ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – More than 200 Sandia National Laboratories employees, contractors, retirees and family members are using their October weekends to participate in the nationwide Make a Difference Day. For more than 10 years, Sandia has been providing opportunities for employees to participate in the event, which impacts local nonprofit organizations. “Sandia has a long […]
Author Archives: Stephanie Hobby
Sandia Labs benchmark helps wind industry measure success
October 4, 2012 – 1:00 pm
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Sandia National Laboratories published the second annual 2012 Wind Plant Reliability Benchmark on Monday, and the results should help the nation’s growing wind industry benchmark its performance, understand vulnerabilities and enhance productivity. Until now, wind farm owners and operators had no way to compare their output with the output of similar operations. […]
Lifelike, cost-effective robotic Sandia Hand can disable IEDs
August 15, 2012 – 2:00 pm
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Sandia National Laboratories has developed a cost-effective robotic hand that can be used in disarming improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. The Sandia Hand addresses challenges that have prevented widespread adoption of other robotic hands, such as cost, durability, dexterity and modularity. “Current iterations of robotic hands can cost more than $250,000. We […]
Sandia’s web tool helps determine best energy storage options
May 11, 2012 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Sandia National Laboratories and the Department of Energy have released a new tool to help utilities, developers and regulators identify the energy storage options that best meet their needs. Partnering with DNV KEMA, a global testing and consulting firm, Sandia is releasing Energy Storage Select, or ES-Select, software under a public license […]
SPIDERS microgrid project secures military installations
February 22, 2012 – 5:00 am
Bill Waugaman is the SPIDERS operational lead at Sandia National Laboratories. (Photo by Randy Montoya) Click on the thumbnail for a high-resolution image. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – When the lights go out, most of us find flashlights, dig out board games and wait for the power to come back. But that’s not an option for hospitals […]
Sandia National Laboratories researchers find energy storage “solutions” in MetILs
February 17, 2012 – 8:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Sandia researchers have developed a new family of liquid salt electrolytes, known as MetILs, that could lead to batteries able to cost-effectively store three times more energy than today’s batteries. The research, published in Dalton Transactions, might lead to devices that can help economically and reliably incorporate large-scale intermittent renewable energy sources, […]
Sandia employees donating $4.92 million
February 14, 2012 – 9:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Sandia Labs employees in New Mexico pledged to give a record-breaking $4.66 million to nonprofits through the United Way of Central New Mexico during the annual fall Employee Caring Program campaign. With contributions earlier from Sandia’s employees in Livermore, Calif., the total raised for charitable causes during 2011 was nearly $4.92 million. […]
Sandia tool determines value of solar photovoltaic power systems
January 31, 2012 – 11:20 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Consistent appraisals of homes and businesses outfitted with photovoltaic (PV) installations are a real challenge for the nation’s real estate industry, but a new tool developed by Sandia National Laboratories and Solar Power Electric™ and licensed by Sandia addresses that issue. Sandia scientists, in partnership with Jamie Johnson of Solar Power Electric™, […]
Sandia continues long tradition of holiday giving
December 22, 2011 – 1:00 pm
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Sandia National Laboratories continues a more than 50-year tradition of generosity with donations of gifts of shoes, toys, gift cards and food. This year, more than 500 children benefitted from Sandia’s longest holiday tradition, Shoes for Kids, which was started in Sandia’s early days by two scientists who opted to buy shoes […]
Sandia webinar to discuss real estate appraisals for photovoltaic installations
December 1, 2011 – 10:06 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Finding a way to appraise residential and commercial properties with photovoltaic installations is a growing challenge facing the nation’s real estate industry. As more homes and businesses turn to solar PV power, the need grows for ways to fairly assess the value of the installations and the power they generate before a […]
Sandia’s Annular Core Research Reactor conducts 10,000th operation
October 31, 2011 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – With a muffled “pop,” a flash of blue light and a few ripples through 14,000 gallons of deionized water, Sandia National Laboratories’ Annular Core Research Reactor (ACRR) recently conducted its 10,000th operation. “The ACRR has been a real workhorse for Sandia, and labs leadership and the nation rely on these experiments and […]
Sandia Labs’ Gemini-Scout robot likely to reach trapped miners ahead of rescuers
August 16, 2011 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – In the first moments after a mining accident, first responders work against the clock to assess the situation and save the miners. But countless dangers lurk: poisonous gases, flooded tunnels, explosive vapors and unstable walls and roofs. Such potentially deadly conditions and unknown obstacles can slow rescue efforts to a frustrating pace. […]
Tribal Energy Program at Sandia empowers Native American students while powering tribal lands
August 15, 2011 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Most Americans take electric power for granted, but for thousands of people living on tribal lands, getting to the grid can be a challenge. A lack of infrastructure, transmission capabilities and policies impede the availability of electricity within the reservations and to outlying tribal areas. A program at Sandia National Laboratories addresses […]
Sandia National Labs completes final scan of space shuttle program
July 25, 2011 – 2:27 pm
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Nine engineers from Sandia National Laboratories helped ensure Atlantis’ safety from Mission Control at Johnson Space Center as the shuttle made its final flight, marking the end of NASA’s 30-year space shuttle program. For the past 22 missions — every one since NASA’s 2005 return to space — Sandia Labs’ engineers have […]
Sandia donating historically significant robots to Smithsonian Institution
July 18, 2011 – 5:30 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – In a nod to Sandia Labs’ contributions to the field of robotics, the Smithsonian Institution has obtained nine of Sandia’s historically significant robots for its permanent collection at the National Museum of American History. “For the Smithsonian to request Sandia technology for their collections is an external recognition of the significance of […]