Sandia’s lead representative involved with developing the agreement.

Dave Carlson, director of Nuclear Weapons Planning, Operations, and Integration Center 200, serves as campus executive for the U of I relationship. He says the agreement will allow Sandia and the university to develop and pursue joint research initiatives that leverage both institutions’ strengths and infrastructure.

“The general areas of collaboration include activities to support complementary institutional goals and share and leverage specialized research facilities and equipment,” says Dave, an Illinois alumnus with MS degrees in astronomy and nuclear engineering. “The agreement will also increase inter-institutional collaborative engagement of faculty, staff, and students.”

“By joining our resources together with those of Sandia National Laboratories, we can have a significant impact on an incredibly broad range of research,” says Ilesanmi Adesida, dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Pierre Wiltzius, director of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, notes that historically the University of Illinois and Sandia have had a very strong relationship in the physical sciences and engineering.

“We are very much looking forward to expanding our interactions with Sandia into new areas including cognitive sciences, neurosciences, and human and computer speech and vision,” says Wiltzius. “This expansion will also engage faculty and students from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and is squarely aligned with the strategic initiatives of the Beckman Institute and the University of Illinois.”

Sandia currently has 19 active agreements with 15 universities across the US.