Vol. 59, No. 11 May 25, 2007

(Continued on page 4)

Managed by Lockheed Martin for the National Nuclear Security Administration

Managing by intent: Tom Hunter and John Stichmanon the State of the Labs during a time of transformation

Lab News: Let’s start with something that’sbeen the subject of a lot of discussion lately: Howimportant is the RRW [reliable replacement war-head] program to the nuclear weapons complex ingeneral, and to Sandia in particular?

Tom Hunter: RRW is, rightfully, a matter ofnational discussion and debate — it’s essentialto have that national discussion about theappropriate policy, and then it seems essentialthat RRW should at a minimum be evaluated tofind out what it can do for the transformationin both the stockpile and the complex.

For us, I think, RRW represents a uniqueopportunity to start to transform the stockpilefor the future, and it represents a way we can

LABS PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR Tom Hunter, right, emphasizes a point during during the annual Lab News Stateof the Labs interview. Joining him in his office is Executive VP John Stichman. (Photos by Randy Montoya)

Sandia research indicates that lightningwas the likely cause of Sago Mine explosionLabs’ research makes way into official report

Findings of a Sandia research team were a keysource of a recently released report by the US MineSafety and HealthAdministration(MSHA) indicatingthat lightning wasthe likely cause of theexplosion in the SagoMine on Jan. 2, 2006.The disaster killed 12miners.

As part of its offi-cial investigation,MSHA contractedwith Sandia to studyif energy from alightning strike couldtravel undergroundto potentially ignitean explosive mixtureof methane gas trapped in a sealed section of theSago Mine. Three lightning strikes were recordedby national detection networks, along with eye-witness accounts of other strikes nearby the mine,just prior to the explosion. The bolts struck nearly

simultaneously with the explosion that was regis-tered by seismographs and carbon monoxidemonitors at the mine.

Operations at the mine were officially idledin late March bymine owner Interna-tional Coal Group,Inc. A small crewremains employed atSago to maintain themine infrastructure.

In early Novem-ber a Sandia teamtook its test monitor-ing equipmentacross the country tothe Sago Mine,located near Buck-hannon, W.Va. Theyspent 10 days ana-lyzing the likelihoodthat electric current

produced by a lightning strike could transmiteffects deep into the coal mine.

Their findings became part of the final MSHAaccident investigation report delivered to Con-

By Chris Burroughs

SANDIAN DAWNA CHARLEY, left, and a Sago miner workwith a vehicle, called a “mantrip,” before it enters the mineas part of experiments Sandia researchers conducted at thesite last November.

(Continued on page 8)

Brokering — the stage of Sandia’s Man-aged Workforce Transition (MWT) processduring which senior managers actively soughtto match job openings and people across theLabs — has concluded.

MWT is a systematic Labs-wide staffingprocess, begun in November, designed toalign Sandia’s workforce with the work thatneeds to be done (Lab News, Dec. 8, 2006; Feb.16, 2007; and April 13, 2007).

Brokering, one of the final steps in theprocess, began in early April.

(See the answer on page 6 of the interviewwith Tom Hunter and John Stichman, whichstarts above, for an assessment of progressmade as a result of the MWT.)

Although the formal MWT steps haveconcluded, Pat Smith, acting VP for HumanResources Div. 3000, encourages managers,directors, and VPs to continue to place avail-able people in open, funded positionsthrough directed transfers and post and bid.Divisions that are below their FTE targetsshould seek qualified candidates internally ifpossible, she says.

“If an internal candidate is qualified orcan be suitably retrained, please consider sucha candidate first,” she says.

There will be situations in which matchescannot be made, says Pat. In those situations,organizations should evaluate whether theycan retain a person for several months inanticipation of future work or until attritionresolves the discrepancy. Another option,when an employee’s skills do not match cur-rent or anticipated work, is placing the

Brokering stage of Labs’Managed WorkforceTransition process ends

Status report:

Matching work to peopleand people to work continues

Inside . . .

Note: Each year, the Lab News talks to Sandia’ssenior leaders about the important issues on employees’minds and the issues that will shape the future of theLabs. This year, that conversation took place inLabs President and Director Tom Hunter’s office,where Tom was joined by Executive VP John Stichmanto talk with Lab News editor Bill Murphy, MediaRelations and Communications Manager ChrisMiller, and Sandia publications editor John German.

California site wins prestigious DOE P2 awardfor its environmental management system . . . . . . . . . . . Page 3

Scores of Sandia volunteers take on key roles inIntel International Science and Engineering Fair 2007 . . . Page 9

Sandia and Boeing to work on hydrogen-basedfuel cells for standby power in aircraft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 10

Sandia Safety Fair speaker’s firsthand story jolts audienceto take safety procedures seriously . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 11

Thunderbird Award winners overcome obstacles. . . . . . Page 13

Brian Griego is a walking, running miracle man. . . . . . . Page 16 (Continued on page 7)

Sandia National Laboratorieshttp://www.sandia.gov/LabNews

Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185-0165Livermore, California 94550-0969Tonopah, Nevada • Nevada Test Site • Amarillo, Texas •Carlsbad, New Mexico • Washington, D.C.

Sandia National Laboratories is a multiprogram laboratory operated bySandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin company, for the US Departmentof Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration.

Bill Murphy, Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505/845-0845Chris Burroughs, Writer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505/844-0948Randy Montoya, Photographer . . . . . . . . 505/844-5605Mike Janes, California site contact. . . . . . . 925/294-2447Michael Lanigan, Production. . . . . . . . . . 505/844-2297

Contributors: Janet Carpenter (844-7841), John German(844-5199), Neal Singer (845-7078), Stephanie Holinka (284-9227),Howard Kercheval (columnist, 844-7842), Iris Aboytes (844-2282),Michael Padilla (284-5325), Julie Hall (284-7761), Patti Koning(925-294-4911), Rod Geer (844-6601), and Michelle Fleming(Ads, Milepost photos, 844-4902), Darrick Hurst (intern, 844-8009).Dept. 3651 Manager: Chris Miller (844-0587).Lab News fax ................................................505/844-0645Classified ads ................................................505/844-4902

Published on alternate Fridays by Media Relations andEmployee Communications Dept. 3651, MS 0165

What’s what

Lab News Reader ServiceRetirees (only):To notify of changes in address, contact Benefits Dept. 3332, Customer Service, at505-844-4237, or Mail Stop 1021, SandiaNational Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM87185-1021.

It’s no surprise, I guess, that numbers — like those pointed outin a two-line blurb in Sandia Daily News three weeks ago — really catchthe attention of folks at an engineering R&D lab. It noted that atthree minutes and four seconds after 2 a.m. on May 6 the time/datesequence would be 02:03:04 05/06/07, and that that wouldn’t happenagain for 100 years.

A couple of people wrote right away, in time to make the May 11Lab News, pointing out variations and other factoids of sequentialnumbers. But other numerophiles chimed in, too.

Mark Boslough (1433) wrote that that same sequence also “will happennext month in most countries, where they write June 5, 2007, as 05-06-07.”

Gerard Kerbleski (3331) added: “Yes, but at 12:34 a.m. and p.m.,it was 12:34 5/6/7.”

And Keith Miller (1523) noted that his granddaughter will be 07years old on 07/07/07.

Surely someone could crunch all these number combinations andcome up with a lottery or roulette winner. If so, I hope he or she willremember where the suggestion came from and share generously; my boatneeds lots of stuff.

* * *We made a little style change in Sandia Daily News last week.

Publications use “style” for consistency — abbreviating some things andspelling out others, for example, referring to people by title(honorific or otherwise), etc. Because my first job in journalism waswith The Associated Press, I’ve kept to that style, partly by habit butalso because it’s used by thousands of publications in the US and otherplaces around the world.

In AP style for days/dates referenced in a story, Monday,Tuesday, etc., are used for days of the week within seven days beforeor after the current (publication/broadcast) date; the month and afigure (June 8, July 1, etc.) are used for dates beyond that range.Afternoon publications (like SDN) also use “today,” “tonight,” “thismorning,” and “this afternoon.” That style seems to be based on verbtense common sense and conversational usage: “I’m going to do so-and-soMonday” indicates the next Monday after the announcement, or “I sawthat Monday” indicates the last Monday prior to the announcement. AMonday further out or back would have to be specified by date. Simple.

But occasionally, an SDN reader would email “Which Monday do youmean?” or “To me, ‘today’ is the day I read SDN, and I don’t alwaysread it the day it comes out,” or something similar. I would explainand that would be that. Questions about “which Monday” were rare. Butthere have been a few.

So, clarity being the foremost requirement of communication, thestyle is now to state the complete, unambiguous date, as in “Friday,May 25, 2007.”

Hopefully, there’ll be no need for further clarification, such asBC, BCE, AD, or CE. Surely we can figure that out.

* * *Oh, and by the way, where’s Suavé Superfly these days?

— Howard Kercheval (844-7842, MS 0165, hckerch@sandia.gov)

Bob Stevens callsfor support of MilitaryAppreciation Month

Note: Lockheed Martin President, Chairman, andCEO Bob Stevens recently sent a memo to all employeesaround the corporation, encouraging them to participatein the Lockheed Martin Employees Care program,which provides care packages to military personnel.Here’s the text of his memo:

* * *In an effort to honor the personal sacrifices of

the men and women of the armed forces andtheir families, Congress has designated May asNational Military Appreciation Month.

As a Lockheed Martin family, we have espe-cially close ties to those who serve. Many of ushave military experience, and we have 266employees currently called to active duty in theNational Guard and Reserves. Beyond that, as acorporation we have a mission to support our ser-vice men and women with the systems, products,and services on which their lives — and our free-dom — ultimately depend.

One way to show your appreciation of ourmen and women in uniform is through the Lock-heed Martin Employees Care program, accessibleat www.lockheedmartinemployeescare.com.

Through this program, you can make a tax-deductible donation to purchase care packages for$25 per package. These packages contain manyitems our service men and women haverequested, such as prepaid phone cards, books,and personal items. Since the Lockheed MartinEmployees Care USO Care Package programbegan in 2004, the corporation and employeeshave donated close to $1 million.

Now more than ever — with tours of dutybeing extended for many deployed personnel — isthe time to consider sending a care package.They are a warm reminder of home for our mili-tary who are stationed far away from their familiesand friends. Thanks in advance for your contin-ued generous support of this program — and forletting our service men and women know we care.

Sandia will field aRace for the Cure team

On Sunday, June 10, a Sandia team will joinin the fight against breast cancer by participatingin the 2007 Central NewMexico Komen Race for theCure® Run/Walk. Therun/walk features a 5K run, a5K walk, and a mile walk.

Up to 75 percent of the net proceeds from therace will stay in central New Mexico to fundscreening, treatment, and follow-up care forunderserved women; education on breast healthand early detection; and outreach programsspecifically targeted to breast cancer.

