However, there was a hitch: vinyl alcohol is ametastable form, or isomer, of the common moleculeacetaldehyde. At equilibrium and room temperature,there is only one vinyl alcohol molecule for every 3.3million acetaldehyde molecules. Something would need

to push this mixture far from itsnatural composition for there tobe enough vinyl alcohol mole-cules to potentially impactformic acid concentrations.

The answer to this puzzlecame through David’s explor-ations of a foundational scien-tific Grand Challenge from theDOE’s Office of Basic Energy Sci-ences, which funded the work:to harness systems far from equi-librium. Forcing a chemical sys-tem far from equilibrium couldallow chemists to exploreunusual molecular configura-tions that may have valuableproperties for energy captureand energy storage.

David’s team thought thatphotons — in particular ultravi-olet light — would be an ideal

paper published in Analytical Chemistry, the AmericanChemical Society journal.

Gene editing technology is based on the immunesystems of bacteria. Using a system popularly known asCRISPR, bacteria save pieces of DNA from invading

This inexpensive test is the first of its kind for mea-suring gene-cutting activity. It is compatible withhigh-throughput testing, meaning that it can look atthe effectiveness of thousands of molecules at once.This is key because finding the few that work amongstthe millions that don’t is a bit of a guessing game. AsSandia virologist and project lead Brooke Harmonexplained, “Screening is a fishing expedition. Some-times, you miss.”

Sometimes though, you succeed. The effectiveness ofthis test and the way it works are described in a new

Inspired by earlier work led by Sandia researcherCraig Taatjes of combustion chemistry, Sandia physicalchemist David Osborn and his colleagues hypothesizedthat vinyl alcohol could be a chemical precursor to themissing formic acid.

Since 1949 Managed by NTESS, LLC, for the National Nuclear Security Administration

Vol. 70, No. 16

Aug. 17, 2018

Inside . . .Acronym Fever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Test Assembly Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Perspective on WIPP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

40 years of concentrating solar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7

Operation Backpack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

From Sandia to Apple and back . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Looking into Associate LabsDirector Dori Ellis’ crystal ballBy Jules Bernstein

Lab News team member Jules Bernstein recently caught up with Associate LabsDirector Dori Ellis to get her thoughts on where Division 8000 has been in the lastyear and where it’s going. She reflects on the first year of NTESS management,

expected growth at the California site, and aspects of Sandia culture she’d like to pre-serve during these times of change.

A peek at the pastJules Bernstein: Sandia recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of the Labs’

transition to NTESS management on May 1, 2017. What stands out for you lookingback at the first year?

Dori Ellis: One of the big achievements has been preparing to get ramped up onthe W80-4. We’ve put a lot of energy into finding the right space, hiring people —we’ve hired over 300 this year — and making sure we have the right configurationand the right people to get moving. We’ve got a substantial uplift coming.

JB: Sandia/California has had some key visits this past year including DOE Secretary

ANNIVERSARY AMBLE — Associate Labs Director Dori Ellis (front, left) joins a groupincluding Sandia solar tower engineers and U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, for a tour of theNational Solar Thermal Test Facility at Sandia Albuquerque as part of ceremonies markingthe 40th anniversary of the test facility. (Photo by Randy Montoya. Story and additionalphotos, pages 6-7)

Cutting it shortSandia develops critical toolfor gene editing safety projectBy Jules Bernstein

Diseases currently considered incurable couldone day be eliminated with a single injection.New gene editing technologies can cut disease

out of a person’s DNA, but they aren’t safe to leave inthe body for long.

That’s why scientists are searching for ways toshorten the amount of time gene editors remain inthe body after they’ve hit their target. To that end,Sandia has developed a test to quickly, accurately andsimultaneously screen thousands of molecules fortheir ability to shut down DNA-cutting proteins.

Researchers discover new source offormic acid over Pacific, Indian oceansSunlight drives molecules far from equilibrium, enabling new chemical pathwaysBy Michael Padilla

Insights from experiments at Sandia designed to pushchemical systems far from equilibrium allowed aninternational group of researchers to discover a new

major source of formic acid overthe Pacific and Indian oceans.

The discovery was publishedin the July 3 issue of NatureCommunications and featuredon the editor’s highlights web-page. The project was a collabo-ration among Sandia, the Uni-versity of New South Wales, theUniversity of Leeds, the Univer-sity of the Pacific and the Uni-versity of Minnesota.

In addition to being thesmallest organic acid and animportant chemical for commu-nication among ants, formic acidplays an important role inatmospheric chemistry, affectingrainwater acidity. However,global atmospheric models sig-nificantly underpredict theamount of formic acid present inthe troposphere compared todirect measurements.

INHIBITOR HUNTERS — Inhibitor search team scien-tists Kyle Seamon (left) and Edwin Saada hold stacksof 384-well plates used to search for small-moleculeCas9 inhibitors. (Photo by Jules Bernstein)

FORMIC ACID RISING -- This map of Earth shows the fraction of formic acid concentration arisingfrom the new chemical pathway involving non-equilibrium concentrations of vinyl alcohol. Thispathway accounts for more than half of the total modeled formic acid production over large areasof the Pacific and Indian oceans. (Graphic by Professor Dylan Millet, University of Minnesota, aspublished in Nature Communications)

Q&A with the ALD:

(Continued on page 8)

(Continued on page 8)

(Continued on page 4)

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Vol. 70, No.16Aug. 17, 2018

86 that acronym! Lab News NotesEditor’s Note: Lab News seeks guest colum-nists with observations on life at the Labs oron science and technology in the news andin contemporary life. If you have a column(500-750 words) or an idea to submit, pleasecontact Jim Danneskiold, the acting editor.

Sandia National LaboratoriesAlbuquerque, New Mexico 87185-1468Livermore, California 94550-0969Tonopah, Nevada • Nevada National Security SiteAmarillo, Texas • Carlsbad, New Mexico • Washington, D.C.

Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated byNational Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC., a wholly owned sub-sidiary of Honeywell International, Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NationalNuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525.

Jules Bernstein and Michael Padilla, Guest EditorsLaura Hatfield, ProductionJim Danneskiold, Acting Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505-844-0587Darrick Hurst, Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505-844-8009

Michael Lanigan, Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505-844-2297Tim Deshler, Production and Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505-844-2502Randy Montoya, Photographer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505-844-5605Jules Berstein, California site contact . . . . . . . . . . 925-294-3609

Contributors: Michelle Fleming (ads, milepost photos, 844-4902),Neal Singer (845-7078), Stephanie Holinka (284-9227), MichaelBaker (284-1085), Troy Rummler (284-1056), Valerie Larkin(284-7879), Lindsey Kibler (844-7988), Meagan Brace (844-0499),Manette Fisher (844-1742), Kristen Meub (845-7215), MichaelPadilla (925-294-2447), Jim Danneskiold (manager, 844-0587)

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Changing how we use acronymsis a tiny thing with big benefitsBy Kelsey Tresemer, systems engineer for Advanced and Exploratory Systems

UCSC. PDR. SSOMI. POC. FSA. Acronyms. All government agencies and national lab-

oratories have a deep relationship with these linguisticabbreviations. Sandia is blessed not only with its own setof technical and corporate acronyms, but is alsorequired to understand acronyms of the U.S. military,federal government and any other laboratory withwhich we collaborate.

Whether you are an experienced Sandian whoregards our Labs’ relianceon these condensedwords as a necessary yetirritating quirk or a youare newer employee con-stantly stumbling overthem during meetings,we all recognize theproblem. Despite its per-sistence, acronymophiliais surprisingly solvablewith a few changes to ourdaily routine.

Acronyms are ancientshortcuts. SPQR replacedthe older term ROMA onpre-Christian Romancoins when the new gov-ernment’s name, “SenatusPopulusque Romanus,”didn’t fit. Many medievalreligious scribes abbrevi-ated common theologicalterms to save time andmanuscript space. In the19th century, Europeanand U.S. businesses reliedon acronyms to maximizeadvertising space andturn their stock tradenames into household terms. For example, Nabisco isthe National Biscuit Company, and Esso is the symbolfor ExxonMobil, formerly SO for Standard Oil.

For modern-day considerations, acronyms are part ofa small family of grammatical abbreviations comprisingacronyms and initialisms. An initialism is taking the firstletter, or first few letters, of a series of words to form anew string – which may or may not be pronounceable(NATO vs. FAQ). A true acronym is when an initialismforms a new, pronounceable word, such as SCUBA stand-ing for self-contained underwater breathing apparatus.

Acronyms and initialisms carry a price for their util-ity. Psychological studies show they increase feelings ofinclusivity and superiority in their parent groups butengender feelings of alienation and exclusion for newteam members (Ariely, The Upside of Irrationality). Theyare favored by writers as convenient ways of referring to

well-understood ideas, but heavy acronym use shifts theintellectual burden of understanding to the reader, whothen must take extra time to Sherlock their way to com-prehension (Pinker, The Sense of Style).

