National achievement awards go to two Sandia Labs engineers

Sandia National Laboratories scientists Patrick Feng and Thushara Gunda recently were honored with national achievement awards by the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers. The awards recognize recipients’ leadership and accomplishments in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Gunda, a systems research analyst, earned a Promising Professional Achievement Award, 2-10 years, for her advances in water security, energy resilience and anticipatory science.

Combining social science insights with physical sciences and engineering activities, Gunda advances tools and techniques to discover patterns and new knowledge made possible by her innovative approach integrating disciplines and data. Her unique approaches have generated collaborations with government agencies, national laboratories, industry partners and universities.

Gunda also led the establishment of a Sandia community of practice focused on analytics for climate and earth sciences and co-leads a multi-laboratory effort focused on water-energy information exchanges. She serves as the New Mexico Water Data Initiative’s technical working group lead, is an external advisory board member for the Hantush-Deju National Center for Hydrological Innovation at New Mexico Tech and is an American Geophysical Union committee member for diversity and inclusivity initiatives. She generously shares her knowledge through peer-reviewed papers, technical reports, conferences, workshops and seminar presentations.

Read the full news release to learn more about the two winners.