Students to visit Sandia for firsthand look at STEM careers

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A group of students from Gallup, Miyamura and Grants high schools will visit Sandia National Laboratories on March 30 to see firsthand some of the Labs’ research and technology that career paths in science, technology, engineering and math can lead to.

The students will tour Sandia’s National Solar Thermal Test Facility, Structural Mechanics Laboratory and Experimental Impact Mechanics Laboratory and take part in career conversations with experts.

The solar tower is one of the few places in the world where the power of the sun is harnessed to test advanced materials, perform research and occasionally bake cookies or roast chile.

Students will see how materials perform in a vibration lab, a shock lab and a climate lab. They will also have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with Sandia experts to ask questions.

Thirty-two of the students are part of the STEM Core program at Gallup and Miyamura high schools, which exposes them to advanced math classes, introduction to technical courses, skill development, intern preparation and employer visits. STEM Core is part of the Successful Training and Effective Pipelines to National Laboratories, or STEP2NL, program, a partnership between Minority Serving Institutions and national laboratories to increase STEM degrees among minority students and ensure a sustainable pipeline to employment at national laboratories.

Ten students from Grants High School will also join the tour. They were the winners of the 2022 Sandia National Laboratories Award at the Governor’s STEM Challenge in December.

The students designed and developed a project model in response to the prompt “Imagine New Mexico as a state known for sustainable and green manufacturing.”