Sandians working to put together the Labs teaminclude Jodi Case, Jackie Von Loh, Chris Slater, IanCheng, Kristen Steen, and Robin Mitchell.

Jodi says the goal is to enlist at least 250Sandians to participate in the event. “Help usexceed this goal and, more importantly, helpmake a difference in the fight against breastcancer,” Jodi says. The Sandia team is open toemployees, contractors, friends, and familymembers.

For more information or to get a team regis-tration form, contact Jodi at jcase@sandia.gov or844-8559.

Register by May 28 and receive $5 off of theentry fee of $25.

Retiring and not seen in Lab News pictures:Larry Clevenger (3300), 28 years; Joanne Hertz(6421), 12 years.

Note: Patents listed here include the names ofactive Sandians only; non-Sandia inventors are notincluded. Following the listing for each patent is apatent number, which is searchable at the US Patentand Trademarks Office website (www.uspto.gov).

* * *Bruce Mosier, Bob Crocker (both 8125), and

Kamlesh Patel (8324): Sample Preparation Systemfor Microfluidic Preparations (Patent No.7,213,473)

Stephen Eisenbies (8237) and Steven Haney(8229): Adaptive Ophthalmologic System(7,195,354)

Chris Cornelius, Cy Fujimoto, and MichaelHickner (all 6338): Sulfonated PolyphenylenePolymer (7,186,790)

Clifford Ho (6313): Circular Chemiresistorsfor Microchemical Sensors (7,189,360)

Kurt Berger (8231): Reticle State Based LinearDosimeter (7,196,771)

SANDIA LAB NEWS • May 25, 2007 • Page 3

California Site wins major environmentalmanagement award from DOE

Sandia/California recently was awarded aprestigious DOE Pollution Prevention (P2) StarAward for the implementation of the site’s Envi-ronmental Management System (EMS).

“This is the highest pollution preventionaward given out by DOE,” says Janet Harris(8516). “More importantly, this award recognizesthe hard work of our entire site in implementingthe EMS quickly and effectively.”

Titled “Unique Approaches and TechniquesResulting in Rapid and Effective EMS Implemen-tation at SNL/CA,” the project first received anNNSA Environmental Stewardship Award lastDecember. Those winners were then advanced tothe DOE P2 Star Awards competition, whichincludes the entire DOE complex.

The team behind this effort received a GoldPresident’s Quality Award (PQA) for their work in2006.

Sandia/New Mexico also received a DOE P2Star Award for “HERMES III Waste MinimizationPractices.”

Sandia/California implemented its EMS pro-gram in just 14 months, a process that took mostother DOE facilities several years to complete. In2003 DOE set a requirement for all of its facilitiesto have an environmental management system inplace by December 2005.

Initially, Sandia/New Mexico led the EMSeffort for all Labs sites. During the process itbecame clear the California site needed a separateEMS program because of the different environ-mental aspects of the two sites, especially in geog-raphy, local environmental laws, and the natureof the work conducted. Radioactive waste andheavy noise, for example, have a much lower riskranking for California than for New Mexico.

In ranking the risk of environmental aspects,Sandia/California examined conditions undernormal and off-normal operations to account forexisting controls and compliance programs. Con-sideration for off-normal events allowed the inclu-sion of emergency aspects such as earthquake andfire as environmental aspects in the program.

A 2003 study by the US Geological Society

concluded there is a 62 percent probability of atleast one magnitude 6.7 or greater quake strikingthe San Francisco Bay Area region before 2032.

In October 2004, the site established a coreteam consisting of Mark Brynildson, DeannaDicker, Laurie Farren, Leslee Gardizi, Janet Harris,Robert Holland, Barbara Larsen, and Gary Shamber,all of Environmental Management Dept. 8516.The initial goal was to exceed the DOE require-ments and establish an EMS that could achieveISO 14001:2004 certification by the end ofFY2007.

The core team started with a strong projectmanagement approach. They performed a

detailed gap analysis against both DOE and ISOrequirements. The gap analysis looked at whichaspects of the DOE order the site was alreadymeeting, and what was necessary to meet theremaining aspects.

‘We weren’t missing much’ “The results of the gap analysis were very

encouraging,” says Barbara Larsen (8516), Envi-ronmental Planning & Ecology Program lead.“We found we weren’t missing much. The bigpieces, such as targeted environmental programsand implementation of compliance requirements,were already in place. We needed to work on thesupplemental activities such as documentation,communication, and training.”

In July 2005, the California site plan wasaudited by ES&H, Quality, and Safeguards & Secu-rity Dept. 12870. The auditors completed only adesk audit and interviewed core team members toverify that the elements of the EMS program metDOE requirements.

The EMS program has 19 aspects, each withits own broad objective to minimize environmen-tal impact. Specific targets, including chemicalinventory reduction, large-scale recycling, mini-mizing refueling on Spare the Air days, and greenpurchasing, support achievement in meeting theobjectives.

“Our environmental aspects impact everyonein some way. Everyone made small changes for abig net effect,” says Janet. “In shipping andreceiving, wood pallets are now recycled. Mainte-nance changes routine equipment fueling onSpare the Air days. OMAs seek out green purchas-ing whenever possible.”

The EMS has resulted in substantial progressin many environmental program areas. The haz-ardous material inventory was decreased by 15percent in FY05 and an additional 12 percent inFY06, exceeding the goals set for both years.

Electrical energy use has declined signifi-cantly, from 38,483 megawatt hours (MWHs) inFY04 to 35,974 MWHs in FY06, a reduction of

nearly 10 percent. By the end of FY2006, the sitewas recycling 3,836 pounds of toner cartridges,1,367 pounds of aluminum beverage containers,882 pounds of glass beverage containers, and 661pounds of plastic beverage containers.

Barbara says a key ingredient to the success ofthe EMS was the commitment from site manage-ment, notably then-Div. 8000 VP Mim John.

“Having Mim’s firm commitment reallyhelped in rolling out the EMS,” she says. “AndPaul Hommert continues to provide a high levelof support, leading the site in embracing thisprocess. Everyone here has really put their armsaround the EMS and taken ownership.”

Another key factor was the InterdisciplinaryTeam (IDT), which won a President’s QualityAward in 1999. The IDT consists of representa-tives from each environmental, safety and health(ES&H) subject area, facilities, and security. TheIDT reviews all new or modified site activities andprojects for their potential environmentalimpacts, and provides for incorporation of allenvironmental requirements.

The auditors approved Sandia/California’sEMS program with noteworthy recognition forgoing above and beyond the requirements. Divi-sion 8000 was the first in all of Sandia to self-declare that it had met the DOE requirement.

With the EMS plan in place, the core teampushed forward and achieved ISO 14001:2004certification in September 2006, a year ahead ofschedule. Division 8000 is the first organizationat Sandia to receive this certification and isbeing viewed as a pilot for Sandia/New Mexico,which is aiming to receive certification by theend of FY08.

ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING staff John Chavarria and Robert Holland (both 8516) conduct groundwater mon-itoring at the Navy Landfill site, located at the southern end of Sandia/California.

THE EMS CORE TEAM of Gary Shamber, Janet Harris,Laurie Farren, Mark Brynildson, Leslee Gardizi, RobertHolland, and Barbara Larsen. (Deanna Dicker is notshown.) (Photo by Randy Wong)

By Patti Koning

For more California news,see “Sandia builds ties toCalifornia’s clean energyinitiatives” on page 11.

SANDIA LAB NEWS • May 25, 2007 • Page 4

transform the production complex and turn itinto something that is more effective, morerobust, and more agile.

John Stichman: RRW represents an oppor-tunity for us to support national policy. Also, itis fully in line with one of the major strategies ofthe Laboratory, which is to support through ourleadership the transformation of the nuclearweapons stockpile and the complex that sup-ports the stockpile.

How much work does RRW represent?LN: If RRW does go forward, will it be a fairly

significant portion of our work?TH: Within the weapons program nation-

ally, the volume of work will not change enor-mously with RRW. It will become a piece of theweapons program at the national level. At Sandiathe same thing is largely true. We still have tomaintain the stockpile. We’ll still have to do theassessments of the stockpile. We’ll still have toprovide support for the entire stockpile. RRWwill be an important and transformational pro-gram, but it will not result in large growth in thework in the weapons program at Sandia ornationally.

It’s also important to note that our role innational security has many dimensions. Theprincipal one for us has been and will continueto be nuclear weapons. But we do provide a bal-anced portfolio of capabilities for the nation inmany areas of national security.

LN: Besides RRW, what’s the most significantweapons work Sandia’s going to be involved in overthe next few years?

TH: Key technology elements that willenable the broader transformation will includeour work in microsystems, our work in comput-ing, our work in system design, and our work inmaking sure we know how to impact productionwithin the complex.

JS: I’d also emphasize stockpile evaluation.Sandia always has been a leader in developingnew ways to do the surveillance and overall eval-uation of the stockpile, and that continues to bea major element of our activity.

TH: One of the significant examples of tech-nology transformation that we’re involved intoday resulted from the elimination of our abil-ity to use certain reactors to do radiation hard-ening testing. The science basis for making thatchange at Sandia, the QASPR [QualificationAlternatives to the Sandia Pulsed Reactor] pro-gram, is an example of one of those key and veryimpacting programs that we’re going to have tomaster and do over the next several years. JoanWoodard has taken a leadership role in all ofthis work.

Will the weapons budget be adequatefor the mission?

LN: Do you think the budget over the next fewyears will be adequate for the Labs to fully executeits weapons mission?

TH: The nuclear weapons budget is under

stress nationally. There will be a lot of work todo in the incorporation of RRW, if that movesforward. But beyond that, the transformation ofthe complex is going to require a lot ofresources. Sandia will be bearing some of thesame stress locally that the complex will feel

nationally. Therewill be key areaswhere we’ll feel likewe don’t have theresources to dowhat we need to do,but our experiencehas been, if we workvery hard and wework very closelywith the customer,we’ll find a way toget the work done.That doesn’t meanit will be easy; itwill mean a lot ofhard work becausethere’s going to bebudget stress allthrough the system.

LN: Whatpotentially could be the effect of the Complex2030 plan on Sandia? [Note: Complex 2030 isthe name NNSA has attached to the process oftransforming the weapons complex and stockpileto meet 21st-century demands.]

TH: The complex will have to go through atransition. It appears to me that the role thatSandia has in nuclear weapons is essential nomatter which way the complex goes.

I think we’ll be relied on to play that role.The magnitude of the transition and the way itworks out at all the facilities is yet to be deter-mined, but there will be changes.

For example, we’re already eliminating spe-cial nuclear materialat Sandia to make thecomplex easier tooperate and makesecurity less costly.There’ll be a numberof those kinds ofchanges over time atSandia and aroundthe complex.

