Sandia research could improve defense electronics, electric vehicles, electrical grids ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories researchers have shown it’s possible to make transistors and diodes from advanced semiconductor materials that could perform much better than silicon, the workhorse of the modern electronics world. The breakthrough work takes a step toward more compact and efficient […]
Author Archives: Sue Holmes
American Vacuum Society honors Sandia technologist
December 15, 2016 – 9:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The American Vacuum Society has recognized Sandia National Laboratories technologist Michael F. Lopez with its Thin Film Division Distinguished Technologist Award for his exceptional technical support of thin film research and development. The society’s Thin Film Division presented the award to Lopez at the society’s recent International Symposium & Exhibition in Nashville, […]
Fragment tracking: insights into what happens in explosions
October 11, 2016 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A bang and a swirl of dust from detonating 9 pounds of plastic explosive in the desert signaled the beginning of tests that — thanks to advances in high-speed cameras, imaging techniques and computer modeling — will help Sandia National Laboratories researchers study fragmenting explosives in ways that weren’t possible before. “The […]
Sled track simulates high-speed accident in B61-12 test
October 5, 2016 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories has sent a mock B61-12 nuclear weapon speeding down the labs’ 10,000-foot rocket sled track to slam nose-first into a steel and concrete wall in a spectacular test that mimicked a high-speed accident. It allowed engineers to examine safety features inside the weapon that prevent inadvertent nuclear detonation. Data […]
Looking from space for nuclear detonations
August 18, 2016 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories’ Jaime Gomez was too busy to celebrate the successful launch of the latest nuclear detonation detection system — he was already deep into the next generation. The Global Burst Detection (GBD) system launched Feb. 5 from Cape Canaveral aboard the 70th Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite. The GBD looks […]
Lightning lab: Recreating nature’s big show for research
June 29, 2016 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories creates lightning in a lab to evaluate how anything from sensitive nuclear weapons components to entire buildings will hold up against the worst that nature might throw at them. “Sandia’s primary mission is to assure an ‘always/never’ operating condition for nuclear weapons,” said Larry Schneider, senior manager of Sandia’s […]
Thin film work is poster child for getting research and development to industry
May 19, 2016 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories researcher Paul Vianco sees his work on thin films as a poster child for the way research and development based on nuclear weapons work can boost U.S. industry. Since the 1970s, laboratories researchers have taken studies originally performed to support the weapons program and published or presented parts of […]
‘Cold War Warriors:’ Sandia’s decades in nuclear weapons
May 9, 2016 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories video producer Myra Buteau swept a hand toward the top shelf of a bookcase stuffed with black cases of high-definition tapes. The biggest challenge in telling the story of Sandia’s years of above-ground and underground nuclear weapon field tests, she said, was condensing the 100 hours of interviews on […]
Computer scientist named fellow of Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics
April 12, 2016 – 5:05 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories senior scientist Cynthia Phillips has been named a 2016 fellow of the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) for her contributions to the theory and applications of combinatorial optimization. SIAM, which announced 30 fellows March 31, said they were nominated for their exemplary research and outstanding service to […]
Nondestructive testing: Sandia looks inside composites
February 1, 2016 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Researcher David Moore holds a rectangle of hard carbon composite material, smooth with a faint woven pattern on its surface. The sample shows normal wear and tear until he turns it over to reveal a circular impact mark with cracks radiating from it. The question for Moore, his Sandia National Laboratories colleague […]
Got Solitons? Researcher sees problem as a solution
January 26, 2016 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories’ Juan Elizondo-Decanini turned a long-standing problem into an idea he believes could lead to better and less expensive machines, from cell phones to pressure sensors. “This is one of those cases where it appears it’s going to result in substantial savings and it’s going to generate a whole suite […]
Inaugural American Vacuum Society award goes to Sandia technologist
December 14, 2015 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The American Vacuum Society has honored Sandia National Laboratories technologist Catherine Sobczak with its inaugural Thin Film Division Distinguished Technologist Award for providing exceptional technical support of thin film research and development. Sobczak will be formally recognized next fall by the society’s Thin Film Division at the society’s 63rd International Symposium & […]