60YEARS OF THE LAB NEWS — Withthis issue, the Sandia Lab News begins its

60th year of continuous publication. The Lab Newsbegan its life before Sandia itself was established,serving as a simple mimeographed newsletter specifi-cally for what was then called Z Division of LosAlamos Scientific Laboratory. That newsletter, calledthe Sandia Bulletin, assumed something close to itsmodern, newspaper-like look and feel in 1951. In1954, the newspaper adopted its current name.

Vol. 60, No. 1 January 4, 2008Managed by Lockheed Martin for the National Nuclear Security Administration

Sandia supercomputer simulations offer newexplanation of century-old Tunguska mystery

National Nuclear Security Administration chiefThomas D’Agostino on Dec. 18 introduced his agency’svision for the transformation of the nation’s nuclearweapons complex. The vision, which encompassesNNSA’s “Preferred Alternative” and other transforma-tional elements, calls for changes at each site across thecomplex, including Sandia (see “Impacts on Sandia” onpage 4).

The NNSA vision, says Sandia Labs Director TomHunter, “is consistent with our vision for the future ofthe laboratory.” He notes that the NNSA transforma-tion aims to move the complex away from its nuclearweapons-centric foundations and toward a broadernational security enterprise. Likewise, he says, Sandia isalready “well down the road” in that process, withmore than half the Labs’ funding coming from sourcesother than nuclear weapons work.

The specifics put forward in the NNSA vision,D’Agostino said, have been worked out over the pastseveral months by NNSA officials working in close concertwith representatives from across NNSA’s program elements,across all eight sites, and with members of Congress.

Sandia’s overall performance for FY07 was rated“outstanding” in the NNSA’s annual PerformanceEvaluation Report.

The report showedSandia making continuedprogress in virtually everymajor area, with an over-all performance objectivesscore of 92 percent, upfrom 90 percent last year.The performance scoreconsists of mission,which stayed at 93 per-cent in FY07, and opera-tions, which jumpedfrom 86 percent in FY06to 89 percent in FY07.

The overall perfor-mance score was the highest Sandia has achieved on theannual report card since the model contract was put inplace in FY04. This is the second year in a row thatSandia has achieved the outstanding rating, which, withthe successful completion of award-term incentives,

allows Sandia Corporation’s management contract withDOE/NNSA to be extended for one year beyond2010 to 2011.

NNSA Sandia Site Office Manager Patty Wagnerpraised the Labs’ FY07 performance, noting Sandia’s

exceptional leadership,its continued ability toprovide high-quality sci-ence and engineering,and its continuedimprovements in opera-tional excellence toinclude Sandia’s efforts tomature the IntegratedLaboratory ManagementSystem (ILMS) and obtaineffective performance rat-ings in all areas of safe-guards and security.

The report stated that“Sandia continues to demonstrate exceptional leader-ship across the nuclear weapons complex and providehigh-quality scientific and engineering support of theUnited States’ national security interests.”

The stunning amount of forest devastation at Tun-guska a century ago in Siberia may have been caused byan asteroid only a fraction as large as those postulatedin previously published estimates, Sandia supercom-puter simulations suggest.

“The asteroid that caused the extensive damage wasmuch smaller than we had thought,” says principalinvestigator Mark Boslough (1433) of the impact thatoccurred June 30, 1908. “That such a small object cando this kind of destruction suggests that smaller aster-oids are something we should consider. Their smallersize indicates such collisions are not as improbable aswe had previously believed.”

Because smaller asteroids approach Earth statisticallymore frequently than larger ones, he says, “We shouldmake more efforts at detecting the smaller ones than wehave till now.”

The new simulation — which more closely matchesthe widely known facts of destruction than earlier mod-els — shows that the center of mass of an asteroidexploding above the ground is transported downwardat speeds faster than sound. It takes the form of a high-temperature jet of expanding gas called a fireball.

This causes stronger blast waves and thermal radia-tion pulses at the surface than would be predicted by anexplosion from a point-source at the height where theburst was initiated.

“Our understanding was oversimplified,” says Mark.“We no longer have to make the same relatively

By Neal Singer

Smaller asteroids may pose greater danger than previously believed

(Continued on page 4)

DON'T LOOK BACK, IT MAY BE GAINING ON YOU — Mark Boslough uses a supercomputer simulation to demonstrate possibilitiesof dealing with an incoming asteroid, about which human knowledge is still in a primitive state. Factors include the materials com-position of the asteroid as well as its mass, size, and velocity. (Photo by Randy Montoya)

Sandia scores highest yet on annualreport card under model contract

Administrator TomD’Agostino rolls out NNSA’stransformation vision

NW all-hands meetingIn an NWSMU all-hands meeting at

the Steve Schiff Auditorium, JoanWoodard took up the theme of trans-formation, addressing the many waysin which this key Labs mission willevolve along with the nation’s nationalsecurity needs. See the story on page 6.

Inside . . . Thirteen is this family’s lucky number . . . . . . . . . . . 3Game trains soldiers in “nonkinetic” engagement . . . 5Truman speaker Jay Keasling on biotech promise . . . 5Did early Southwest Indians brew beer? . . . . . . . . . . 8Paralympic swim champion inspires, motivates . . . 12Sanado Club marks 50 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

(Continued on page 4)(Continued on page 4)

“This evaluation reportrepresents significantprogress in our efforts totransform the laboratory tocontribute more effectivelyas the country’s nationalsecurity needs evolve.”

— Tom Hunter

By Chris MillerBy Bill Murphy

FARM team scores bigSandia’s Facility for Antenna and

RCS Measurement (FARM), centeredaround Bldg. 9972 in a remote localenear Sandia’s solar tower complex, isup and running full-bore after a year-long renovation and upgrade project.See the story on page 7.

What’s What . . .This & That . . . That’s That

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

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Contributors: John German (844-5199), Neal Singer (845-7078),Stephanie Holinka (284-9227), Iris Aboytes (844-2282), MichaelPadilla (284-5325), Julie Hall (284-7761), Patti Koning (925-294-4911), Michelle Fleming (Ads, Milepost photos, 844-4902),Darrick Hurst (intern, 844-8009) Dept. 3651 Manager: ChrisMiller (844-0587)Lab News fax .....................................................505/844-0645Classified ads .....................................................505/844-4902

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Well. Howard Kercheval, who’s been writing a column in this space forthe past six years, has up and done it. He’s retired and hung up hiskeyboard, leaving me with this column space to fill. As is the case withall new columnists, I immediately had to tackle the really importantquestion — what to call this collection of random musings. For inspiration,I looked to Rome. Some of you may remember that when Pope Paul VI died in1978, the new Holy Father chose to name himself after his two immediatepredecessors, Paul VI and John XXIII, becoming Pope John Paul I. For thesake of this column, I considered a similar approach: Throughout the 1990s,Larry Perrine wrote “This & That.” When Howard assumed the august mantle ofLab News columnist, he settled on the name “What’s What.” Following PopeJohn Paul’s lead, I have toyed around with the idea of calling the column“That’s What” or alternatively, “What’s This?” Or even — and this ischeating a little bit, borrowing Howard’s cadences and Larry’s words —calling the column “That’s That,” which has an authoritative finality thatsuits us opinion leaders. Ultimately, though, I’m not sure any of thesepermutations works for me. I’ll have to give it a bit more thought. (Afterall, I’ve only had two years to consider this matter.)