Additionally, many acronyms use the same lettersbut mean something entirely different, dependingon their domain. For a fun exercise, Google theacronym TAG. This need for explicit knowledge ofdomain language can be bewildering to Labs staff

trying to contribute outside their normal field andcan cause confusion or even misunderstandingsbetween Sandia and our customers, costing time andmoney and hurting our reputation.

Information is inherently lost when a complex ornuanced idea is transmuted into an acronym. The defin-ition of these abstractions can further decay or evolveover time, ultimately meaning different things to differ-ent people. An interesting example is the acronym A2ADor anti-access/aerial denial, a buzzword describingChina’s recent military strategy in the South China Sea. Itwas popularized at the Pentagon and even appears inthe 2018 Nuclear Posture Review. However, the chief ofnaval operations, Adm. John Richardson, recentlybanned the use of A2AD because of persistentl y inade-quate knowledge about its actual, nuanced meaning.

If we subtlety change how we use acronyms on a

daily basis, we could prevent communication problemsstemming from acronym confusion or errors due to jar-gon overuse, saving the time spent fixing those prob-lems. I propose three simple alterations to ouracronymical culture.

First, technical writing guidelines prevent acronymconfusion by requiring that authors always defineacronyms upon first use. At Sandia, we can easily applythis convention to our emails, documentation or meet-ing minutes. Writing out point of contact (POC) insteadof POC might be a hassle, but do it once and you haveeliminated any possibility of confusion.

Next, good verbal communication relies on the lis-tener’s ability to follow the speaker from thought to

thought. The instant youuse an unknownacronym, you’ve lost theirattention and, before youregain it, they could missa key piece of informa-tion. Saving a few secondsisn’t worth risking anerror in understanding arequirement. The habit ofusing acronyms in conver-sation is simply an oppor-tunity for misunderstand-ing and should beavoided, when possible.

Lastly, and most pow-erfully, if you cannotavoid the first two guide-lines, cultivate a cultureof respect in your groupfor asking clarifying ques-tions. If something isunfamiliar or an acronymis undefined, encourageteam members to stopthe discussion andrequest a clear definition.You not only will be sur-prised by how manyacronyms are used daily

and not understood, but you also ensure that everyoneon your team maintains a common working knowledgeof your domain language.

Just as we would not use a screwdriver to hammera nail, we should not rely on acronyms for clear techni-cal communication. An agile workforce must be ableto respond quickly and precisely to the needs of ourcustomers and country. This responsiveness demandsthat Sandians not only transition quickly to new pro-jects, but that we move swiftly and efficiently betweendomains to respond to full-spectrum threats. Changinghow we use acronyms may seem like a tiny, annoyingrequest, but if we can avoid an error, a misunder-standing between our lab and our customers or a feel-ing of alienation by a new hire, we not only willimprove the quality of our products, our Labs will bestronger for it.

ACRONYMOPHOBIA — Kelsey Tresemer attempts to understand the daily deluge of workplace acronyms. (Image by Brent Haglund)

TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK — Jules Bernstein, Madeline Burchard and Michael Padilla are all smiles afterworking together to get out this edition of Sandia Lab News, the 12th annual featuring stories from Sandia’s Californiacampus and beyond. Special thanks to Kelsey Tresemer, Kristen Meub, Brent Haglund, Randy Montoya and Dino Vour-nas for their contributions. (Photo by Brent Haglund)

California teamin’

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SANDIA LAB NEWS • August 17, 2018 • Page 3

Interns showcase posters on the patio

On July 25, Sandia/California interns showcased whatthey learned from their summer projects at the

annual Posters on the Patio event. The event featured about 45 interns who presented

their posters as teams and individuals. Div. 8100 Director Andy McIlroy kicked off the event

by delivering the welcome address. He spoke about theimportance of interns at Sandia and the many contribu-tions they make each year. Associate Labs Director DoriEllis attended and spoke with several interns to learnabout their projects. She also joined the interns forlunch.

The event was hosted by the Sandia/California Stu-dent Intern Programs team led by Carol Lewis. MelissaWeigand was the primary event coordinator.

“The Posters on the Patio event is a great way tohighlight the work done by the interns and showcasesthe dedication of the mentors,” said Melissa. “Havingthe interns onsite at Sandia/California during the sum-mer is a great addition to the site. It’s wonderful to seetheir enthusiasm for the work that they do here and forthe Labs in general.”

By Michael PadillaPhotos by Austin Fausto

BRITNEY LAU participated in the Posters on the Patio event and discussed her work on phage therapy, whichinvolves the use of engineered viruses to cure bacterial infections in wax worms. The research one day couldbe expanded to the search for phage therapies to treat human infections.

SOPHIE QUYNN talks about Sandia’s Wearables at the Canyon for Health study.

NAVYA PEDDIREDDY AND NIKKI TJAHJONO were part of ateam that presented a poster on “Developing Geneticallyand Chemically Converted Stem Cells for Cell Therapy.”

TAG team puts workstand to the testStory and photos by Michael Padilla

MEASURE TWICE AND ADJUST AGAIN — W80-4 systems engineer Dave Hauser (left)and Mike Bordner double check the work stand setup prior to applying the load.

Sandia’s Test Assembly Group recently conducted a work stand proof load test.The stand will be used throughout the assembly of the W80-4. For the proof

load test, the work stand was exercised throughout its range of motion whileunder load. This test identified the allowable range and ensures no issues willarise during assembly of the weapon system. The Test Assembly Group is a keypartner with the W80-4 System Team for critical hardware needs. The TestAssembly team provides technical expertise for the assembly of weapon testassets, to ensure the work is conducted safely, correctly and on time.

RANGE OF MOTION — Mike Bordner (left) and Steve Ikebe, engineering support tech-nologists with the Test Assembly Group, test out a work stand to better understandhow it will perform during assembly of the W80-4.

MELISSA WEIGAND AND CAROL LEWIS spearheaded thisyear’s Posters on the Patio event.

GUY WATSON explains his group’s poster, “Virtualizes Integrated Network Monitoring System,” at the annual Posterson the Patio event.

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Rick Perry and NNSA Administrator Lisa Gordon-Hagerty. What is the key message you want to leave withvisitors like these?

DE: There are at least a couple of takeaways. One hasto do with the unique functionsand capabilities that are located inCalifornia, and our relationships toLawrence Livermore National Lab-oratory and to the technologyindustry here in the Bay Area. Wereally do have a unique positionrelative to some of the other labs,even as compared to our NewMexico lab. It’s much easier for usto connect with these groups inthe neighborhood.

The other takeaway is that wetake our work very seriously, wetake our relationship with our NewMexico counterparts very seriously,we really do want to project andbe one laboratory.

The ‘one laboratory’ emphasisis partly so we can more seam-lessly deliver on our mission andon services. It also means that weare using the same policies andpractices to the extent that we canaround security and safety, howwe work and how we hire.

We’ve had challenges around differences in the waywe provide physical security. In New Mexico they have aguard force of full-time, regular Sandians and here wehave a contract workforce. The security organizations inboth places are working very closely together, alongwith our counterparts at Lawrence Livermore, becausewe share some services with them.

JB: What aspects of Sandia culture do you feelare especially important to preserve as we moveinto the future?

DE: Sandia has a very strong culture of ‘get ‘er done.’It’s important we don’t lose that. As an engineering lab-oratory we have capabilities that we can bring to bearnot just on the weighty problems of nuclear securityand deterrence, but also in applied engineering forenergy programs and many of our other areas. We reallyhave a foundation here that’s different than many ofour laboratory counterparts.

The other aspect of the character here is generosityof sharing across technical areas. People are willing tobe part of a team as opposed to being an individualdoing their own thing, which means Sandia can take onvery large, complex programs that we couldn’t other-wise execute.

Sandia rewards teamwork. There’s still competitionof course. We all got here by being competitive. But ulti-mately people are able to subordinate their own per-sonal outcome if needed so that the laboratory has abetter outcome overall.

JB: Are there aspects of Sandia culture that you feelwe should work toleave behind?

DE: There has beensomething of a cul-tural divide betweenour mission deliveryorganizations and ourmission enabling orga-nizations. We are try-ing to bring those twosides of the organiza-tion together seam-lessly so that we notonly deliver a superiorengineering product,but we deliver it in themost efficient, effec-tive way possible. It’sgiving respect to theprofessionalism of ourenabling services andfocus on bringing theirbest work to bear onour problems.

Reflections on the presentJB: Some programs have seen cuts in funding, and

with budget cuts often comes changes in morale. Whatadvice do you give to those impacted by these cuts?

DE: The cuts that we’re seeing are much smallerthan we expected. Even though this administrationmade some very strong statements about intent withthe President’s budget, the truth is Congress expresstheir priorities. We’re seeing very little happening tooverall budget sizes. Some of the priorities are changingin some areas, however. Next year as a laboratory we’reonce again expecting to see substantial increases. Ourbig challenge is going to be finding the right people and

SANDIA LAB NEWS • August 17, 2018 • Page 4

Q&A with the ALD adequate space to be able to execute on the moneycoming in.

