Vol. 61, No. 24 December 18, 2009Managed by Lockheed Martin for the National Nuclear Security Administration

(Continued on page 4)

Also inside . . .Erik Hart loved playing Saint Francis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2New path/gate links IPOC, Tech Area 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Erik Ridley: A familiar face in a new role . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Water power research gets $9 million boost . . . . . . . . . 5Ethics case file: inappropriate workplace behavior . . . 8Sandians help Explora put science in people’s hands . . . 8Program helps food producers assess vulnerabilities . . . 9

Shoes for KidsThere may be no one at Sandia

who understands better than SPOTeam Captain Pablo Montoyahow much the Shoes for Kids pro-gram can mean to a child. To findout how the program touched hisown life, see the story on page 12.

BATLab fundingSandia’s Battery Abuse Testing Labo-

ratory will receive $4.2 million in stim-ulus funds to modify and enhance itsexisting facility. The lab has been at theforefront of R&D efforts to understandthe operational parameters of next-generation batteries. Story on page 5.

The idea of building a solar collector out of piecesthe size of glitter at first seems peculiar. How would thetiny pieces be joined together? How would electricitybe harvested from each piece? The costs seem prohibi-tive to wire the back of each tiny cell so that electrons— converted from incoming photons — can be prop-erly channeled.

Yet Sandia benchtop aggregations of exactly suchtiny photovoltaic (PV) collectors have resulted in inex-pensive and efficient electricity-generating cells thathave aroused commercial interest.

The cells are fabricated of crystalline silicon, usingmicroelectronic and microelectromechanical systems

Sandia received an “outstanding” rating on the annual Performance EvaluationReport for fiscal year 2009 from the National Nuclear Security Administration. Thismarks the fourth consecutive year that Sandia has received the highest possible rating.

The report details NNSA’s evaluation ofSandia’s mission-related performance, opera-tions performance, and overall performance.The report defines outstanding as “signifi-cantly exceeds the standard of performancein all areas.” The other possible ratings aregood, satisfactory, and unsatisfactory.

“Every Sandian should take great pride inthis recognition of our significant contribu-tion to the country,” Sandia President andLabs Director Tom Hunter wrote in a memo-randum distributed to all employees. “Weare able to demonstrate once again that ourmission to the country is performed withexcellence.

“While the overall rating was outstand-ing, our mission execution was rated as outstanding and our operations rating wasgood. The latter evaluation recognizes some areas of improvement that we need tomake regarding safety and our management oversight system.

Leadership in science, technology and engineering“This laboratory has consistently demonstrated that we can deliver outstanding

results to an enormously diverse set of customers, operate with excellence, and leadthe nation in key areas of science and technology. Each day I take great pride in myassociation with an institution of such proud accomplishments.”

In a letter to Tom, NNSA Sandia Site Office Manager Patty Wagner said, “Congrat-ulations on your outstanding score and we thank you and the rest of Sandia for yourcontributions to the NNSA missions and to the nation.”

“Sandia continues to demonstrate leadership in science, technology and engineer-ing by strategically concentrating on the science that underpins and enables technol-ogy for DOE missions,” the report summary said. “Sandia is able to maintain and fur-ther develop expertise, facilities and equipment to create world-class science thatpushes the frontiers of knowledge, in anticipation of future emerging threats andother mission needs.”

The current DOE management and operations contract with Lockheed Martinruns through September 2012.

Sandia earns another ‘outstanding’from NNSA in performance appraisal

“This laboratory has consis-tently demonstrated that we can

deliver outstand-ing results to anenormouslydiverse set ofcustomers, oper-ate with excel-lence, and leadthe nation in key

areas of science and technology.”

Adventures in microsolar produce dazzling results

Sandia at 60: A brief historyTo mark the culmination of Sandia’s

60th anniversary year, Labs his-torian Rebecca Ullrich and

ITS Strategic Office Dept.303 Manager John Tay-

lor have written a briefbut pointed history ofthe Labs since itsinception in 1949.Follow the arc of theLabs’ evolution fromits origins in the earli-

est days of the ColdWar to the role it con-

tinues to play in the post-9/11 world. The story, illus-

trated with archival photos, ison pages 6-7.

TOM HUNTER

Solar ‘glitter’ supportedby microelectronicsand MEMS techniques By Neal Singer

PROJECT LEAD Greg Nielson holds a solar cell test prototypewith a microscale lens array fastened above it that together willhelp create a concentrated photovoltaic unit .

Red Sky rated 10th fastest supercomputer

SUPERFAST — KATHRYN CHAVEZ (9323) checks the status of systems that make up Sandia’sRed Sky supercomputer. Red Sky has made the Top500.org list as the 10th fastest supercom-puter on the planet. Sandia engineers achieved Red Sky’s top-10 performance by temporarilyaggregating Sandia’s newest institutional machine with a second system being constructedusing the same architecture and components. Story on page 4. (Photo by Randy Montoya)

That’s thatOkay, would you do it? It’s been reported that Richard Branson, the

billionaire adventurer and owner of Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Galactic, intendsto offer a free ride on SpaceShipTwo (SS2) to some lucky New Mexico resident eachyear. That seems only fair and reasonable, since New Mexico taxpayers are helpingfinance construction of Spaceport America down near White Sands Missile Range.

SpaceShipTwo is the brainchild of Branson and radical aircraft designerBurt Rutan (that is, his designs are radical; regarding his politics, I haven’t aclue). SS2 is essentially a scaled-up version of a craft that Rutan designed (withfinancing from Microsoft’s Paul Allen) to capture theX Prize, which awarded $10 million to the first private-sector team to launch ahuman being into space and return him or her safely to Earth. Rutan achieved thatfirst with SpaceShipOne back in 2004; shortly after that stunning success, theaircraft designer and the adventurer inked a deal to take the enterprisecommercial. Thus was born Virgin Galactic.

Now, “galactic” may be a bit of a stretch. While it makes for a catchyname, the fact of the matter is that the first paying customers — at a cost of$200,000 apiece — will hardly be getting their toes wet, galactically speaking.Still, they’ll be lofted to just over 60 miles (which is considered to be theedge of space), see the curvature of the Earth as you’ll never see it from aconventional airliner, and experience about five minutes of zero-g.

Here’s how the Virgin Galactic website describes the literal high pointof the spaceflight: “After a graceful mid-space summersault you find yourselfat a large window and what you see is a view that you’ve seen in countlessimages but the reality is so much more beautiful and provokes emotions that arestrong but hard to define.”

So, I ask again, if your number came up and you were selected as thelucky New Mexican to get a free ride on SpaceShipTwo, would you do it? Wouldyou seize the chance to know firsthand something that just 510 humans from 38countries have ever experienced? I know I would.

* * *As we come to the end of this consequential 60th anniversary year of

Sandia, it seems to me a good time to pause for a moment to reflect on where wecame from, to remind ourselves of all that we have accomplished, and to ponderwhere our future may take us. To that end, I asked Sandia historian RebeccaUllrich (9532) and John Taylor (0303), an accomplished historian in his ownright who writes the History Guy blog on Lab News Interactive, to try to tellSandia’s story in the Lab News in 1,500 words or less. Not an easy task, but Ithink they’ve done a marvelous job of capturing the big themes that have shapedour unique Sandia culture. You can read their brief history of Sandia on pages6 and 7.