* * *One very tempting way to handle this space would be to use that old

Sandia standby, common in the days when we printed lots of documents:“This space left intentionally blank.” That really works for me, but Idon’t think my boss would like it. He actually expects me to writesomething. But I’m a trained professional and I’ll muddle through.Writing’s a piece of cake, after all. Like the feller said: “Writing isn’thard. Just get paper and pencil [this was the old days], sit down, andwrite as it occurs to you. The writing is easy — it’s the occurring that’shard.” Don’t get me wrong. I like writing. In fact, I agree absolutelywith one of my own favorite writers, Peter De Vries, who said, “I lovebeing a writer. It’s the paperwork I can’t stand.”

* * *Over the past few years the nuclear weapons program has been getting

smaller, to the point where it now accounts for something less than halfof the Labs’ work. But it’s still — by far — our single biggest missionand still pays a lot of the bills around here. As Deputy Labs Director forNuclear Weapons Joan Woodard and her leadership team took the stage duringa recent all-hands meeting to answer questions from the audience, itstruck me that the program is in good hands. These are serious people andthey’re engaged deeply and creatively with NNSA as it reshapes the complexfor the 21st century. (See the story by Stephanie Holinka on page 6.)

* * *On the subject of nuclear weapons, here’s a rhetorical question for

you: Has the fact that you work at a weapons lab ever become aconversation stopper in “polite” company? It has for me, though I must sayit’s never bothered me at all that where I work bothers some people. Quitethe contrary. As a Sandian I take a lot of pride in being associated,however peripherally, with our primary mission.

See you next time.— Bill Murphy (845-0845, MS 0165, wtmurph@sandia.gov)

Steve Rottler, VP of Weapons Engineering and Prod-uct Realization Div. 2000, has been named a Fellow ofthe American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

AIAA fellows are persons of distinction who havemade notable and valuable contributions to the arts, sci-ences, or technology of aero-nautics or astronautics. Stevewill be formally inducted asan AIAA fellow at the organi-zation’s annual dinner inArlington, Va., in May.

Steve is Sandia’s chiefengineer for nuclearweapons. He is responsiblefor leadership and manage-ment of nuclear weaponengineering and productionactivities. His responsibilitiesalso encompass activities thatprovide advanced technologies and systems for missiledefense, nonproliferation, homeland security, energysecurity, and critical infrastructure assurance.

Steve, who received BS, MS, and PhD degrees innuclear engineering from Texas A&M, was born andraised in Texas.

During a long and accomplished career in weapons-related work at Sandia at both management and stafflevels, Steve was part of a research team that developedradiation-hydrodynamics codes for nuclear weaponapplications, and he led projects that supported thedevelopment of advanced nuclear and conventionalweapon concepts.

Steve has led or served on independent review panelsfor the US Navy Strategic Systems Programs Office andthe United Kingdom’s Atomic Weapons Establishment.He is a member of the board of directors of the NewMexico Humanities Council and the Explora Museumand a member of the Albuquerque Committee on Foreign Relations.

Steve is a recipient of the US Air Force Award forExemplary Civilian Service. He has published papers,reports, and conference presentations on the develop-ment and application of computational radiation-hydrodynamics codes.

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronau-tics advances the state of aerospace science, engineering,and technological leadership. The Institute serves over35,000 members in 65 regional sections and 79 coun-tries. AIAA membership is drawn from all levels ofindustry, academia, private research organizations,and government.

Steve Rottler namedFellow of AIAA

STEVE ROTTLER

Sandia will host the Hydrogen and Helium Isotopesin Materials Conference Feb. 6-7, 2008. Registration isrequired. The conference theme is the effect of hydro-gen and helium (or other inert gases) isotopes on opti-cal, mechanical, and electrical properties of materials.For details go to www.sandia.gov/tritides.

Dana Powers, a senior scientist in AdvancedNuclear Energy Programs Dept. 6770, has beenawarded the Tommy Thompson Award from theAmerican Nuclear Society (ANS) “in recognition ofhis outstanding contribu-tions toward enhancing thesafety of nuclear powerplants and in particulartoward an improved under-standing of the phenome-nology of severe accidents.”

Dana, who has been atSandia since 1974, hasspent his career involved inissues regarding nuclearreactor safety.

Even early in his career,he was sought out by out-side agencies for his exper-tise in the subject. Heserved as a consultant to bodies reviewing the ThreeMile Island and Chernobyl reactor accidents.

Dana is a frequent advisor to DOE on reactorsafety-related matters and has been involved with theNuclear Regulatory Commission for many years,including a stint as chairman of the commission’sAdvisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards. Danahas been and remains active in the American NuclearSociety. He was elected an ANS fellow in 2002.

Dana earned his PhD from Caltech in chemistry,chemical engineering, and economics. He has served inincreasingly responsible positions during his 33 yearsat Sandia. He was named a senior scientist in 1998.

Dana received the Tommy Thompson Award dur-ing the ANS winter meeting in Washington, D.C.The award was established in 1980 to recognize indi-viduals who have made outstanding contributionsto the field of nuclear reactor safety.

ANS presents Dana PowersTommy Thompson award

DANA POWERS

SANDIA LAB NEWS • January 4, 2008 • Page 3

Thirteen is Tim Tooman’s lucky numberof Ethiopian boys wereidentified — a pair of sib-lings and three siblings.

“We couldn’t chooseone over the other,because we knew what itwould mean for the groupwe didn’t pick, so wedecided to adopt all five,”says Tim. Paula was inter-ested in adopting ayounger child, so theyalso adopted a baby whohad been abandoned at anEthiopian hospital.

About three years later,the Toomans adopted onemore child, this time adomestic adoption. Theyheard about an infant girlwho was hard to placebecause she had Downsyndrome and had beenborn with nicotine, alco-hol, and four illegal sub-stances in her body.

“She was very quietwhen we first brought herhome, but boy she justcame to life being around all the older kids,” says Tim.“She’s a delightful child.”

$2,000 monthly grocery billsTim and Paula face parenting challenges on a scale

that most American families can’t even fathom. Theymoved from Pleasanton, Calif., to a 6,800-square-foothome in the Central Valley town of Patterson.

They’ve had up to 14 children living at home at onetime. That results in a monthly grocery bill of $2,000— and the Toomans grow a lot of their own food.

The biggest expense, says Tim, was adoption feesand transporting the children to America. He also citesthe bureaucracy of the whole process as the biggestnegative.

A case in point: The first group of siblings neededgreen cards. (Immigration laws have since changed andadopted children become US citizens as soon as theadoption is finalized.) The first set of green cards arrivedwith the name “Tooman” spelled five different ways, allincorrect. The corrected green cards (which, by the waywere not entirely correct) took another six months.

“It has been delightful watching them grow anddevelop and adapt, and even go through teenageangst,” says Tim. “When you’re seeing the same

About 25 years ago, with an empty nest looming intheir future and a small inheritance, Tim Tooman(8134) and his wife Paula Gale made an extraordinarydecision.