JB: Can you share an example of a time in yourcareer where you successfully navigated morale chal-lenges? What was your strategy?

DE: Every program has a beginning and an end. It’snot unusual for people who’ve devoted a lot of time andenergy to a program to be disappointed when there are

changes. The main thing is tomake sure you’re working withyour manager and senior manageron what’s coming next becauseheaven only knows we’ve got a lotof work coming. If you can be a lit-tle flexible around what you wantto do, there’s plenty of work.

JB: We have heard a lot aboutthe increased volume of workheaded our way as a result of theNuclear Posture Review. Do youhave advice for navigatingwork/life balance in times of highworkload?

DE: Work/life balance may be abit of a misnomer. It’s more like ateeter-totter. We do try very hardto make sure people have a mean-ingful work experience and thenhave time to go home and spendtime with their family or friends,or however they like to spend theirfree time. But there will be timeswhen we’re called upon to domore, and we appreciate that peo-

ple are willing to do that, recognizing that it does comeat a cost.

We’re trying to do things like the 4/10 schedule.We’re hopeful that we can extend the 4/10 to ournonexempt staff soon. We are waiting on some changesto the time reporting system to meet current regula-tions. I’m very eager to see how that works. Here inCalifornia, our folks may be experiencing a very longcommute. Being able to come to work one day less aweek can eliminate four hours of frustration.

JB: What’s happening to the Redwood Center mobilebuildings at Sandia/California?

DE: We’re tearing it down. It’s very old, and isn’t thekind of space we’d like to have our employees living in.The intention here is to get it gone and put the empha-sis not on maintaining old buildings, but rather onimproving the space that has a lifetime that’s a littlelonger. We’re not going to build new office space yet.There are things we’d like to do to the site, and we’vegot them included in the budgets going forward. Nextyear we should see updates to building 928 and a newdata center to replace the system we’ve had for so long.We also hope to put another roughly 50 people in anupdated mobile 50 by the end of this fiscal year.

Gazing into the futureJB: We have seen a lot of opportunities for Division

8000 members to work together. Any new projects com-ing up that you’d like to see more interaction fromacross the division?

DE: We havebrought energy andhomeland securitytogether, which givesus an opportunity towork on things likeresilient energy sys-tems and civiliancyber projects. Thoseare projects that aregoing to be not justacross our division,but across the labora-tory. Those cross-orga-nizational, cross-func-tional teams reallycan do much morethan individual orga-nizations. We’re look-ing forward to thatkind of work.

We also support allof the other mission

portfolios. Of course, Nuclear Deterrence support is ahuge part of the work that we do here. But we also sup-port the Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, National Secu-rity Programs, and Advanced Science and Technology.

JB: We have seen a lot of growth around Division8000, what can we expect for the upcoming year? Whatare some of the challenges we’ve experienced aroundthis growth, and how do you recommend we deal withthese challenges going forward?

DE: There are at least two challenges: space and peo-ple. We’re having to move people around, probablymore intentionally than we have before. We’ve goneback to collaborative space with many people and lowpartitions as opposed to hard offices. The hiring in Cali-fornia and in our 8800 New Mexico center are really

challenging for a couple of different reasons. In the sci-ence areas, large numbers of the graduate students wehave access to as postdocs are foreign nationals, whichis more challenging for us to handle.

With sciences, engineering, and even some missionenabling functions there’s also the hyper competitivenature of opportunities and salaries in the Bay Area.We’ve lost people to three times or more their salary.While we’ve won awards nationally for quality of life,when you look at a factor of three on your salary it’s alittle hard to say no, at least short term.

One of the things we are seeing are people who havegone to some of these startups or a Google or Facebook,working very long hours there with a long commute,and maybe putting together enough money for a downpayment on a house or other objective. Then, some ofthem are coming back because of the quality of the mis-sion, the quality of the people you get to work with, andthe work/life balance.

‘HEAVEN ONLY KNOWS WE’VE GOT ALOT OF WORK COMING’ — Dori Ellis onhow Division 8000 is preparing to tackleits future. (Photo by Dino Vournas)

CHANGES ON CAMPUS — Dori Ellis walking past the Californiasite's Redwood Center, which is currently being demolished.

(Photo by Dino Vournas)

(Continued from page 1)

ALD’s amusementsIt’s not all work

all the time forour Associate LabsDirector – it issummer after all.Here, Dori sharessome of herthoughts for theoff hours.

JB: What areyour top books forsummer reading?

DE: One of thebooks I’d recom-mend from adiversity andinclusion perspec-tive is Turtles AllThe Way Down. It’sa look at a youngwoman who hassome mentalhealth issues, and it lets you inside her head. Herreality is very different from the reality of thosearound her. All of us have our own reality, regard-less of what our mental health status is. And some-times it’s easier to give people the grace, the benefitof the doubt, and try to understand what their real-ity looks like. While I wouldn’t call it light reading, Iwould strongly encourage it.

I went to the White Men and Allies session lastweek and it had such a profound impact on me.Some of our people of color talked about the chal-lenges of being in an environment where just byvirtue of their skin color or how they look, they feelfearful. One of them said they were going to buy agun for their home. What a tragedy that the dia-logue has descended so far into discord. One of thethings we have to do here inside the lab boundariesis make sure we’re talking about values, tolerance,respect and integrity. We can’t do anything aboutthe political climate, nor should we take a politicalstand as a Laboratory, but inside the Laboratorieswe can take a much stronger stand on behaviors. Ican’t force you to think one way or another. But ifyou’re going to work here, I can ask you to behavein a professional way.

One of the takeaways from the session is howmuch overlap many of us have in ways we didn’trealize. For example, many people in that groupcame from very humble beginnings. And many oth-ers grew up in a family in which mental healthissues, alcohol or drug abuse were a part of theirlife. Still many others once lived in a neighborhoodthat was all segregated. So many of us that mightseem different do have a lot of shared experiences.

Another book I recommend is the recentlyreleased one by James Patterson and Bill Clinton,The President is Missing: A Novel, about the chal-lenges faced by a president. Of course, it’s a murdermystery and action packed. But it also looks at theresponsibilities that come with being a nationalleader that may come at a personal price. The sameis true whether you’re the leader of a department,group, center or division. It’s not always easy.

JB: What TV shows, if any, could you recom-mend as worthy of binge watching?

DE: We’ve been watching a series called Reverie.It’s a story of a computer program which lets youtake a virtual trip into a world of your own creation,and the blessings and problems associated withthat. It’s very interesting premise. For people strug-gling, the temptation is to go into their reverie andstay there. The premise of the show is that it’s a veryunhealthy thing to do.

JB: Is it better to be lucky or smart?DE: If you’re really lucky, you’d have been

born smart.

FIT AND FUN — Dori enjoy-ing the dog days of summer.

(Photo courtesy of Dori Ellis)

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SANDIA LAB NEWS • August 17, 2018 • Page 5

Closing and reopening WIPPTwo separate WIPP events in February 2014 led to

the repository’s shutdown. On Feb. 5, hydraulic fluidleakage caused a salt haul truck to catch fire in theWIPP underground. Six employees were treated forsmoke inhalation. On Feb. 14, a drum containingorganic materials and nitrate salts breached, trigger-ing a radiological release that exposed 22 employeeson the surface at the WIPP site to approximately thesame amount of radiation as in a chest X-ray.

Once WIPP was shut down, no waste could beshipped to the repository from any DOE site. Duringthe three years until WIPP reopened, formal AccidentInvestigation Boards met to understand why the fireand release occurred and to recommend correctiveactions to prevent recurrence. DOE headquarters, theCarlsbad Field Office and Nuclear Waste Partnership,the management and operating contractor for WIPP,developed and implemented a series of correctiveactions as part of the WIPP recovery process.

In December 2016, DOE authorized WIPP toresume waste emplacement operations after the sitecompleted a series of independent reviews and pre-start corrective actions. During the official reopeningof WIPP in January 2017, then-Secretary of EnergyErnest Moniz thanked everyone involved — the work-force, the contractor, federal management and the

community — for their tireless efforts to make WIPP asafer place.

A key takeaway from Sean’s work on the recoveryproject was the importance of gaining a larger per-spective while keeping each audience in mind. Anincident of this magnitude attracts a lot of attentionand help from outside entities, he said.

“I tried to understand the situation from severalpoints of view: workforce members worried abouttheir jobs, stakeholders concerned about their com-munity, DOE as the facility owner with responsibilityfor the contamination, elected officials trying todetermine the best path forward and regulators whooversaw the facility and had to figure out how itcould resume operations,” Sean said. “My role was toprovide an outside, unbiased perspective.”

Sean grew up in Carlsbad, so he was able to look atthe WIPP recovery process from the vantage point of alocal. He also drew upon his ties to the community forinsight about how outside groups viewed Sandia.