* * *Can I also direct you to another story? For more than 50 years, Sandians

have been supporting our own home-grown Christmas/holiday charity, the Shoesfor Kids program. On page 12, Iris Aboytes writes about a fellow Sandian, TeamCapt. Pablo Montoya (4211), who many years ago was himself a Shoes for Kidsrecipient. Pablo’s recollections are a testimony to the enduring value ofsharing with the less fortunate, of how simple acts of kindness and generositycan resonate through the years.

* * *Finally, as we wrap up another year of publication of the Lab News, I

thank all of my colleagues in Dept. 3651 for their extraordinary efforts toproduce week in, week out, a quality publication that does Sandia proud. And Ithank you, our readers, for your close attention and for the kind words many ofyou have shared with me throughout the year. And to all, I wish a very merryChristmas, a happy Hanukkah, a joyful Kwanzaa . . . however you observe thisholiday season — whether religiously or secularly — please enjoy it thoroughly.

See you next year.— Bill Murphy (505-845-0845, MS0165, wtmurph@sandia.gov)

Sandia National Laboratorieshttp://www.sandia.gov/LabNews

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Sandia National Laboratories is a multiprogram laboratory operated by SandiaCorporation, a Lockheed Martin company, for the US Department of Energy’sNational Nuclear Security Administration.

Bill Murphy, Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505/845-0845Randy Montoya, Photographer . . . . . . . . . . 505/844-5605Mike Janes, California site contact . . . . . . . . . 925/294-2447Michael Lanigan, Production . . . . . . . . . . . . 505/844-2297

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Published on alternate Fridays by Media Relations andCommunications Dept. 3651, MS 0165

Erik Hart (2718) died on Dec. 4. He was 59 years oldand had been at Sandia10 years. As a precisiongrinder in Active Ceram-ics Dept. 2718, heworked in a variety ofgrinding, polishing, andlapping operations inboth research and pro-duction environments insupport of neutron gen-erator operations.

“Erik was an out-standing employee andfriend to everyone in thedepartment,” says his supervisor, Chris Armijo. “He hadan easy-to-like personality. Chris possessed strong workethics, always staying on task to ensure the products heproduced were of the highest quality.

“If you ever needed Erik, you did not have to lookfar. He was always working in the grinding area, manu-facturing ceramic components or machining fixturesand parts for his teammates. He did not talk much, butwhen he did, everyone listened. Erik had a uniqueinsight and perspective on complicated issues and knewhow to resolve problems with win-win solutions.”

Thomas Pehr (2626) says Erik was definitely not abook you could judge by its cover. “He had the typical‘Hells Angels biker look,’ which could be very intimi-dating,” says Thomas, “but he was one of the nicestpersons you’d ever meet. Erik would usually eat hislunch outside on the south dock of our building.Every day he would take some chips or bread crumbsand spread them out for the birds and squirrels thatlive there. It looked a bit odd to see a scraggly bikerplaying St. Francis, but that is the contradiction thatErik was.”

“If you didn’t know him, you might think he was agrumpy old guy,” says Toni Pifer (2718), “but he had aheart of gold. He could figure out and fix just about any-thing. Erik had been the head mechanic at Levi Straussin Texas. He was very interesting, very sensitive.”

David Schroeder, (2718) says Erik was a quiet, hum-ble, and funny guy. “When he was challenged, hewould do research and was able to get straight to thepoint,” says David. “He was very knowledgeable. He wasa pilot who loved flying and airplanes. He built severalremote-controlled planes and loved to fly them.”

“Erik shared funny stories about his life,” says RoseTorres (1818). “He would always make us laugh andwas ready to help with anything. Erik would stay late tofinish a project for us and would help with locking thevault.”

“Erik was a skilled machinist who brought a freshlook to design problems,” adds Thomas. “Erik also hadthe most unique laugh. It was this loud, goofy, hard-to-describe guffaw that would make me smile whenever Iheard it.”

Erik Hart a ‘scragglybiker’ who loved playingSt. Francis

ERIK HART

Employee death

Anew pedestrian/bike path connect-ing Tech Area 1 and the Innovation

Parkway Office Center (IPOC) andother Sandia Science and TechnologyPark locations opened Tuesday, Dec. 1.Operational hours are 6 a.m.-6 p.m. Aturnstile/bicycle gate allows access toand from Tech Area 1 immediatelysouth of the contractor gate at theextreme south end of Eubank. Prior tothe project’s completion, says projectlead Carol Bicher (4846), pedestriansand bicyclists had to proceed norththrough the Eubank Gate along with allof the traffic entering and leaving thebase. They were not allowed to proceedthrough the contractor gate. Nowthose wanting to ride or walk betweenthe two points, Carol says, have a saferand more convenient route, addingthat the new gate encourages walkingand biking for better health, andreduces vehicle use.

With Carol at the gate dedicationare Center 4800 Director Jeff Quintenz(holding the scissors) and Senior Man-ager Lynnwood Dukes (4820).

(Photo by Lloyd Wilson)

Pedestrian/bike path links IPOC, Tech Area 1

SANDIA LAB NEWS • December 18, 2009 • Page 3

Erik Ridley (12122) may be new to Sandia, but he’s afamiliar face to many at the California site. For the pastsix years, Erik worked in the office of Ellen Tauscher,who until June 2009 represented the 10th District ofCalifornia in the US House of Representatives.

In November, Erik joined the government relationsteam at the California site, which Karen Scott (12122)has run as a one-personoffice as a member of12100 InstitutionalDevelopment team.

“Erik brings a historyof success in planningand implementing gov-ernment relations strate-gies from his time inWashington, D.C., aswell as a robust networkof contacts and under-standing of electedoffices,” says Karen. “Hehas worked with local, state, and federal elected officialsfrom throughout northern California for years, and hasa keen understanding of how to build and work with abroad coalition of stakeholders.”

Tauscher resigned from her congressional seat,which she had held since 1997, when President Obamaappointed her as Under Secretary of State for ArmsControl and International Security. Tauscher’s transi-tion was a natural point for Erik to consider new careeropportunities, such as Sandia.

“The congresswoman was very supportive of thetwo national labs in her district, Sandia and LawrenceLivermore, as well as the entire nuclear weapons com-plex,” says Erik. “Her passion for national securityevolved over the course of her congressional career, andshe instilled some of that passion in me. It’s very excit-ing to continue working in the national interest.”

For the past 10 years, Erik has worked in politics,public policy, and government relations. He startedout in Washington, D.C., with a firm that providedpolitical intelligence to Fortune 500 firms and thenmoved back to California to work for state Sen. DonPerata while he was president pro tempore of theCalifornia State Senate.

Erik was Tauscher’s local representative, servingas her “eyes, ears, and voice” while she was in

Washington, D.C.“The congresswoman was in the Capitol about 80

percent of the time, so on her behalf I engaged all lev-els of government — state, local, and federal,” he says.“At meetings and briefings, I discussed policy andadvocated her point of view with local mayors, indus-try representatives, Travis Air Force Base, and evenKaren Scott here at Sandia.”

Erik made six visits to Sandia/California, two withTauscher, during his tenure with her office. In his firstmonth at Sandia, he’s learning about the site from anew perspective.

“My previous job was to have a broad under-standing of the national labs as well as a number ofother issues,” he says. “I’ve probably learned more inthe weeks since I’ve been here than I knew after sixyears. I viewed Sandia primarily from the perspectiveof the nuclear weapons mission because that’s whatmy boss was working on. I visited Albuquerquerecently and seeing all the different projects andsites really impressed upon me how broad ourcapabilities are.”

Teamwork has already paid offErik believes his knowledge of the political process

and relationships with government representatives atall levels will be an asset to Sandia.

