Sandia physicist Israel Owens and his colleagues have developed a much smaller optics system that uses a rare earth crystal and laser light to measure intense magnetic fields needed for fusion research and high-energy physics. “We’re really excited about where things are going,” Israel said. “We think this technology is a pretty major improvement in measuring magnetic fields.” Learn more at bit.ly/3RMzZs1 Photo by Craig Fritz

Sandia led a two-week field exercise to test rapidly deployable security technologies in rugged, remote conditions. The exercise brought together drones, ground sensors, radar, high-definition cameras, communications networks and portable security systems designed and developed at Sandia to see how they worked as part of one integrated system. The portable system, pictured on a trailer, can be pulled by a vehicle or flown in a helicopter. Learn more at bit.ly/3S4W59b Photo by David Lienemann

Now in its 40th year, HMTech is Sandia’s longest-running education outreach program. Each year, about 100 Sandia and community volunteers teach activities on everything from cybersecurity to fermentation, introducing students to a range of STEM experiences. Learn more at bit.ly/4b2kjaz Photo by David Lienemann

Computers can’t perform arithmetic perfectly due to the limitations in floating point technology, which represents real numbers, like decimals, to handle very big or very small values. FLOPS, or floating-point operations per second, is a key measure of computer performance and the method is more than four decades old. Sandia computer scientist Samuel Pollard explains that little mistakes in arithmetic can have large impact as computers need increasingly more accurate data to perform precise functions. Now, Samuel has formulated a way to check these basic building blocks of modern computing, opening the door to more accurate arithmetic from computers. Learn more at bit.ly/4fLst9P Photo by Spencer Toy

QCaMP for Educators, co-led by Sandia and other national labs, provided teachers with hands-on activities and resources to bring quantum concepts into their classrooms. In the photo, QCaMP instructor and Sandia physicist Meagan Ivory discusses quantum entanglement and superposition with an educator. In addition to offering a weeklong camp for teachers in 15 states, QCaMP also hosts a four-week camp for students in New Mexico and California. Learn more at bit.ly/4yHCU5Z Photo by Craig Fritz

Sandia California welcomed students to Kids Day with opportunities to learn about career paths, engineering, cybersecurity, nuclear deterrence, science and more. About 150 students participated in the event. Learn more at bit.ly/4hWmXTf Photo by Spencer Toy

Sandia California welcomed students to Kids Day with opportunities to learn about career paths, engineering, cybersecurity, nuclear deterrence, science and more. Nods to Sandia California’s 70th anniversary were incorporated as guests played 1950s-style games such as checkers and Battleship. About 150 students participated in the event. Learn more at bit.ly/4hWmXTf Photo by Spencer Toy

Hundreds braved the heat for Sandia’s popular car show, where employees showed off their street rods, rat rods, cars, trucks and motorcycles. Learn more at bit.ly/45hmFyO Photo by Alicia Bustillos

Sandia volunteers helped students build and test small wave energy converters at Explora’s summer camp. Learn more at bit.ly/4cqWXfc Photo by Craig Fritz

Every spring, adult burrowing owls return to the same area at Sandia’s New Mexico site to nest and grow their families. Biologists from Sandia and Kirtland Air Force Base track wildlife across the base and are currently working to locate owls, counting how many try to nest and how many nestlings emerge. Learn more at bit.ly/4fJ5OK6 Photo by David Lienemann

A process key to protecting our nation’s electrical grid is getting smarter and faster thanks to a team led by Sandia artificial intelligence researcher Georgios Fragkos. His team has been working on a system that uses generative AI and large language models to both detect and locate cyber-physical threats to the electrical grid. Learn more at bit.ly/4pZzgAr Photo by Craig Fritz

Sandia artificial intelligence researcher Georgios Fragkos leads a team fighting AI with AI to keep the lights on. The team has been developing a system that uses generative AI and large language models to both detect and locate cyber-physical threats to the electrical grid. “We have found a way to keep the nation safer by making machine learning more robust,” Georgios said. “Having better accuracy in detecting threats is critical to national security and grid stability.” Learn more at bit.ly/4pZzgAr Photo by Craig Fritz

Through a state-funded program, Sandia is collaborating with Michael Thomas Coffee to use Labs-developed technology that captures and stores solar energy in a bed of rocks to roast coffee more efficiently. The system is the latest example of how Sandia’s research can support technology transfer and economic development in New Mexico. Learn more at bit.ly/4wMXRe8 Photo by Craig Fritz

Through a state-funded program, Sandia is collaborating with Michael Thomas Coffee to use Labs-developed technology that captures and stores solar energy in a bed of rocks to roast coffee more efficiently. The system is the latest example of how Sandia’s research can support technology transfer and economic development in New Mexico. In the photo, Sandia engineer Ken Armijo and business owner Michael Sweeney watch temperatures displayed on a laptop while roasting coffee using heat released from a testbed at the National Solar Thermal Test Facility at Sandia. Learn more at bit.ly/4wMXRe8 Photo by Craig Fritz

Sandia chemist Samantha Kruse earned top honors at the 2026 National Lab Research SLAM in the Advanced Materials category for her presentation on the 3D chemistry of microplastics. As one of 17 early career scientists competing at the DOE SLAM, she had one slide and three minutes to showcase her work at the fast-paced event. Learn more at bit.ly/3Swbn6T Photo by Craig Fritz

As energy demand grows, a team at Sandia is advancing AI-driven controls that respond to fluctuations in electricity use in real time. The technology could strengthen power resilience and help protect critical defense and national security infrastructure during disruptions and attacks. Learn more at bit.ly/3SQbD0r Photo by Craig Fritz

Instead of letting old lithium-ion batteries pile up as waste, Sandia researchers have developed a microwave-based process to recover and remake their cathodes, potentially turning spent batteries into a new domestic source of critical materials. “We’re about to have an abundance of old EV batteries that are either going to go to the landfill or that we can mine to develop a domestic supply,” said Clare Davis-Wheeler Chin, a Sandia nanomaterials chemist and an inventor of the method. In the photo, Clare loads a sample of cathode material into a microwave reactor to open it up into tiny layers called nanosheets. Learn more at bit.ly/4vFoxgE Photo by Craig Fritz

Sandia physicist Elizabeth Silber, pictured with her dog Morpheus, uses infrasound, a low-frequency sound too deep for people to hear, and seismic data to study meteors and other fast-moving objects in the atmosphere. When a meteoroid flashes across the sky, it generates a powerful shock wave similar to a sonic boom but produced high in the sky and often along a long path. As the shock wave spreads, it can turn into infrasound. Some of that energy might also transfer into the ground. When the pressure waves reach the ground, they can create tiny vibrations that register on earthquake sensors, making it possible to track meteoroids even when cameras and satellites miss them. Learn more at bit.ly/4v1SC90 Photo by Craig Fritz

Sandia systems engineer Judi See led an effort to develop a human readiness level scale, which federal agencies are working to implement. The scale ensures technologies are ready for human use. In an ideal world, Judi said, technical maturity and human readiness advance together. “While you’re making your technical improvements, you’re also at the same time thinking about the user of that technology,” she said. Learn more at bit.ly/4v3FQH1 Photo by Craig Fritz