Sandia’s Carol Adkins Named University of New Mexico Distinguished Alumna

On October 15^th, Carol Adkins (Director of Sandia’s Energy Technologies & Systems Solutions Center, Program Area Director for Renewable Systems & Energy Infrastructure), was honored, as one of seven distinguished University of New Mexico (UNM) alumni recognized this year, for her significant impact on UNM’s School of Engineering. The award is the school’s highest recognition for outstanding lifetime achievement.

Sandia’s Carol Adkins was named a distinguished alumna by the University of New Mexico’s School of Engineering. (Photo by Randy Montoya)

“Carol has made extensive technical contributions in her career, for example, her work on supercritical carbon dioxide cleaning of wafers, for which she received a DOE commercialization award. She has led many organizations and programs at Sandia, including the Materials Science and Engineering Center and the Materials Science Foundation,” said Joseph Cecchi, dean of the UNM School of Engineering. “She has also been a leader outside of Sandia by serving on various National Academy boards and review panels. Her service to UNM as deputy campus executive and her dedication as chair of the advisory board to the department of chemical and biological engineering is also exemplary.”

As deputy campus executive, Adkins helped author the Memorandum of Understanding between UNM and Sandia in July. “The Sandia-UNM agreement would not have happened without her thoughtful and energetic stewardship,” Cecchi said. Adkins also led the effort by Sandia and UNM to jointly hire Fernando Garzon, the first joint recruiting and hiring of a nationally recognized re­searcher.

“I care a lot about UNM,” Adkins said. “It is the university in our community. For that reason, I think it is important to give back to it. It is to all of our benefit to make sure that we have a strong, vibrant university.” Adkins grew up in Albuquerque and received her BS in chemical engineering from UNM and then earned her doctorate in chemical engineering from the California Institute of Technology.

Read the Sandia news release.