“What makes working with Karen great is she’s hada great career at Sandia and has a phenomenal under-standing of our capabilities and the message we needto get across,” he says. “Combining her institutionalknowledge with my experience from the other side ofthe process makes us a very strong team for Sandia.”

That teamwork seems to have paid off already.John Garamendi became the US representative forCalifornia’s 10th Congressional District after win-ning a special election on Nov. 3. After being swornin and voting on health care legislation, he held hisfirst congressional town hall meeting in Livermore

on Nov. 12. At the town hall meeting, Garamendi sat between Liv-

ermore Mayor Marshall Kamena and Glenn Kubiak ,director of Biological and Materials Science Center 8600.

“The fact that he made Livermore his first stop andincluded Sandia in the program is a great first step,”says Erik. “Our job is to help him understand Sandiaand its importance. He doesn’t know a lot about Sandiayet, but why would he? It wasn’t in the scope of his pre-vious roles.”

Sandia definitely felt a loss when Tauscher left hercongressional seat, as she was the chairwoman of theArmed Services Subcommittee, which held sway overthe entire nuclear weapons complex. Erik says he isexcited about working with Garamendi and his staff.“He’s an experienced legislator who has also worked inD.C., which is important coming in midterm,” he says.“It’s just a matter of putting the issues before him.”

Garamendi was the California state insurance com-missioner from 1991 to 1995, the US Deputy Secretaryof the Interior from 1995 to 1998, the California stateinsurance commissioner again from 2003 to 2007, andthe lieutenant governor of California from January2007 until his election to Congress.

Erik Ridley joins Sandia/California’s Government Relations teamServed as former Rep. Ellen Tauscher’s ‘eyes, ears, and voice’ in 10th congressional district

By Patti Koning

ERIK RIDLEY

“Erik brings a history of success inplanning and implementing govern-ment relations strategies from histime in Washington, D.C., as well asa robust network of contacts andunderstanding of elected offices.”

— Karen Scott (12122)

Singapore delegation visits Sandia sites in California and New Mexico

PERMANENT SECRETARY Teo Ming Kian (seated, center) and other members of Singa-pore's National Research Foundation (NRF) pose with Div. 8000 VP Rick Stulen, Div. 6000VP Les Shephard, and other laboratory staff during a recent visit to Sandia's Californiasite. Sandia is leading an effort to establish the Transformational Energy Innovation Labo-

ratory (TEIL), a new institute for multidisciplinary team science, at the Campus forResearch Excellence And Technological Enterprise (CREATE) of Singapore's NRF. The NRFdelegation visited Sandia/New Mexico as well as Sandia/California.

(Photo by Randy Wong)

SANDIA LAB NEWS • December 18, 2009 • Page 4

Microsolar(Continued from page 1)

(MEMS) techniques. Project lead investigator Greg Nielson (1749-2) says

the research team has identified more than 20 benefitsof scale for its microphotovoltaic cells. These includenew applications, improved performance, potential forreduced costs, and higher efficiencies.

For large-scale power generation, says project partici-pant Murat Okandan (1749-2), “One of the biggest scalebenefits is a significant reduction in manufacturing andinstallation costs compared with cur-rent PV techniques.”

Part of the potential cost reductioncomes about because microcells requirerelatively little material to form well-controlled and highly efficient devices.

From 14 to 20 micrometers thick (ahuman hair is approximately 70micrometers thick), they are 10 timesthinner than conventional 6-inch-by-6-inch, brick-sized cells, yet perform atabout the same efficiency.

“So they use 100 times less silicon togenerate the same amount of electric-ity,” says Murat. “Since they are muchsmaller and have less mechanical defor-mations for a given environment thanthe conventional cells, they may alsobe more reliable over the long term.”

Another manufacturing conve-nience is that the cells, because theyare only hundreds of micrometers indiameter, can be fabricated from com-mercial wafers of any size, includingtoday’s 300-millimeter (12-inch) diam-eter wafers and future 450-millimeter (18-inch) wafers.Further, if one cell proves defective in manufacture, therest still can be harvested, while if a brick-sized unit goesbad, the entire wafer may be unusable. Also, brick-sizedunits fabricated larger than the conventional 6-inch-by-6-inch cross section to take advantage of larger wafersize would require thicker power lines to harvest theincreased power, creating more cost and possibly shad-ing the wafer. That problem does not exist with thesmall-cell approach and its individualized wiring.

Shade tolerance bests conventional PV Other unique features are available because the cells

are so small. “The shade tolerance of our units to over-head obstructions is better than conventional PV pan-els,” says Greg, “because portions of our units not inshade will keep sending out electricity where a partiallyshaded conventional panel may turn off entirely.”

Because flexible substrates can be easily fabricated,high-efficiency PV for ubiquitous solar power becomes

more feasible, says Murat.“Eventually units could be mass-produced and

wrapped around unusual shapes for building-integratedsolar, tents, and maybe even clothing,” he says. Thiswould make it possible for hunters, hikers, or militarypersonnel in the field to recharge batteries for phones,cameras, and other electronic devices as they walk or rest.

Storage at the chip levelEven better, such microengineered panels could have

circuits imprinted that would help perform other func-tions customarily left to large-scale construction with theattendant need for field construction design and permits.

Says Sandia field engineer Vipin Gupta (6338), “Pho-tovoltaic modules made from these micro-sized cells for

the rooftops of homes and warehouse could have intelli-gent controls, inverters, and even storage built in at thechip level. Such an integrated module could greatly sim-plify the cumbersome design, bid, permit, and grid inte-gration process that our solar technical assistance teamssee in the field all the time.”

A commercial move to microscale PV cells would bea dramatic change from conventional silicon PV mod-ules composed of arrays of 6-inch-by-6-inch wafers.However, by bringing in techniques normally used inMEMS, electronics, and the light-emitting diode (LED)industries, the change to small cells should be relativelystraightforward, Vipin says.

Each cell is formed on silicon wafers, etched, andthen released inexpensively in hexagonal shapes, withelectrical contacts prefabricated on each piece, by bor-rowing techniques from integrated circuits and MEMS.

Offering a run for their money to conventional largewafers of crystalline silicon, electricity presently can beharvested from the Sandia-created cells with 14.9 per-

cent efficiency. Off-the-shelf commercial modules rangefrom 13 to 20 percent efficient.

A widely used commercial tool called a pick-and-place machine — the current standard for the massassembly of electronics — can place up to 130,000pieces of glitter per hour at electrical contact pointspreestablished on the substrate; the placement takesplace at cooler temperatures. The cost is approximatelyone-tenth of a cent per piece with the number of cellsper module determined by the level of optical concen-tration and the size of the die, likely to be in the 10,000to 50,000 cell per square meter range. An alternate tech-nology, still at the lab-bench stage, involves self-assem-bly of the parts at even lower costs.

Solar concentrators — low-cost, prefabricated, opti-cally efficient microlens arrays — canbe placed directly over each glitter-sized cell to increase the number ofphotons arriving to be converted viathe photovoltaic effect into electrons.The small cell size means that cheaperand more efficient short focal lengthmicrolens arrays can be fabricated forthis purpose.

Reduced costsHigh-voltage output is possible

directly from the modules because ofthe large number of cells in the array.This reduces costs associated withwiring, due to reduced resistive lossesat higher voltages.

The project combines expertisefrom Sandia’s Microsystems Center,Photovoltaics and Grid IntegrationDepartment; the Materials, Devices,and Energy Technologies Group; andthe National Renewable Energy Lab’sConcentrating Photovoltaics Group.