“It’s important to understand how situations orproblems that we encounter are seen from differentpoints of view,” he said. “As an organization, we mustthen try to understand how Sandia, our workforcemembers and even we as individuals are perceived inturn. Participating in this introspective process willenable good decisions and progress to be made.”

Sean said there were many obstacles and chal-lenges to overcome following the shutdown of WIPP.

“The list of the challenges that we faced was prettylengthy,” he said. “From budget woes, changing politi-cal climates, safety issues, technical concerns — thelist could go on and on.”

The extensive outside interest and offers of assis-tance made a deep impression on Sean. “We were try-ing to make progress while continuously hosting someexternal groups that were attempting to provide sometype of support,” he said. “All of the groups had goodintentions, but continuous outside or additional sup-port can be counterproductive.

In addition, the DOE team that Sean led in the WIPPrecovery process was challenged by the need to devotetremendous amounts of time and energy to education.For example, they explained to numerous outsidegroups how a salt mine like WIPP works. The team alsohad to educate the public and elected officials on whathappened, the impacts and the path to recovery.

A continuing focus on the needs ofthe nation

Sandia has maintained a remote site in Carlsbadfor its WIPP efforts since 1994, but the Labs’ efforts forthe national repository go back much further, saysPaul Shoemaker, senior manager at Sandia Carlsbad.

“Sandia has supported DOE and its predecessororganizations on matters pertaining to WIPP since1974, with funding and work scope fluctuations, to besure, but continuously over that time,” Paul said.“That may make our WIPP work the longest-runningsingle project in the history of the Labs.”

About 55 people work there currently, Paul said.Sean said that WIPP will continue to evolve with

the national nuclear landscape. “There are some substantial changes on the hori-

zon for the WIPP site—unlike any we have seen sincethe facility opened—and we will be here to supportthem,” he said.

SALTY SYMPOSIUM — Paul Shoemaker, left, senior manager for defense waste management, and Sean Dunagan, managerof Special Projects and Remote Site Support for Sandia in Carlsbad, talk about WIPP. (Photo courtesy of Paul Shoemaker)

Sean Dunagan knows firsthand how to bring a major project back online after a three-yearshutdown.

Following the February 2014 events that closed theWaste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad, New Mexico,Sean was the senior WIPP recovery manager at DOE.During his more than two years with the agency, healso served for a year as acting deputy manager of theCarlsbad Field Office. He is now back in Sandia’semploy as the manager of special projects and remotesite support for the Labs’ Carlsbad office.

“I see the events that led to WIPP’s closure as acautionary tale — one that could potentially happenat any DOE site or lab,” Sean said. “Our task now isto recognize preventable mistakes before they occurand to stay focused on safety and excellence.”

Learning from the WIPP shutdownSean cited two major contributors for the incidents

that led to the shutdown at WIPP: overprioritizing theschedule and allowing a once-exemplary workplaceculture to deteriorate.

“Prioritizing the schedule affects us all,” he said.“We all constantly battle external and internal pres-sures to meet deadlines and targeted schedules.”

A report from the formal DOE Accident Investiga-tion Board concluded that the WIPP workplace cul-ture had degraded by 2014, causing workforce mem-bers to become complacent. Sean agreed that theexemplary culture that characterized WIPP early in its15 years of operations had deteriorated over time.

“Any company, department, team or individualcan fall victim to a degradation in culture,” Sean said.“Each of us at Sandia should frequently step back andreevaluate if our priorities or cultures have changedor need to be changed. In the situation at the WIPPsite, the priority had shifted to increasing waste dis-posal production over safety.”

As the WIPP science advisor to DOE’s Office of Envi-ronmental Management, Sandia is responsible forassessing long-term performance at WIPP 10,000years into the future.

WIPP permanently disposes of defense-relatedtransuranic waste, a byproduct of the nation’s nuclearweapons production program. The waste consists oftools, rags, protective clothing, sludges, soil and othermaterials contaminated with radioactive elements,mostly plutonium. There are two types of transuranicwaste: newly generated waste from ongoing NNSAmission work, and legacy waste created decades ago,which has been stored at various locations in the DOE complex.

During its first 15 years of operation, WIPP hadreceived more than 11,800 shipments of transuranicwaste and had disposed of more than 90,000 cubicmeters of waste.

Keeping perspective during a long recoverySean Dunagan calls events that led to WIPP’s three-year closure a ‘cautionary tale’By Michael Padilla

JUBILATION BENEATH THE EARTH — Workers in WIPP’sunderground complete the first waste emplacementsince 2014. (Photo courtesy of WIPP)

TROUBLE TIMES TWO — Two unrelated incidents in February 2014 shut down the repository and suspended ship-ments for three years: the Feb. 5, 2014, salt haul truck fire (left) and the Feb. 14, 2014, drum breach and radiologicalrelease. (Photos courtesy of WIPP)

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SANDIA LAB NEWS • August 17, 2018 • Page 6

diately in a heat exchanger to generate electricity. This type of energy, called concentrating solar power, is appealing because it can supply renew-able energy — even when the sun is not shining — without using batteries for storage.

“The 40th anniversary of the NSTTF was well received by all who attended,though it was particularly special for those who have worked there,” saidengineer Ken Armijo, lead organizer for the celebration. “The event affordedfolks the opportunity to meet the multiple generations of staff members thatmade the NSTTF successful. It was great to talk to those that came before, anddiscuss the exciting road ahead at the NSTTF with the impending DOE Gen3work that will be starting this fall along multiple concentrating solar powertechnology pathways. It was inspiring to hear from the impressive lineup ofspeakers that gave podium talks, and to realize the tremendous potential weas NSTTF staff members have in making an impact in the U.S. and the world.”

Speakers at the event included Armijo and Paul Gauche, NSTTF manager;Dori Ellis, associate labs director; U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan; representatives ofU.S. Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich and Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham;Kevin Smith, SolarReserve’s chief executive officer; and distinguished Sandiaengineers Charles Andraka and Cliff Ho.

Rep. Lujan congratulated Sandia on the milestone and said that the facility isa perfect example of what’s possible when the U.S. pursues a clean energy econ-omy. He also noted that it offers remarkable capabilities for energy researchers,whose efforts help the nation support the development of solar energy.

From concept to commercialization:40 years of concentrating solar power research

SOLAR STROLL - Associate Labs Director Dori Ellis (front, left) crosses a field of heliostats toward the solar tower during the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the NationalSolar Thermal Test Facility in Albuquerque. (All photos by Randy Montoya)

From heating up space shuttle tiles to making electricity from sunlight, theworld’s first multimegawatt solar tower has contributed to energyresearch, space exploration, defense testing and solar energy commercial-

ization since it was commissioned at Sandia in July 1978.To mark the National Solar Thermal Test Facility’s 40th anniversary in July,

present and past Sandia staff and managers, industry leaders and governmentrepresentatives came together for a day of talks and tours focused on the his-tory of the facility, its contributions to solar energy and other fields and the cur-rent research outlook.

The solar tower is a key component of a specific type of utility-scale solarenergy technology that uses hundreds of large mirrors to reflect and concen-trate sunlight onto a receiver on a tower. The heat from the concentrated sun-light is absorbed by either a liquid, gas or solid and either stored or used imme-

Researchers, industry gather for celebration By Kristen MeubPhotos by Randy Montoya

SUNGAZING - From inside the tower, Associate Labs Director Dori Ellis (left), U.S. Rep.Ben Ray Lujan and researcher Ken Armijo look down at three test bays.

DON’T LOOK DOWN - Ken Armijo, lead organizer for the solar celebrations, talks to U.S.Rep. Ben Ray Lujan on top of the solar tower. The tower stands 200 feet tall and over-looks a field of 212 heliostats.

CONCENTRATION - Cliff Ho, mechanical engineer and lead researcher on several solarprojects, talks to the crowd about the history of concentrating solar power technologyover the last 40 years and where it is headed next.

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Sandia researcher Brandon Heimer has been selected to participate in theNational Academy of Engineering’s (NAE) 24th annual U.S. Frontiers of Engi-neering symposium.

In its announcement, the academy called Brandon one of 84 of the nation’s“top-notch” engineers ages 30 to 45 who are performing exceptional engineeringresearch and technical work in a variety of disciplines. The participants, fromindustry, academia, and government, were nominated by fellow engineers ororganizations.

The symposium will be hosted Sept. 5-7 by Massachusetts Institute of Technol-ogy Lincoln Laboratory. The event will cover cutting-edge developments in fourareas: quantum computing, technology for humanitarian assistance and disasterrelief, resilient and reliable infrastructure and theranostics, or targeted therapybased on specific diagnostic tests.

“It’s a great honor to be recognized by my engineering mentors in theNational Academy of Engineering and to stand alongside such accomplishedpeers,” Brandon said. “I’ve had the privilege of working with four NAE mem-bers during my undergraduate and graduate education. They inspired me tomake an impact on the world with my research, and I intend to use thisopportunity as encouragement to continue that pursuit.”

