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“We’ve Got the Power”: Sandia technology test delivers electricity to the grid
News Article, August 9, 2022 • First test of cutting-edge Brayton cycle technology put power into local grid For the first time, Sandia National Laboratories researchers delivered electricity produced by a new power-generating system to the Sandia-Kirtland Air Force Base electrical grid. The system uses heated supercritical carbon dioxide instead of steam to generate electricity and...
"Two men stand before a cabinet of power system controllers"

Algae scrubbing for waterway remediation and biofuel production
News Article, December 3, 2024 • Photo caption: Principal Investigator Ryan Davis and team have advanced an algae flow-way system that reclaims major nutrients, metals, and organic and inorganic carbon from surface waters. Sandia researchers are advancing algae flow-way systems that screen out pollutants from the environment. Designed to simultaneously remediate water and grow algae for...
A researcher in a lab coat sits beside a flow way containing algae

Algorithm could shorten quality testing, research in many industries by months
News Article, February 16, 2022 • Machine learning used to predict direction-dependent mechanical properties of metals A machine-learning algorithm developed at Sandia could provide auto manufacturing, aerospace and other industries a faster and more cost-efficient way to test bulk materials. The technique was published recently in the scientific journal Materials Science and Engineering: A. Production stoppages are...
Sandia researchers examine data generated by the machine-learning algorithm Material Data Driven Design.

American Chemical Society honors Sandia Labs scientist
News Article, July 2, 2024 • Sandia National Laboratories materials scientist Dorina Sava Gallis has been honored by the American Chemical Society with a 2024 Women Chemists Committee Rising Star Award, recognizing her excellence in the scientific enterprise demonstrating outstanding promise for contributions to her field. In her 14 years at Sandia, Sava Gallis has accumulated...
Sandia National Laboratories materials scientist Dorina Sava Gallis was recently recognized by the American Chemical Society Women Chemists Committee with a Rising Star Award. (Photo by Craig Fritz)

At Sandia Labs, a vision for navigating when GPS goes dark
News Article, October 25, 2022 • Words like “tough” or “rugged” are rarely associated with a quantum inertial sensor. The remarkable scientific instrument can measure motion a thousand times more accurately than the devices that help navigate today’s missiles, aircraft and drones. But its delicate, table-sized array of components that includes a complex laser and vacuum...
Sandia National Laboratories atomic physicist Jongmin Lee examines the sensor head of a cold-atom interferometer that could help vehicles stay on course where GPS is unavailable. (Photo by Bret Latter)

Back to the drawing board: Reinventing offshore wind turbines
News Article, August 16, 2022 • New Sandia software allows for design of innovative floating turbines Brandon Ennis, Sandia National Laboratories’ offshore wind technical lead, had a radically new idea for offshore wind turbines: instead of a tall, unwieldy tower with blades at the top, he imagined a towerless turbine with blades pulled taut like a...
An illustration of a vertical axis wind turbine

Bioscience research holds promise to help address environmental damage
News Article, February 28, 2024 • Palm kernel oil is used in almost 40% of beauty and food products worldwide, but the $12 billion industry is estimated to account for millions of acres lost to deforestation and 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Sandia bioscientist Di Liu recently demonstrated novel metabolic routes to produce lipids containing...
Waxen red-orange tinted seeds sit atop a rock.

Bruised and bleeding: New materials show where they’re hurt
News Article, March 18, 2024 • Cody Corbin spreads oxygen sensitive material inside two concentric cylinders at Sandia National Labs on Nov. 30, 2023. Once constructed the cylinder will protect contents by indicating if there has been tampering. Photo by Craig Fritz Every over-the-counter medication bottle sports a protective seal, usually a plastic wrap or foam...
Scientist Cody Corbin stands at a lab station, his body is separated from the material he is working with by glass, and his arms are protected by rubber sleeves.

Creating diamonds to shed light on the quantum world
News Article, September 26, 2022 • Diamonds are a scientist’s best friend. That much is at least true for physicist Andy Mounce, whose work with diamond quantum sensors at Sandia National Laboratories has earned him the DOE’s Early Career Research Award. As a scientist in Sandia’s Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, he specializes in making microscopic sensors...
Sandia National Laboratories’ Andy Mounce makes microscopic sensors to try to understand quantum materials at the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies. He is one of four employees to earn DOE’s Early Career Research Award. (Photo by Bret Latter

Creating the self-healing grid of the future
News Article, March 14, 2024 • Michael Ropp, Electrical Engineer Self-healing electrical grids: It may sound like a concept from science fiction, with tiny robots or some sentient tech crawling around fixing power lines, but in a reality not far from fiction a team of researchers is bringing this idea to life. What’s not hard to...
Michael Ropp poses for a photo at Sandia’s Distributed Energy Technology Lab (DETL) on Oct. 13, 2023. His team is working on ways for an energy microgrids to self-heal using computer algorithms. Photo by Craig Fritz/Sandia National Labs

Detecting nuclear materials using light
News Article, November 22, 2023 • Sandia partners with former employee to get tech on the market Sandia National Laboratories researcher Patrick Feng, left, and Former Sandian Joey Carlson, right, hold Organic Glass Scintillators they helped create to detect radioactive materials. (Photo by Randy Wong) LIVERMORE, Calif. — Blueshift Optics, owned by former Sandia employee Joey...
Two researchers hold up a scintillator, a blue disk