Involved in the process, in additionto Greg, Murat, and Vipin, are Jose Luis Cruz-Campa (1749-1),Paul Resnick (1749-1), Tammy Pluym (1746), Peggy Clews(1746), Carlos Sanchez (1746), Bill Sweatt (1512), TonyLentine (1727), Anton Filatov (1749-1), Mike Sinclair(1816), Mark Overberg (1742), Jeff Nelson (6338), JenniferGranata (6335), Craig Carmignani (6335), Rick Kemp(1815), Connie Stewart (1815), Jonathan Wierer (1123),George Wang (1126), Jerry Simmons (1120), Jason Strauch(1717), Judith Lavin (6338), and Mark Wanlass (NREL).

The work is supported by DOE’s Solar Energy Tech-nology Program and Sandia’s LDRD program, and hasbeen presented at four technical conferences this year.

The ability of light to produce electrons, and thuselectricity, has been known for more than a hundredyears.

Are there other applications beyond terrestrial solarpower? “Absolutely!” says Greg. “We envision this tech-nology impacting many areas of Sandia’s businessincluding satellites and remote sensing, in addition tosupporting warfighters.”

Red Sky at night, Sandia’s new computing might

Engineers working on Sandia’s newest supercomputer have received somewelcome recognition for their hard work:Red Sky made the November 2009Top500 list as the 10th fastest computerin the world.

Sandia engineers achieved Red Sky’stop-10 performance by temporarilyaggregating the Labs’ newest institutionalmachine with a second system beingconstructed using the same architectureand components.

That second system, sponsored by theDOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency andRenewable Energy, will sit adjacent toRed Sky and be operated by Sandia tosupport work done at the NationalRenewable Energy Laboratory.

Red Sky achieved a peak performanceof more than 500 teraflops (or 500 trillion mathematical operations per second),and an impressive 433.5 teraflops against the Linpack benchmark commonlyused for ranking supercomputing speed.

In addition to raw horsepower, the Labs’ newest supercomputer has beendesigned to maximize its energy efficiency.

“Red Sky should really be called Green Sky,” says John Zepper (9320),senior manager of Computing Systems & Technology Integration. “This

machine is the most energy-efficient high-performance system we havedeployed to date.”

The system uses a newly designed power distributing system that signifi-cantly reduces power leakage and aunique cooling system that is more than95 percent efficient in cooling the sys-tem’s multitude of computer racks.

“The Red Sky project has leveragedSandia internal intellectual propertyand expertise in partnership with Inteland Sun Microsystems to deliver a lead-ing-edge high-performance computingsystem,” says Rob Leland, director ofComputing and Network ServicesCenter 9300.

Red Sky uses a number of innovativetechnologies, such as interconnectswitches designed jointly by Sandia andSun. These switches were used to buildthe first implementation of a 3-D torus

interconnect topology using InfiniBand networking. The system is also believedto be the first InfiniBand-based system that uses optical interconnect cablesexclusively.

For computing, the system uses Sun’s latest high-density dual node computerblades, which come with Intel’s new Nehalem processors.

Red Sky began supporting a limited set of Sandia users this past June and isexpected to be in full production this January.

Stephanie Holinka

Supercomputer rated as world’s 10th fastest in Top500.org’s latest listing

THE NEXT-GENERATION GARAGE BAND? — From left to right, Murat Okandan, Greg Nielson, andJose Luis Cruz-Campa, holding samples containing arrays of microsolar cells, are more interested inproductions involving photovoltaics. (Photo by Randy Montoya)

SANDIA LAB NEWS • December 18, 2009 • Page 5

Environmentalists and car enthusiasts have beenanxiously awaiting next year’s full-scale debut of elec-tric cars that can run up to 40 miles on a single charge.But before those vehicles end up in your driveway, thelithium-ion batteries that power them will have beenthrough some serious abuse — including beingcrushed, pounded with nails, and heated to boiling hottemperatures — to test the limits of what they cansafely handle and provide critical scientific data fordeveloping the next generation of batteries.

Sandia’s Battery Abuse Testing Laboratory (BATLab)has been at the forefront of this effort, doing every-thing imaginable to hybrid and plug-in electric hybridbatteries in the relatively safe confines of a lab to makesure that once they hit the road, they will provide safeand reliable transportation. And now, the BATLab isgetting ready to offer more in-depth quantitative analy-sis as it prepares to beat up even more batteries.

During a Nov. 18 visit to be briefed on Sandia’s capa-bilities and programs, Deputy Secretary of EnergyDaniel Poneman announced that Sandia’s BATLab willreceive $4.2 million in stimulus funds to modify andenhance its existing facility. The funding is part of a$104.7 million American Recovery and ReinvestmentAct package awarded to seven DOE national laborato-ries, to provide important technological insights to fur-ther develop the nation’s clean energy efforts.

“It’s so terribly important that we keep the nation’swork moving in this direction,” Poneman said. “We asa nation have relied on the national laboratories sincethe time of World War II, well over half a century, tokeep this nation strong, to keep us at the cutting-edgeof science, of innovation in the service of the nation,and in the service of the American people. The scien-tists and engineers who have been working all theseyears at Sandia are owed a great debt of gratitude by theAmerican people for the tremendous progress theyhave made in keeping our nation safe.”

For years, the nation has relied on Sandia’s BATLabto test everything from regular small cells about the sizeof a laptop computer battery up to modules and packsweighing several hundred pounds for the DOE-fundedFreedomCAR hybrid vehicle initiative. And while theBATLab team has been recognized for its ability to per-

form scientific analysis and a full range of measure-ments, members face a number of limitations.

“The equipment and facilities that we currentlyhave allow us to do only one test at a time, so ourthroughput has been somewhat limited,” says PeteRoth (2546), lead researcher for Sandia’s FreedomCARprogram. “The new equipment and upgrades that wewill be able to implement will enhance the amount andrange of testing and diagnostics that we can do, and weexpect to at least be able to double our throughput.”

Those upgrades include fire suppression, improvedlighting, and advanced electrical systems, as well as newsoftware and analytical equipment to help diagnosebattery responses and provide data for manufacturers.

Such improved efficiency will allow Sandia to continueto build on its past success, and offer increasingly valuable

contributions to the nation’s FreedomCAR effort.“Pete and his team are already internationally recog-

nized for this work, and this funding will help us to sus-tain that leadership position into the future as the automanufacturers start to implement these lithium batterymodules and packs into their vehicles,” says TomWunsch (2546), manager of Advanced Power SourcesR&D Dept. 2546.

“This funding is an answer to a lot of our hopes andaspirations for where this program could go. Eventhough we’ve had programmatic support, we’ve beengetting by on a shoestring in terms of facilities andequipment support,” Pete says. “I think this is going totake us into a whole new regime of conducting thescience and testing we’ve always dreamed of doing. It’sgoing to be very beneficial.”

$4.2 million in stimulus funds directedto Sandia’s Battery Abuse Testing LaboratoryBy Stephanie Hobby

PETE ROTH examines a component undergoing tests at Sandia’s Battery Abuse Testing Laboratory. (Photo by Randy Montoya)

Sandia will receive more than $9 mil-lion over three years from a DOE compet-itive laboratory solicitation for the devel-opment of advanced water powertechnologies.