Brandon said he intends to take part in all four areas of the forum. He is usinghis expertise in bioengineering and microfluidics from his thesis research todevelop a diagnostic to detect epigenetic changes to DNA. At Sandia, he has beenan internal advisory board member for the NanoCRISPR Grand Challenge Labora-tory Directed Research and Development project that seeks to deliver CRISPR — thetechnique that makes it possible to alter DNA within cells — as a therapy to combatinfectious disease.

SANDIA LAB NEWS • August 17, 2018 • Page 7

“This was the first demonstration of energy storage with concentrating solarpower,” Gauche said. “It delivered storage-based solar electricity to the grid inSouthern California.”

Solar Two was decommissioned in 1999 because, Gauche said, “it was a demon-stration, and it had proved the point that concentrating solar power could workfor utility-scale electricity generation.”

Supporting solar energy, space and securitySandia’s solar tower at the National Solar Thermal Test Facility continued as a

research hub for concentrating solar power as Solar One and Solar Two were oper-ating, but its ability to generate high radiation flux from sunlight has been usefulfor other applications as well.

“Sandia has diversified the facility and used the tower to test space shuttle tilesand ablative materials used for landers going to Saturn,” Gauche said. “We’ve alsodone testing for the Air Force and other agencies for national security purposes.”

Concentrating solar power research has continued to advance as well. Cur-rently, Sandia is leading one of three teams selected by the DOE’s Solar EnergyTechnologies Office to compete to build a high temperature concentrating solarpower system with built-in heat storage.

Sandia’s proposed system uses sand-like ceramic particles to absorb and storethe heat from the concentrated sunlight. Sandia already has developed the world’sfirst high-temperature falling particle receiver, and the research will refine andintegrate that system into a complete pilot plant.

Sandia is also a partner on a team led by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory that is researching higher temperature molten salt capabilities. Potentially, the National Solar Thermal Test Facility could host pilot testing overa five-year period.

HISTORIC MOMENT - In July 1978 (left), Sandia staff and dignitaries gathered for the commissioning of the National Solar Thermal Test Facility. This July, staff who have worked atthe solar tower over the last four decades met for the 40th anniversary of the commissioning and recreated the moment captured in the original photo.

The origins of Sandia’s solar towerGauche said the DOE funded the creation of the solar tower and the National Solar

Thermal Test Facility at Sandia during the height of the oil crisis in the late 1970s,when both concentrating solar power and photovoltaic solar energy were novel ideas.

“Concentrating solar power was a big deal during the later parts of the oil crisis,”Gauche said. “The funding for research through the early ‘80s was, put in terms of2018 dollars, somewhere in the region of $100 million to $200 million a year nation-wide,” Gauche said. “Funding levels have varied, but the U.S. has continued to consis-tently invest in concentrating solar power through the years.”

When it was built, the solar tower used a large steam receiver to absorb the heatfrom concentrated sunlight for research and to demonstrate the technologies neededfor multimegawatt tower-based concentrating solar power. Previous research by othergroups used parabolic trough designs and kilowatt-scale tower designs.

Gauche said that in 1981 the research at Sandia lead to a joint effort with Rocket-dyne, a rocket manufacturer, to develop Solar One, which became the world’s firstoperating solar tower. An operating tower can deliver power to the electrical grid, butnot on a commercial basis.

“There are three main steps that were achieved,” Gauche said. “Sandia had theresearch tower, which led to developing the first operating tower, and then there wascommercialization as industry began to build and operate their own towers.”

Solar One was based in Barstow, California, used a steam receiver and had about 10times more mirror-like heliostats than Sandia’s research tower, giving it 10 megawattsof electrical output. Gauche said Sandia and Rocketdyne in 1995 converted it to SolarTwo, which used a molten salt receiver. Molten salts are heated to a high temperatureand turn into a liquid. The hot salts flow through a receiver to absorb heat from sun-ligh and then c an be stored in a tank until needed to generate electricity.

Brandon Heimer is among84 of the nation’s brightestengineers ages 30 to 45selected to take part in inthe National Academy ofEngineering’s (NAE) 24thannual U.S. Frontiers ofEngineering symposium.(Photo by Dino Vournas)

Sandia engineer receives top honorBy Michael Padilla

National Academy of Engineers selects Brandon Heimer for symposium“I intend to draw upon both these experiences to

contribute to the discussion of theranostics and bringwhat I learn back to Sandia and to my colleagues forinspiring research and development,” he said. “Thisresearch will help provide physicians with tools todiagnose and treat disease potentially for warfightersserving in areas at high risk for infectious disease.”

One of Brandon’s earliest projects at Sandiainvolved risk analysis of critical infrastructure for theFederal Emergency Management Agency’s NationalHurricane Program. He said the project lies at theintersection of the critical infrastructure and disasterpreparedness symposium themes.

Brandon said he intends to learn more about quan-tum computing at the symposium.

“Quantum computing offers huge potential butalso creates potential threats for national security,” hesaid. Brandon is a senior member of the technicalstaff in research and academic programs.

Brandon received his bachelor’s in chemical engi-neering from the University of Texas at Austin and adoctorate from MIT, where he also studied technologi-cal innovation, entrepreneurship and strategic man-agement at the Sloan School of Management. His the-sis researched protein engineering for biosensing on amicrofluidic platform.

When Brandon is not spending time in his lab, heenjoys racing triathlons and SCUBA diving.

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Brenda Kiba understands what it means to be amultitasker. As an office management assistant,she supports various groups — all while balancing

being new and uncleared to Sandia/California. Recently, Brenda used her mindfulness training to

avoid a tripping hazard as she was walking to her officenear the cafe.

As she was hurrying to Building 915, she recalled thewalking meditation portion of her mindfulness trainingand decided to practice using all her senses as shewalked. She listened for birds, tried smelling the bloom-ing flowers and looked at the ground in front of her. Thatwas when she noticed something she hadn’t seen before:concrete bike stands. Although the bike stands don’tstand out, they posed a tripping hazard on her route.

Just seconds later, shewitnessed someone carry-ing laptops almost trip atthat same spot. At thatmoment, Brenda knew shehad to tell someone aboutthe potential dangers posedby the concrete stands.

She brought up thesafety concern during herdepartment’s tier boardmeeting. The concernwas escalated to theFacilities department,which quickly respondedby placing an orangecone near the concretebike stands to alert thosewalking by. Because of

SANDIA LAB NEWS • August 17, 2018 • Page 8

His team postulated that vinyl alcohol could beoxidized to yield formic acid, a pathway supported byrecent theoretical calculations that predicted a rateconstant for this process. With the experimental andtheoretical details in hand, David’s collaboratorscould add this chemistry to local and global models ofEarth’s atmosphere to see how it might alter formicacid concentrations.

“This new chemistry produces about 3.4 billion tonsof additional formic acid per year in the model, butthis only amounts to 7 percent of formic acid in theglobal model,” David said. “This is not enough to solvethe mystery of the missing sources of formic acid thatcause models to disagree with experiments. However,this new chemistry accounts for more than 50 percentof the total modeled formic acid production over thePacific and Indian oceans, a result that was completelyunexpected and may explain the previously puzzlingorigin of formic acid over open oceans.”

Since 1999, David has explored the mechanisms ofgas phase chemical reactions at Sandia’s CombustionResearch Facility. The high temperatures encounteredin practical combustion provide a fertile ground to testfundamental questions of chemical reactivity. Improv-ing the fundamental understanding of chemical changedirectly addresses DOE goals that span disciplines, suchas the ability to transform energy in a controlled waybetween electrical, chemical and kinetic reservoirs.

“This research shows how photons can push sys-tems far from equilibrium, creating new chemicalpathways that could allow increased control overenergy transformations, even in environments withmany randomizing collisions that seek to reestablishequilibrium,” David said.

The research also demonstrates how DOE-funded basic science can have unexpected impacts in other areas that are important to society, such asatmospheric chemistry.

SLOW DOWN — Brenda Kibatalks candidly about hersafety journey at Sandia.(Photo by Michael Padilla)

tool to drive a chemical system far from equilibrium,but collisions between molecules inevitably lead to arestoration of equilibrium. For this reason, it wasn’tclear whether the approach would work at atmosphericpressure, where collision between molecules occurabout 7 billion times each second.

Non-equilibrium conditions key innew chemistry

Using infrared spectroscopy to analyze the mole-cules after irradiation with ultraviolet light, therebymimicking sunlight, David and his team confirmedthat wavelengths from 300 – 330 nanometers canrearrange the atoms in acetaldehyde, converting it tovinyl alcohol. The experiments showed that when 100acetaldehyde molecules absorb ultraviolet photons inthis wavelength range, on average four of them areconverted into vinyl alcohol. The process persists evenat atmospheric pressure, so that molecules that haveabsorbed light are driven a factor of 100,000 awayfrom an equilibrium mixture.

