LIVERMORE, Calif. — Motivated by the need to eliminate expensive rare-earth magnets in utility-scale direct-drive wind turbines, Sandia National Laboratories researchers developed a fundamentally new type of rotary electrical contact. Sandia is now ready to partner with the renewable energy industry to develop the next generation of direct-drive wind turbines. Sandia’s Twistact technology takes a […]
Author Archives: Paul Rhien
Cycloalkanes a strong candidate for reducing aviation emissions
April 20, 2022 – 5:00 am
LIVERMORE, Calif. — Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories have released data that could play an important role in the future development of cleaner and more sustainable aviation fuel. In collaboration with researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory, the team explored the physical properties of cycloalkanes, or molecules composed of hydrogen and carbon atoms arranged in […]
Neutralizing antibodies for emerging viruses
December 14, 2021 – 5:00 am
LIVERMORE, Calif. — Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have created a platform for discovering, designing and engineering novel antibody countermeasures for emerging viruses. This new process of screening for nanobodies that “neutralize” or disable the virus represents a faster, more effective approach to developing nanobody therapies that prevent or treat viral infection. Traditionally used to […]
Redesigning radiation monitors at U.S. ports
September 9, 2021 – 5:00 am
LIVERMORE, Calif. — Every day at ports of entry, hundreds of thousands of vehicles and containers cross into the country. Since 9/11, all incoming vehicles and containers at land crossings, rail crossings, mail facilities and shipping terminals are scanned by Customs and Border Protection officers to detect potential threats, including radiation. It is now time to […]
Pathways to production
August 30, 2021 – 5:00 am
LIVERMORE, Calif. — Biologists at Sandia National Laboratories developed comprehensive software that will help scientists in a variety of industries create engineered chemicals more quickly and easily. Sandia is now looking to license the software for commercial use, researchers said. Sandia’s stand-alone software RetSynth uses a novel algorithm to sort through large, curated databases of […]
New weapons testing capability produces richer data, saves time, cost
July 20, 2021 – 5:00 am
LIVERMORE, Calif. — A team of Sandia National Laboratories engineers developed a new testing capability in support of its nuclear weapons mission. The team completed their first combined-environments test on a full-scale weapons system at the Sandia Superfuge/Centrifuge complex in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In a successful test, weapons engineers simulated three environments — acceleration, vibration […]
Expanding testing capacity for Sandia weapons modernization programs
September 30, 2020 – 1:18 pm
LIVERMORE, Calif. — Lisa E. Gordon-Hagerty, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration and Department of Energy’s under secretary for nuclear security, joined Sandia National Laboratories Deputy Labs Director Dori Ellis and other Sandia leaders today for a tour of the newest facility in nuclear weapons systems engineering at Sandia’s California site — the Sandia […]
High school students excel at STEM
July 27, 2020 – 5:00 am
LIVERMORE, Calif. – Sandia National Laboratories honored 26 girls from California high schools in the Tri-Valley, East Bay and San Joaquin County at the annual Sandia Women’s Connection Math & Science Awards. The honorees were nominated by their teachers for outstanding accomplishments in STEM. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the students and their families participated in […]
Radiation-detecting plastic gets ingredient to stay in the clear
April 30, 2020 – 5:00 am
LIVERMORE, Calif. — Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have identified a straightforward change to the formula for radiation-detecting plastic. The change prevents “fogging,” which reduces the lifetime of the plastics used to detect nuclear material transiting through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s radiation detectors. The change also fits well into existing manufacturing processes for […]
Can the US make bioweapons obsolete?
March 9, 2020 – 5:00 am
LIVERMORE, Calif. — As the threats posed by bioterrorism and naturally occurring infectious disease grow and evolve in the modern era, there is a rising potential for broad negative impacts on human health, economic stability and global security. To protect the nation from these dangers, Sandia National Laboratories has partnered with the Council on Strategic […]
Sandia Labs names new leader for California site
September 4, 2019 – 10:00 am
LIVERMORE, Calif. — Sandia National Laboratories has appointed Andrew McIlroy the new associate laboratories director responsible for managing and leading Sandia’s California site in Livermore, effective immediately. McIlroy succeeds D.E. “Dori” Ellis, who was named deputy laboratories director at Sandia in late June. He has been leading the California site on an interim basis since […]