In three minutes and armed with a single slide, postdoctoral researchers have the opportunity to explain their motivation, their results and the significance of their research to a nonspecialty audience and a panel of judges.
The group of 17 early-career research finalists gathered in the Congressional Auditorium in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023, to present their innovative research at the inaugural National Lab Research SLAM. Finalists presented in four research categories: Energy Security, National Security, Environmental Resilience and Scientific Discovery, representing each of the 17 DOE national labs.
Rep. Chuck Fleischmann of Tennessee and Sen. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico opened the inaugural event with remarks. Jean-luc Doumont, a renowned expert in research communication, served as the evening’s emcee.
Megan Dahlhauser, a postdoctoral researcher in quantum computer science, represented Sandia with her presentation on when computers fail. Megan described the SLAM event as an unforgettable experience and encourages others to participate.
“The most rewarding part was the wonderful group of people I got to meet as part of the event. I learned so much from everyone, from infinitely cool science being done by amazing scientists, to fascinating details about how Congress really works in practice,” Megan said.
When computers fail
Quantum computers are a proposed solution to computational challenges that modern computers fail to solve. Quantum computers, however, are currently in early stages of development and experience lots of failures of their own. Megan and her team focus on tracking and understanding those failures.
“This work helps us learn more about quantum computers and leads us to discover ways to help progress quantum computers to the next generations,” Megan said.