“This dramatic increase in vinyl alcohol concentra-tion now enables new oxidation chemistry that isn’tpossible from acetaldehyde,” David said.

Formic acid(Continued from page 1)

Cutting it short(Continued from page 1)

NEW CHEMISTRY — David Osborn with models ofacetaldehyde and vinyl alcohol. (Photo by Michael Padilla)

But before the test can give this final result, the teamhas to add a chemical that causes Cas9 to release DNA.“Cas9 binds very tightly to DNA, even after it’s alreadycleaved, and keeps the two halves together. It doesn’tlet go,” Kyle said.

For this reason, few Cas9 assays have been devel-oped to test DNA cleavage, and the assays that do existhave not been compatible with high-throughput appli-cations. They are designed to screen one or two chemi-cals at a time. With this combination of elements inplace, the team has so far been able to screen nearly200,000 chemicals for their ability to inhibit Cas9, andhave identified six that work.

Continuing the search for the ‘off switch’The pharmaceutical and agricultural industries are

very interested in making gene editing safer, and thereare multiple approaches being undertaken byresearchers around the world. Brooke’s project, fundedby Sandia’s Laboratory Directed Research and Develop-ment office, is looking for small molecules that can besynthetically manufactured.

The naturally occurring anti-CRISPRs are small pro-teins. But even small protein molecules are so large theycannot be delivered into a cell for treatment without aseparate chemical carrier such as a nanoparticle. Becauseprotein delivery in general, and anti-CRISPR delivery inparticular, is an important biotechnology goal, Safe Genesand other Sandia projects have focused efforts on devel-oping a particle that can deliver large molecules into cellswithout causing any adverse reactions.

However, small molecules like the ones beingsought by Brooke and her team can penetrate cellmembranes on their own without additional chemi-cals or carriers. One aspect of the team’s work goingforward is to test hundreds of thousands of knownsmall molecules for their ability to inhibit Cas9.

In addition to small molecules, the team also willscreen small peptides and nanobodies for their abilityto prevent Cas9 from cleaving DNA. In many ways,peptides are a happy medium between proteins andsmall molecules. Peptides can be engineered to pene-trate cell membranes, they are less likely to result inside effects than small molecules, and they are easierto both produce and modify.

Antibodies are proteins that immune systems pro-duce in response to invading foreign particles, andnanobodies are much smaller antibodies. They haveseveral advantages in laboratory and clinical settings,including the ability to make a lot of them, keep themstable over time, and use them safely in cells. Theyare also able to successfully bind with targets thatlarge proteins and traditional antibodies can’t reach.

By searching for the inhibitor in a variety of ways,the team hopes to increase the likelihood of findingones with no side effects that can be manufacturedand used in mice and human clinical trials. Cur-rently, these tests can only be performed in vitro, intest tubes. One day, the team hopes the inhibitorswill be found in doctor’s offices worldwide, along-side simple treatments for conditions once thoughtto be irreversible.

Scientists can now use Cas9 and guide RNA like mol-ecular scissors to remove mutated DNA sequences andenable correction of genetic diseases. This opens thedoor to treatments for everything from cancer togenetic diseases like muscular dystrophy and cysticfibrosis to viral infections like Ebola.

However, the longer Cas9 is left in the body after ithas cut its target, the more likely it is to find and cut asimilar-looking piece of DNA that should not bealtered, which could lead to illness.

The first step in finding chemicals that can shutdown Cas9 after it has done its intended work wasdeveloping the tool to find them. Sandia biochemistKyle Seamon explained that the assay they developedplaces two chemicals on opposite strands of a piece ofDNA. On one strand, the test adds a fluorophore, whichemits light, and on the other it adds a quencher, whichabsorbs the light.

Next, the test adds the potential Cas9 inhibitor. If theinhibitor did not work, then Cas9 will cut the DNA, sepa-rating the fluorophore from the quencher and causingthe test to emit a bright light within 30 minutes. If theinhibitor worked, the assay won’t glow.

Brenda’s mindfulness, there are now plans to paint thearea to highlight the concrete grooves.

“If I had been in my normal train of thought, it couldhave ended differently,” Brenda says. “I am fortunatethat I caught myself before tripping.”

Brenda says the tier board meetings have been effec-tive for raising concerns, especially about safety. Hermanager, Karim Mahrous, said he is grateful thatBrenda pointed out the potential tripping hazard.

“We’ve had several Labs employees bring up safetyconcerns on the California site,” says Karim. “I’m appre-ciative whenever someone — like Brenda — takes timeout of their day to keep themselves and those aroundthem safe. The Tier process has been a great tool to helpus bring up those safety issues and escalate them asneeded expediently. I appreciate that we’ve seen Facili-ties provide appropriately scaled responses in a timelymanner to issues like this one.”

Brenda can relate to Sandia staff who feel like theyhave too much on their plates to walk mindfully or slowdown. Arriving each day at 6:30 a.m., she is usually oneof the first in her office area.

She starts the day by checking email, reviewing the calendars for her and her manager, organizingthe office and sorting any deliveries that arrived latethe previous day. She does all this as an unclearedemployee stationed at two desks — one in the limited area and one in the open area. Brenda alsoserves as the backup to the senior management assistant for the director of the homeland securityand defense center.

“I’m my own worst critic,” she says. “I come from amilitary family, and I hold myself to a higher standard.I’m very driven to do my absolute best and workextremely hard, which makes slowing down that muchmore important.”

Brenda’s main advice, especially to time-strappedpeople like herself, is to slow down and relax.

“Take a deep breath, and slow down,” she says.“There is nowhere you have to be that can’t wait a cou-ple of minutes. That extra minute or two you lose whenyou walk mindfully can help you avoid a trip or fall.”

To Brenda, tripping is a very real danger. She knowspeople who have tripped and fallen because of some-thing as small as a squirrel hole.

“Sometimes we go from one end of the campus toanother, oftentimes carrying items when there aren’tany available carts,” she says. “The best thing to do is tostay on the path and pay attention to where you arewalking. I would rather slow down out of choice thanbecause I have an ankle or leg injury.”

Brenda practices mindfulness through meditationand yoga. She recommends taking mindfulness coursesat Sandia and says the mindful walking activity from thecourse was especially valuable.

She said she didn’t just learn how to walk. The activ-ity also taught her how to remain calm in stressful situa-tions and decide which battles to fight and which to letgo. The course inspired her paln to become certified asa mindfulness teacher.

“Be safe out there,” Brenda says. “At the end of theday, we’ll all be back tomorrow.”

Safety and mindfulness resources at Sandia

To learn more about mindfulness and reaping thebenefits of increased awareness, focus, productivity andstress management, visit TEDS and search for the key-word “mindfulness.” Contact Joy MacPherson, Preven-tive Health program coordinator at Sandia/California,for more information. For safety information andresources, visit LiveSafe.

‘Take a deep breath, slow down’By Michael Padilla

viruses. When the viruses return for a repeat attack, theCRISPR protein Cas9 is recruited by guiding RNA tobind, cut and destroy the viral DNA.

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SANDIA LAB NEWS • August 17, 2018 • Page 9

Operation Backpack expands reachto Moffett Air National Guard

For the fifth year, Sandia/California has rallied to give childrenof local military families a stellar start to the school year.

The Operation Backpack team initially aimed to collect 150 backpacks filledwith school supplies. At the end of the campaign, Sandia had far surpassed thatnumber with a total of 202 children adopted. Excitement for the program was sohigh that Sandians donated 28 extra backpacks that can be used by local militarybases for students that transfer in the middle of the school year. The backpackswere delivered to the Family Centers at Camp Parks Reserve Forces Training Area,Travis Air Force Base and Moffett Federal Airfield.

Division 8000 Associate Laboratories Director Dori Ellis was impressed with theturnout from the division.

“This year’s Operation Backpack has been stunningly successful,” Dori said. “Thegenerosity of the whole division, including Carlsbad and Albuquerque, has beenbeyond anyone’s wildest imagination.”

Operation Backpack was born as a giving drive in the weapons systems center. Itexpanded to encompass all of Sandia/California after employees from all corners ofthe site asked how they could be involved. Since then it has grown to encompassall of Division 8000, including Carlsbad and Albuquerque, and the California Labo-ratory. The program also receives significant support from the Lawrence LivermoreNational Laboratory Veterans in Energy, Technology and Science (VETS).

Its mission then and now is to thank military families for their sacrifice in ser-vice to the nation. The back-to-school season can be stressful and costly for anyfamily, but can be especially trying for military families with a deployed familymember or single-earner households. By providing school supplies, the OperationBackpack planning committee hopes to alleviate the stress and let military familiesknow that they are supported by Sandia.

Operation Backpack is led by Rachel Sowell with the support of the followinggenero us people: Kathy Boyan, Adina Eliassian, Dori Ellis, David Gibson, RachaelGupta, Judi Marquez, Michele Morris (LLNL), Tara Olsen, Terri Spraggins and AdrianValenzuela (LLNL).