“Our two children were growing older and would bestarting their own lives soon. We didn’t want to do theRV thing — we thought, let’s use this money and ourtime to make the world a better place,” says Tim. “TheBible says to take care of widows and orphans, so wedecided we would adopt a few children.”

A “few” children turned out to be a baker’s dozen —that’s right, 13. Tim and Paula opened their hearts andhome to 12 orphans from Ethiopia and one baby fromnorthern California.

The journey from three to 13 began with FamilyConnections Christian Adoptions (www.fcadoptions.org),a nonprofit adoption agency that places children fromthe United States and around the world with adoptivefamilies. From the start, Tim and Paula decided theywould focus on hard-to-place children. In adoptionlingo, hard-to-place means large sibling groups, olderchildren (older than five for boys and eight for girls), orhandicapped children.

Costa Rica, Ukraine, and EthiopiaA group of three chil-

dren in Costa Rica caughttheir eye, but by the timeTim and Paula were readyto commit, they’d beenadopted by someone else.Next, they pursued a groupof four siblings in theUkraine, but changes inthe Ukrainian governmentbrought the process to ahalt just before the adop-tion was completed.

Eventually, theToomans heard about agroup of six Ethiopian sib-lings who were unadopt-able because of their num-bers. “The next step wouldbe to split off the youngerones, who had a betterchance of being adopted,and leave the older kids in an orphanage,” says Tim.“We thought that sounded pretty sad. So we decided totake them all.”

The six children, ranging in age from 3 to 12 yearsold, arrived in the US in 1994. Just getting them herewas no simple process.

One of the children, an 8-year-old boy, was so weakfrom malnourishment that it was uncertain if he’d sur-vive the flight. Tim recalls waiting at the San FranciscoInternational Airport, not being certain if there wouldbe five or six children disembarking. “What a relief itwas to see six kids get off the plane,” he says.

Tim recalls taking the kids to the doctor for the firsttime. “We had no medical history, no genetic history —we couldn’t even ask what was bothering them,although it was clear they were in poor health,” he says.

Lab technician burst into tearsWhen Tim and Paula brought the malnourished

8-year-old to the laboratory for blood tests, the first labtechnician burst into tears over his appearance. “Hehad a distended stomach, the thinnest arms you canimagine, and no tissue on his arms,” says Tim. “No onehad any idea how to draw blood from such a child.”

Once in the Tooman’s home, the children had toadjust to Western life — toilets, beds, utensils, andAmerican food. This was a big obstacle, because the tex-tures and flavors of Western food are much differentthan the children’s diet in Ethiopia. Because the chil-dren had been suffering from malnourishment, eatingwas of the utmost importance.

Schooling was another challenge. “They werealready in a strange environment, and public schoolwould have been an even more alien environment.There was a huge language barrier because the kidsspoke Amharic [a major language in Ethiopia]. Plus,they would have been split up according to their ages,and we didn’t think that was a good idea either,” saysTim. “So we began homeschooling them.”

After a few years, Tim and Paula felt that they’d got-ten a handle on their family of 10 and decided it wastime to open their home once again. Because the firstgroup had been five girls and one boy, they asked Fam-ily Connections to look for boys this time. Two groups

behavior pattern for the 12th time, you pretty muchknow what to expect.”

Of his 15 children, five are still living at home. Hisbiological daughter Sarah is helping homeschool threeteenage children and Tippy, the youngest. The remain-ing 10 live around the San Francisco Bay Area inModesto, Oakland, and San Jose. Six are in school, oneis a nurse, one is a carpenter, one is a preschool teacher,and one is in hotel maintenance.

Margie, who was the fourth girl in the original groupof six siblings, served in the US Army and recentlyreturned from her second tour of duty in Iraq. She isnow studying to become a dental hygienist. AndPatrick, the 8-year-old who barely survived the planeride to the United States? At 20 years old, he’s studyingbusiness in college.

Tim, who holds a PhD in atomic physics fromNew Mexico State University, has been with Sandia for29 years and currently is working in the ExploratorySystems & Analysis Department.

By Patti Koning

TOOMAN FAMILY — Tim and Paula Gale Tooman adopted 12 orphan children from Ethiopia.Back row: Marguerite (with white collar), Gabriel, Tim, Matthias (in front of Tim), Genevieve,Abigail, and Jonathan. Front row: Elizabeth, Samuel, Paula Gale holding Katrina, Susanne, Sarah(one of the Tooman's two natural children), Zechariah, and Patrick (sidewise). At the time of thisphoto, the Tooman's had not yet adopted their 13th child, Tiffany.

TOOMAN SCOUT — JonathanTooman presents the “parentof Eagle” scout pin to hisadopted father, Tim Tooman,at his Eagle Scout ceremony.

Sandia, Milken Institute join forces toeducate Wall Street on key energy issues

In collaboration with the Milken Institute, Sandiarecently conducted a workshop in New York Citydesigned to provide attendees insight into technologiesthat will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increaseenergy security. Some 50 attendees, representing WallStreet’s largest and most prestigious investment firms,participated.

“Wall Street investors in search of unbiased techni-cal information on energy and fuels often don’t get thecomplete picture,” says Ron Stoltz (8302), head ofSandia’s California Energy Liaison Office. Ron helpeddevelop the workshop to provide answers about energytechnologies to key capital market leaders and to gen-erate further questions and discussion. Workshopattendees included representatives from GoldmanSachs & Co., Allstate, GM, and Lehman Brothers,among others.

“Those of us in Sandia’s energy programs have oftenfocused our attention on startup companies and tradi-tional venture capitalists,” says Les Shephard (6000),Sandia VP for Energy, Security, and Defense Technologies.“Ron’s strategy in developing this workshop was wellthought out. It’s very encouraging to see that the eventattracted top-level financiers and long-term investorswhose future decisions may very well mobilize capitaland markets at a sufficient scale for real changes inenergy security and emissions reductions.”

Once known as the “junk bond king” for his role indeveloping the junk bond market, financier and phil-anthropist Michael Milken today devotes his time andstill-substantial fortune to a number of philanthropicventures designed to achieve positive societal out-

comes. One arm of his Milken Institute (an indepen-dent economic think tank) is the SAVE project, orStrategic Action Volunteer Effort, which enlists volun-teer partners who tackle major economic and publicpolicy problems. The SAVE initiative, says Ron, helpedline up the attendees for the recent workshop, whileSandia developed the agenda and speaker list.

Joel Kurtzman, a senior fellow at the Milken Insti-tute and executive director of the Institute’s SAVE pro-ject, says he was overjoyed yet not surprised at the pos-itive response from the workshop’s attendees, whoseorganizations were collectively worth upwards of $200billion in assets.

“They were impressed,” he says. “Market leaderslike this usually get a lot of biased information fromorganizations that are simply seeking funding. Sandiadelivered speakers who were able to cut through all thehype, which cemented its already stellar reputationamong the attendees.”