JS: In our 2007strategic plan, we setin place an intent tobe leaders in helpingthe governmentachieve Complex2030. And, in fact,we’re playing anactive leadership rolein that process.

TH: We should note that some of our capa-bilities like the MESA complex and the environ-mental testing complex and some of the othersimulation areas we have are likely to be crucialfeatures in the complex as we move forward.

Perceptions of nuclear energyLN: What’s the status of the GNEP [Global

Nuclear Energy Partnership] program? Is the politi-cal support there?

TH: I’m personally convinced that thecountry has a different attitude about nuclearenergy today than it did a few years ago. Itstems from the fact that we have to deal withthe question of climate change and the ques-tion of energy production; we have to deal withthe question of nonproliferation and we have todeal with the question of our global leadership.

The administration has said that if there’s tobe a broad nuclear future in this country, therehas to be a way to provide for a more effectivefuel cycle and do recycling of spent fuel. Other-wise you just accumulate too much spent fuel.

To date Congress has not supported theadministration directly in this concept, particu-larly in FY07. We’ll see how it comes out inFY08. So far, [GNEP] hasn’t grown as quickly asthe broad initiative the administration hadproposed.

LN: Do you think there’ll be a point where thepublic will demand some sort of concrete progress innuclear energy?

TH: The American public is a little hard topredict in this regard but I think they’re goingto declare in some way that our engagement ofthe environment and our energy use have to bemodified. Many will come to the conclusionthat nuclear energy is clearly the way to providemore usable energy and have less impact on the

“The nuclear weapons budget isunder stress nationally. . . .There will be key areas wherewe’ll feel like we don’t have theresources to do what we need todo, but our experience has been,if we work very hard and wework very closely with the cus-tomer, we’ll find a way to getthe work done.”

“I think the American publichas a sense of what their right-ful stewardship of the planetshould be. There will be peoplewho argue that nuclear energy isnot the way to go, but as Tomsaid, I think the country is morereceptive to nuclear power thanit has been in years.”

State of the Labs(Continued from page 1)

(Continued on next page)

STATE OF THE LABS — Lab News team members, from left, Bill Murphy, Chris Miller, and John German (all 3651)interview Tom Hunter, right, and John Stichman in Tom’s office.

(Photos by Randy Montoya)

SANDIA LAB NEWS • May 25, 2007 • Page 5

environment.JS: I think the American public has a sense

of what their rightful stewardship of the planetshould be. There will be people who argue thatnuclear energy is not the way to go, but as Tomsaid, I think the country is more receptive tonuclear power than it has been in years.

Yucca Mountain, satellites, imageryLN: What are the some of the notable projects

Sandia is involved in right now?TH: I think without question, the RRW as a

nuclear weapons program has to be considered avery exciting opportunity, an historic opportu-nity, for us to truly make a difference in thefuture of nuclear weapons. There are many oth-ers, but one that exemplifies in large part whowe are and how we serve the nation is our newrole in Yucca Mountain. We’ve been asked totake the leadership of the scientific program forYucca Mountain on a very compressed timeframe and out of that, DOE will put a license

application before the Nuclear Regulatory Com-mission next year.

JS: There’s also our work on satellite sys-tems, which continues to be a major area offocus for the Laboratory and one where we’vemet a significant number of challenges. Thatwork is exciting technically and it’s exciting pro-grammatically.

We’ve also made absolutely seminal contri-butions to real-time imaging radars, SAR [syn-thetic aperture radar], and our work for the Mis-sile Defense Agency and its predecessor agencieshas been a long-standing program for us. Wecontinue to make major contributions there.

TH: I would also add the work that we’redoing with the reconfigured Z machine. It’s anuclear weapons program — no question aboutthat — but the science work we’re doing aroundthe ability to produce X-rays and do materialstesting is just unprecedented.

JS: And think about the basic contributionswe have made in doing large-scale modeling andsimulation. Now again, that [work] is supportedby the nuclear weapons program, but it is some-thing that has actually added a new nationalcapability. The other thing that comes to mindin a totally different area is our work in infra-structure simulation. The National InfrastructureSimulation and Analysis Center [NISAC] is awhole new capability, so when disaster strikessomewhere you can see the effect on the infra-structure of the nation.

LN: That’s an incredible range of things that wejust really excel in.

JS: The joy we take in it is that there are somany things that are so exciting and so impact-ing; the regret we [Tom and I] have is we can’tactually go out and get actively engaged in theprojects.

A new vision: MESA, CINT,and the Innovation Corridor

LN: Tom, you mentioned the role MESA is likely

to play in a transformed complex. How importantare the MESA and CINT [Center for IntegratedNanotechnologies] facilities to Sandia?

TH: We’re thinking more broadly nowabout some of our major investments, MESAbeing the largest and CINT — in which we’reworking with Los Alamos — being a very impor-tant investment the Office of Science has madehere. What we envision now is something wecall the Innovation Corridor, where we’re inte-grating microsystems that we can develop atMESA, our work in high-performance comput-ing and modeling and simulation, and our fun-damental work at CINT in understanding thebehavior of atoms.

Each of those — computing, microsystems,and nanotechnology — are vital capabilities forus in themselves, but their integration creates anunprecedented opportunity.

Security technology, a differentiatingapproach to engineering, education

LN: Are there some things not widely knownabout Sandia that we’re good at?

JS: There are things we just can’t talk about;that’s just the nature of it. But I will say we havemade great contributions beyond the thingsthat we talk about openly.

TH: We lead the nation in understandingsecurity technology and how one applies that toall kind of critical features. It’s an importantcapability, but it doesn’t generate a lot of head-lines.

JS: We’re also trying to establish a differenti-ating approach to engineering in this nation,including engineering education, includingpreparation of people even at the K-12 level sothat they will be more inclined to go into thephysical sciences and engineering.

NNSA’s Performance EvaluationReport: Improvements and challenges

LN: The most recent NNSA report card saidwe’d made some significant strides in the opera-tional side of the house. What do you think hasbeen our biggest area of improvement?

JS: We’ve put in place an Integrated Labora-tory Management System [ILMS] that encom-passes the entire Laboratory. It’s a way for us tostate how we intend to run the Laboratory andthen to do a report card from time to time onhow we did.

Within ILMS, we’ve had goal-directed perfor-mance associated with our approaches to safetyand security and that has resulted in better per-formance in both of those areas. EmergencyManagement has also seen real improvementand that reflects a lot of work we’ve done there. Ilook at the annual performance evaluation byNNSA as a recognition that we did what we saidwe would do. We registered intent and thendrove toward that intent, and we’re performingbetter because of it.

LN: Is there any one area where we still reallyneed to improve?

JS: We need to recognize that operations arenot separate from fulfilling the mission. They

“What we envision now is somethingwe call the Innovation Corridor, wherewe're integrating microsystems that wecan develop at MESA, our work in high-performance computing and modelingand simulation, and our fundamentalwork at CINT in understanding thebehavior of atoms.”

“We’ve also made absolutely sem-inal contributions to real-timeimaging radars, SAR [syntheticaperture radar], and our work forthe Missile Defense Agency and itspredecessor agencies has been along-standing program for us. Wecontinue to make major contribu-tions there.”

“. . . one that exemplifies in largepart who we are and how we servethe nation is our new role in YuccaMountain. We’ve been asked totake the leadership of the scientificprogram for Yucca Mountain on avery compressed time frame and outof that, DOE will put a licenseapplication before the Nuclear Reg-ulatory Commission next year.”

(Continued on next page)

State of the Labs(Continued from preceding page )

SANDIA LAB NEWS • May 25, 2007 • Page 6

are part and parcel of how we assure mission suc-cess. If we are unsafe we jeopardize our ability toachieve mission success. Ifwe’re not secure, we jeopar-dize our ability to achievemission success.

We really have to workon line ownership of issueslike safety; it’s importantthat we all recognize thatsafety is something that’sowned by every single San-dian. We’ve made progress,but by our own measure-ments we’re not there yet.

TH: To add to that, wefound that we had signifi-cant agreement with oursite office and also withDOE Headquarters on someimportant fundamentalprinciples. One was that weneed to state our intentionfor how we want to see theLaboratory operated, andwe need to be clear anddeliberate and work closelywith them so that theiroversight becomes one ofsystemic evaluation and notevent-by-event critique.Another principle was that you can’t be excel-lent and have pieces of your enterprise that youignore and are not excellent. The third was thatwe had to make operational excellence a leader-ship challenge for everybody and get the entireLab engaged.

Regarding the performance evaluation — I

don’t know if I’d call it a report card — there’s avery important point I want to make: We are notyet where we want to be. What we saw this lastyear was that we’ve made an excellent beginningand DOE acknowledged that in the performanceappraisal, but there are still many areas forimprovement. In fact, that journey of improve-ment will never end.

Infrastructure investmentLN: As nuclear weapons funding from DOE

decreases — at least in real dollars — are therepotential customers out there who will provide thekind of fundamental infrastructure level of supportfor the Labs that DOE has historically provided?

JS: One of the strategic areas for the Labora-tory is to investigate how we can assure the ade-quacy of both our physical infrastructure andour science and technology base of the Labora-tory in the presence of programmatic needs fromother customers. So we’re working on methodsby which that would be done. We continue towork with the Department of Defense and theDepartment of Homeland Security on ways theycan help assure the continuation of these capa-bilities. It’s not a solved problem yet, but it isone that we continue to work.

TH: There’s no one we see today who hasthe intent or the strategic role of providing thesame kind of investment at the Laboratory thatthe nuclear weapons program has historicallyhad. It’s unrealistic to think that the scale ofinfrastructure investments that characterized thenuclear weapons program could be replaced byanybody else in the short term.

Reducing costs over five yearsLN: With health care and other costs rising and

contributions to the pension fund looming on thehorizon while funding stays essentially flat, weunderstand that FTEs in indirect are potentiallybeing reduced over the next five years by upwards of

20 or 25 percent. Do you think that Sandia willweather this period OK?

TH: There’s no doubt that we’re facing acost question and it applies both to direct andindirect. We have to do more and do it moreeffectively and efficiently in all of our programs.But you mention indirect specifically; indirect is

truly a cost and easy tocharacterize as a cost.

Our plan, generallyspeaking, is over five yearsto have our costs at theLaboratory down by about15 percent — we haven’tdecided on anything largerat this point — and that’llbe done at about 3 percentper year regardless ofwhether funding for theLaboratory goes up or goesdown.