By Madeline Burchard

OVERFLOW — Adina Eliassian loads a van bound for one of three Bay Areamilitary bases.

THE LOAD OUT — Division 8000 Associate Laboratories Director Dori Ellis and RachaelGupta help load a van with backpacks donated by Sandians.

GLITTERY BACK-TO-SCHOOL — A Camp Parks child can hardly contain her excitementfor her new backpack. Back to school season represents a financial burden for Bay Areamilitary families with the region's high cost of living.

PACKING — Division 8000 Associate Laboratories Director Dori Ellis (second from left) talks to Operation Backpack volunteers before loading the backpacks. (Photos by Dino Vournas)

MILITARY THUMBS UP — Staff from the Airman Family and Readiness Program at the Moffett Federal Airfield show their appreciation for this year’s donations. This is the first yearthe California Air National Guard students have been recipients of Operation Backpack.

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SANDIA LAB NEWS • August 17, 2018 • Page 10

Mario Ramirez 40 Thomas Clark 30 Charles Haney 30 Linda Carillo 25

Noel Nachtigal 25 Roger Billau 20 Jim Fernandez 20

Rudy Garcia 20 Judy Lau 20 Aaron Hamburger 15

Gloria Hill 15 Jason Jarosz 15 Karmen Lappo 15 Jim Locklin 15

Margaret Quinn 12

Eric Lopez 15 Pamm Martinez 15 Jerry Mills 15 Dave Rigsby 15

Joseph Kenny 15 Jesse Lai 15

Jeff Schultz 15 Loren Updegraff 15

Jeffrey McCasland 15 Scott McDonald 15

Jon Custer 25

Steve Anderson 15

Mileposts

New Mexico photos by Michelle FlemingCalifornia photos by Randy Wong

RecentRetirees

David Wackerbarth 20

Peter Swift 25 Bob Waters 25

Timothy MacAlpine 20

Sit, stay, relaxTherapy dog programa hit at California labBy Madeline Burchard

Four months after its debut, the therapy dog pro-gram at the California Laboratory is a hit with all

involved, whether two-legged or four-legged. More than 100 members of

the workforce and friends, onaverage, spend time with thedogs every other week at theCalifornia medical clinic. Thedogs are official volunteers withthe Valley Humane Society’sCanine Comfort team and havepassed a series of behavioraltests so they will maintain acool and calm demeanor whenexposed to varying scents,sounds and surroundings.

Employee Assistance Pro-gramming counselor Dr.Tamara Cagney is not sur-

prised by the success of the program. “Dogs are nonjudgmental and can tell when you

are stressed,” Tamara said. “It is this sensitivity tosomeone’s emotional state that makes dogs sucheffective therapy tools.”

The idea to bring therapy dogs to the California Labas a benefit to all employees was inspired by the provenmental impact that canine therapy has on people.

Not only the medical staff have noticed theimpact. Kim Stange-Herlihy, Valley Humane Society’sdevelopment director has seen the power the dogs

have to bring out the kid in theSandia staff who come to thetherapy program.

“When I am with the dogs Iwill hear them say that they‘need their fix’ with a bigsmile on their face,” Kim said.“I’ve watched people whohave never met becomefriends over their shared loveof animals. I guess you couldsay dogs teach us to see our-selves as part of a pack.”

You can get your fix of dogtherapy at the California Med-ical Clinic every other Tuesday.

TAKE FIVE — Gigi deCastro takes a break fromher work in the Combustion Research Facilityto hang out with a dog from the Canine Com-fort team. (Photo by Michael Padilla)

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SANDIA LAB NEWS • August 17, 2018 • Page 11

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SQUARE DANCE LESSONS, benefits nonprofit, beginningSept. 20, seedukecitysquaredance.org,$5/per person, ea. night. Partridge, 505-730-2840.

TREADMILL, NordicTrack, like new,text for photos, $500 OBO; LEDSmart TV, 60-in., Vizio, $450.Rankin, 505-239-6308.

WOOD STOVE, w/pipe, smallfootprint, $275; roll-top desk,lockable, $175 OBO. Lopez,505-440-3761, text or call.

BARBELL SET, one 7-ft., 45-lb. bar,two 10-lb. weight disks, newcondition, photo available,$100. Wagner, 858-922-9471.

LADIES EMERALD & DIAMONDPLATINUM RING, size 7, appraised for $16,775 (2014),asking $8,200. Ruffner, 505-220-1274.

TRANSPORTATION

’06 TOYOTA COROLLA S, 124Kmiles, great condition, $4,000OBO. Sena, 505-315-0474.

’16 SUBARU WRX MT, clean, lotsof mods, 10K on built motor,36K miles, $28,500 OBO.Martin, 806-206-1739, ask for Steve.

’13 MAZDA CX-5, AWD, touring,navigation, roof rack, only22K miles, excellent condi-tion, KBB $18,000, asking$15,500 OBO. Martin, 623-687-7673.

’08 TOYOTA CAMRY HYBRID,white w/grey interior, 1 owner, 84K miles, new tires,dependable car, great condi-tion, $6,000 OBO. Houston, 505-898-7062.

’11 HYUNDAI SONATA LIMITED,black, navigation, Bluetooth,leather, backup camera, 89K miles, great condition,$9,950 OBO. Kunzler, 505-750-4696.

’10 FORD FUSION SE, 4-cyl.,2.5L, 6-spd., AT, beige,front/side airbags, alloywheels, 129K miles, $5,200.Hunt, 681-9960.

RECREATION

MOUNTAIN BIKE, ProFlex 957,full suspension, 18-in. SPDpedals, carbon fiber swingarm, excellent condition, photos available, $350. Hanks, 249-1931.

’17 CAN AM COMMANDER UTV,4-seater, red, roof, stereo, half windshield, 45-hrs., like new, $16,000. Vallejos, 505-328-2081.

’09 ROKON TRAIL CYCLE, 2WD,w/receiver hitch carrier, other extras, $4,900. Madsen, 505-294-3235.

’80 FRENCH ROAD BIKE, AndreBertin, model C-132 w/RolfVector wheels, $250. Walkington, 505-831-6974.

’85 UHAUL CT13 CAMPINGTRAILER, $2,900; 2 kid’s electric power wheels, ATV & car, $75 & $100. Graham, 293-7302.

REAL ESTATE

4-BDR. HOME, 2-1/2 baths,2,555-sq. ft., NE Heights,North Star Elementary, La Cueva high, $399,000.Chavez, 720-339-3544.

TWO ACRES, Edgewood, 3 milesnorth, all utilities at propertyline, natural gas, $45,000.Huppertz, 573-7916.

4-BDR. HOME, 3 baths, 1,911-sq.ft., single story, central air,updated, RV space, NEHeights, $249,690. Sanchez, 505-410-2876.

WANTED

ROOMMATE, 3-bdr. home, toshare w/UNM graduate student.NE Heights, $400/mo., utilitiesincluded, Roche, 366-3884.

SCOOTER/MOPED, 50 cc, goodworking condition, <$500.Mason, 505-307-6017, send text.

Ad rules 1. Limit 18 words, including

last name and homephone (If you include aweb or e-mail address, itwill count as two or threewords, depending onlength of the address.)

2. Include organization andfull name with the adsubmission.

3. Submit ad in writing. Nophone-ins.

4. Type or print ad legibly;use accepted abbreviations.

5. One ad per issue. 6. We will not run the same

ad more than twice. 7. No “for rent” ads except

for employees on tempo-rary assignment.

8. No commercial ads. 9. For active Sandia mem-

bers of the workforce, re-tired Sandians, and DOEemployees.

10. Housing listed for sale isavailable without regardto race, creed, color, ornational origin.

11. Work Wanted ads limitedto student-aged childrenof employees.

12. We reserve the right notto publish any ad thatmay be considered of-fensive or in bad taste.

How to submitclassified adsDEADLINE: Friday noon beforeweek of publication unlesschanged by holiday.Submit by one of these methods:• EMAIL: Michelle Fleming(classads@sandia.gov)

• FAX: 844-0645• MAIL: MS 1468 (Dept. 3651)• INTERNAL WEB: From Techwebsearch for ‘NewsCenter’, at thebottom of that page choose tosubmit an ad under, ‘Submit anarticle’. If you have questions, callMichelle at 844-4902. Becauseof space constraints, ads will beprinted on a first-come basis.

In the past fiscal year, ES&H and Customer Operations have partnered to repair exterior stairhandrails and upgrade fire alarm systems. These projects touch multiple departments and werejointly addressed, thanks to the new operations construct.

Depending on how your request is categorized — by either maintenance or new project — youshould hear from a project lead or maintenance planner within a week after submitting your request.

Sandia/California receives approximately 4,000 maintenance service requests per year. Thesecalls include custodial, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, landscaping, furniture lock/key, maintenance,nameplates, pest control and other structural requests.