Speakers at the Oct. 23 event included Sandia’sTerry Michalske (8300) and Andy McIlroy (8350). Terryspoke about biofuels, while Andy addressed novel con-cepts in carbon sinks and carbon recycling. Otherworkshop speakers included Yale professor ArnulfGrubler (“Putting Climate Change in Context”),National Renewable Energy Laboratory Director DanArvizu (“Alternative Energy: Solar, Wind, Geother-mal”), and Stanford professor Franklin Orr (“CarbonSequestration”).

A follow-up workshop, says Ron, is planned onnuclear energy and the issue of water in the energysector. — Mike Janes

SANDIA LAB NEWS • January 4, 2008 • Page 4

Supercomputers (Continued from page 1)

primitive assumptions because present-day supercom-puters allow us to do things with high resolution in3-D. Everything gets clearer as you look at things withmore refined tools.”

The new interpretation also accounts for the factthat winds were amplified above ridgelines where treestended to be blown down, and that the forest at thetime of the explosion, according to foresters, was not

NNSA, D’Agostino said, is at a crossroads; the directionit takes today will have a major effect on its continuedability to contribute to the nation’s security in the yearsahead. Ultimately, the aim of the transformation,D’Agostino said, is to create “a smaller, safer, and lessexpensive enterprise that leverages the scientific andtechnical capabilities of our workforce to meet all ournational security requirements.”

It will take up to 10 years to fully realize the NNSAtransformation, which includes challenges associatedwith the location and configuration of plutonium anduranium-related activities.

The plan envisions significant reductions in NNSA’slandlord footprint and a reduction of 20 to 30 percentin workers directly funded by NNSA’s weaponsaccounts. D’Agostino emphasized that the workforcechanges do not mean actual lost jobs; many currentweapons workers will be needed to address the techni-cal challenges associated with other critical nationalsecurity priorities of the 21st century.

Sandia Deputy Labs Director for Nuclear WeaponsJoan Woodard says the NNSA Preferred Alternatives setthe complex on a path of agility as the nation’s deci-sion-makers determine the appropriate stockpile strat-egy for the 21st century. There is still a level of uncer-tainty about how the nation will transition thestockpile from a legacy state (i.e., largely a Cold Warconstruct) to a future state. “That issue requires moreclarity, which is expected over the next year or two,”Joan says, adding that “this current uncertainty requiresmore agility in the complex and we need to start creat-ing that agile enterprise now.”

“This [NNSA vision] is not a point solution,” Joansays, but an important step in a journey that beganmore than a decade ago when Cold War facilities atMound, Rocky Flats, Pinellas, and other locales wereclosed and their capabilities located at other sites.

Impacts on Sandia Under the NNSA plan, Sandia would be impacted in severalareas:• Sandia/California would become a multi-agency labora-tory, with a smaller NNSA landlord footprint by 2010.(Sandia/California is developing a plan that will meet theNNSA's short- and long-term objectives.)• All nonnuclear weapon component work would be consoli-dated to Sandia/New Mexico by 2010.• Gas transfer system design work would be assigned toSandia. (With the location of that work left to managementdiscretion, it is likely Sandia management would locate GTSwork at Sandia/California)• Virtually all major environmental testing would consolidateto Sandia/New Mexico by 2010. (Currently, Los AlamosNational Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Labo-ratory have some limited environmental testing capabilities.)• NNSA would cease operation of the Tonopah Test Range by2009, with operational ownership reverting to the US AirForce. (It appears possible, based on current negotiations,that Sandia would continue to maintain a Tonopah capabilityas a tenant rather than as operational “owner.”)• High-performance computing platforms (the hardware)would be located at LANL and LLNL by 2012. Sandia’sintent is to develop partnership relations with LANL andLLNL and to remain deeply involved in high-performancecomputing platform development.

healthy. Thus previous scientific estimates had over-stated the devastation caused by the asteroid, sincetopographic and ecologic factors contributing to theresult had not been taken into account.

Revising deflection strategies“There’s actually less devastation than previously

thought,” says Mark, “but it was caused by a far smallerasteroid. Unfortunately, it’s not a complete wash interms of the potential hazard, because there are moresmaller asteroids than larger ones.”

Mark and colleagues achieved fame more than adecade ago by accurately predicting that that the fire-

Transformation(Continued from page 1)

Report card(Continued from page 1)

Labs President and Director Tom Hunter said he isextremely pleased that the “dedication, commitment,and hard work” of all Sandians was recognized.“Thanks to everyone who contributed. This evaluationreport represents significant progress in our efforts totransform the laboratory to contribute more effectivelyas the country’s national security needs evolve.”

In addition to scoring high on the performanceobjectives, Sandia scored an outstanding rating of 91percent on performance incentives and Sandia passedall three award-term incentives.

The award-term incentives included continuing tostrengthen strategic relationships with DOE andother federal agencies and a demonstrated implemen-tation of the model contract, with improvements tomanagement performance and effectiveness resultingin gains in operational efficiency and significant costsavings.

The report highlighted a number of achievements inmission performance, including:

• Completion of all scheduled deliveries of all firstproduction unit components for which Sandia wasresponsible in the W76 life extension program and B61Alt 357 program.

• Receipt of numerous prestigious awards and hon-ors for scientific, technology, and engineeringadvances, including five R&D 100 Awards, four ofwhich were LDRD-funded projects.

• Realization of numerous advances in scientific dis-covery and innovation in such areas as basic energy sci-ences, advanced scientific computing, biological and

environmental research, fusion energy sciences, energyefficiency research, energy technologies, critical infra-structure, water research, and advanced nuclear energytechnologies.

• Outstanding performance as the lead laboratoryfor the Yucca Mountain Project, particularly inregard to risk identification, risk mitigation, and riskmanagement of the proposed nuclear waste reposi-tory. “Sandia has delivered high-quality work prod-ucts in support of the YMP license application,”the report said.

• Delivery of three types of burst detector sensorsand systems to the Air Force contractor for space vehi-cle integration, which will greatly enhance US capabil-ity to detect and analyze nuclear detonations from aspace-based platform.

The report highlighted a number of achievements inoperations performance, including:

• Completion of the implementation of ILMS, theIntegrated Laboratory Management System, a factor inenabling NNSA to complete implementation of themodel contract and to share lessons learned with theNNSA complex.

• Improvement in the Labs’ safety programs, includ-ing meeting the total recordable case rate goal of 1.7, a54 percent improvement over the 2003 rate.

• Completion of the MESA project three years aheadof schedule and $40 million under budget.

• Completion of the joint Sandia/Los AlamosNational Laboratory Center for Integrated Nanotech-nology project on schedule and $70,000 under budget.

In the area of performance incentives, Sandia wascited for achievements in such diverse areas as nuclearweapons work, reduction of indirect costs, continuedimprovements in emergency management andresponse, and the disposal of nuclear material.

ball caused by the intersection of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter would be observable from Earth.

Simulations show that the material of an incomingasteroid is compressed by the increasing resistance ofEarth’s atmosphere. As it penetrates deeper, the increas-ingly dense wall of air causes it to explode as an airburstthat precipitates the downward flow of heated gas.

Because of the additional energy transportedtoward the surface by the fireball, what scientists hadthought to be an explosion between 10 and 20 mega-tons was more likely only three to five megatons. Thephysical size of the Tunguska asteroid, says Mark,would depend on its speed and whether it is porousor nonporous, icy or waterless, and other materialcharacteristics.

