Building Sandia: 1940s to 1960s
Sandia’s built environment tells a story of its adaptation and vision for the future. The buildings and structures reflect a rich and varied 70-year architectural history that first began to take shape in the fall of 1945, when the Los Alamos based Z Division started moving down to the site of the current Albuquerque campus.
Labs historian Rebecca Ullrich presents 70 years of Sandia
As part Sandia’s 70th anniversary celebration, Labs employees were treated to an insightful, humorous and engaging presentation, “70 years of Sandia: How did we get here?” by Sandia historian Rebecca Ullrich. During the presentation, Rebecca described the Labs’ path from its beginnings as part of Los Alamos National Laboratory to the launch of Sandia Corporation and the Albuquerque campus to the expansion of the Labs to its current state.
Exceptional service in the national interest
Two dates are well known to Sandians: the day President Harry Truman wrote a letter calling for “exceptional service in the national interest” and the day Sandia (previously Z Division) separated from its parent, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and became the entity we know it as today.
Strategic Priority No. 7
Sandia's Strategic Priority No. 7 is a call to action to identify better, easier ways to do our job on behalf of the nation. We need to be more agile, make more focused decisions to create and sustain an exceptional institution and remove organizational barriers that are slowing us down and reducing our impact.
AI center to combine hardware, software for practical gains
Sandia and Pacific Northwest national laboratories and the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta are launching a research center that combines hardware and software design and development to improve artificial intelligence technologies that will ultimately benefit the public.
Security in a heartbeat
Sandia is collaborating with a New Mexico small business to test and develop a biometric security system based on the human heartbeat. Sandia signed an agreement with Albuquerque-based Aquila Inc. to develop and test a wearable prototype that can stream in real time an identifying signature based on the electrical activity of a person’s heart.
Armoring satellites to survive, operate through attacks
Researchers at Sandia launched a seven-year mission campaign this month to develop the science, technology and architecture needed for autonomous satellite protection systems. The campaign, called STARCS, will fund dozens of Laboratory Directed Research and Development projects.
MESA fabs get an upgrade
Sandia has completed phase one of an anticipated three-year upgrade at its plant responsible for making integrated circuits, similar to computer chips. The facility is now fully compatible with industry-standard, 8-inch silicon wafers — thin, round starting materials used for making chips.
Hispanics and STEM education at Sandia
The population of Hispanics/Latinos in the U.S. is expected to grow by approximately 40% by 2045, although only approximately 14.4% have bachelor’s degrees or higher and 7% are employed in STEM industries. Presently at Sandia, Hispanics and other minorities make up a significant 34% of the overall workforce. That number is expected to increase, thus promoting diversity at our sites.
Associate Labs Director a ‘humbling’ position for McIlroy
Associate Labs Director Andy McIlroy will has spent 25 years of his career at Sandia. As the new ALD of Integrated Security Solutions, Andy plans to keep Sandia’s people and mission at the core of his decision-making process.