We’ve deployed that tothe IES [Integrated Enabling Services] and we dothat both in dollars and in people. What itmeans is that the Laboratory will have to reallydeal with effectiveness and efficiency, clarity ofprocess, and clarity ofresult. We need to lookeverywhere we can forways to make things muchsimpler and much lesscostly to operate and func-tion. It’ll require the sup-port of everybody. It willrequire a big commitmentto thinking through whatwe do and why we do it.We’ll be deploying suchthings as Lean Six Sigmapractices to all of our oper-ations to see how we canmake them more effectiveand efficient.

JS: We want, to theextent possible, to perform the maximumamount of work directly for the customer. If wedidn’t do something to manage costs, with flatbudgets we would actually decrease the amountthat we could provide directly to the customer,and that’s not what we want for the future ofthe Laboratory. Our intention is to maintain thelevel of direct support to the customer that wecurrently provide, and ideally, to increase it

Benchmarking indicates that we are extraor-dinarily effective at providing indirect support.The benchmark also shows that, compared toother companies, we provide it at an extraordi-

narily high cost. So that says there’s an opportu-nity for us to decrease the costs associated withproviding those services.

The first thing that we’re talking about isnot reducing services, but how we use the bestpractices that we find when we benchmark our-selves against others. Of course, we always look

at services with an eye towhether they are neces-sary or redundant. Butthis really is about listen-ing to and learning fromthe benchmarking so thatwe can provide servicesmore efficiently andeffectively.

TH: The IntegratedLaboratory ManagementSystem provides the frame-work to sort out andimprove over time ourfunctions and services.That’s the framework inwhich it’ll all be developedand deployed.

Managed WorkforceTransition

LN: We’ve been talkinga lot about Managed Work-force Transition over the lastseveral months. Is that fin-ished? Did it achieve itsgoal? What are the lessonswe’ve learned? And wheredoes it go from here?

JS: Managed Workforce Transition is theprocess where, by intent, we move people towork and work to people. In the immediate situ-ation, what that meant was moving people fromnuclear weapons work and indirect to othernational security mission work in IntegratedTechnologies and Systems [ITS]. We had excel-lent movement from nuclear weapons into theITS area; in fact we probably overachieved,which gives us an opportunity to do some hiringin that area. We need to continue the move-ment from indirect to direct programs. Wewon’t quite reach our target in indirect this year,but we need to keep moving toward the targetthat we set by intent when the process began.

The current process, which involved asequence of specific events, is nearing its com-pletion. But the drive to make efficiency gains,the effort whenever possible to deploy people inindirect to a direct function — those efforts needto continue, not only for the rest of this year,but in the upcoming years.

TH: It’s important to recognize that thisisn’t an event. It’s is a process that’ll continueover the next several years. The movement ofpeople from nuclear weapons to ITS was very

good; as John said, there’s a chance it maybeovershot a bit. The process hasn’t been as effec-tive in the indirect to direct. We still have jobsthat need to be done and we still have peoplewho can do them. We have to work harder tomake the match work.

Outsourcing, maybe; layoffs, noLN: Regarding services, is outsourcing on the

table as a way to manage costs?JS: Yes, but there’s always a caveat with

State of the Labs(Continued from preceding page)

“We are not yet where we want to be. What wesaw this last year was that we’ve made an excellentbeginning and DOE acknowledged that in the per-formance appraisal, but there are still many areasfor improvement. In fact, that journey of improve-ment will never end.”

Labs Director Tom Hunter

“We want, to the extent possible, to perform themaximum amount of work directly for the cus-tomer. If we didn’t do something to manage costs,with flat budgets we would actually decrease theamount that we could provide directly to the cus-tomer, and that’s not what we want for the futureof the Laboratory.”

Executive VP John Stichman

(Continued on next page)

TOM HUNTER (foreground) and John Stichman discuss the state of the Labs.

SANDIA LAB NEWS • May 25, 2007 • Page 7

State of the Labs(Continued from preceding page)

that. Responsible business managementrequires us to look at what things can best beprovided internally by our own employees andwhat things would best be provided externallythrough contracts. We continue to evaluate it,we’ll always do it. It’s just a sound businesspractice.

LN: Anything like a VSIP [voluntary separa-tion incentive package] or even layoffs on thetable?

TH: No.JS: No.

Mood of the LabsLN: How would you characterize the general

mood around the Labs? TH: I think that depends on where you go

and with whom you talk. There are differentstresses at different places. Overall there is asense that there’s a lot happening in this areathat we broadly call transformation. We’recatching up to where we need to be, and that’scausing stress on employees. I sense an enor-mous desire for something that we consider akey attribute of transformation, and that is sim-plicity. Whenever we are dealing with a topic,we don’t need to make it more complicated thanit needs to be. We don’t make it in any way soonerous that it becomes exceptionally hard todo. I pick that up a lot.

I draw much of my sense from newemployees. I spend time with new employees —on the order of 30 or so a month — where we get

together for breakfast. They are really glad to beat Sandia, glad we care about them, and search-ing for meaningful ways in which they can workinto the ranks of the Laboratory and feel success-ful and fulfilled. I sense a quest for that all over.

The Shawn Carpenter caseLN: Regarding the outcome of the Shawn Carpen-

ter case, are there any lessons learned, particularlyfrom a management standpoint?

TH: Of course it remains a legal matter. Weconsider the actions Sandia took regarding

Shawn Carpenter tobe both essentialand proper for thesituation, and if welive by and believein our values, wehad no other alter-natives to take.There has been nopayment of anypenalty, and wedon’t know whereit will end up. Wejust know as wemove forward wecannot abandonour values. We can-not make decisionsbased on the expe-diencies of a situa-tion. They must bebased on our ser-

vice to the nation and our values, which weexpect from all managers and all employees andfrom ourselves.

As for lessons learned, we learned somebroad things from situations like the Carpentercase. There is a significant expectation of behav-ior on the part of our employees and the engage-ment of our management. We want to ensurethat managers and employees have a consistentset of values and behaviors and seek the supportand resources they might need.

JS: Even before the Carpenter case we weredoing a lot of reflection on the role of manage-ment at Sandia. That includes how we preparepeople for management. We must be sure man-agers understand the critical role they have fortheir staffs and the Laboratory and for thenation as a whole.

I wouldn’t infer any general managementshortcomings from any particular case. It justreminded us how important managers’responsibilities are. One of our values is “eachother.” That’s something we all must believein and follow.

LN: Some of the trial testimony by Sandia man-agers was alarming. To somebody who wasn’t thereand read some of those things in the newspaper, theyjust didn’t seem to show a respect for the individual.

TH: As you know, it is sometimes difficult fornews coverage to get the full context of a situa-tion. We believe that some of the reports did notfully reflect the events that occurred and thatwere presented in the trial. That said, we do holdmanagers as well as all Sandians responsible fortheir actions. I agree with John’s earlier com-ments that we must show respect for the individ-ual, for all individuals whether we agree withthem or not.

JS: Legal issues regarding privacy really keepus from talking about some of the aftermath.However, let us beclear that this isn’tabout saying man-agement madeerrors. Managersshouldn’t drawinferences from aparticular case andhow it’s reported inthe press and say,“I guess I have todo things differ-ently or I have toignore somethingthat otherwise Iwould deal with.”What we reallyneed to be sure of is

that managers know there is a right course ofaction, that they have responsibilities to exer-cise, and that they have resources available tothem so they can do the right thing.

How decisions are madeLN: We’ve seen an increase in questions

through the Feedback Program about how decisionsare made at Sandia, with employees wondering whythey’re being left out of the decision-making processin things like the tobacco-free workplace decisionand so forth.

TH: Sandia’s communications systemdepends heavily on the foundation of a closelink in the line organization chain from vicepresidents to the staff. When we make executivedecisions, we rely on the significant engagementof the vice presidents and sometimes the direc-tors on these issues, with the assumption there’sopportunity for staff-level input throughout theline organization chain. That’s the essentialpremise. If we’re having a lack of engagementand a lack of input across the Laboratory, it’s avery important issue and something we shoulddeal with.

Taking nothing for grantedin a rapidly changing world

LN: Before we wrap this up, is there anythingmore you’d like to add?

JS: I want to emphasize how proud I am ofthe accomplishments of the people here, howproud I am when I look at our programmaticaccomplishments over the past almost six yearssince the attacks of 9/11. And I’m proud of howour people have responded as we’ve begun theprocess of transforming how we do our work.We’re really making tremendous strides in termsof fulfilling our mission.

TH: It’s important for all of us to understandthe vital role this Laboratory plays in the coursethe nation takes on national security and howthat’s recognized in so many tangible ways.

We have visits of senior people who comehere; we’ve had the opportunity to talk toeverybody from the president down through-out the executive structure. We’ve talked tochairmen of committees in Congress. We’vehad a lot of opportunity to determine whetherthese visitors value our contributions to thenation’s security future, and it’s clear to us thatthey do.

It’s important, too, to understand howdynamic that [policy-making] arena is for thenation and how significantly things can and willchange. We should never assume that there willbe a stable environment in which most of themajor enterprises in this country operate. It willalways be one of continual dynamic change.People will change, approaches will change,policies will change, and they will changerapidly.

Third, I think that we should not take forgranted this country’s position relative to othercountries about such things as the vibrancy ofthe economy or its leadership in science andtechnology.

This country’s position is not assured and isonly assured if all of us who play a role in mak-ing the country more safe and secure really takethat to heart and deal with it.

So we’re making important contributionsbut we’re in an arena that changes and weshouldn’t take anything for granted or make anyassumptions about staying in the same place.

employee into Sandia’s realignment process.Sandia’s workforce realignment process is

designed to facilitate the expedient movement ofemployees whose jobs are at risk due to changingbusiness needs (more information atwww-irn.sandia.gov/hr/policies/Staffing/staff3.htm).

Realignment of employees will be handledon a case-by-case basis in accordance withSandia’s policies and where a strong businesscase supports the decision, says Pat. She saysthere are likely to be few such decisions acrossthe Labs.

“Sandia remains strongly committed to itspeople,” Pat says. “It’s just as important that ourpeople are flexible and willing to take on differ-ent assignments. With that combination,Sandia can adjust as mission needs change andprovide employees growth and developmentopportunities.”

Employees who have questions should talkto their managers, Sandia’s Ombuds, or the divi-sion Human Resources Consultants. Managersshould direct questions to Chuck Maheras,cjmaher@sandia.gov, or 284-5025. — John German

Workforce(Continued from page 1)

“Yes, but there’s always a caveatwith that [the decision to out-source]. Responsible businessmanagement requires us to look atwhat things can best be providedinternally by our own employeesand what things would best beprovided externally throughcontracts. . . . It’s just a soundbusiness practice.”

“We should never assume thatthere will be a stable environ-ment in which most of themajor enterprises in this countryoperate. It will always be one ofcontinual dynamic change. Peo-ple will change, approaches willchange, policies will change,and they will change rapidly.”