“Any strategy for defense or deflection should takeinto consideration this revised understanding of themechanism of explosion,” says Mark.

The work was presented at the American Geophysi-cal Union meeting in San Francisco on Dec. 11. A paperon the phenomenon, coauthored by Dave Crawford(1541) and titled “Low–altitude airbursts and theimpact threat” has been accepted for publication in theInternational Journal of Impact Engineering.

The research was paid for by Sandia’s LaboratoryDirected Research and Development office.

INCINERATION POSSIBLE — Fine points about the “fireball” that might be expected from an asteroid exploding in Earth's atmos-phere are indicated by researcher Mark Boslough in a Sandia supercomputer simulation image. (Photo by Randy Montoya)

BBN Technologies. That game had a strong kineticfocus on physical aspects that could go wrong, such asimprovised explosive devices going off or a convoybeing ambushed.

“DARPA also wanted a nonkinetic adaptive thinkingpiece for the soldiers, to learn how to negotiate withtribal leaders, for example,” Elaine says. “When thingsgo wrong, troops have to learn to shift how they thinkin environments that are potentially dangerous.”

A major enhancement made by Elaine to the exist-ing DARPA system was the addition of a peer/expertevaluation element, she says.

“I found Elaine’s idea of using a set of soldiers asobservers and assessors particularly innovative andhope the Army can adopt it with its digital trainingtools,” says Ralph Chatham, former DARPA programmanager who selected Elaine to work on the project.“The Army is the only big organization in the worldthat has institutionalized introspection in their after-action review process [AAR]. Sergeants can talk back tolieutenants in an AAR, and both are pleased with theprocess. That part of the ATL [Adaptive Thinking andLeadership] simulation game Elaine and the team pro-duced fits the Army perfectly.”

SANDIA LAB NEWS • January 4, 2008 • Page 5

Up to 20,000 soldiers a year may be trained in nonkinetic engagement with video game enhancementsGame modules developed by team led by Sandian Elaine Raybourn recently delivered to DARPA

Some 20,000 soldiers a year may soon be trained ininterpersonal skill building and cross-cultural awarenessusing a videogame recently developed by researchersfrom Sandia and BBN Technologies.

Funded through the Defense Advanced ResearchProjects Agency (DARPA), the nine-month projectresulted in the creation of an adaptive thinking train-ing methodology that prepares warfighters for difficultsituations in places such as Afghanistan and Iraq, saysproject lead and scientist Elaine Raybourn (6341).

“We are talking about training for nonkineticengagement — interpersonal communication, negotiationskills, and interpersonal rapport,” she says. “The goal is tomake soldiers better thinkers and communicators understress.”

Elaine and her team recently delivered DARPA’s“DARWARS Ambush NK!” to the Program ExecutiveOffice for Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation(PEO-STRI), which will distribute the enhanced systemto the Army and eventually the other armed forces.

The training tool is conceptuallysimilar to an earlier multiplayer simu-lation game she developed severalyears ago. That same game is currentlyused by members of the US Army Spe-cial Forces to hone their skills in adap-tive thinking, negotiation, conflict res-olution, and leadership incross-cultural settings. The SpecialForces’ game is being used to train sol-diers on a regular basis at Ft. Bragg inNorth Carolina. (See “Game winsaward” at right.)

Like the first game, the new one developed forDARPA will allow as many as 64 people to play on net-worked computers. Instructors can easily modify or cre-ate scenarios, monitor training, and jump in andchange the direction of the game at any time.

Participants serve as either role-players or evaluators.Their tasks and experiences vary according to their role.

Elaine says DARPA came to her seeking help inbuilding the new game after it became aware of the oneshe developed for the US Army Special Forces. DARPAalready had a training game in the works designed by

By Chris Burroughs Elaine estimates that the number of people whocould be trained with the DARPA-sponsored gamecould be “huge.” PEO-STRI is putting the nonkineticmodules on its website where it will be available free toall US military services and government.

The nonkinetic modules are comprised of a socio-cultural overlay for a geographical area that is linked tokey events and roles of host nation civilians.

Team members who contributed to designing theroles include subject-matter experts from the Fort LewisBattle Command Training Center in Fort Lewis, Wash.;Pravin Rajan, a US Marine (formerly 6724); and Alan Rolli,former US Army (6341). Elaine says that creating aserious game is “truly a collaborative effort that ofteninvolves pulling together a distributed, virtual team ofindustry, military, and government partners, just toname a few.” Game design teams often representdiverse cultural orientations and face the same chal-lenges encountered by trainees.

“We hope this training will help soldiers betterunderstand the cultural environments they are exposedto and better handle difficult situations,” Elaine says.

Game wins awardA multiplayer simulation game developed by

Sandia researcher Elaine Raybourn that is beingused by members of the US Army Special Forceswas recently awarded the New Mexico Informa-tion Technology and Software Association’s 2007Excellence Award for BestSolution in the area ofinnovative research.

The simulation usescomputer game technology to train Special Forcessoldiers in critical skills and allows players to dis-cover their strengths and weaknesses in mentalagility, cultural awareness, interpersonal adapt-ability, and communication.

The research was performed as part of theDefense System and Administration StrategicManagement Unit (SMU) headed by VP 5000 JerryMcDowell.The award event, held Nov. 15, wassponsored by the New Mexico Business Weekly,News Radio 770 KKOB-AM, and Sandia.

A USER TESTS the new interpersonal skill building and cross-cultural awareness videogame technology Sandia researcherElaine Raybourn and her team enhanced and recently turnedover to DARPA.

Jay Keasling discusses synthetic biology during Truman lecture

When Terry Michalske, director of Biological &Energy Sciences Center 8300, introduced Truman lec-turer Jay Keasling to an audience at the Steve SchiffAuditorium in December, he referred to him as a “sci-entific pioneer inventing a new field.”

And Keasling, named Discover magazine’s 2006 Sci-entist of the Year, spent an hour and a half during thelecture demonstrating the truth of this statement as heshared his discoveries in the emerging science of syn-

thetic biology, a field that is already contributing tomajor breakthroughs in medicine and energy.

Keasling is a professor in the Chemical Engineeringand Bioengineering departments at the University ofCalifornia, Berke-ley; director ofthe Physical Bio-sciences Divisionat the LawrenceBerkeley NationalLaboratory(Berkeley Lab);director of theBerkeley Centerfor SyntheticBiology; and CEOof the recentlyannounced DOEJoint BioEnergyInstitute (JBEI) forbiofuels research.

As describedby Keasling, syn-thetic biology is away to removeentire biosynthetic pathways to the genomes of organ-isms to get them to produce better drugs, materials, andfuels.

The bioscientist spent the first part of his lectureexplaining how he used synthetic biology to developan ultra-low-cost source of artemisinin, the active ingre-dient in modern antimalarial drugs.

