Some like it cryogenic
Sandia helped design the first generation of fueling stations for hydrogen-powered cars to be as safe as conventional gas stations. Now, a Sandia team is working to do the same for the next generation of hydrogen stations.
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.
From concept to commercialization: 40 years of concentrating solar power research- Researchers, industry gather for celebration
To mark the National Solar Thermal Test Facility’s 40th anniversary in July, present and past Sandia staff and managers, industry leaders and government representatives came together for a day of talks and tours focused on the history of the facility, its contributions to solar energy and other fields and the current research outlook.
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.