SANDIA LAB NEWS • May 25, 2007 • Page 8

Sago Mine(Continued from page 1)

gress on May 9.“We never expected to discover a smoking

gun,” says Larry Schneider, senior manager ofSandia’s Pulsed Power Technology Dept. 1650.“However, we pursued and characterized a cou-pling mechanism that the team of accident inves-tigators hadn’t previously considered — that cur-rent from a surface lightning strike can generateelectromagnetic fields that can readily propagatethrough the earth, as opposed to current beingdriven into conductors entering the mine such asmetal rails or power lines. Our findings had pro-found implications.”

The Sandians, including project lead MattHiggins, Dawna Charley, and Leonard Martinez(all 1653) with support from Marv Morris, acontracted consultant and former Sandian, con-ducted the experiments at the mine. Matt,Dawna, and Leonard worked at the site for10 days last November.

MSHA knew of Sandia’s lightning workThe Mine Safety and Health Administration

— aware of Sandia’s decades of work studyinglightning, particularly how it might impact criti-cal nuclear weapons facilities at the DOE PantexPlant located outside Amarillo and undergroundfacilities at the Nevada Test Site — asked the teamto conduct the experiments and analysis.

“Accident investigators had been suspiciousall along that lightning was the cause of theexplosion, but there had been no definite proofone way or the other,” says Michele Caldwell,manager of Electromagnetic Qualification andEngineering Dept. 1653.

Twenty-nine miners were underground at

Sago when the explosion occurred. Thirteen werein close proximity to the blast. As was laterlearned, the force of the explosion killed oneminer outright, and 12 others retreated behind acurtain at the working face of the mine in anattempt to barricade themselves against thesmoke and carbon monoxide. They awaited res-cue there, which would come too late for all butone of them.

With lightning as a potential cause for theSago Mine explosion, the Sandia team investi-gated two modes of transmitting lightning energydeep into the coal mine, Michele says.

The first mode was direct attachment ontometallic penetrations — such as conveyers used toextract the coal, rails used for transporting peopleand equipment — and power and communica-tion lines from the entrance to deep inside themine. The second mode investigated energy prop-agating through the earth’s surface from thepoint of a surface lightning strike or overhead arcchannel.

“We needed to be able to make measure-ments without waiting for or triggering a truelightning strike in the vicinity, so we providedour own drive signal,” Michele says. “To preventinterference with mine operations or introduc-

tion of a safety hazard, we injected a small, con-tinuous signal over a range of frequencies presentin a lightning strike as a drive source.”

For the metallic penetrations, the drive signalwas applied at the entrance to the mine and signalswere measured with current and voltage probes at

various points in the mine, as faras two miles in. The drive signalwas transmitted by fiber optics tothe entrance of the mine as theinstrumentation was carried insidethe mine to make measurements.The goal was to see how much thesignals decreased as a function ofthe distance from the entrance ofthe mine.

For measuring propagation oflightning energy from the surfaceof the earth to the mine cavern300 feet below, the drive signalwas applied to a long wirestretched on the surface. Directlybelow, inside the mine, anantenna was set up to pick up thetransmitted signals. Multipleantenna measurements weremade, covering a cross pattern inthe mine of about 80 meters by80 meters. The measurementswere compared to analyticalmodels simulating lightning field

propagation throughthe earth.

The data wereused to develop trans-fer functions, a way ofunderstanding howmuch energy pene-trated into the minebased on a surfacelightning event. Theseresults were combinedwith a theoreticallightning strike wave-form to determine ifvoltages get highenough inside themine to be of concern.

The study con-cluded that it washighly unlikely thatlightning initiated theexplosion by travelingalong conductorsthrough the mine andinto the sealed area.However, electromag-netic energy from a

significant lightning event close to the sealed areacould travel through the ground at Sago to createhigh voltage in the sealed area, subsequently cre-ating a spark, a known ignition source of flamma-ble methane mixtures.

A brief, but powerful look“The results of field measurements and ana-

lytical modeling were clear; lightning can propa-gate significant electrical energy into mine sys-tems under the right conditions,” says Larry.“The team’s work at Sago was only a brief, butpowerful look into this effect. We need to betterunderstand this phenomenon in the variety ofscenarios seen in the US mining system. I canreadily envision this leading to additional, rea-sonable preventative measures to reduce theprobability of such a catastrophic event in thefuture. This is an important message.”

Larry says he is grateful for Sandia’s relation-ship with MSHA.

“I need to compliment MSHA for theirengagement of Sandia. The techniques we usedin our work for them were not generally under-stood outside the nuclear weapons community.It took technical insight and courage on theirpart to embrace this work. We’re very pleasedthat Sandia played an important role in thisinvestigation.”

MSHA’s investigation report of the Sago Mineaccident is online at www.msha.gov.

A MAP of the Sago Mine, as published in the MSHA report issued on May 9,shows where the explosion occurred in relation to the entrances, or drifts.

SANDIA RESEARCHER MATT HIGGINS conducts an experiment at the Sago Mine duringthe 10 days he spent at the mine last November trying to determine the cause of theexplosion.

SAGO MINE operations were idled in late March. Research by a Sandia team showed that lightning was the likelycause of the Jan. 2, 2006, explosion at the mine that killed 12 miners.

SANDIA LAB NEWS • May 25, 2007 • Page 9

More than 1,500 precollege students representing 47 countries, regions, andterritories, all winners in their regional competitions, were in Albuquerque last

week to participate in the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2007.They received a warm welcome. Neon green-shirted volunteers met partici-

pants at the Albuquerque Sunport and escorted them to area hotels. Tour busesshuttled the students to and from ISEF venues. Numerous social and ceremo-nial events during the week kept the participants busy.

“Students from all over the world began pouring into the Convention Cen-ter on Saturday afternoon,” wrote Jeanette Miller, Intel ISEF Marketing & Com-munications director, in a dispatch from the event. “Everywhere we turn, wesee oceans of smiling faces and busy people heading off to the various events.”

Len Duda (5715) served on the ISEF host committee as judging co-chair.“The exhibit floor was filled with judges holding intense conversations

with the finalists,” wrote Len from the event. “You could see the finalistspointing out some graph or piece of information on their display as theyanswered questions from the judges. Many of the judges, especially theSandians, thanked me for this opportunity because they were simplyamazed at the intelligence and enthusiasm of these students.”

More than 125 Sandia volunteers reviewed and scored science fair pro-jects. Other Labs contributions include monetary support, pre-event plan-ning, and a scholarship (Lab News, May 11). Sandia will offer some ISEF par-ticipants an all-expenses-paid two-week internship at the Labs this summer.Watch the Lab News for more.

Scenes from the Intel InternationalScience & Engineering Fair

SIYABULELA XUZA, an 18-year-old high school senior from Johannesburg, South Africa,takes a moment to pose for a photo with a group of fellow science fair participants.Xuza’s presentation was titled “African Space: Fueling Africa’s Quest to Space,” andfeatured a full-size, functioning homemade rocket.

THE INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING FAIR featured presentations bymore than 1,500 students from 47 countries. Grand awards, valued at nearly $1 mil-lion in scholarships, tuition grants, and scientific field trips, were awarded. Sandia hasoffered some ISEF participants two-week internships at the Labs this summer.

SASHA SIY, a 15-year-old high school sophomore from Anchorage, Alaska, describesthe mechanics of his Artificial Life Form for Robotic Evolutionary Development

(ALFRED) project to Sandia volunteer Gayle Thayer (5711) at the Intel InternationalScience and Engineering Fair.

Story by John German Photos by Randy Montoya

SANDIA LAB NEWS • May 25, 2007 • Page 10

Boeing project targets little-known aircraft safety feature

Sandia and Boeing researchers are collabo-rating to determine if a hydrogen-powered fuelcell could be used to provide backup power inaircraft. The work is a new task under anumbrella cooperative research and developmentagreement signed in 2002.

The project came about as a result of projectmanager Lennie Klebanoff’s (8755) interest inhydrogen as an aircraft fuel. Lennie, who partic-ipated with other Sandians in California Gov.Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Hydrogen HighwayNetwork project, wondered why the general dis-cussion of fossil fuel depletion and greenhousegas emissions rarely mentioned aviation. Itturned out that Boeing was already investigat-ing fuel cell power on aircraft. The two organi-zations linked up through a chance meeting ata Boeing tech expo between Duane Landa ofSandia’s Partnerships Development Dept. 9116

and a Boeing representative. After more than ayear of discussions, the team decided to focuson exploring hydrogen for backup power.

“Fuel cell technology represents a straight-forward and innovative approach to gainingexperience with alternative energy sources forairplane electrical power,” says Joe Breit, projectmanager and an associate technical fellow at theBoeing Systems Concept Center. “A significantpart of our focus at Boeing Commercial Air-planes is looking at environmentally progressivetechnologies that can further reduce dependen-cies on oil-driven power sources. Our collabora-tive work with Sandia on this application is astep forward in that regard.”

The project taps Sandia’s 60 years of experi-ence in hydrogen storage for weapons applica-tions and more recent R&D in materials scienceand hydrogen storage engineering through itsDOE-sponsored Metal Hydride Center of Excel-lence, says Lennie. The CRADA focuses on the

use of a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM)fuel cell for emergency power. Sandia PEMresearcher Chris Cornelius will evaluate fuel cellrequirements, implementation, and efficiency;Lennie will provide analysis of hydrogen stor-age options and issues.

Hydrogen as an aviation fuel poses signifi-cant aircraft design challenges. Althoughhydrogen releases about three times moreenergy per fuel mass than conventional jet fuel,it would require much larger tank volume thanthe equivalent tanks for jet fuel, due to its lowdensity. These and other issues such as fuelavailability, safety, and technology reliabilityneed to be solved. Both gas-phase and liquidhydrogen storage will be explored.

For now, the team will focus on backuppower. “This is an area where there’s a goodmatch,” Lennie says. “We’re hoping this is astart of even more work with Boeing in thefuture.”

Supply chain affects every Sandia employeewhether they know it or not

What do sourcing, procurement, contractaudit, accounts payable, tours, fleet services,mail services, packaging,and shipping have incommon?

A lot, says BillieWeatherly, senior man-ager of Supply ChainIntegration Group10220. They are all partof the Sandia supplychain that affects everyemployee whether they know it or not.

“Everyone is somehow served by the supplychain,” Billie says. “When you receive or sendmail, ship out a package, drive your departmentvehicle, or buy something, you are tied into thesupply chain. Just about every aspect of Sandia’sday-to-day operations is linked to the chain.”

More than half of Sandia’s funding isprocessed through the supply chain. Last yearsupply chain expenditures amounted to $1.029billion in contract-related payments. Of that,some $467 million was paid to small busi-nesses, including some $244 million paid toNew Mexico small businesses. Sandia exceededits small business goal for the FY06 Perfor-mance Evaluation Plan and received an out-standing rating for Performance Incentive 3 forsmall business utilization.