He said that for 400 years the drug of choice fortreating malaria — a mosquito-borne disease that annu-ally sickens nearly 500 million people living in thetropics and subtropics and kills 1.5 million, primarilychildren — was quinine. But malarial parasites becomeresistant to it, making quinine no longer effective,

much like some antibiotics. In the 1970s scientists rediscovered an ancient

Chinese malaria remedy found in the plant Artemisiaannua that Keasling described as a “miracle.” It not onlyeases the burning fever and severe pain that accompa-nies malaria, it completely cures the disease.

Current drugs made from the plant are expensive, inthe range of $2.40 a dose — which might as well be sev-eral thousand dollars to poor people in Third Worldcountries. Using synthetic biology, he discovered a wayto extract the genes responsible for making artemisinin,transplant them into a harmless strain of E. coli, anduse that to develop a medicine that cures malaria at acost of 25 cents a dose.

Three years ago Keasling was awarded a $42.6 mil-lion grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundationthat enabled him to further his research.

“The science is done,” he said. “Now we want to getit out and are looking for a pharmaceutical company tomanufacture it.”

Keasling said his new endeavor is to use syntheticbiology to create better biofuels — liquid fuels derivedfrom the solar energy stored in plant biomass. He isseeking ways to reengineer plants’ intertwined net-works of lignin and cellulose to make it easier formicrobes to break them down and eventually convertthem into biofuels. He said there are better biofuels tomake than ethanol.

This is one idea to be explored at the newly formedJBEI, where research will focus on biofuels. Keaslingserves as the center’s CEO. Sandia is a participatinginstitution of JBEI, along with Berkeley Lab — the leadlaboratory — and the University of California campusesin Berkeley and Davis and Stanford University. The cen-ter is expected to receive $125 million in DOE fundingover its first five years.

“Synthetic biology gives us the tools to do this bio-fuel research,” Keasling said.

By Chris Burroughs

JAY KEASLING speaks at Truman lecture. (Photo by Bill Doty)

Truman Lecture seriesIn 1949 President Harry S. Truman charged

Sandia National Laboratories with the responsibilityfor performing “ . . . exceptional service in thenational interest.” To celebrate the accomplishmentof unparalleled excellence in science and engineer-ing, Sandia honors the memory of PresidentTruman with a series of distinguished lectures.

The series brings in lecturers who have mademeaningful contributions to technology, science,engineering, business, or public policy in thenational interest. These individuals are selectedfrom the business community, academia, or thepublic sector. They are at the forefront of theirfields.

Each distinguished lecturer receives a personal-ized, custom-designed President Harry S. TrumanDistinguished Lectures medallion.

Norm Augustine, chair of the National Academyof Sciences committee on the future of Americanscience and technology and former CEO ofLockheed Martin, will be the next Truman lecturerin April.

COGNITIONSERIES

SANDIA LAB NEWS • January 4, 2008 • Page 6

The 2007 all-hands meeting of Sandia’s NuclearWeapons Program was all about change.

Deputy Labs Director for Nuclear Weapons JoanWoodard opened the meeting with a metaphor. Speak-ing in a video produced for the occasion, Joan notedthat her son used to play with those familiar toys called“transformers.” Like those transformer toys, Joan said,Sandia must make bold changes, transforming itselfinto a swift and lean entity better able torespond to the country’s 21st centurynuclear deterrent requirements.

The meeting’s opening video montagefeatured key people from Sandia, all talk-ing about the changes they expect to seein the next few years. Sandia Div. 8000VP Paul Hommert said President Bushhas asked for “smaller numbers in thestockpile, and supporting that [request]requires a different makeup of the com-plex.” Butch Cox, Sandia senior managerdetailed to the Office of Transformationin Washington, said the complex mustnow be “smaller, more efficient, andmore affordable in the long term,” yetstill have “all the required capabilities tomaintain the nuclear deterrent.”

Joan noted that, consistent with theLabs’ 2007 strategic plan, Sandia is work-ing closely with NNSA to define the 21stcentury nuclear weapons complex and toclarify Sandia’s role for the future.

She noted in particular how Sandia’s long-standingrole as weapons systems integrator has uniquely posi-tioned the Labs to assist NNSA as it considers the sys-temic aspects of complex transformation

Joan praised the effectiveness of the new StrategicManagement Unit\ management structure, whichdivides the SMU into four strategic areas. Each area isled by a VP, who works with a principal program direc-tor who coordinates nuclear weapon programs withheadquarters and within Sandia.

She discussed the ongoing work with the militaryon projects like the Mark V fuze study in support of theNavy and the work with the Air Force on fuze systemsfor life-extension projects.

This year, Sandia has become the first complexentity to make substantial progress toward removal ofits Category I and II special nuclear material (SNM),

Joan said. The NNSA program to consolidate SNM atfewer locations is intended to better manage the sub-stantial costs associated with securing and workingwith these materials.

The Preferred AlternativeJoan said that NNSA’s “Preferred Alternative for

Complex Transformation” seeks a mindful approach tocomplex transformation. The overall goal is to stream-line and reduce redundancies in the complex, to con-

solidate special nuclear material in the complex (seeabove), and to revitalize critical resources — includingthe environmental testing facilities at Sandia.

The relationship of testing and modeling Regarding testing, Joan said Sandia has been

demonstrating the relationships between modelingand simulation, which require vast amounts of com-puting power and physical testing facilities. Becausethe testing process can be expensive, Sandia’s com-puting capabilities allow it to better plan its physicaltests and to maximize the data it derives from eachtest it performs.

One of the other elements in NNSA’s Preferred Alter-native calls for Sandia to be the design agent for allnonnuclear design including consolidating all gas trans-fer system design to Sandia. That means that Sandia isresponsible for all nonnuclear design, engineering, and

systems integration for nuclear weapons. In order tomeet those responsibilities, Joan says Sandia mustmaintain its active engineering development, model-ing/simulation, computing capability, and environ-mental testing facilities and programs.

In a review of NW accomplishments over the pastyear Joan noted that, when Sandia’s NW mission per-formance was assessed by NNSA this year, Sandiareceived a score of 96 on performance objective 3. Spe-cific accomplishments cited for this score were delivery

of the W76 arming, fuzing, and firingsystem and the successful comple-tion of the B61 Alt 357 first produc-tion unit. Other notable accomplish-ments were found throughout theNW program, including in the areasof science, research and develop-ment, construction programs(including MESA and ZR), surveil-lance, manufacturing, processimprovement, and the engineeringcampaigns.

New business modelsSandia’s contributions to the Pre-

ferred Alternative have resulted innew ideas and notable changes toNNSA’s proposal, Joan said. Newbusiness models for the Californiasite and for Tonopah both came outof Sandia’s clarification of theirimportance to the nuclear mission.

NNSA’s initial strategy, Joan said, was to close theCalifornia site. She said that Sandia was able to cham-pion California’s role as an essential facility, providingthe systems engineering support for Livermore-baseddesigns. She said she hopes that the California siteserves as a testbed for developing new business modelsfor “a different type of site stewardship.” Similarly,Sandia has proposed an alternate business model forTonopah and is undertaking discussions with theAir Force.

At the close, Joan talked about the current budgetsituation in Congress, reminding the audience thatSandia put a good plan into place before the fiscal yearstarted. She says that those plans have been continu-ously reviewed at every step of congressional action,and will be reviewed when the budget situation final-izes. Joan also emphasized the importance of strategicstaffing where the Labs is losing critical skills.

