The initial phase of Sandia National Laboratories’ Scaled Wind Farm Technology facility (SWIFT), currently being constructed in partnership with Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, will be a little bigger than originally planned. Leading wind turbine manufacturer Vestas will add its own 300-kilowatt, V27 research turbine to the two Sandia V27 research turbines. The Labs […]
Author Archives: Stephanie Holinka
Polycrystalline diamond drill bits open up options for geothermal energy
March 19, 2012 – 5:00 am
30-year-old investment comes full circle Nearly two-thirds of the oil we use comes from wells drilled using polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bits, originally developed nearly 30 years ago to lower the cost of geothermal drilling. Sandia and the U.S. Navy recently brought the technology fullcircle, showing how geothermal drillers might use the original PDC technology, […]
Experimental smart outlet brings flexibility, resiliency to grid architecture
February 27, 2012 – 11:00 am
Smart outlet on display at summit Sandia National Laboratories has developed an experimental “smart outlet” that autonomously measures, monitors and controls electrical loads with no connection to a centralized computer or system. The goal of the smart outlet and similar innovations is to make the power grid more distributed and intelligent, capable of reconfiguring itself as conditions […]
Anthrax-killing foam proves effective in meth lab cleanup
February 16, 2012 – 5:00 am
Sandia’s decontamination foam is now also a meth eraser Sandia’s decontamination foam, developed more than a decade ago and used to decontaminate federal office buildings and mailrooms during the 2001 anthrax attacks, is now being used to decontaminate illegal methamphetamine labs. Mark Tucker, a chemical engineer in Sandia’s Chemical & Biological Systems Dept. and co-creator […]
Vermont-Sandia Partnership announces Center for Energy Transformation and Innovation
December 13, 2011 – 3:13 pm
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Gov. Peter Shumlin and Sandia National Laboratories Vice President Rick Stulen have announced a $15 million, three-year partnership to establish a joint Center for Energy Transformation and Innovation to be housed at the University of Vermont. Researchers at the center will collaborate on research in areas such as energy efficiency, complex […]
Sandia experts available at international conference on electrical energy and storage
October 17, 2011 – 4:04 pm
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — As our nation moves toward a more robust and flexible electric power grid, energy storage is often cited as the solution to allow greater implementation of renewable and alternative energy sources. Researchers from around the world are gathering in San Diego, Calif., at the Electrical Energy Storage Applications and Technologies (EESAT 2011) […]
Sandia receives award for electronics stewardship
October 6, 2011 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories has received an award for reducing the environmental impacts of the computers, printers and other office electronics it uses through its fiscal year 2010 electronics stewardship activities. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive, which jointly manage the Federal Electronics Challenge (FEC), […]
Sandia hosts 2011 Wind Turbine Reliability Workshop
August 1, 2011 – 1:02 pm
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Sandia National Laboratories will hold its biennial Wind Turbine Reliability Workshop, Tuesday and Wednesday, Aug. 2-3, 8 a.m. -5 p.m. at the Marriott Pyramid North in Albuquerque. Speakers include Steve Chalk, deputy assistant secretary for renewable energy in Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). Chalk oversees applied research, […]
Advanced wind energy projects test facility moving to Texas Tech University
July 27, 2011 – 8:18 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Sandia is moving its wind energy test facility to a new location near the campus of Texas Tech University in Lubbock. Sandia, Texas Tech, and Group NIRE are pursuing a three-way research agreement under which this facility will operate. The Department of Energy’s Wind & Water Power program is funding Sandia’s work. […]
Annual Robot Rodeo at Sandia National Laboratories to help prepare first responders
May 23, 2011 – 9:15 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Media representatives are welcome at the fifth annual Western National Robot Rodeo on Wednesday, May 25, from 8-10 a.m. at Sandia National Laboratories. The Robot Rodeo is a four-day, 10-event technical competition for bomb squads and other public safety organizations that use hazardous duty robots. “This competition is designed to test not […]
Conference energizes Vermont-Sandia smart grid partnership
May 20, 2011 – 1:00 pm
A few years ago, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders attended a field hearing on concentrating solar power at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico. The hearing sparked an idea that has blossomed into a nearly unprecedented collaboration to tackle a complex and important challenge to the country’s energy future: modernization of the electric power grid. This […]
Two Sandia engineers named Influencers and Innovators of Wind Power
April 28, 2011 – 4:00 am
Sandia engineers Jose Zayas and Dale Berg were honored by Windpower Engineering magazine as two of the nation’s innovators and influencers in wind energy. Zayas, senior manager of the Renewable Energy Technologies group at Sandia National Laboratories, was named an influencer on wind energy. The magazine also named Berg, principal member of the technical staff […]
From fork to farm
April 21, 2011 – 3:00 am
Café’s food-waste composting program keeps leftovers out of the landfill ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — At Sandia’s largest cafeteria, a leftover burrito will be sent off to eventually help some backyard garden bloom. When someone leaves a bit of lunch behind at Thunderbird Café, employees send it out for composting. The composting program began in March 2010 […]
Sandia Labs’ director re-dedicates Pete V. Domenici National Security Innovation Center
February 18, 2011 – 3:00 pm
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — In recognition of Sen. Pete Domenici’s decades of advocacy and support for the role the national laboratories play in protecting the nation’s security, officials at Sandia National Laboratories today re-dedicated the still relatively new Weapon Integration Facility building as the Pete V. Domenici National Security Innovation Center. With the long-serving, now retired US Sen. […]
Sandia re-dedicates building 898 as Pete V. Domenici National Security Innovation Center
February 16, 2011 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Labs director Paul Hommert will re-dedicate Sandia’s Weapons Integration Facility (building 898) as the Pete V. Domenici National Security Innovation Center at a ceremony at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Feb. 18, at the southeast corner of Sandia National Laboratories’ MESA complex on Kirtland Air Force Base. Sen. Domenici will be joined by Congressmen […]