Sandia, through a partnership withseveral national laboratories and academicinstitutions, will lead two of the four topicareas awarded under the grant and willprovide technical support in a third topicarea. The topic areas are SupportingResearch and Testing for Marine andHydrokinetic Energy, EnvironmentalAssessment and Mitigation Methods forMarine and Hydrokinetics Energy, Sup-porting Research and Testing forHydropower, and Environmental Assess-ment and Mitigation Methods for Hydropower.

“We will perform fundamental research to develop and assess technology break-throughs and help promote a vibrant industry that is currently in its beginnings,”says Jose Zayas, manager of Wind and Waterpower Technologies Dept. 6333.

Sandia is adding water power to its already multidisciplinary energy portfolio.“Water power technologies contribute to the diversification of our nation’s energymix,” Jose says, “by providing clean energy in areas near high population centers aswell as enhancing our nation's energy security. Water power technologies couldleverage an indigenous resource in parts of the country where other technologiesmay not be viable.”

Jose will add water power research to the department’s wind energy portfolio. Hewill oversee a multidisciplinary team drawn from many areas of Labs expertise,including materials and manufacturing research, environmental monitoring andstewardship, performance modeling, and testing. The department will pursue adiverse research agenda in marine hydrokinetics (MHK) systems and will collaboratewith Argonne (ANL) and Oak Ridge (ORNL) national laboratories on conventionalhydropower.

Technology evaluationRich Jepsen (6333), a specialist in water resources engineering, will lead the

project to examine the cost-effective-ness and reliability of technology forMHK technologies, which includewave, current/tide, and thermal energyconversion. Rich’s water powerresearch will also evaluate the use ofSandia’s lake facility, used for large-scale wave testing.

In partnership with Oak RidgeNational Laboratory, Pacific NorthwestNational Laboratory (PNNL), and theNational Renewable Energy Laboratory(NREL), activities will evaluate newdevice designs and conduct basicresearch in materials, coatings, adhe-sives, hydrodynamics, and manufactur-ing to assist industry in bringing effi-cient technologies to market.

The research will evaluate methodsdesigned to improve the performance of existing hydropower facilities. Sandia willwork with NREL, the other lead in the technology area, in the direct design andtesting of new technologies.

Environmental stewardshipJesse Roberts (6333), a specialist in sediment transport and hydrology, will lead

Sandia’s research agenda to describe and quantify environmental impacts causedby new and existing marine and hydrokinetic technologies. The team will evaluateenvironmental factors including rates of sediment transport, water flow, waterquality, and acoustic changes. The results will help quantify the types and magni-tude of environmental impacts for various new and existing technologies.Researchers will collaborate with industry to develop criteria for selecting locationsfor projects and select technology to monitor and mitigate such impacts. Sandiawill partner with ORNL, PNNL, and ANL in this work.

In both stewardship and evaluation, Jose says, Sandia will work with universitiesto leverage already-existing world-class facilities for research to provide studentsand faculty the opportunity to work on water power problems and technologies.

“Sandia will work to bridge the gap between research institutions and industryby helping to develop technologies that deliver cost-effective and reliable energywhile also committing to the importance of environmental stewardship,” he says.

Sandia adds water power to clean energy research portfolioBy Stephanie Holinka

WATERMEN — Rich Jepsen, left, Jose Zayas, and Jesse Roberts (all 6333) are part of a team that isdeveloping advanced water power technologies. (Photo by Randy Montoya)

SANDIA LAB NEWS • December 18, 2009 • Page 6 SANDIA LAB NEWS • December 18, 2009 • Page 7

Marking Six Decades of Service

The Early Cold War

During the 1950s, both the numbers and types ofnuclear weapons “exploded.” Transistors, printed cir-

cuit boards, and the introduction of missiles as a deliverysystem pushed smaller, lighter designs. Introduction oflow-maintenance, ready-for-use weapons and the lay-down capability drove redesign of many nonnuclear com-ponents and systems. Sandia expertise expanded to designand test the resulting technologies, innovating in para-chute design, materials science, and data capture duringtesting. The workforce and the site grew. Unique test facil-ities, beginning with a rocket-powered centrifuge andexpanding to include additional centrifuges, drop towers,sled tracks, and shock facilities were added over the years.By the end of the decade, plans were underway for nuclearreactor facilities to expose components to a variety of radi-ation environments. The Lab also opened a second facilityin Livermore, Calif., in 1956 and added the Salton Sea siteand Tonopah Test Range to its arsenal of capabilities.

The Energized Eighties

The 1980s started with the Soviet invasion ofAfghanistan, but by the end of the decade, the Cold

War was essentially over. Three new nuclear weapons, theW84, the W85, and the B83, were put into production,and development activities began on the W82, the W88,the W89, the B90, the B91. Of these, only the W88 for theTrident missile would survive to enter the stockpile,

although that outcome was far from clear in the mid-1980s. In addition, 10 nuclear weapons, ranging from thevenerable W31 to the relatively young W66, were retired.The residents of “Weapon City” were busy indeed! On theother side of the coin, revenue from WFO programsreached 50 percent of the Laboratory budget for the firsttime, a harbinger of things to come.

Transitions in the Nineties

The fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the SovietUnion ushered in a period of transition and change at

Sandia. The apparent loss of our nation’s primary adver-sary, the change from AT&T to Lockheed Martin over-sight, the increasingly shrill debate over maintaining anaging weapon stockpile and its associated infrastructure,the end of underground testing, and the substantiallyincreased oversight by DOE in the form of the TigerTeams all jarred the traditional stability of the Lab.

However, the Sandia can-do attitude prevailed. Major pro-grams were initiated to prevent the spread of nuclearweapon technology by assisting the struggling Russiannuclear establish-ment, along with aninnovativeCooperativeMonitoring Programthat focused on reliefof regional tensionsin the Middle Eastand South Asia.Sandia increased itsemphasis on model-ing and simulation insupport of the DOEScience-BasedStockpile Stewardshipprogram, and we roseto the occasion byimplementing newand more stringentES&H requirements.

The end of underground testing made the Area 4 accel-erators even more critical to stockpile certification and, fora time, Sandia had no active nuclear weapon develop-ment programs. Instead, the focus was on more agile andenvironmentally friendly production of components forexisting weapon systems. In addition, litigation over theWIPP site continued, finally leading to the issuance of anoperating permit in 1999. Design and evaluation workcontinued at Yucca Mountain.

New Threats Emerge

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, the world changed.Certainly each of us knows exactly where he or she

was when the regu-lar programmingon KOB or KGOwas interruptedwith news of theterrorist attacks.We reacted with afull-court press inhomeland security,adapting long-termexpertise in areassuch as radiationmonitoring, physi-cal security, andexplosives detec-tion to directdefense of thehomeland.

Stimulated by anew war in Afghanistan, the ongoing conflict in Iraq, andcontinued concern over the availability of low-cost, cli-mate-friendly sources of energy, work for others funding

has grown to more than 60 percent of Laboratories rev-enue. Technologies such as synthetic aperture radar,enhanced combustion, and advanced robotics havegained broad acceptance.

There was something of a hiatus in arms control in theearly part of the decade, but interest resumed followingthe 2008 presidential election. The MESA project, Sandia’slargest-ever construction project, began in the spring of2002 and finished three years early and under budget inAugust 2007.

Even with uncer-tainties about thenuclear weapon bud-get, Sandia continuedto fulfill its historicresponsibilities tohelp to keep thestockpile safe, secure,reliable.Improvements weremade to severalweapon systems,including the B61and the W76, andSandia engineerscontinue to work with Los Alamos, Livermore, andPantex to ensure that the weapons in the stockpile retaintheir capabilities.