Nuclear weapons program all-hands meeting highlightschallenges, change in store for vital Sandia missionBy Stephanie Holinka

ALL HANDS — Moses Jones (2712) installs a neutron generator subassembly that will be marked with aunique identification number. The efforts of weapons program workers throughout the Labs were laudedby Labs Deputy Director for Nuclear Weapons Joan Woodard during an all-hands meeting last month. In

addition to citing the Nuclear Weapons Strategic Management Group’s successes and milestones overthe past year, Joan offered a fresh perspective on Sandia’s nuclear weapons program, discussing the needfor transformation and the challenges that entails. (Photo by Randy Montoya)

Like the transformer toys her boysused to play with, Joan Woodardsaid Sandia must make boldchanges, transforming itself into aswift and lean entity better able torespond to the country’s 21st cen-tury nuclear deterrent requirements.

Photo by Randy Montoya

SANDIA LAB NEWS • January 4, 2008 • Page 7

Sandia’s Facility for Antenna and RCS Measurement(FARM), centered around Bldg. 9972 in a remote localenear Sandia’s solar tower complex, is up and running fullbore after a yearlong renovation and upgrade project.

The facility, operated by SAR Sensor TechnologiesDept. 5345, features both indoor and outdoor test capa-bilities. The FARM’s mission is to measure antennacharacteristics and radar cross sections of materials,

shapes, and devices ranging from a few inches across toseveral feet across.

The FARM opened for business more than 20 yearsago. It was brought on line to play a key role in DOEweapons programs, as well as to provide RCS analysesfor ballistic missile defense applications. The facility hasalso been a key component in Sandia’s developmentand refinement of synthetic aperture radar systems.Today, in addition to its long-standing applications, theFARM provides antenna and RCS measurement capabil-ities to a wide range of customers from Sandia, the mili-tary, and other government agencies.

The FARM’s large anechoic chamber — it measuresabout 110 feet long by 42 feet wide by 26 feet high,enclosing 21,000 cubic feet — was the focus of major

upgrades over the past year. The temperature-con-trolled chamber, actually a box within a box, is physi-cally isolated from its host building (9972). It sits on itsown isolated slab, with sensitive structures sitting on ashock-absorbing four-foot-thick concrete foundation,providing an environment that is as shock- and vibra-tion-proof as possible. Even the overhead crane in thechamber — newly acquired as part of the upgrade — isnot physically part of the chamber.

The FARM’s anechoic chamber is covered — floors,walls, and ceilings — by thousands of blue-black foamcones designed to absorb RF transmissions. Thosecones, vitally important in providing a suitable envi-ronment for RCS and antenna measurements, wereupgraded in an improved, computer-modeled configu-ration, as well.

Other upgrades involved new radar instrumenta-tion, on-site shop facilities, better temperature control,and other improvements.

The FARM’s capabilities in a nutshell• Near-field measurement system (planar, cylindri-

cal, and spherical) for characterization of antenna-gainpatterns, RF coupling, and electromagnetic transferfunctions

• Broadband, high-resolution compact range fordirect-illumination antenna measurements and formonostatic radar cross-section measurements (includ-ing low-observables)

• Shielded light-electrical lab for assembly, testing,and operation of electronic instrumentation in an RF-isolated environment

• Broadband, high-isolation measurement chamberfor characterization of RF-transmission properties ofthin materials and measurement of electromagnetictransfer-functions

• Precision Gaussian-beam measurement system forcharacterizing millimeter-wave properties of engi-neered materials

• On-site staff machine shop for custom fabricationor modification of antennas, mounting fixtures, andmeasurement-related hardware

• Outdoor measurement range with inverted-Vdiffraction fence and positioner stations at approxi-mately one-eighth and one-quarter mile, for longer-wavelength measurements and/or larger objects

• Outdoor space for special test activities• Underground rooms (large and small) that can be

used for measurements needing reduced coupling toabove-ground RF phenomena

Sandia FARM team takes antenna/RCS measurementcapabilities to the big leaguesBy Bill Murphy

THE ANTENNA/RCS TEAM: Kurt Sorensen (Manager), StevenAllen, Karen Coperich Branch, Billy Brock, Gary Froehlich,Hung “Jacques” Loui, Ward Patitz, Ed Powell, Troy Satterthwait,Matthew Sena, Bernd Strassner II

RANGE MANAGER WARD PATITZ checks out the just-refurbished anechoic chamber at the FARM, theFacility for Antenna and RCS Measurement. The chamber in the photo above is used for antenna charac-

terization and related functions. The wall behind Ward is a partition; on the other side is an even largerchamber that is used to conduct radar cross section measurements. (Photo by Randy Montoya)

ED POWELL (left) and Gary Froehlich mount an antenna for a series of tests at the FARM’s outdoor range. (Photo by Randy Montoya)

SANDIA LAB NEWS • January 4, 2008 • Page 8

Did early Southwest Indians ferment corn and make beer?

The belief among some archeologists that Europeansintroduced alcohol to the Indians of the AmericanSouthwest may be faulty.

Ancient and modern potsherds collected by NewMexico state archeologist Glenna Dean, in conjunctionwith analyses by Sandia researcher Ted Borek (1822),open the possibility that food or beverages made fromfermenting corn were consumed by native inhabitantscenturies before the Spanish arrived.

Dean, who conducted her research through hersmall business Archeobotanical Services, says, “There’sbeen an artificial construct among archeologists work-ing in New Mexico that no one had alcohol here until

the Spanish brought grapes and wine. That’s so counter-intuitive. It doesn’t make sense to me as a social scientistthat New Mexico would have been an island in pre-Columbian times. By this reasoning, ancestral Puebloanswould have been the only ones in the Southwest not to

know about fermentation.”Not only does historical evi-

dence for fermented beverages existfor surrounding native groups, butpeople around the world havefound ways to alter their conscious-ness, she says: “Wild yeast blowseverywhere.” In the Middle Ages inEurope, “Everyone drank alebecause the fermentation purifiedwater.” Egyptian tombs containedloaves of bread “that we used toassume were to eat, but they’reactually dry beer: put bread inwater, you get beer.”

Closer to home, the TarahumaraIndians in northern Mexico to thisday drink a weak beer called tiswin,made by fermenting corn kernels.

Could ancestral Puebloan farm-ers — whose ancient mud and rockhomes have been found in NewMexico, Arizona, Utah, andColorado — have done the same?

To check her hypothesis, Deanpresented Ted with three types of

samples: pots in which she herself brewed tiswin,brewing pots used by Tarahumara Indians, and pot-sherds from 800-year-old settlements in central NewMexico. The question: Would analysis support theidea that ancient farmers enhanced their nutrition —and perhaps enjoyment of foods — by manipulatingwild yeast and corn mixtures centuries before Columbusarrived?

Ted, working under a Sandia program that permitslimited use of Sandia tools to aid local small busi-

nesses, used gas chromatography and mass spectrome-try (rather than destructive solvents) to analyze vaporsproduced by mild heating of the pot samples.

