Sandia National Laboratories
Mission and Vision
To render exceptional service in the national interest has been Ի徱’s core purpose since 1949.Networking with universities is a crucial component for talent pipeline development that allows Sandia to work with and recruit top graduates with innovative ideas and unique perspectives to full-time work at the national level.
Universities within Ի徱’s University Partnerships network possess areas of expertise that are complementary to those of Sandia and may include unique capabilities. Conversely, Ի徱’s broad scope can guide institutions to vector research relevant to national security needs. Together, these academic teams and Sandia go from innovative ideas to implemented solutions that solve problems neither institution could fully accomplish by itself.
Sandia National Laboratories is a U.S. Department of Energy andNational Nuclear Security Administration Federally-Funded Research and Development (R&D) Center with a ~$4B budget to advance the frontiers of science and engineering for societal impact.
Sandia and CU Boulder maintain an academic partnership that enables collaboration on research and development projects aimed at benefiting the national security mission.
Ի徱’s recruiting team works to attract, hire and build a strong pipeline of critical and diverse top talent for the laboratory. The growing partnership between our institutions promotes engagement with the next generation of scientists and engineers and development of capabilities that enhance the trajectory of the scientific landscape.
CU can bring to Sandia cutting-edge ideas and top-notch science and engineering, in the form of collaborative projects as well as in the form of students who come to Sandia as interns, postdocs or employees. The regional proximity is a very helpful factor in fostering this relationship as well.”
—Mike Descour, senior manager and Sandia National Laboratories’ University of Colorado campus executive
The national laboratories perform critical work to support our nation and the world. The growth of partnerships being developed with the national laboratories speaks to the lasting value that CU Boulder employees and alumni bring to helping the world solve some of its biggest problems.”
—Gijs de Boer, director for national laboratory partnerships, senior research scientist at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) and associate director for science for the Integrated Remote and In Situ Sensing initiative
Key Areas of Collaboration
Research Focus Areas
Sandia and CU Boulder’s current research focus areas include:
Research Foundations
Ի徱’sResearch Foundations address the extensive national security challenges within Ի徱’s mission space. Each of the Research Foundations focuses on stewarding unique capabilities in seven areas.
- Biosciences: Biothreats, Biomanufacturing, Biosurveillance, Biosecurityand Biocontainment
- Computing & Information Sciences (CIS): Computational Science, Computing Systems, Information Science, Trusted AI, Generative AIand Human Trust
- Earth Sciences: Subsurface sensing, Climate intervention, Greenhouse gas monitoring, Climate impact analysisand Extreme weather prediction
- Engineering Sciences: Digital Engineering, Coupled/Multi Physics, Scientific 鶹Ƶy, Experimental test/ diagnostics, Design, Qualification, Validation & Verification, Uncertainty Quantificationand ML/AI
- Materials Sciences: Advanced Manufacturing, Materials 鶹Ƶy, Materials Sustainabilityand Extreme Environments
- Nanodevices and Microsystems: Semiconductors, Microelectronics, Quantum
- Radiation, Electrical& High Energy Density Sciences: Radiation Effects, Electrical Sciences, High Energy Density, Dynamic Materials Propertiesand Inertial Confinement Fusion
Mission Foundations
Sandia also oversees five major portfolios that address national security mission challenges. LDRD Mission Foundations conduct the applied research needed to develop capabilities and demonstrate solutions.
- Advanced Science & Technology: Supports our DOE Office of Science (SC) program, using unique, scientific, and cross-cutting capabilities – e.g., facilities, people, and experimental and computational platforms – to support SC’s scientific priorities and DOE’s missions. (Climate, 鶹Ƶy, Computation, Interfaces, Materials.)
- Energy & Homeland Security: Secures the nation’s critical infrastructures and environment against attacks, threats, and climate change by performing world-class R&D. (Energy Supply Chain, Reduce Carbon Intensity, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Data to Decisions, Physical Security, and Threat-informed Cybersecurity.)
- Global Security: Sponsors research advancing Ի徱’s ability to deliver technical innovation that advances security and peace around the world. (Sensors, Detection, Data Fusion, Modeling & Simulation, and Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction.)
- National Security Programs: Innovative R&D that enables trusted, threat-informed, pathfinder technologies and systems across four domains to provide Integrated Deterrence and Defense options for the Nation: Cyber Innovation; Heterogeneous Integration & Trusted Strategic Radiation-Hardened Microsystems; Innovation for Proliferation Assessment; and Radiation Frequency Supremacy & Hypersonics. (Autonomous Sensing, Threat detection/assessment, and Radio frequency).
- Nuclear Deterrence
200+ Sandia employees have a degree from CU Boulder
30+ interns and 15 employees (including postdocs) hired by Sandia since 2021
50+ joint publicationspennedsince 2021
Multiple CU Boulder students and postdocscurrently involved in LDRD collaborations
Success Stories
Heterogeneous Integration for Harsh Environments
Exploring heterogeneous integration for miniature optical data busses in harsh environments is key to delivering future microsystems.
PI: Christopher Nordquist
Advanced Finite-Rate Ablation Predictions with Quantified Uncertainty for Hypersonic Flight
Accurate predictions of ablation and thermal performance of heat shielded materials are critical to the design of thermal protection systems for hypersonic vehicles.
PI: Erin Mussoni
Tunable Metamaterials for Impact Mitigation
Traditional methods of shielding fragile goods and human tissues from impact energy rely on isotropic foam materials. The mechanical properties of these foams are inferior to an emerging class of metamaterials called plate lattices.
PIs: Robert MacCurdy, Brandon Hayesand Lawrence Smith with CU Boulder;David Flores, Elizabeth Smith, Kurtis Ford with Sandia
Opportunities at Sandia
For Students
A three-year fellowship to attractnationally recognized new PhD scientists and engineers
A three-year appointment to encourage women considering leadership in national security as scientists and engineers
A one- to two-year postdoctoral fellowship in applied and computational mathematics relevant to a broad range of science and engineering problems
A two-year appointment in pulsed power physics and/or engineering as they apply to radiation, electricaland high-energy density sciences
A two-year appointment with the potential for a third year for fellows in general data science techniques and autonomous aerospace systems
Postdoctoral appointees conduct leading-edge research, publish and present their findings, collaborate with others in academia and industry, and contribute to the advancement of technology in a wide variety of scientific fields
For Faculty Collaborators
Ի徱’s Academic Programs Office promotes faculty collaborations in several ways:
- We collect input for our yearly LDRD research needs to facilitate potential university collaborations.
- Our program also supports Joint Appointments in the following ways:
- University faculty members participating in the Joint Appointments Program at Sandia remain employees at their institutions but have access to Sandia resources (including experimental and computational capabilities), staff expertiseand possible LDRD funding.
- Joint appointees gain insight into Ի徱’s strategic landscape and can also participate on “DOE Lab-only” projects and proposal opportunities.
- Sandia staff can also participate in the Joint Appointments Program, which allows them to work part time at a host university while remaining a full employee at the Labs.