In simple terms, Billie says, supply chainmanagement is “getting the right thing, to theright place, at the right cost, at the right time,and in the right manner to enable mission suc-cess while balancing considerations such assafety, security, process, efficiency, best value,regulatory compliance, corporate citizenship,impact on the New Mexico economy, and rela-tionships with peers, stakeholders, customers,and suppliers.”

While not all elements of the supply chainsystem are operated by Supply Chain Manage-ment Center 10200, the center is the primaryand integrating organization for all supply chainactivities.

“The Supply Chain Management Centerknows our business, and we are committed toexcellence.” Billie says. This can be demon-strated, she says, by attaining ISO 9001 certifica-tion for Procurement and employing Lean SixSigma tools for process improvement. Sandia’sLogistics Group is also currently seeking ISO9001 certification.

Supply chain management stretches acrossfour chains — physical, financial, informational,and relational. It also moves beyond the walls ofan organization and includes the entire supplynetwork into Sandia-specific initiatives like theSupply Chain and Material Management Coun-cil (SCMMC) and the Fleet Transportation andProperty Management Concepts Studies.

Billie says the 10 directors who make upthe SCMMC recently received an analysis oftheir use of the supply chain. The analysisinvolved discussions and reciprocal recommen-dations for areas for improvement in supplychain utilization to better enable mission suc-cess. Also, Fleet and Property Managementrecently negotiated supply chain improve-ments with NNSA that will have significantimpact on the Labs.

“The supply chain involves quite an array ofservices and activities,” Billie says. “If we didn’tdo this, the Labs would stop functioning.”

PI AWARD WINNERS — PIawards were introduced thisyear by Sandia and Lock-heed Martin to recognizeoutstanding math teachersin the Albuquerque area. Itwill rotate with the ESTeAwards (Excelling in ScienceTeaching). The six teachersrecognized were: CarolynChadwell, Governor BentElementary; Beth Parker,Cleveland Middle School;Megan Lebleu, Ernie PyleMiddle School; PaulaMaxmin, Jefferson MiddleSchool; Debbie Perich,Cibola High School; and JoAnn Alvarado, Rio GrandeHigh School.

Teachers recognized for this year’s PI awards

Hydrogen storage, fuel cells explored as part of Sandia-Boeing CRADA

By Julie Hall

Sourcing, procurement, accounts payable, mail services, and more are all part of supply chain

By Chris Burroughs

Number of activities partof Supply ChainManagement Center

Until recently supply chain activitieswere operated through the Procurement andLogistics Center. In 2005, when BonnieApodaca was named center director, sherenamed the center Supply Chain Manage-ment Center 10200 in an effort to affectmore “end-to-end business processes.”

The services provided by the centerinclude: sourcing and small business pro-grams, self-service and buyer-assisted pro-curement, property management and reap-plication, receiving, material movement,tours, fleet services, mail services, packagingand shipping, and corporate storage.

“The supplychain involvesquite an arrayof services andactivities.”

SANDIA LAB NEWS • May 25, 2007 • Page 11

California is leading the nation when itcomes to energy and environmental policy. Lastyear Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger put Californiaon the world stage when he committed the stateto reducing global warming emissions back to1990 levels by 2020.

In an effort to stay abreast of developments inthe rapidly advancing field of clean energy andrelated government policy, Sandia’s Energy,Resources, and Nonproliferation Strategic Manage-ment Unit California Energy Liaison Office and itsDiv. 8000 Business Development Office hosted avisit by Dan Adler of the California Clean EnergyFund (CalCEF). Adler is the director of Technologyand Policy Development at CalCEF.

According to Carrie Burchard (8529), Sandia’swork in “cleantech” is generally much closer tocommercialization than some of the other areas ofresearch at the Labs. Engaging with CalCEF enablesthe Business Development Office to look at alter-native funding possibilities and aligning researchwith what is happening in the state, Carrie says.

“We often look 10 to 20 years out, but in thisarena we need to be looking ahead five years,”she says. “Biofuel, including cellulosic ethanoland biodiesel from algae, is just one area wherewe’re applying the capabilities we developed inour homeland securitywork to energy issues.”

CalCEF is a $30million nonprofitinvestment fund cre-ated to spur invest-ment in California’sclean energy economy.The fund was formedin 2004 from thePG&E bankruptcy set-tlement negotiated bythe California PublicUtilities Commission.

Interests intersectThis is where the

interests of CalCEF andSandia intersect. Thecompanies funded byCalCEF could be poten-tial business partnerswith Sandia. Burchard says it is also an opportu-nity for Sandia to strengthen its relationshipswith California’s state government.

Adler thinks there are great opportunities forCalCEF and Sandia to develop a common plat-form for technology commercialization, a regularforum for interaction with the venture capitalcommunity, and a means of mutually reinforcingstate policy efforts via insights into emerging

energy research.The Global Warming Solutions Act that took

effect on Jan. 1 will have a big impact on anycompany doing busi-ness in California.These companies willbe actively lookingfor solutions toreduce their green-house gas footprint.

Ron Stoltz(8302), head of theCalifornia EnergyLiaison Office, envi-sions the relationshipbetween Sandia andCalCEF as a two-wayinformationexchange. Sandia canadvise CalCEF onpromising technolo-gies, while CalCEFcan provide insightinto trends in venture capital investing in cleanenergy. Ron and Adler already have meetingsplanned to further this partnership.

“The overall intent is for us both to beahead of the crowd in the future of clean tech-nology innovation and investing,” Ron says. “I

don’t expect CalCEFto directly fundSandia, but they canmake us aware ofpromising companiesthrough which we cancommercialize ourinventions.

A $1 million grantAdler noted that he

was “impressed by thebreadth of clean energywork undertaken byscientists at Sandia, andby the entrepreneurialspirit and outward-ori-entation of the mem-bers of the manage-ment team I had achance to meet.”

CalCEF recentlygave a $1 million grant toward the establishmentof an Energy Efficiency Center (EEC) at the Uni-versity of California, Davis. The goal of the EEC isto accelerate energy efficiency innovation and tostimulate the transfer of the technology into themarketplace.

CalCEF operates independently of bothPG&E and the state of California. The fund is alimited partner in three venture capital funds.

During Adler’s visit, Ron led a spirited paneldiscussion in which he played the role of Vinod

Khosla, a Silicon Valleyventure capital investor.Khosla, who cofoundedSun Microsystems, recentlyhas been pursuing invest-ment in bio refineries, syn-thetic biology for alterna-tive fuels, and solar cells.

On the panel wereBlake Simmons (8755),representing energy sys-tems; Lennie Klebanoff,(8755), representinghydrogen; Art Pontau(8750), representing mate-rials and energy sciences;Margie Tatro (6200), repre-senting fuel, water, andalternative energy; andMasood Hadi (8321),

representing biosystems research.The panel debated and discussed concen-

trated solar versus photovoltaics, the merits ofelectricity peak shaving and load shifting, hydro-gen, nuclear power, and how the rising popular-ity of plug-in hybrid vehicles could impact theenergy market.

Lennie, director of the DOE Metal HydrideCenter of Excellence, was quick to defend themerits of hydrogen after Vinod (aka Ron) sug-gested that “hydrogen makes no sense to me.”

“You can’t sequester the mobile source of car-bon emissions — exhaust from your car’stailpipe,” Lennie says. “That’s why it is essentialwe look at hydrogen. Hydrogen is a storagemedium, not a fuel.”

The purpose of the discussion was to look atalternative points of view about energy and tochallenge assumptions. While the panel partici-pants all work directly in clean energy technol-ogy, Ron says the focus was “less on what we aredoing and more on what we are thinking.”

Development of next-gen biofuels After the panel discussion, Adler toured the

hydrogen storage and hydrogen engine combus-tion labs and learned about the applications offiber lasers to energy problems from Dahv Kliner.

“Sandia’s expertise in combustion researchshould be of great use in the development of next-generation biofuels, which is a major emphasis inthe policy and financial arenas,” Adler comments.

Adler’s visit, and especially the panel, accom-plished another goal of Burchard’s.

“We need to spend more time talking aboutdifficult, hot issues,” she says. “It gets the intellectualjuice flowing.”

Randy Fellhoelter had been around high power lines long enough —20-something years — to be supremely confident that he knew how to dohis job, that he knew what he could get away with and what he couldn’t.

He found out the hard way — the hardest way (look at the photo atright) — that taking shortcuts around standard safety procedures is apotentially deadly idea.

Fellhoelter is the Public Service Company of New Mexico’s seniorsafety consultant. Previously, he had been a lineman, crew leader, andforeman with PNM until an avoidable accident jolted his career into a newand unexpected direction.

Here’s how Fellhoelter describes the circumstances that changed —and almost took — his life:

“The safety rule in working on high-voltage cables is always to test andground before working on them. However, I had not brought groundingequipment, and my 20 years of high voltage line experience gave me theconfidence to take a short cut as I knew the line was dead.I was dead wrong.”

Fellhoelter made a careless safety mistake and paid dearly for it. At theannual Sandia Safety Fair June 7, 11:30 a.m. in the Steve Schiff Auditorium,

he will share his experi-ence and what he’slearned from it.

In addition to Fellhoel-ter’s remarks, the safety fairwill feature more than 40exhibitors from Sandia andaround the community.They’ll share informationabout how to be safer in theworkplace, at home, and atplay.

The safety fair willtake place in and aroundthe Steve Schiff Audito-rium June 7, 10 a.m. to 4p.m. For more informa-tion, go towww.safetyfair.sandia.gov.

Safety fair speaker’s ‘shortcut’ almost cuts short his lifeSandia Safety Fair is June 7, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; speaker in Steve Schiff Auditorium at 11:30 a.m.

Sandia builds ties to California’s clean energy initiativesBy Patti Koning

EWA RONNEBRO describes her work on discovering anddeveloping new materials for hydrogen storage for theDOE Metal Hydride Center of Excellence to Dan Adler(far right) of the California Clean Energy Fund.

(Photo by Ken Ball)

Dan Adler (foreground) of CalCEF gets a lesson onhydrogen engine combustion from Hydrogen Researchand Development Manager Jay Keller.

(Photo by Ken Ball)

RANDY FELLHOELTER

SANDIA LAB NEWS • May 25, 2007 • Page 12

New MexicoMark Herrmann from PMTS, ICF Target

Design Dept. 1674, to manager of that samedepartment.

Mark joinedSandia in August2005 and has servedas a theoretical/com-putational physicistworking in the areaof inertial confine-ment fusion andhigh energy densityphysics target design.

