Sandia data scientist Emily Kemp and her partner pick apples with Seed2Need, a nonprofit that grows and harvests food to donate to people in New Mexico. More than 100 Sandia volunteers, family members and friends attended the volunteer event in Corrales, New Mexico. See more photos at bit.ly/4iWe9v8 Photo by Craig Fritz

Mary Alice Cusentino, or “Mac”, enjoys a challenge. As a scientist at Sandia, Mac studies how materials could be used to one day create fusion energy. Outside of work, she trains for Ironman races: a long-distance triathlon that covers a total of 140.6 miles of swimming, running and biking. In both racing and in her fusion energy work, Mac sees each effort as a series of incremental wins. Learn more at bit.ly/4iXveFj Photo by Craig Fritz

Sandia researchers are helping unlock the future of geothermal energy. A report titled “Future of Geothermal in New Mexico” lays out the opportunities — and challenges — to harnessing the state’s geothermal resources as a reliable, sustained domestic source of energy. In the photo, mechanical engineer Melanie Schneider attaches sensors in a testbed where a 1,000-foot bore hole is laid horizontally to allow for work on both ends. Learn more at bit.ly/4pqxqHM Photo by Craig Fritz

Geothermal systems need three key things: hot rocks, water and permeability within the rock so the water can flow. Sandia researchers are identifying the opportunities and challenges of using New Mexico’s geothermal resources as a reliable, sustained domestic source of energy. In the photo, mechanical engineer Melanie Schneider sets up a testbed to evaluate a new prototype that uses the casing string as an acoustic wavelength for wireless power and communication with downhole sensors. Learn more at bit.ly/4pqxqHM Photo by Craig Fritz

Pinon Elementary School students celebrate their advancement to the finals of the New Mexico Electric Car Challenge. Sponsored by Sandia National Laboratories, the annual event encourages students to push their creativity to the limit while embracing science, technology, engineering and math to design and build an electric car that can travel the fastest while carrying a payload. See more photos bit.ly/48M6Q62 Photo by Craig Fritz

Jefferson Middle School students let their car loose under the watchful eye of Sandia volunteer Justin Tea during the New Mexico Electric Car Challenge. Sponsored by Sandia National Laboratories, the annual event encourages students to push their creativity to the limit while embracing science, technology, engineering and math to design and build an electric car that can travel the fastest while carrying a payload. See more photos bit.ly/48M6Q62 Photo by Craig Fritz

The Republic of Pickle team presents their cars to judges during the design presentation portion of the New Mexico Electric Car Challenge. Sponsored by Sandia National Laboratories, the annual event encourages students to push their creativity to the limit while embracing science, technology, engineering and math to design and build an electric car that can travel the fastest while carrying a payload. See more photos bit.ly/48M6Q62 Photo by Craig Fritz

The executive leadership team for the newly formed Nuclear Deterrence and Science executive directorate held an inau¬gural town hall on Nov. 13, 2025. Deputy Laboratories Director Rita Gonzales was joined onstage by Associate Laboratories Directors Doug Kothe, Brad Boswell and Steve Girrens. Learn more at bit.ly/4s2VRN5 Photo by Craig Fritz

Deb Menke, a community relations specialist at the Labs, teaches a course at Sandia focused on discovering and celebrating individual strengths. A common theme throughout Deb’s career has been her drive to understand others, to better serve her customers and to help people and teams achieve greater success. Learn more about Deb’s career at bit.ly/4j2c4Ox Photo by Craig Fritz

Sandia’s Chris Allemang contributed to research toward improving the performance of certain quantum computers. The team from Sandia, the University of Arkansas and Dartmouth College improved the flow of electrical current through a specialized semiconductor device by introducing tin and silicon impurities. The faster semiconductor, can improve how quantum computers hand off information inside their systems, making them more efficient, reliable and scalable. The research was recently published in Advanced Electronic Materials. Learn more at bit.ly/4sjXWV4 Photo by Craig Fritz

