Sandia seeks commercialization partners for promising “spectral shape discrimination” technology LIVERMORE, Calif.— A team of nanomaterials researchers at Sandia National Laboratories has developed a new technique that could make radiation detection in cargo and baggage more effective and less costly for homeland security inspectors. Known as spectral shape discrimination (SSD), the method takes advantage of […]
Category Archives: Homeland security
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Award-winning Sandia Labs engineer trods global path of nonproliferation
June 27, 2012 – 8:30 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Adam Williams of Sandia National Laboratories won a 2012 Black Engineer of the Year Award for his work in international security and nonproliferation. Williams was named Most Promising Engineer-Government in the prestigious BEYA program, which recognizes some of the nation’s best and brightest engineers, scientists and technology experts. The awards are sponsored […]
Sandia Red Storm supercomputer exits world stage
June 26, 2012 – 9:27 am
From helping destroy an errant satellite to aiding a foundering computer company, forerunner machine was without peer ALBUQERQUE, N.M. — A celebration at Sandia’s Computer Science Research Institute in mid-May wrote finis to Red Storm, the Sandia-designed and Cray Inc.-built supercomputer, one of the most influential machines of its era, with 124 descendants at 70 […]
Sandia seeks best ways to protect infrastructure, recover from disasters
June 21, 2012 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories is expecting the unexpected to help the nation prepare for severe weather and figure out the best ways to lessen the havoc hurricanes and other disasters leave on power grids, bridges, roads and everything else in their path. “I think our work in critical infrastructure protection is a really […]
Cyber research facility opens at Sandia’s California site
June 12, 2012 – 9:00 am
LIVERMORE, Calif. — Sandia National Laboratories’ new Cybersecurity Technologies Research Laboratory (CTRL) now offers an open yet controlled area for cybersecurity professionals from the Bay Area and across the country to meet and discuss critical cyber research issues. A grand opening for the facility, which resides on the grounds of the Livermore Valley Open Campus […]
Miniature Sandia sensors may advance climate studies
April 10, 2012 – 5:00 am
Self-sealing valves also increase data reliability for airborne industrial and battlefield gas detection and point-of-contact medicine ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — An air sampler the size of an ear plug is expected to cheaply and easily collect atmospheric samples to improve computer climate models. “We now have an inexpensive tool for collecting pristine vapor samples in the […]
U.S. Navy experience shows climate alterations, invited speaker at Sandia Labs says
March 29, 2012 – 12:25 pm
Information based on data, not computer models ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Because its presence is worldwide, the U.S. Navy sees the effects of climate change directly, an invited lecturer in Sandia National Laboratories’ ongoing Climate Change and National Security Speaker Series recently told his scientific audience in Albuquerque and, by teleconference, Livermore, Calif. “The findings are independent […]
Sandia’s Ion Beam Laboratory looks at advanced materials for reactors
March 26, 2012 – 1:20 pm
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M — Sandia National Laboratories is using its Ion Beam Laboratory (IBL) to study how to rapidly evaluate the tougher advanced materials needed to build the next generation of nuclear reactors and extend the lives of current reactors. Reactor operators need advanced cladding materials, which are the alloys that create the outer layer of nuclear […]
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 […]
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 […]
Cyber workshop at Sandia Labs seeks potential responses to cyberattacks
October 25, 2011 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Among other dubious achievements, hackers have stolen identities, broken into bank accounts and breached computer systems of military contractors. They could conceivably interrupt water or electricity service to targeted populations. And worse. To solve these problems, Sandia National Laboratories has plans to increase cybersecurity research over the coming year through a new […]
New tool allows first responders to visualize post-event disaster environments
August 17, 2011 – 5:00 am
Sandia, DHS modeling/simulation software debuted at national-level disaster exercise LIVERMORE, Calif. — Using iPad™ mobile devices, emergency preparedness officials and first responders participating in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Level Exercise 2011 (NLE-11) were able, for the first time, to make use of a new, science-based software tool that allows them to view and modify […]
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. […]
Sandia wins 3 national technology transfer awards for bringing ideas, research to market
March 14, 2011 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A water blade that is disabling improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Afghanistan, software that detects water contamination or evidence of terrorists poisoning municipal water systems and a program that provides free technical assistance to New Mexico’s small businesses all have earned national awards for Sandia National Laboratories. Sandia will receive three 2011 […]
Sandia National Laboratories helping to safeguard world’s dangerous biological agents
September 2, 2010 – 5:00 am
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Safeguarding the world’s most dangerous biological agents has been a top priority for a dedicated group of Sandia scientists for more than a decade, and now, this team is training laboratory leaders from around the world to secure deadly agents such as anthrax and HIV from accidental or intentional misuse. This year, […]