Mark receivedhis BS in physics, a

BS in applied science, and his MS in systems sci-ence and mathematics in 1991 from WashingtonUniversity. He received his PhD in astrophysicalsciences, with a concentration in plasma physics,from Princeton University in 1998.

* * *Rita Gonzales from team leader, ASIC Design

and Development Dept. 1735, to manager of thatsame department.

Rita joinedSandia in 1991. Shehas been a projectleader for the pastfew years. She hasbeen involved withthe design of com-plex application spe-cific integrated cir-cuits (ASICs) forsystems on chipapplications. Rita hassupported severalcustomers throughout the Labs but most notablyin centers 5600 and 2600.

Rita received her BS in electrical engineeringfrom New Mexico State University and herMS in electrical engineering from StanfordUniversity.

Kendall Key from SMTS, Navigation, Point-ing & Control Dept. 5338, to manager of MissionAssurance Dept. 5402.

Kendall joinedSandia in January2005 after workingfor six years with asmall startup com-pany, MicroDexteritySystems, developingmedical roboticequipment. Prior tohis time withMicroDexterity Sys-tems, he spent eightyears with Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon Endo-Surgery performing process engineering, newproduct development, corporate acquisitions andproduction line supervision.

During his two years at Sandia, Kendall hasperformed quality assurance for Sandia’s satelliteprograms.

Kendall received his BS in electrical engineer-ing from New Mexico State in 1989, and his MSin electrical engineering and MS in managementfrom MIT in 1991.

* * *Dave Minster from PMTS, Transnational

Technical Threat Dept. 5926, to manager, Ener-getic Threats andTraining Dept. 5915.

Dave came toSandia in August2005 after retiring asan Air Force officerwith 25 years ofexperience manag-ing intelligence pro-grams and activitiesat 12 locations.

Since joiningSandia, Dave hasbeen performingcounterproliferation analysis with organizations5925 and 5926.

Dave received his BS from Montana StateUniversity in earth science, his MS from OhioState University in geodetic science, and his MAfrom the Naval War College in national securityand strategic studies.

* * *Jim Pacheco from PMTS, Active Response &

Denial Dept. 6422, to manager, Primary PhysicalStandards Dept.2541.

Jim joinedSandia in 1987, andfor the past five yearshas led several secu-rity projects includ-ing designing a net-work-centric securitysystem for a DoDcustomer, develop-ing an advanced,nonlethal, active-denial technology, and the integration of anenhanced access delay system. He has alsoworked on the characterization of explosivebreaching charges and fuel-air explosive devices,and risk assessments on four large water utilitiesin the US.

Prior to working in security, Jim developedsolar thermal technologies in the ConcentratingSolar Power department, where he led the testsand evaluations of the 10 MW Solar Two projectand served on the technical advisory committee,conducted R&D in power tower technologies,developed thermal storage for parabolic troughs,and developed a solar photocatalytic oxidationprocess.

Jim has been active in the American Societyof Mechanical Engineers’ solar energy division,where he served as the chair, vice chair, secre-tary/treasurer, as well as a past chair of the execu-tive committee.

Jim received his BS in mechanical engineer-ing from New Mexico State University, and hisMS in mechanical engineering from the Univer-sity of California, Berkeley.

Manager promotions

RITA GONZALES

KENDALL KEY

MARK HERRMANN

DAVE MINSTER

JIM PACHECO

Hiring criteria clarified: Sandia recruits from across the country

Q: Exactly what are the criteria for hiring a newMTS or MLS? I overheard my management talkabout new-hires having to come from the top 25 col-leges in the country, having recently graduated, andhaving at least a 3.7 GPA. If this is true, I can’tbelieve they hired me 26 years ago. On the otherhand is this criteria a corporate goal? And is it forboth MLS and MTS slots?

Someday, I’d like my son or daughter to get hiredby Sandia. However, I now wonder if I should advisethem to look elsewhere.

A: The criteria for hiring a new MTS or MLSbegin with the external job posting that definesboth required and preferred selection criteria.The job posting content is reviewed by the San-dia staffing consultant who supports the lineorganization prior to placing the job announce-ment on Sandia’s external employment website.

The current corporate GPA guidelines arethat a candidate’s cumulative undergraduateGPA should be 3.2 or higher on a 4.0 scale. TheGPA guideline for graduate degrees is 3.5 orhigher on a 4.0 scale. Equivalent GPAs are calcu-lated for institutions that use something otherthan a 4.0 scale to measure students’ academicperformance. Grades are one measure of thestrength of a candidate’s intellectual tool kit.Exception requests to the corporate GPA guide-lines can be made when a hire package is sub-mitted for senior management review andapproval. In some cases, for example, a lowundergraduate GPA may be outweighed by astellar graduate academic record, a track recordof research accomplishments in mission-specificareas, or an experience base that brings criticalskills to the hiring organization.

Sandia hires new MTS and MLS employeesfrom colleges and universities across the countryand around the world. Hiring managers are notrestricted to hiring only new MTS and MLSemployees from the top 25 institutions. BecauseSandia is asked to solve complex national secu-rity technical problems, we look to institutionswhose academic programs and research thrustshold promise for developing our talent base. Inorder to develop ongoing relationships withschools whose programs and research are astrong match for our needs, we have currentlyidentified 13 key (national) and 10 regional(local and surrounding states) institutions. Bysponsoring research at these institutions we hopeto develop talent pipelines for staffing the Labs.Through regular campus visits by our volunteertech staff and lab staff recruiting teams we main-tain ongoing campus presence and developbrand identity and interest in Sandia as anemployer of choice.

When advising a daughter or son on whereto enroll in college, there are many factors toweigh. The cost of attending the institution is amajor factor. The strength of the institution’sacademic programs, national rankings, and theindividual student’s career interest are all veryimportant. The level of student service supportthrough scholarships and financial aid, studentretention programs, and graduation and jobplacement rates are also important factors thatcontribute to a student’s success at a college oruniversity.

When making this important family deci-sion, the best choice is for the student to attendthe academic institution that offers the best

opportunities for them to achieve their aspirations.— BJ Jones (3500)

* * *Q: I feel the renaming of the secretarial

Wednesday Newsletter is inappropriate. It excludesthe OMAs, SMAs and EAs from the administrativeassistant group. We are not part of the representedhiring group. I don’t think I am the only one whofeels this way; hopefully more have responded to thenew name.

A: Thank you for reading our newsletter. Thename of the newsletter itself has not changed —it remains the Wednesday Newsletter. RepresentedHiring and Employment Testing is the new (sinceJuly 2006) name of the department that bringsyou the Wednesday Newsletter. We were previ-ously called Secretarial Services, but changed thename to reflect the complete customer base thatwe now serve. We are proud that the WednesdayNewsletter has a subscription base of more than1,000; so, while it remains geared toward theassistant groups, it has a readership that extendsbeyond that. — BJ Jones (3500)

* * *Q: In view of Sandia’s current emphasis on slips

and falls, it would be a good idea to have streetsweepers clean up the motorcycle parking areas in theparking lots. The motorcycle parking areas are usuallytucked away in corners where the wind and lack ofheavier vehicle traffic cause accumulations of sand,dust, and gravel. As a result, footing while parking amotorcycle is insecure and constitutes an unnecessaryhazard. Can cleaning these spaces be considered?

A: We will put in a maintenance service requestto have the motorcycle parking areas cleaned on aquarterly basis. — Stan Harrison (10850)

Urban legend dispelled: Hiring not limited to graduates of just 25 select universities

SANDIA LAB NEWS • May 25, 2007 • Page 13

Thunderbird Award winners persevere in spite of obstacles

Imagine being a senior in high school, havinga job, and living on your own. What if your worldchanged and you needed to have open-heartsurgery? Those are some of the circumstancesthat challenged Kayla and Iris, two of this year’sThunderbird Award winners.

Thunderbird Awards are given yearly to grad-uating seniors from 11 Albuquerque public highschools, five alternative schools, and five outlyingschools (Bernalillo, Rio Rancho, Los Lunas, Belen,and Moriarty). The awards were created in 1994 by

Sandia and Lockheed Martin to recognize studentswho have demonstrated a desire to make a differ-ence in their lives despite difficult circumstances.The award carries with it a $1,500 cash prize.

Iris’s story: During Iris’ junior year, shestarted feeling ill, tired, depressed, and began los-ing weight. In October 2006, she was told she hadan enlarged heart and needed open-heart surgery.She was out of school for more than a month, buther grades did not suffer. Iris will be going to Indiaon a mission this summer. She plans on being ajournalist or civil engineer and to continue hermissionary work.

Three Sandians nominated for Girl Scoutsof Chaparral Council Hall of Fame

Chris Morgan (4318), Bobbie Williams(2400), and Leslie Phinney (1513) were recentlynominated to the Girl Scouts of ChaparralCouncil 2007 Hall of Fame: Women in Science,Technology, and Engineering.

Bobbie and Chris were named as winners andwere inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Girl Scouts of Chaparral Council serves morethan 4,100 girls and 1,800 adults in nine countiesin New Mexico and five counties in southwestern

Colorado. The Council’s mission is to help girls,ages 5-17, develop leadership skills they need tolead positive and successful lives.

Chris codeveloped the Chaparral Girl ScoutsCouncil’s Science Spectacular and Math Magicprograms. These programs have annually offeredhundreds of girls hands-on activities in math, sci-ence, technology, and engineering concepts. As amember of Sandia Women’s Action Network,Chris was instrumental in designing the ExploreEngineering program, a series of presentationsintended to keep students interested in engineeringand science.

Leslie does volunteer work with the Society ofWomen Engineers, the Junior League of Albu-querque, and the Albuquerque Rose Society. AtSandia she has contributed to the understandingof laser interactions with microsystems, thermalconductivity measurement, thermomechanicaleffects in MEMS, thermal metrology and imagingtechniques for small systems, adhesion phenom-ena in MEMS, and thermal microactuators.

As a founder of the Strategic Action Forum,an organization that aims to influence public pol-icy, Bobbie established an organization that sup-ports and engages families and youth toward bet-terment of their communities. At the request ofthe US Department of Labor, Bobbie also createdthe Horizon Award with a team of women fromvarious organizations. She performs volunteer ser-vice at various youth-serving organizations.

The Hall of Fame event recognizes womenfor achievements and accomplishments withintheir profession and community. During the lasttwo years, the event has raised more than$20,000 to provide programs for girls throughoutthe council’s jurisdiction.

City’s water plans, lifelonglearning are topics of June 11Thunderbirds meeting

Speakers from the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Water Authority at theJune 11 meeting of the Sandia Thunder-birds (Sandia’s retiree organization) willdiscuss the city’s ambitious future wateruse and conservation plans.

Among those plans is the massive SanJuan-Chama Drinking Water Project,which is expected to go online in 2008and will meet up to 70 percent of themetro area’s drinking water needs. Otherwater plans include the aquifer rechargeproject and several water reuse projects.

