Sandia LabNews

Sandia’s robotic work cell conducts high-throughput testing ‘in an instant’

With 3D printing, you can make almost anything in a matter of hours. However, making sure 3D-printed parts work reliably takes weeks or even months. To speed up the process, Sandia scientists have designed and built a six-sided work cell around a commercial robot that conducts high-throughput testing to quickly determine how well those parts perform.

A splash of detergent makes catalytic compounds more powerful

Uniform catalytic compounds produced at Sandia don't just look nice, they outperform commercial varieties used as catalysts in solar cells and which could be used to produce clean-burning hydrogen fuel. If developed for industry, the new technology could improve performance while reducing costs of catalysts used everywhere from environmental cleanup to cancer treatment.

Decon, bombs, and above and beyond

Sandia won the national Federal Laboratory Consortium’s (FLC) 2016 Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer for a decontamination product that neutralizes chemical and biological agents and for software that helps emergency responders more effectively disable improvised explosive devices (IEDs). And business development specialist Bianca Thayer (8549) was named Outstanding Technology Transfer Professional of 2016.