Too hot, too cold?One of the most commonly submitted requests is for Facilities Management to adjust the tem-

perature of an office space. If your building’s temperature is not between 70° F and 76° F from 6a.m. to 6 p.m, you can submit a facilities service request to check the function of your building’sHVAC system.

Workforce members can also request a temperature sensor to record a building’s indoor temper-atures for a few weeks. Personal temperature devices — space heaters (corporate-approved modelsonly) or fans — are allowed only on a temporary basis if the building mechanical system cannotprovide the set temperature range or if there is an approved medical need.

PLUMBING NEEDS — Gerald Vincent, John Rocha and Casey Collins check a water line on a recentlyinstalled water tank in the Combustion Research Facility.

It’s a scenario we all dread. You’re in the middle of a homeimprovement project and the electricity goes out. All progressstops while you locate the problem. A simple reset of the circuit

breaker usually brings the electricity back on in seconds, and theproject continues.

But what should you do if you encounter a facilities issuewhen you are in the middle of a project at Sandia’s Californiacampus? The answer: call 925-294-6400.

Eva Clark, Customer Operations at Sandia/California, operatesand maintains all site buildings and utilities. The broader group,Facilities Management, also provides Project & ConstructionManagement (Howard Royer), Partnership & Planning (DevonPowers), and Logistics / Transports & Assets (Patrice Sanchez).

Led by Craig Taylor, senior manager, Facilities Managementoversees the California site’s day-to-day requests to ensure mis-sion success. Currently, the group is focused on improving com-munications and customer service and making progress towardtheir goal of a seamless experience for customers and reducedcosts for Sandia.

“Our priorities include providing end-to-end operations solu-tions for mission delivery,” Craig said. “We are deploying Inte-grated Physical Operations Teams to each center. These teamswill work on all things operational for their customers.”

This customer-focused, integrated team approach was modeledafter the Facilities Management System model in New Mexico.

Craig emphasizes that the most efficient way to resolve a facil-ities issue in California — or any Sandia site — is by submitting arequest through Maximo, the online ticket system preferred fornon-emergency requests, or by calling the Facilities Managementhotline at 4-6400. Either method will achieve faster results thanreaching out to Craig or his team directly.

“I once received a call from a researcher in a lab telling methat their pump had gone out,” Craig said. “There was nothing Icould do at the moment, so I asked the researcher to submit aticket. Once the ticket was submitted, the problem with thepump was addressed soon after.”

Safety, people firstThe most important priority for Facilities Management is a

well-maintained and safe site for all of Sandia’s employees.Eva said Facilities Management aims to meet all mainte-

nance requests in a safe, quick and efficient manner. “We have a close partnership with ES&H to address and priori-

tize safety issues,” she said. “By partnering on quickly addressingsafety issues, we are one step closer to our goal of a seamless,integrated approach for all operational issues.”

One number to fix them allWho you gonna call?925-294-6400Story and photos by Michael Padilla

BEAT THE HEAT — Richard Sequeira makes an adjustment to the cooling system on the roof of building903 at Sandia California.

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SANDIA LAB NEWS • August 17, 2018 • Page 12

Watermelon to AppleUltimately, Kane felt that South Carolina was not

where she wanted to raise her growing family. So,when the opportunity to continue working on similartechnologies for Sandia in California presented itselfin 2010, she jumped.

Hired into the Materials Chemistry department as astaff member, Kane soon found herself managing thatdepartment, and then moved into managing theRemote Sensing group. Though she enjoyed the work,she continued to feel a pull toward energy work. “Idrive an electric car. I really love electric vehicles, andthe batteries that power those vehicles. And a lot ofthe battery technologies can be leveraged and usedfor other applications that we care about at Sandia,”she said.

When she described her passion for energy storageto a Sandia colleague, they offered to shoot herresume to a recruiter for Apple. She said she didn’texpect much to come of it, but sent her resume any-way, and it turned out Apple – all of whose productscontain batteries – was very interested. “It’s not everyday the largest tech company in the world asks you tocome work for them. And in my technical area of pas-sion – I felt like I couldn’t pass it up.”

Not enough energy storedIn February of 2017 Kane left Sandia for Apple. It

only took her six months to decide to return to San-dia. When asked why she came back, she says, “I tellpeople that Apple is everything Sandia isn’t.”

Some of the differences just seemed strange after so many years with the national laboratories.“The guy behind me had this little mini fridge underhis desk. I asked if he kept his lunch in there. Hesaid, ‘No, it’s the beer fridge.’ People openly hadbottles of wine out on their desk. I even saw a direc-tor crack a beer after a meeting – inside the build-ing – in the middle of the day. I asked him, ‘Goodday or bad day?’ And he responded, ‘Does it matter?’I suppose it didn’t.”

Other differences were less amusing to her.Whereas most Sandians leaving the office around 5p.m. and leaving work behind until the next morn-ing is perfectly acceptable, Apple employees workall hours of the day and night. “I got text messagesat midnight and I was expected to respond even if Iwas in bed already.”

A typical day would see Kane through three-plushours of commuting to and from the office, coming

home to make dinner and take care of her twodaughters, and then get back on her computer to do a second shift, working until she went to bed.

It often felt to Kane like her department at Apple was constantly in crisis mode. She would start most days wondering, “What fire are weputting out now? What thing is someone going toask for that has to be done an hour ago?” This kindof stress took its toll.

The turning point was Kane’s husband telling herpoint blank, “I don’t like the person you’vebecome.” She wasn’t offended, because she agreedwith him. She had been shorter with her kids, con-stantly feeling guilty about spending less time withthem, living in a constant state of exhaustion,unable to do a lot of the things she loves.

She realized too that while it was cool to tell herfriends she was working on the battery for the nextiPhone or iPad, she missed the sense of pride shefelt doing work that affects our nation’s security.

Sanity returnsNow that she’s back, Kane is managing people

in multiple different nuclear weapons programs,and she loves it. “It’s been great. I have projectmanagers in anything from components to stock-pile systems. It gives me the opportunity to pokemy nose into all these different areas, some ofwhich I haven’t been as exposed to during mycareer as a staff member in NW programs. It’s beensuper interesting,” she said.

One thing she really wants to impress on Sandi-ans who look out on the tech world with curiosityor even envy is how impressed her Apple col-leagues were with the laboratories’ work.

“I think people here, especially ones that havespent their e ntire career at Sandia, look out ontoSilicon Valley tech companies and think whatthey’re doing is so fast paced and cool. But youhave to realize there are a lot of people at thosecompanies looking in on us going ‘Man, what theyhave, all these great, smart people working on asuper important national security mission.’ Goingto Apple gave me that reverse perspective.”

Kane succinctly explained the net effect on herlife of returning to Sandia. “Sanity returned,” shesaid. She now has the time to play her clarinet,ride her bike, take a ballet class, volunteer in herkid’s elementary science classes, or just sit in herbackyard, savoring watermelon.

MARIE out cycling — one of her favorite activities. (All images courtesy of Marie Kane)

Sandia is Spanish for watermelon, which is thesame color as the alluring pink mountains in New Mexico our laboratories are named after.

Sandia as a company has its own allure, especially formanager and University of Florida alumnus Marie Kane.

The national security mission, engaging work,friendly culture and excellent work/life balance are all factors that brought Kane not once but twice toSandia’s door.

On course to CaliforniaKane’s path to the labs started in Orlando. Growing

up she took after her father, a Disney World electricalengineer, and was attracted to aspects of his careerpath. “I knew I didn’t really enjoy taking apart thetoaster, but I liked the application focus and problemsolving associated with engineering,” she said. Shealso excelled in her high school chemistry courses,making a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering a natural choice.

But as a clarinet player, she was torn between science and music. Luckily, the University of Floridaallowed her to immerse herself in both passions.Kane minored in music performance, and got to study one-on-one with a clarinet professor who quitthe New York Philharmonic Orchestra and traded thebig city for gator country. “I lucked out,” she said.“These days his clarinet studio is so full they don’taccept music minors anymore.”

After college, Kane says she wasn’t immediatelyplanning on going to graduate school, but her jobinterviews were underwhelming. One of her post-collegeoffers was at a paper mill in Florida. “The scent of thechemicals they use is so strong you can smell it frommiles away,” Kane said. “So… not appealing.”

The scarcity of options made it easy for her todecide to return to school. After graduating with herPhD in materials science, her next stop was SavannahRiver National Laboratory, where she spent threeyears as a staff scientist working on nuclear materialsand battery technologies – some of her biggestresearch interests.

Florida gator savors watermelonA story of finding, leaving and returning to SandiaBy Jules Bernstein

HAVING RETURNED TO SANDIA, Marie now has time tovolunteer in her daughter's elementary school scienceclasses on her 9/80 Fridays off.

THE KANE FAMILY — Husband Kevin and daughtersMadelyn (9) and Charlotte (5) pose with Marie at a Cali-fornia winery.

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