Jaques’ seventh age of man is “second child-hood” with a largely negative context. Sandiaseems destined to “upstage” Jacques byredefining second childhood as a rebirth of theenergy and enthusiasm that has characterizedthe Labs for its six decades and that meetsPresident Truman’s 1949 challenge to perform“exceptional service in the national interest”for many decades to come.

In As You Like It, Jaques remarks that“All the world's a stage …And one man in his time plays many parts,His acts being seven ages.”

As Sandia enters its seventh decade, let usexamine the highlights of its ages.

Beginnings

Sandia began in 1945 as Z Division of Los Alamos with amission of consolidating nuclear weapon ordnance

engineering activities. That group eventually moved toKirtland Army Airfield, a site chosen for its proximity tothe military, an airfield, and space to grow. By 1949, thesite separated from Los Alamos, and Sandia Corp., awholly owned subsidiary of Western Electric, was created.

The Berlin Blockade, thefirst Soviet nuclear test, andthe beginning of the KoreanWar firmed the resolve ofpolicymakers to maintain awar reserve nuclear weaponstockpile, and by 1953Sandia’s role included non-nuclear design, testing, pro-duction, and militaryliaison. Sandia was also theprimary assembly site fornuclear weapons from 1948to 1952.

By Rebecca Ullrich and John Taylor By the late 1950s, this expansion left the Lab with newand unique design and testing capabilities. The internalfocus remained on ensuring that there were sufficient per-sonnel with appropriate expertise to support the newefforts. Upper management pushed for both educationaladvancement and a deeper research capabilities, pilotingthe first in a series of educational programs, the TechnicalDevelopment Program, in 1959. Sandia also began to hirePhDs in the sciences, focusing on materials science to bothexplore what was happening as materials interacted andand to provide improved materials for weapon designs.

Nineteen fifty-nine proved a banner year for change inother areas. As Sandia achieved maturity in its primarymission area, it began to move into spinoff areas, includ-ing the Vela program to detect nuclear detonations;Sandia participated in both the seismic detection andsatellite components of Vela, work that became significantpermanent lines of business for the Lab. The Lab also pro-vided nuclear effects and explosives expertise to thePlowshare Program.

The laminar flow clean room originated in 1959, whenWillis Whitfield was asked to address the problem ofremoving particulates from the environment for manufac-turing close-tolerance parts. This work led to Sandia’s firstcommercial spinoff, with the improved clean room trans-forming surgery, food handling, and manufacturing.

Although thenumber of weapondesigns declined inthe 1960s, the Labmoved intoadvanced develop-ment efforts, improv-ing permissive-actionlink technology andpursuing safety stud-ies in response tohigh-profile nuclearaccidents atGreensboro, Thule,and Palomares.

SANDIA AERIAL VIEW in 1945, when it was still a part of Los AlamosLaboratory called Z Division.

PROJECT PLOWSHARE sought ways to harness nuclear explosivesfor peaceful purposes.

SANDIA LIVERMORE in 1958, two years after it was establishedacross the street from the Lawrence Livermore laboratory.

WILLIS WHITFIELD in the laminar flow clean room in 1959.

A W88 launch vehicle, the Trident submarine-launched ballisticmissile, undergoes test-firing in the Pacific.

THE 9/11 ATTACKS led to ramped-upefforts by Sandia in the area of homelandsecurity.

COMPUTER modeling and simulationwere instrumental in DOE’s Science-Based Stockpile Stewardship program.

SANDIA-DEVELOPED synthetic aperture radar has been a keycapability for the modern American warfighter.

Active diversification came in the form of alternativeenergy research, beginning in the early 1970s. Declines indefense and government research spending also led to aseries of layoffs, causing retrenching and the eliminationof some advanced programs.

THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL marked the beginning of the endof the Cold War. In the post-Cold War world, Sandia’s missionwould evolve to address new challenges.

BY THE 1970s, Sandia was deeply involved in alternative energyresearch, a role that has increased substantially over the years.

LITTLE BOY

DURING THE 1960s, Sandia contin-ued to refine weapon components.

The thawing of the US-Soviet relationship that beganunder President Reagan finally bore fruit with the signingof the INF Treaty in 1986. Sandia played a major role inboth the negotiation of this landmark agreement and inits implementation. The unprecedented portal-perimetermonitoring system installed at the Votkinsk Missile Plantwas designed, prototyped, and constructed at Sandia and

then disassembled and flown to the Soviet Union. Sandiaalso participated in the Joint Verification Experiment, aset of jointly monitored nuclear detonations at theNevada Test Site and the Semipalatinsk Test Site.

Reagan’s Star Wars initiatives gave Sandia the impetusto upgrade its weapon effects and pulsed power fusion

work in Area 4. The Lab also started what would become amajor initiative with the Defense Department to examinenuclear weapon technologies that might be adapted toimprove our conventional weapon capabilities.

The catastrophic nuclear accident at Chernobyl, fol-lowing on the heels of the less severe, but politically sensi-tive, event atThree-Mile Island,also brought nuclearpower back into arather negative publicspotlight, and Sandiaworked in its nichespecialties of wastedisposal, transporta-tion, and risk assess-ment to try andminimize thoseaspects of the prob-lem for policymakers.Work on other forms of energy production, includingsolar and wind, continued.

Science took a front-row seat with development of theCenter for Radiation-hardened Microelectronics and itssuccessor, the Materials Development Laboratory.

PERIMETER MONITORING SYSTEM undergoing tests at Sandia.

Z MACHINE pulsed power experiments have helped understandweapon effects without nuclear testing.

TESTS OF TRUPACT waste contain-ers conducted at Sandia wereinstrumental in showing that radwastes could be safely transported.

WILLIS WHITFIELD during a tour of Sandia’s MaterialsDevelopment Laboratory, a facility that grew out of Willis’sinvention of the laminar flow clean room in the 1950s.

SANDIA was a key player in the opening of the Waste IsolationPilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M.

AS SANDIA enters its next 60 years, itsstewardship of the nation’s nucleardeterrent remains a critical mission.

* * *

SANDIA LAB NEWS • December 18, 2009 • Page 8

Is Explora a family fun center or part of grandma’s attic?

Where do you go if you want to experience sciencefirsthand besides Sandia? Explora.

Explora is a new kind of learning place, providingreal experiences with real things that put people’s learn-ing in their own hands.

According to its website, Explora is part science cen-ter, part children’s museum, part free-choice school,part grandma’s attic, part grandpa’s garage, part labora-tory, part neighborhood full of interesting people, andpart of many people’s lives.

In its third year, the Portal to the Public (PoP), aNational Science Foundation-funded project, Explorabrings together visitors and Albuquerque scientists toengage in experiential activities.

“More than 50 scientists, mostly from Sandia, haveparticipated in the PoP program,” says Kristin Leigh,Explora education coordinator. “They have workedwith Explora educators and exhibit developers to createdynamic activities that help Explora visitors exploretopics like hydrology, cell growth, nuclear engineering,and more.”

Explora board member Len Duda (5737) sees Exploraas a comfortable place that opens the door to sciencelearning for visitors.

“Through Explora, science learning is hands-on,and it’s fun,” says Len. “Explora creates excitement. Allyou have to do is see children’s faces as they are filledwith amazement.”

