Flying from the glass
Bird strikes against windows are an all-too-familiar sound. To birds, the transparent glass looks like open space, and between 500 million and 1 billion birds die each year trying to fly through closed windows. Sandia is solving this problem at one of its high-strike buildings, where ecology program staff partnered with facilities staff to place adhesives featuring a dot pattern on the building's windows.
‘MANOS’ needs a hand
Many of us can thank a teacher or mentor who early in our lives ignited in us a passion for our current professions. Sandia’s Manos — or “hands-on” — program is looking for the next generation of Sandia volunteer mentors to provide that spark for science, technology, engineering and math in local middle school students.
Hear ye, hear ye: open call for algae
To make algae biofuels more competitive with petroleum, growers must increase productivity and keep their ponds from crashing. That’s why Sandia and partners are inviting participants to help in the search for the toughest algae strains and most innovative farming techniques.
Extreme fast-charging batteries
A key roadblock to widespread use of long-range electric vehicles — the longer time needed for a complete recharge compared to a gas station fill-up — may soon be overcome, thanks to DOE support for extreme fast-charging battery research. Fueled by a $1.5 million award from DOE’s Vehicle Technology Office, Sandia and the University of Michigan have teamed up to develop engineered battery materials that can be charged in less than 10 minutes.
Power to spare: New Battery Test Facility boosts work of power sources team, with big benefits for customers
When Sandia tests the performance of high-capacity energy storage devices, the power sources group frequently would hit obstacles that reduced efficiencies and stretched out schedules. Those obstacles have now been removed with the construction of a 7,500 square-foot Battery Test Facility that enables the team to assemble and test batteries more efficiently for customers to validate whether they perform up to expectations.
Middle school teams design cities of the future
Students from 18 rural and urban middle schools took part in the sixth annual New Mexico Future City Competition regional finals at the UNM School of Architecture and Planning. The students vied for the chance to represent New Mexico at the national Future City Competition in Washington, DC, in February.
Sandia/California hosts DOE deputy secretary
Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy Dan Brouillette visited Sandia/California on Dec. 4. It was Brouillette’s first visit to the site.
The benefits of engineered light
The study of LED lighting is still in its infancy, according to Sandia researchers. "Engineered light," light intentionally controlled in time, space and spectral content, can reward human optics with better lighting, help regulate human health and productivity, efficiently stimulate plant growth and increase nutritional value, and more.
Sandia helps provide water data for secure energy supply
Electricity powers nearly two-thirds of all cooking in U.S. homes and most of us don't think about how much water it takes to produce that energy, but Sandia's Vince Tidwell does. His work focuses on the unique relationship between energy production and water use, referred to as the energy-water nexus, and he’s helped to map water availability, cost and use data for power plants.
CRADA boom spurs innovation, collaboration with Sandia Labs
Sandia signed 42 CRADAs in fiscal year 2018, more Cooperative Research and Development Agreements than in any previous year this century, sparking dozens of new collaborations and potential technological innovations. A CRADA is an agreement between a government agency and a nonfederal entity to work together on research and development.