Sandia developed the CANARY software in partnership with the U.S. EPA’s National Homeland Security Research Center. CANARY continuously analyzes data from water-quality sensors to achieve online detection of abnormal water quality in real time in municipal drinking water distribution networks. CANARY is designed to leverage existing utility investments in sensor and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system hardware. Currently, CANARY is operating in several large US utilities and in Singapore. CANARY was selected as one of the 100 most significant technologies of 2010 by R&D Magazine. (6900) ECIS
At the Secretary of Energy’s request, representatives from Sandia, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Los Alamos National Laboratory reported to BP’s crisis center on May 1, 2010, to support the Houston-based Incident Management Team. The focus of the laboratories’ effort was to support BP in stopping the flow of oil from the Macondo Well following the accident on April 20, which destroyed the Deepwater Horizon rig. In addition to providing technical support, Sandia acted as facilitator and integrator for this team’s interactions with BP and the government. (6100, 6200, 6600, 6900, 8100, 8600) ECIS
Sandia was a major contributor to the Interagency Biological Restoration Demonstration, a four-year, DoD- and DHS-sponsored, urban bio-aerosol threat case study in the Seattle, Wash., area and the first comprehensive examination of the wide-area biological restoration problem in the country. Sandia led the development of a series of software-based decision support tools to better guide planning and response to biological attacks. These tools were exercised by the emergency response community in a number of simulation exercises and are currently being transitioned into more widespread use. (6600) IHNS
A critical challenge to national security is detecting illicit or smuggled special nuclear material (SNM). SNM emits energetic neutrons by spontaneous or induced fission. A new technology, dubbed LIGHTHOUSE, has been demonstrated to show high-efficiency energetic neutron imaging using time-encoding modulation. This innovative imaging method promises to be capable of locating SNM at greater distances and shorter dwell times with greatly reduced system complexity and cost compared to other imaging systems. (8100) IHNS
Infrastructure resilience is a top priority for DHS, interdependent agencies, and Sandia’s Consequence Effects Department developed an innovative assessment approach to address that goal. The approach leverages the mathematics of optimal control to create a unique resilience assessment framework to identify optimal restoration sequences that minimize disruption costs. The homeland security community has recognized the new tool’s significance by inviting Sandia to support a resilience-policy advisory summit and co-author a guidebook on creating infrastructure resilience. (6900) ECIS, IHNS
In any mining disaster, rescuers face unknown and hazardous conditions underground. To overcome these challenges and help rescue efforts move faster, Sandia robotics engineers have designed the Gemini-Scout Mine Rescue Robot. The robot is able to go into dangerous situations ahead of rescuers to evaluate hazardous environments to determine how operations should proceed and even provide some relief to trapped miners. The Gemini-Scout was developed at Sandia through a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health-sponsored program. (6500) ECIS, IHNS
Each citation is followed by the center numbers of centers that contributed most directly to the effort described. An acronym after each accomplishment indicates which of Sandia’s strategic management units (SMUs) or strategic management groups (SMGs) the work most directly supported.
The SMG/SMU acronyms are:
- NW: Nuclear Weapons SMG & SMU
- DS & A: Defense Systems & Assessments SMU
- IHNS: International, Homeland, and Nuclear Security SMU
- ECIS: Energy, Climate, and Infrastructure SMU
- IES: Integrated Enabling Services SMU
- SPP: Sandia Partnership Projects