A significant milestone has been not only accomplished but exceeded in the effort to advance artificial intelligence for national security. In 2025, Sandia, Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories — known as the trilabs — built a federated-AI model as a pilot project, and they now have a prototype. Federated learning is a technique for training AI models on decentralized data. Hops, pictured, is one of the Sandia systems in the project. Learn more at bit.ly/48ZNCIV Photo by Craig Fritz

Sandia engineers test a thermal protection system material in an inductively coupled plasma torch. The plasma can reach temperatures hotter than the surface of the sun, replicating the intense heat of hypersonic flight and helping researchers rapidly test materials for new heat shields that protect vehicles traveling at these high speeds. Learn more at bit.ly/3N98Hco Photo by Craig Fritz

Sandia engineers developed new ways to rapidly evaluate heat shields for hypersonic vehicles, which travel five times faster than the speed of sound. To predict how new thermal protection materials will perform, the team used computer models and lab experiments. In the photo, engineers use a plasma torch to simulate the intense heat and friction that hypersonic vehicles face. Learn more at bit.ly/3N98Hco Photo by Craig Fritz

Weapon Intern Program graduate Preston Johnson receives a gift from his mother and daughter following a graduation ceremony on Aug. 21. Preston was one of 23 graduates in the Class of 2025. Launched in 1998, the Weapon Intern Program offers a year of rigorous coursework for employees in the national security enterprise. The program aims to accelerate knowledge transfer to the next generation of the weapons workforce to ensure the U.S. nuclear arsenal is safe, secure and reliable. Learn more at bit.ly/3M4nB38 Photo by David Lienemann

NNSA Associate Administrator for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs Lee Ashlock, center, looks into the center of the Z machine as it is being set up for a test on Sept. 22, 2025. Photo by Craig Fritz

Microsystems Engineering, Science and Applications Director Reno Sanchez, right, speaks with, from left, U.S Sen. Deb Fischer, chair of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces; Labs Director Laura McGill; and Daryl Hauck, manager of the NNSA Sandia Field Office, during a tour of the MESA facility at the Labs on Sept. 22, 2025. Photo by Craig Fritz

Roughly 12,550 miles above Earth, a constellation of satellites that carry the Global Burst Detection system orbits the planet. The sophisticated system, developed by Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratory, detects nuclear detonations and provides real-time information to the U.S. military and government. The final system from the current series launched this year and now the team is preparing for the next series, set to launch in 2027. Learn more at bit.ly/3W1Q4Z7 Photo by Craig Fritz

For 60 years, Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratory have continued to develop new, complex technologies to support the Global Burst Detection system, which is carried on GPS satellites and designed to detect above-ground nuclear detonations. In the photo, Sandia’s Adam Moya performs a series of safety checks before and during testing. The last of the IIIA series Global Burst Detector launched into space in May 2025, and the next generation, called IIIF, is scheduled to launch in 2027. Learn more at bit.ly/3W1Q4Z7 Photo by Craig Fritz

A team of Sandia engineers believes they’ve found a way to make X-rays better by harnessing different metals and the colors of light they emit. In the photo, materials scientist Noelle Collins uses ball calibration while setting an X-ray CT scan. “With this new technology, we are essentially going from the old way, which is black and white, to a whole new colored world where we can better identify materials and defects of interest,” Noelle said. Learn more at bit.ly/3J9LOE6 Photo by Craig Fritz

Materials scientist Noelle Collins sets up for an X-ray CT scan of a circuit board as part of the Non-Destructive Evaluation group at Sandia. The team is working on making X-rays better by using tiny, patterned samples of various metals such as tungsten, molybdenum, gold, samarium and silver and the colors of light they emit. While traditional X-rays, discovered in the late 1800s, are black and white, this new X-ray technology can create colorized images that enhance image clarity and provide a better understanding of the object’s composition. Learn more at bit.ly/3J9LOE6 Photo by Craig Fritz