Sandia, Purdue University Sign MOU to Establish Strategic Alliance

In April, Sandia and Purdue University signed an extensive, five-year memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish a strategic alliance that seeks to solve science and technology problems of national importance. The MOU has three principal goals: solve large national problems, sustain and engage human capital, and accelerate adoption of technology.

MOUs such as this one are expected to bolster connections between national research universities and federally funded research and development centers, such as Sandia. The MOU will provide opportunities for students and faculty to experience research work at a national lab; enable joint recruiting of top graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty; increase transfer of technology from Sandia and the university to the private and federal sectors; and build collaborations that address nationally significant problems.

“This alliance advances our long-standing partnership with Purdue University to a more strategic level and will serve as a model for productive collaborations between Sandia and other national research universities,” Hommert said. Among the technical frontiers of common interest to Sandia and Purdue researchers are trusted systems and communications, cybersystems resilience, detection at the limit, power on demand, and the science and engineering of quantum information systems.

Said Daniels, “Sandia Labs is recognized throughout the world for its groundbreaking research. It’s a tribute to the faculty and students of Purdue that a research institution of Sandia’s stature wants to deepen our relationship.” Current joint work includes next-generation memory systems, exascale computing, and improving wind turbines.

By fostering collaboration between a national lab and a prominent national research university, the partnership will take a multidisciplinary approach to solving big national problems and to introducing new technologies into the marketplace. A key goal is to engage early-career researchers at both institutions to work on complex problems of practical importance. Opportunities for joint faculty appointments and for research sabbaticals are expected to further intensify collaborations.

Read the Sandia news release.