Village Profile® Home Page | About our Company | Sales Opportunities | Community eStore | vpmobile.us®

Sandia National Laboratories

Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, California was established in 1956, and is one of the largest Department of Energy research facilities with approximately 900 staff members and 250 contractors, post-doctoral fellows and students who share the goal of applying science and technology to create a more secure world.

Sandia's long-standing mission has been to provide engineering design, production, assembly, and field testing of the nonnuclear components of nuclear weapons. Today, Sandia's mission spans a number of other national security needs, including areas such as homeland security and defense, energy and water, and biosciences. Underpinning all of Sandia's mission areas is the drive to develop new understanding through science, technology, and engineering.

Examples of current Sandia/California projects or programs include:

• The Joint Bio-Energy Institute (JBEI), a five-year, $125 million research facility funded by the Department of Energy. This effort, led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory with key contributions from Sandia and four other research institutions from the Bay Area, is expected to lead to the production of new forms of biofuel, primarily for the automotive sector.

• The Unattended Water Sensor, a detection system that can continuously monitor water supplies for safety and purity. The technology, funded through a commercial partnership with Tenix Corporation, has undergone field testing at a local Bay Area water utility.

• A clinical, saliva-based diagnostic tool that offers early detection of periodontal (gum) disease and other medical conditions.

• The homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine, developed at Sandia's Combustion Research Facility (CRF), which has caught the attention of automotive and diesel engine manufacturers worldwide. The HCCI engine has demonstrated the potential to rival the high efficiency of diesel engines while keeping emissions low.

Although Sandia is a government research and development laboratory directed to meet the nation’s security needs, Sandia also welcomes commercial and business partnership opportunities. Sandia actively seeks to partner with private companies, universities, and state and local government agencies.

Sandia is a multi-program laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin company, for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. Sandia has major research and development responsibilities in national security, energy and environmental technologies, and economic competitiveness.