As a child, Sandian Cecilia Venuk (4871) got goodgrades in math but rarely experienced fun or enjoy-ment. “In high school, I was fortunate to have math

and science teachers that mentored my skills and inter-ests and helped me understand and grow to appreciatemath and science,” she says. “In college, my journeycontinued and my appreciation became challengingand rewarding. I spent several years tutoring in mathand science, which reinforced my understanding, butalso taught me the importance of sharing my skills and

excitement of math and science with others.”When she was growing up, Aleksandra Faust (5533)

spent hours trying to program her computer andobserve the results. “Through trial and error, I wasfinally able to understand it,” she says. “It was fun andeventually led to my career. I am hoping to bring a sim-ilar experience to Explora visitors by developing materi-als that will introduce computer programming in a fun,experimental way. In addition to that, my own chil-dren, 5 and 2, are my big motivation for me to partici-pate in this program. We spend lots of time at Exploraand it was an opportunity to introduce them to what Ido professionally.”

“The PoP fits well with Explora’s core value of com-munity,” says Leigh. “Albuquerque has one of thelargest scientific research centers in the state at SandiaNational Laboratories, but 40 percent of our ninth-graders don’t graduate from high school. There is a gapin the community in that respect. We want Explora vis-itors to see scientists as neighbors in their community.”

For 9-year-old Pojoaque Valley Intermediate Schoolstudent C. J. Law, Explora is really a family fun center.“There are rainbow lights, balloons, and water activi-ties,” says C.J. “You get to learn about gravity and staticelectricity. It is cool. Instead of just sitting down and lis-tening to people talk, you get to do all the fun stuff.”

Theodore Borek (1822) wants kids want to havehands-on science experiences. “I have been involvedwith science outreach with kids for many years and theseoutreach experiences have been very rewarding for me.”

“Explora is the best place in the world to be,” saysS.Y. Jackson third grader Maddie Lund. “I hope I can gothere during Christmas break.”

By Iris Aboytes

CARLOS COX engages visitors with a variety of materials to help them explore lenses and mirrors. (All photos courtesy of Explora)

MELISSA MARTINEZ uses wooden models of mechanical locksto help visitors experiment with mechanical sensors that turnon electrical switches.

Marissa Reno (6733)Sandra Faust (5533)Eric Spoerke (1816)Malcolm Carroll (1725)Ted Borek (1822)Dave Dell (5622)

Curtis Peters (6771)Jim Bronder (5536)Wayne Trott (1512)Leslie Phinney (1513)Marlene Brown (5737)Cecelia Venuk (4871)

The following active Sandianscurrently volunteer at Explora:

SANDIA LAB NEWS • December 18, 2009 • Page 9

Two Sandia researchers electedAAAS Fellows

Sandia researchers David Haaland (8622) and DavidMyers (1770) have been elected Fellows of the Ameri-can Association for the Advancement of Science. Elec-tion as a Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS mem-bers by their peers.

Dave Haalandwas cited for “distin-guished contribu-tions in the area ofchemometrics andspectral imaging,especially in theapplication of multi-variate spectralanalysis techniques.”

His work helpsmaterials researchersto simultaneouslyuse many frequen-cies of light to per-form more accurateanalyses. His collab-orative work in spec-tral imaging has alsodramaticallyexpanded the capabilities of research fluorescencemicroscopes to obtain more information from imagesof subcellular structures in live human, animal, andplant cells.

Dave Myers was cited for “contributions to the sci-ence, management, and early application of ionimplantation, lattice-mismatched heteroepitaxy, andmicroelectromechanical systems for commercial and

national security applications.”He was a major contributor in the early develop-

ment, maturation, and eventual commercialization ofthe science and technology of ion implantation, espe-cially as applied to strained-layer semiconductors fornational security applications. Later, as a program man-ager, Dave also contributed to the maturation of thesetechnologies, as wellas to micro-electro-mechanical systemsfor national securityapplications.Strained-layer semi-conductors havebecome the basis forthe world’s fastesttransistors and inte-grated circuits aswell as for vertical-cavity lasers, pho-todetectors, andphotonic systems.

This year, 531members have beenelected by AAASsteering committeesbecause of their sci-entifically or socially distinguished efforts to advancescience or its applications. The tradition of electingAAAS Fellows began in 1874.

New Fellows will be presented with an official certifi-cate and a gold and blue (representing science and engi-neering, respectively) rosette pin on February 20 at theAAAS Fellows Forum during the 2010 AAAS AnnualMeeting in San Diego.

Online computer program aids food producersin assessing vulnerabilities

An online computer program Sandiahelped develop two years ago to protect

the entire US food manufacturing industry— from field to retail or food services — frommalicious interference has been extended foruse by farmers and food producers.

The idea is to make step-by-step toolsavailable to assess and mitigate vulnerabili-ties in food production processes, says Sandiaprincipal investigator Phil Pohl (6761).“Every US farmer can help in this effortmerely by clicking the online program andtaking the steps suggested there,” he says.

The tool, called Agriculture CARVER +Shock, was field-tested in Lancaster, Pa., andBaltimore, Md., on actual potential users andis supported by the US Department of Agri-culture and the US Food and Drug Adminis-tration, says Phil.

The program asks food producers a seriesof questions about each component of theirproduction process. Based on the responses,Ag CARVER provides scores for those compo-nents and specific risk-mitigation measuresare recommended. These might includeupgrades or enhancements to physical secu-rity, process operations, or a change in per-sonnel practices. Information entered by theprogram user is not recorded by either FDAor USDA .

The software is free and available to thepublic at http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodDefense/CARVER.

While this particular program is designedprimarily for harvest and preharvest foodproduction operations, “We’ll update the2007 manufacturing version over the nextfew months and have plans to produce theretail and food service version next year,”says Phil.

By Neal Singer

Individual farmers can play roles in national defense, says Sandia researcher

By Neal Singer

DAVID HAALAND DAVID MYERS

Former Sandia directorDon Cook tapped to servein senior NNSA position

Former Sandian Don Cook has been nominatedfor the job of deputy administrator for defense pro-grams at NNSA. A 28-year veteran at the Labs, Donworked in pulsed power sciences, microtechnologies,infrastructure, and security. From 1999-2006, he wasdirector of the MESA Program Center, accountablefor design and construction of the Microsystems andEngineering Sciences Applications (MESA) complex.In 2003, he assumedprogram directorresponsibilities for San-dia’s Infrastructure Pro-gram and for Sandia’sSafeguards and SecurityTechnologies Program,which responded to anew design basis threat.From 1977-1999, Donled efforts in pulsedpower acceleratordesign and experimen-tation, fusion research,hydrodynamics, radiog-raphy, diagnostic development, and computationalcode development. Most recently, Don was themanaging director of the Atomic Weapons Establish-ment (AWE) in the United Kingdom from 2006 to2009. In this capacity, he was accountable forAWE’s performance on the contract with the UKMinistry of Defence, which includes support of theUK Trident warheads and development and sustain-ment of capability in nuclear weapon design, devel-opment, manufacturing, qualification, assembly,transport, support in service, and finally, decommis-sioning, dismantlement, and disposal. — Neal Singer

