Labs Director signs annual assessment letter
In late September, Sandia President and Laboratories Director Steve Younger signed Sandia’s annual assessment letter. Each year, Sandia assesses the safety, reliability and performance aspects of the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile for which it has responsibility.
Rick Perry thanks employees for national service
Energy Secretary Rick Perry emphatically thanked Sandia employees for their contributions to science and issues of national and international security, equating research to public service during a visit to the Labs on Oct. 9.
Small-business recycling ventures propelled by Sandia engineering
Through New Mexico Small Business Assistance (NMSBA), Sandia is solving technical challenges for Tucumcari Bio-Energy and, in a separate project, helping a cohort of companies led by PJ Woodlands to figure out how to market new composite materials made from forest slash.
Sandia to celebrate 40 years of solar power research
In 1978, Sandia began a unique program of research on concentrating solar power at the newly constructed National Solar Thermal Test Facility. Forty years later, the facility is still the only one of its kind in the United States. Sandia will celebrate the solar tower’s 40th anniversary on July 31.
The amazing growth of renewable energy from solar cells: A lesson for how we fund research?
Since 2004, the rate at which solar cell power is installed has doubled every 22 months and is now in excess of 0.1 terawatts per year. Research driving some of this expansion began right here at Sandia more than 40 years ago.
Diesel doesn’t float this boat
Marine research could soon be possible without the risk of polluting either the air or the ocean, thanks to a new hydrogen fuel cell ship design and feasibility study led by Sandia. Hydrogen fuel cells have existed for decades, but the feasibility of a hydrogen-powered research vessel has never been studied or proven. Until now.
Generating electrical power from waste heat
Directly converting electrical power to heat is easy, but the opposite, converting heat into electrical power, hasn't been so easy — until now. Sandia researchers have developed a tiny silicon-based device that can harness what was previously called waste heat and turn it into DC power.
NNSA Administrator Gordon-Hagerty touts mission, teamwork at all-hands meeting
Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, DOE under secretary for nuclear security, signaled strong federal support for Sandia’s mission and infrastructure improvements in her all-hands presentation in Albuquerque on June 12. The meeting was part of an all-day tour of the Labs.
Raising the heat to lower the cost of solar energy
Sandia will receive $10.5 million from DOE to research and design a cheaper and more efficient solar energy system. The work focuses on refining a specific type of utility-scale solar energy technology, called concentrating solar power, which is appealing because it can supply renewable energy — even when the sun is not shining — without using batteries for storage.
DOE visit highlights Sandia energy work with Indian groups
Sandia recently hosted visitors from the DOE Indian Country Energy and Infrastructure Working Group. During the visit, ICEIWG members, DOE officials and intergovernmental and contracted partners learned about Sandia’s unique role in energy research.