Two Sandia National Labs teams win R&D Magazine Awards

  • Published
  • By Ryan Stark
  • Nucleus staff writer
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  Two Kirtland-based Sandia National Laboratories teams were named winners of R&D Magazine's R&D 100 Awards.

One team won the award -- referred to within the research and development field as the "Oscars of invention" -- for creating a creditcard- sized device to detect anthrax bacteria.

Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, whose agency manages the lab, said in a Sandia press release that the winning teams are an example of the kind of discoveries that the lab contributes to the nation.

"These awards recognize the tremendous value of our national labs," Moniz said. "Research and development at the national labs continues to help our nation address its energy challenges and pursue the scientific and technological innovations necessary to remain globally competitive."

Bryan Carson, a member of the anthrax detection team, said that the award is a huge honor, even if it only happens once in a career.

"We will proudly and happily argue over who gets to hang the award plaque in their hallway first," he said.

The anthrax device allows the user to test for the bacteria in a variety of situations, terrorismrelated or not. The stand-alone device is small, portable, easy to use, requires minimal training and doesn't need electricity.

"The technology we developed is not limited to anthrax alone, and we envision adapting it to numerous other organisms that threaten human and animal health," Carson said.

The other team of Sandians won for creating a computer program to simulate manufacturing. Dubbed Goma 6.0, it is an open-source solution for manufacturing things like plastic wrap, which is actually a very complex process, according to the release.

The software allows users to manage and track equipment, chemicals and other manufacturing variables, which saves money and time.

There is a third Sandia team that took an award, but it is not based at Kirtland. That team created a component to help detect hazardous materials in the millions of cargo containers that come to the U.S. each year.

The winning teams will be honored at a formal banquet.