Lifelong Learning Institute briefingThe water presentation begins at

2 p.m. (or come early for lunch) at theMountain View Club on Kirtland Air ForceBase. Prior to the presentation at 1:15 p.m.there will be a 15-minute discussion byMaya Sutton on the Osher Lifelong Learn-ing Institute at UNM. The Institute offersclasses for individuals 50 and above.

The T-Birds’ monthly business meet-ing will follow Sutton's remarks.

There is no charge for the programs(lunch is extra). The meeting is open to allwith access to KAFB. For information, con-tact Genelia Boenig at 836-6977.

By Iris Aboytes

By Iris Aboytes

Kayla’s story: Kayla had not seen her motherin eight years, until her father died and she cameto the funeral. Kayla works 20 hours a week tosupport herself. She is the No. 1 tennis player atHighland High School and has made district andall state choirs.

“Kayla is well known in the student body;other students look to her as a role model,” saysher school counselor Krista Vasquez. “She notonly welcomes being treated as a role model, butembraces it and makes choices worthy of a rolemodel for younger students. She freely gives ofher athletic and singing talents and trulyenhances the lives of those around her by beingboth unassuming and fantastic with her abilities.”

Kayla has a full scholarship to Adams StateCollege in Alamosa, Colo. Her ultimate goal is tobe a pediatrician or physician’s assistant.

“Sandia and Lockheed Martin are pleased torecognize such outstanding young people,” sayCommunity Involvement Manager BruceMcClure. “Their persistence and determinationare an inspiration to us all.”

Yolanda Holguin, Albuquerque High School •Amy Williams, Belen High School • DezereeJennings-Albalos, Bernalillo High School • RichardEstrada, Cibola High School • Karie Morgan, DelNorte High School • Thomas Barr, Eldorado HighSchool • Charmaine Sanchez, AlbuquerqueEvening School • Ashley McFarlane, FreedomHigh • School • Kayla O’Leary, Highland HighSchool • Brandy Rodke, La Cueva High School •Tracie Anzara, Los Lunas High School • AlonzoWilliams, Manzano High School • Lantz Renn Bailey,Moriarty High School • Lucia Rodriguez, NewFutures School • Jazmin Lowery, Rio Grande HighSchool • Sierra Brown, Rio Rancho High School •Anna Lam, Sandia High School • Denise Sandoval,School on Wheels • Lizette Montez, Sierra Alter-native High School • Bernadette Romero, ValleyHigh School • Iris Coriz, West Mesa High School

Thunderbird Award Winners

THUNDERBIRD AWARD WINNERS for 2007, seen here, were honored by Lockheed Martin and Sandia for overcom-ing obstacles to succeed in their high school careers. (Photo by Bill Doty)

The Albuquerque Astronomical Society(TAAS) and Sandia Ranger District will co-host an evening of free public stargazing inthe Manzanos Saturday, May 26, at Oak FlatPicnic Area.

Observing begins at sunset, weather per-mitting, and is suitable for all ages. Picnicfacilities are available for those who wouldlike to come early, and adjacent parking isavailable. Alcoholic beverages and pets arenot allowed in the telescope viewing area.

To get to Oak Flat, take NM 337 ninemiles south of the I-40 Tijeras exit and fol-low the signs to Oak Flat and Juniper Loop.

For information and a map, go to theTAAS website (www.taas.org) or call254-TAAS.

At the website, click on “Archives” then“TAAS at Oak Flat Picnic Grounds June2003” then “Click here for a schedule ofTAAS Oak Flat events for 2004.”

Stargazing in the Manzanos

Marion Wilde30 5932

Anthony Bentley20 5622

Paiboon Tangyunyong15 1726

Ricardo Ortiz15 10826

George Wagner30 6461

Charles Fink25 10333

SANDIA LAB NEWS • May 25, 2007 • Page 14

New Mexico photos by Michelle Fleming

Elizabeth Huffman25 1824

Kathleen McCaughey30 2700

Alfred Watts40 5400

James Stromberg20 4317

Terry MacDonald25 6765

Regina Simpson30 1822

Anthony Aragon20 4242

Steven Yrene20 5057

Mary Ann Seiler30 5997

Christine Saavedra15 10541

John Schroeder20 1821

Wahid Hermina25 1710

Joseph Sandoval20 4243

Stephen Becker20 5348

Paul Claassen20 5335

Larry Varoz15 12334

Donald Funkhouser25 5764

Jamieson Deuel20 6472

Susan Mcree20 4328

John Porter20 1670

Katherine Gaither15 9113

Frank Lujan15 10242

Ralph French30 4312

Thomas Vigil15 10864

Jeffery Green25 5719

Roger Assink34 1821

Craig Olson36 1640

Diana Stavros23 10267

Will Keener19 3651

Allen Stanley40 4242

Roberto Mata25 5711

Steven Ulibarri25 10761

Walk into any gym and the treadmills are in fulluse. It’s a common scene that most of us take

for granted — but not Brian Griego (4211). ForBrian, walking and running are miracles.

In November 2005 Brian was at his property inLos Chavez. He was trying to pull out an old fencepost. It had rooted itself to the ground so he tied achain to the post and tried to pull it out with histractor. The tractor, straining against the pole,flipped over. Brian was pinned under it from thewaist down with the tractor still running.

He managed to turn the tractor off and laythere for a while. He was in a secluded part of hisproperty that people don’t routinely frequent, so heknew he had to do something. With considerableeffort, he was able to dig his cell phone out of hispocket and dial 911.

First attempt to free him failedThe commotion of the paramedics and fire

department attracted hisneighbors, who foundhim. The first attempt tofree Brian failed, and thetractor fell back on him.The second attempt wassuccessful, and within anhour of the accident, Brianwas airlifted to the hospital.

Melissa (Brian’s wife)and Brian were both shak-ing when they first saweach other. “He was goinginto shock,” says Melissa.“The only way I could han-dle it was by putting him in God’s hands. What hap-pened to him was so tragic and yet he was so calm.”

Brian’s diagnosis was bleak. He had a crushedpelvis (“It was like a puzzle,” says Melissa), a frac-tured femur, a compound fracture in his tibia, andmuscle and nerve damage. There was some goodnews — his internal organs were intact. “That wasthe first miracle,” says Brian.

During that first week after the accident, Brianhad four operations. A rod and numerous screwswere inserted to repair the damage. A halo-like appa-ratus with bars was drilled into his pelvis to stabilizeand bind it together. Some of the muscle was soinfected, it had to be removed.

Brian met every challenge given to him at thehospital and was able to go home for Christmas. Hisfriends and people from his church got his house dis-ability-accessible in two days. Hospital personnelwere happy to see him go home, but were sad hewould not be there cheering them on.

“When we brought Brian home after a month,there were many details to handle,” says Melissa.“Brian was nowhere to be found. He had managed to

ride his wheelchair down a little hill to go see thehorses. Getting him back up the hill was quite a chore.”

“Brian had many visitors during his ordeal,” shesays, “but instead of them cheering him up, it wasBrian who cheered them up. Brian found peace andstrength in the pages of his Bible. His visitors alwaysleft stronger, as he shared his faith. Brian always putseveryone’s needs before his own. He is a special soul.”

“Melissa, my sons Joshua [now 13], and Luke [8],and my daughter Hannah [5] were especiallyhappy,” says Brian. “My healing is a testimony tothem. We became closer and stronger. We hardlywatched TV. We played games and we read a lot.

“Hannah was my little nurse. She helped me as Icleaned and put ointment on my wounds. She wasmy little angel as she cried with me. She is truly ablessing, a special gift from God. My boys picked upthe slack. I am so proud of them. Melissa and I madesure there was very little change in their routine.”

Because of the nerve and muscle damage, painpills often didn’t work and Brian was in constantpain for about six months. “My family would praywith me until I could handle the pain,” says Brian.“One day I needed to do something to keep megoing. I managed to get into the car and drive. Han-nah ran to my wife and called, ‘Mommy, Mommy,look! Daddy is driving!’ As you can imagine, Melissawas not too pleased.”

Brian had been a state champion wrestler andwas coaching Joshua’s team. About two monthsafter his accident, Joshua faced a tough match. Brianpersuaded Melissa to take him and he arrived in hiswheelchair. “I was able to coach the team,” saysBrian. “And Joshua? He won in overtime!”

Brian attended Luke’s soccer games in thewheelchair. “One day I surprised him by showing upon crutches,” says Brian. “He was excited.”

Brian and Hannah continued their adventure.“Once the pelvic bars were removed, we walked amile every day, first on the walker, next on crutches,then with a cane,” says Brian. “It was one day andone step at a time. Running — forget it. I was con-cerned about my livelihood. The doctor told me Iwould never walk again without the aid of a pros-thetic and cane. I heard the words, but deep down Iknew that I would be walking, riding my horses, androping again.”

Incredible progressBrian’s progress was incredible; he calls it

miraculous. He was able to return to work on alimited schedule last July and is now back full time.“I’m very grateful to Sandia for the patience givenme,” says Brian.” In the beginning, I was in physi-cal therapy at Sandia for about four hours a day.Sandia stuck with me and gave me freedom to getbetter. It’s such a privilege to come to work.”

“Being one of the first to arrive at the scene ofthe accident, it was inconceivable that anyone couldhave survived,” says his lifetime best friend Norman

Baca (4211). “It is not surprising that Brian's life wasspared. His first words to me were, ‘Norman, pray forme.’ Although the scene was chaotic and his physi-cal body was badly wounded, there was a sense ofpeace as we worked to get Brian extracted.

“This accident could have been tragic for him,not only setting him back physically but emotion-ally and spiritually. His perseverance has proven thathe has only gotten stronger.”

‘I was never alone’Brian had been competitive in roping competi-

tions before his accident. He placed fourth in thefirst competition he entered after his accident. Hecoached his son’s wrestling team to an undefeatedseason. But best of all, Brian is running on his own.

“The hard days,” says Brian, “they were bearablebecause, in addition to my family, the support of mycoworkers and friends was unbelievable. I was neveralone. I can only hope to be the friend to them thatthey have been to me.

“I’m told I am a light for a lot of people,” hesays. “It’s not me; it’s Jesus Christ in me. I’m justgoing through the motions.

“And hero? My wife Melissa is the hero,” saysBrian. “She kept everything together so our childrenwouldn’t feel the impact. She and my children arethe heroes. I feel so blessed.”

By Iris Aboytes

SANDIA LAB NEWS • May 25, 2007 • Page 16

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BRIAN GRIEGO

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A SPECIAL FAMILY — Brian Griego sits with his family,Josh, Hannah, Luke, and Melissa.

After freak accident, Brian Griego finds healing through faith, friends, family