DON COOK

Phillip Gallegos35 2663

Fredrick Harper30 5400

Willie Johns30 4122

Jim Rush42 4844

Len Napolitano30 8900

Paul Nielan30 8116

John Taylor34 303

Ken Osburn31 9515

SANDIA LAB NEWS • December 18, 2009 • Page 10

Lynda Hadley30 8944

Joan Funkhouser30 8243

Chris Robertson30 6751

New Mexico photos by Michelle FlemingCalifornia photos by Randy Wong

Patrick Sena30 2110

Angela Campos25 9512

Perry Cowen25 2134

Fran Current25 2992

James Dotson25 4844

Brian Schwaner25 5923

Richard Steeper25 8362

Mike Tootle25 8243

James Davis20 4856

Michael Dugger20 1813

Reeta Garber20 10614

Nancy Irwin15 5535

Jeffrey Jarry15 4139

Karen Griego-Peralta20 6322

Allison Kane20 212

Dorothy McCoy20 12123

Timothy Peterson20 4827

Bryan Spicer20 6325

Nicholas Francis15 1514

Bonnie Green15 8900

Timothy Hobson15 9329

Anthony Gomez25 1522

Chuck Yagow25 2997

Janise Baldo-Pulaski20 1505

Mary Garcia25 6431

Pearl Garcia15 10621

Shelley Baca15 8945

William Jenkins20 8420

Karen Gardner20 3500

Karen Marlman30 4242

Elizabeth Scott-Patterson30 1300

Deborah Mulligan20 10693

Ed Mulligan25 2552

Doug Lawson22 543

SANDIA LAB NEWS • December 18, 2009 • Page 12

SISTERS wait excitedly to be fitted for new shoes.(Photo by Randy Montoya)

Sandia’s Shoes for Kids program began 53 years ago.Instead of exchanging gifts or cards with one another, twoSandia scientists decided they would spend the money tobenefit others. They bought shiny new shoes for children.

Over the years, word spread and Sandia’s Christmas pro-gram has grown. Since 1999 each year has been a new all-time high in donations. Last year, Sandia employees andretirees donated more than $17,000.

The children are selected to receive shoes by their teach-ers. Twenty-two schools participate in the program. Todate, more than 11,500 pair of shoes have been donated.Several bus companies provide transportation.

Donations can be made to in person to any of the SandiaLaboratory Federal Credit Union branches to account num-ber 223180, Shoes for Kids Fund, or online transfer toSLFCU 223180, 90-01 shoes, or by mail to P.O. Box 23040,Albuquerque, NM 87192-1040.

For information, contact Patty Zamora (3652) at 505-844-2146.

Young children look forward to getting their first model train for Christmas.They play with it a while and then put it away. Retiree Richard (Dick) Sons has

never put his train away. In fact, he has kept building more and more of them.Richard recently received the highest award in the nation as the 429th MasterModel Railroader from the National Model Railroad Association.

He has been one of 15 members of the Rio Grande Valley Model Railroad Clubfor more than 30 years. The club makes sure that the railroad exhibit at ExpoNew Mexico is realistic and exciting. Dick spends many hours making sure eachtrain rides its own rail, has its own destination, and does not get in the way of

the other trains. As eachtrain seems to be converg-ing toward the inevitableultimate crash, like magic,at exactly the right instant,each train makes it throughand continues on its ownpath. Visitors become mes-merized as they view theexhibit.

Dick was an engineer atSandia for 32 years. Hisengineering experienceenables him to constructelectrical circuit systemsthat are used not only inthe Expo exhibit butthroughout the nation.

“My dad has endless patience and a very impressive eye for detail,” says hisson Robert. “He spends hundreds of hours working on them. It has become a lostart. Growing up, I remember my dadworking on his trains as a means of relax-ation after a long day.”

“Dick uses his trains as a means of pre-serving New Mexico history,” says hiswife Marjorie. “One day, we drove west ofLos Lunas to see an old bridge that wasgoing to be destroyed. He took photos ofthe bridge and its surroundings, thendesigned a layout to replicate it. It is won-derful seeing it all come to life.”

Dick is an active member in theFriends of Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Rail-road in Chama N.M., and an activemember of the Santa Fe Locomotive2926. When he is not building a train, heis riding one.

Richard also is an accomplished com-petitive classical accordionist, holds ama-teur radio’s highest classification, and isactive in the restoration of Albuquerque’ssteam engine 2926.

“We all need to take our hobbies, ourinterests, or our skills and be the best that we can be,” says Dick. “It is not alwaysabout the money we make. When we share our talents for others to enjoy, we arealso giving others entertainment, information, and assistance. Volunteer.”

* Dick passed away shortly after being interviewed for this story.

Retiree Richard Sons honored as Master Model Railroader*By Iris Aboytes

RICHARD SONS’ model train layouts have been perennialfavorites at the New Mexico State Fair.

As Pablo Montoya (4211) helps Arturo select a pairof shoes, he remembers a young boy of 9, years ago,who experienced the same excitement. Through San-dia’s Shoes for Kids Program, Pablo and his threeyounger sisters received new shoes.

“Cuales zapatos te gustan (Which shoes do youlike?),” Pablo asks Arturo. With tears of joy runningdown his cheeks, Arturo proceeds to find his specialpair. “I was that little boy,” says Pablo. “It seems likeit was yesterday. Seeing Arturo is like seeing me allover again.

“When I participated in the program more than 35years ago, we would go get ice cream at a place calledSoda Straw before we headed back to school,” says Pablo.“We never came into the city, so that in itself was excit-ing. Like the children we fit today, I did not think I waspoor. I just knew there were people who gave us shoes.We even got to pick them out.

“I will never forget Julian Sanchez, Bill Benedick, andJohn Shunny. They were the Sandianswho worked in the program formany years. They were not onlySandians, they became our friends.”

Pablo grew up in Escobosa, about35 miles southeast of Albuquerque inthe Manzano Mountains. He and hisfamily of nine lived in a two-roomhouse. One of the rooms was thekitchen, the other was the bedroom.At night he slept on cushions on thefloor. “It was no big deal,” says Pablo.

His father Tomas was a dry landfarmer.

“If the rains did not come, thecrops would not grow. Those yearswe struggled.

“Once a month my dad and momwould come into the city in a wagonpulled by horses to get our provisionsand commodities,” says Pablo. “Wedid not have a car. My sisters and Istayed at the rancho tending to theanimals and working in the fields.We lived in such a different world.

“We planted beans, peas, and corn,” says Pablo. “Mymother Barbarita would can vegetables for the winter.We would keep the beans we needed and take the rest tosell in Estancia.”

After high school, Pablo joined the military. “I think itwas my way of giving back,” he says. Pablo recentlyretired after 25 years of service in the US Army Reserveafter returning from his tour of duty in Iraq.

“My upbringing was very disciplined and old-fash-ioned,” he says. “I don’t take anything for granted. Iknow about hard work. I believe that is why I am so pas-sionate and dedicated to my work here.”

Pablo says he has always donated to Shoes for Kids,

but this is the first year that he has actually helped fitshoes. “Immediately I had feelings of joy,” says Pablo.

“I would have never imagined I would be workingfor the company whose employees’ generosity putshoes on my feet. As a child, I did not think I was wor-thy of working here. I will always be indebted to San-dia National Laboratories.” Pablo has been at Sandia24 years.

The two-room house that he grew up in has beenremodeled and Barbarita still lives there. The house nowhas three rooms and a bathroom.

“You can’t fully appreciate the Shoes for Kids programuntil you have experienced it,” says Pablo.

By Iris Aboytes

‘Shoes for Kids was my window into Sandians’ generosity’

PABLO MONTOYA (4211) shares smiles with Arturo during aShoes for Kids fitting at the Shoe Dept. in Albuquerque.

(Photo by Cheryl Garcia)

The Shoes for Kids story

RICHARD SONS

ROLE MODEL — Pablo Montoya with new friends at a Shoes for Kids fitting.(Photo by Randy Montoya)