Electric vehicle battery safety takes the front seat
News Article, April 27, 2023 • A Sandia-led team is working to test and predict the safety of advanced batteries, including solid-state and lithium-metal, while they are still under development. The goal is to create more affordable, convenient, efficient, and resilient electric vehicle batteries. The team, which includes UL Research Institutes, the University of Maryland and...
Two researchers stand in a lab, their faces lit by the screen and equipment in front of them

HelioCon Highlight: Solar Dynamics, NSTTF to demonstrate off-the-shelf wireless control system
News Article, September 6, 2023 • Earlier this year the Heliostat Consortium, co-led by Sandia National Laboratories and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), announced seven awards related to a request for proposals (RFP) targeting the U.S. Department of Energy’s goals for heliostat cost reduction, sustained multifaceted innovation, and improved solar field performance. Sandia’s National Solar...
Two technologist stand atop the solar tower with the helioststa and control room behind them

HelioCon’s latest request for proposals supports widespread use of concentrating solar power
News Article, January 29, 2024 • The Heliostat Consortium has released its next request for proposals focused on lowering the costs of heliostat technologies, improving performance, and creating new heliostat industry opportunities. Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the consortium consists of National Renewable Energy Laboratory (lead) and partnering organizations Sandia National Laboratories and the...

Increasing efficiency and power density for next-generation electric drivetrains
News Article, December 23, 2024 • (a) Simplified diagram of the GaN trench MOSFET. (b) Image of the MOSFET devices under test. (c) Image of the 2” wafer as fabricated. While the underlying science benefits a range of potential applications and industries, the team’s research was funded by the DOE Vehicle Technologies Office which is investigating...

International team plans to transform battery databases
News Article, January 30, 2023 • A consortium of researchers, including Sandia battery experts Yuliya Preger and Valerio De Angelis, are working together to stimulate battery innovation by developing battery databases. Ultimately, they hope to expand the role of batteries in supporting the transformation of electric grid infrastructure including the integration of renewable energy resources and...
Two researchers stand by battery testing equipment

Making materials more durable through science
News Article, September 12, 2023 • A team at Sandia National Laboratories developed a molecule that helps change the way some materials react to temperature fluctuations, which makes them more durable. It’s an application that could be used in everything from plastic phone cases to missiles. Polymers, which include various forms of plastics, are made up...
A researcher holds a vial of a new batch of a new, more durable material

National Solar Thermal Test Facility and University of Arizona partner for HelioCon project
News Article, January 31, 2024 • Sandia’s National Solar Thermal Test Facility is partnering with the University of Arizona's Professor J. Roger Angel for one of four projects the Heliostat Consortium awarded last year. The project, “Twisting Heliostats with Closed Loop Tracking,” targets the U.S. Department of Energy’s goals for heliostat cost reduction, sustained multifaceted innovation,...

National Solar Thermal Test Facility prepares for new tower construction
News Article, January 23, 2023 • Construction on the new tower at Sandia National Laboratories’ National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF) is planned to begin Feb. 16, 2023, with a groundbreaking ceremony to take place at the facility. The tower is part of the Phase III, $25 million award announced by The U.S. Department of Energy...

New connector links structural, electrical systems
News Article, January 10, 2022 • Sandia has filed a patent for a simple modification to traditional rivets that may help engineer safer systems. Kyle LeBlanc and Tim Briggs worked with machinist Brian Holliday to create what they are calling the wire rivet — a rivet with a lengthwise gap that, when crimped together through mechanically...
a labeled wire-rivet diagram

New Microgrid Design Toolkit tutorial site
News Article, April 30, 2024 • Sandia National Laboratories developed the Microgrid Design Toolkit (MDT), a decision support software for microgrid designers that is publicly available for download. Intended for use in the early stages of the design process, MDT uses powerful search algorithms to identify and characterize alternative microgrid designs in terms of user-defined inputs and...
Digital graphic wave

New software advancements provide cutting-edge energy storage analytics and planning
News Article, June 10, 2025 • QuESt 2.0 is an evolved version of the original QuESt, an open-source Python software designed for energy storage (ES) analytics. The software provides centralized access to multiple tools and improved data analytics, aiming to simplify ES analysis and democratize access to these tools. New improvements Exciting advancements were recently made...
Quest logo

New tool models viability of closed-loop geothermal systems
News Article, November 20, 2023 • Web tool looks belowground for an economically viable renewable energy source ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Geothermal power has a lot of promise as a renewable energy source that is not dependent on the sun shining or the wind blowing, but it has some challenges to wide adoption. One of these challenges is...
Illustration of a closed-loop geothermal system with various important factors labeled.

Powering the moon: Sandia researchers design microgrid for future lunar base
News Article, May 17, 2022 • Reliable, resilient microgrid to sustain astronauts, mining and fuel processing Sandia National Laboratories is well-known for designing reliable and resilient microgrids for military bases and vital city services. Now, Sandia researchers are working with NASA to design one for the moon. This is not the first time Sandia has partnered...
An artistic rendering of what a resilient microgrid for a lunar base camp might look like. Sandia National Laboratories engineers are working with NASA to design the system controller for the microgrid. (Illustration by Eric Lundin)
Results 1–25 of 51