FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 13, 2006
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A memorandum of understanding between Sandia National Laboratories and the Bi-National Sustainability Laboratory will be signed at an official ceremony Friday, Dec. 15, at 10 a.m. at Santa Teresa, N.M. The agreement will formalize the relationship between the two institutions.
Expected to sign are Sandia Vice President J. Leonard Martinez and BNSL CEO Paul Maxwell. Media are invited to attend.
Sandia’s involvement currently consists of technical help for existing programs, interest by line organizations in the BNSL’s microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) cluster concept, and possible workshop presentations, says Gary Jones, Sandia technology transfer manager, who serves on the BNSL’s advisory board.
This formal teaming will help launch the commercialization of technology developed by Sandia and affiliated researchers at the U.S.-Mexico border region. The intent is to combine technical, economic, and legal expertise on projects that include MEMS packaging and manufacturing, advanced materials for petroleum processing and environmental/water technologies, and other areas conducive to border research.
The MOU provides the foundation on which the BNSL and Sandia, a national security lab, can further their respective missions and focus on activities that will be of benefit to national security and the border region.
The BNSL was created from ideas originating in Sandia’s Advanced Concepts Group.
Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin company, for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. Sandia has major R&D responsibilities in national security, energy and environmental technologies, and economic competitiveness.
Sandia news media contact: Neal Singer, nsinger@sandia.gov, (505) 845-7078