From Dean’s pots, Ted developed a profile of gasesemitted from a known tiswin source. Then he exam-ined Tarahumaran pots to see whether the gaseous pro-files corresponded. Finally he examined potsherds thathad been buried for centuries to see if the obviouslyweakened fumes would match, in kind if not in vol-ume, his previous two samples.

Comparing peaks across the three data sets showedthe presence of similar organic species, Ted says,though more work must be done before positive con-clusions can be drawn.

“We see similarities. We have not found that ‘smok-ing gun’ that definitely provides evidence of inten-tional fermentation. It’s always possible that corn fer-mented in a pot without the intent of the owner,” hesays, “and that it wasn’t meant to be drunk.”

Analysis is now underway to highlight patterns oforganic species that might provide a more definite,intentional result.

“There appear to be consistencies across the modernhome brew and Tarahumara pots,” Borek says. “We arecurrently examining all data to look for markers thatwould indicate intentional fermentation occurred onarcheological articles.”

The work opens new, unexpected doors, he says, forunderstanding the human past by means of gas chro-matography and mass spectrometry.

Curt Mowry (1822) is examining data and compar-ing all sets across the provided references, Tarahumara,and ancient samples.

The equipment used in this study is commerciallyavailable hardware, modified by Sandia to investigatetraces of organic materials in the ambient air of theWashington, D.C., Metro system and on weapon com-ponents and materials.

The results were presented by Ted in a talk at theMaterials Research Society fall meeting in Bostonlast week.

Chris Morgan receives IMPACT! Award

Efforts to get girls interested in science and engineer-ing through several Girl Scout programs recently earnedSandia computer scientist Chris Morgan (9317) the firstannual IMPACT! Award.

The award was presented to Chris by the New Mex-ico Commission on the Status of Women and the NewMexico Network for Women in Science and Engineer-ing for her role in encouraging and helping womenenter and succeed in science, technology, engineering,and math and for promoting networking and commu-nication among women in those careers.

“I find it really important for girls to be exposed toscience and math at an early age,” Chris says. “It opensup avenues of discovery and exploration that carry intotheir future and build their self-confidence.”

Chris began volunteering with the Girl Scouts 15years ago when her now 27-year-old daughter was firsta member. She established an annual hands-on activityday that focused on math one year (Math Magic) andscience (Science Spectacular) the next.

Girls in first through fifth grade were encouraged toattend and visit numerous stations featuring hands-onmath or science activities. Many of the stations relied

on science and math educational materials originallydeveloped for teachers.

The first few years were somewhat overwhelming,Chris says. More than 250 girls attended the morningsession and another 250 attended the afternoon sessionof the first daylong event. At this year’s Math Magicevent, about 125 girls participated at each offering.

“In the years we focus on science we’ll have funactivities such as building solar systems, building andtesting the aerodynamics of paper airplanes, perusingthrough archeological dig tanks, and studying theecosystem of a dragonfly pond,” she says. “Math activi-ties might include creating geometric shapes from

paper, math games, or trying to figure out how manypaper clips it takes to cross a door horizontally.”

She says she can tell that the girls are excited aboutwhat they are discovering when she hears one shriek, “Igot it,” or when another is so engaged in one of theactivities that she doesn’t want to move on to the nextstation.

Chris is also the liaison between Sandia and the GirlScouts for the annual 10-day Girl Scout Fair Play Tech-nology Summer Camp for their tour at the Labs. Inaddition, she participates in the Labs’ mentoring pro-gram, supporting younger coworkers and peers in theircareer growth.

Sandia research finds data samples from potsherds provocative but inconclusive

Computer scientist is honored for efforts in getting girls interested in science and engineering

By Neal Singer

By Chris Burroughs

TRACING ORGANIC MATERIALS — Sandia researcher Ted Borek examines a potsherdsample for trace evidence that might indicate intentional or incidental fermentationprocesses. (Photo by Randy Montoya)

US AIR FORCE GEN. KEVIN CHILTON, commander of the US Strategic Command, pauses during a visit to Sandia, where hereceived a series of briefings about the Labs’ capabilities. Chilton, fourth from left, is joined in the photo above by, from left,Center 6700 Director Sid Gutierrez, USSTRATCOM official Gene Schroeder, Labs Deputy Director Al Romig, Gen. Chilton,Labs Director Tom Hunter, NNSA Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs Bob Smolen, Sandia Site Office Deputy Man-ager Kim Davis, USSTRATCOM official Ken Callicut , Maj. Lonnie Carlson, and Sandia Div. 5000 VP Jerry McDowell, head ofSandia’s Defense Systems and Assessments Strategic Management Unit. (Photo by Randy Montoya)

STRATCOM chief Gen. Kevin Chilton visits Sandia

CHRIS MORGAN with Girl Scouts at a recent Lego LeagueRegional Competition at the West Texas A&M campus inCanyon, Texas.

SANDIA LAB NEWS • January 4, 2008 • Page 9

50 years ago . . . Sandia Corporation’s part in thedevelopment of the warhead for the “Betty,” anatomic depth charge, has been officially announced bythe AEC. The weapon is now in the hands of theAtlantic Defense Forces. Design, development, and eval-uation of the nonnuclear components of the warheadwere carried out at Sandia. The announcement marksthe second time that Sandia’s name has been officiallylinked with a specific nuclear weapon. Sandia’s Engi-neering Reactor Facility (SERF) on which construction

will begin soon, willhave two advanced fea-tures making it theonly one of its type inexistence. These fea-tures will be a remotesystem for inserting orremoving samples tobe tested while thereactor is running atfull power and a large“hot room” in whichpreviously irradiatedmaterials can be

moved about by a remotely operated overhead cranesystem or by an operator riding in a shielded “MobileRemote Handler” (MRH), equipped with a mechanicalarm. The other unique feature of the SERF is that irradi-ated test components will be analyzed in a large post-irradiation testing chamber, rather than in individual“hot cells” as in other testing reactors.

40 years ago . . . Sandiais studying changes pluto-nium microspheresundergo during simulatedreentry into the Earth’satmosphere because billionsof them in the size range of.002 to .01 of an inch indiameter are used in fuel cap-sules of isotopic generators.These generators will supplysome of the electric powerfor the Nimbus-B weathersatellite and the SNAP-27power source for the Apollo

Lunar Surface Package. ASandia-designed 20-footparachute established anew national record fordynamic pressure load-ings on this size chutewhen it withstood 5,500pounds per square foot ofdynamic air pressure, or atotal of 100 tons, during arecent test at TonopahTest Range. The previousrecord of 4,700 poundsper square foot was setearlier last year by Sandiawith the same type ofchute.

30 years ago . . . Ninemonths of testing in atwo-blade configurationwas completed recentlyat Sandia’s experimentalvertical axis wind tur-bine (VAWT). A thirdblade has been added tothe eggbeater-shapedmachine, and the projectnow moves into a newphase of testing. Withtwo blades the VAWTproduces 45 kW in a33 mph wind. With theaddition of a third blade,the VAWT is expected toincrease output to 60 kWin winds around 30 mph.Sandia’s goal in theVAWT project is thedevelopment of technology leading to design of high-

strength, long-life, low-cost wind machinesthat can be produced and marketed by pri-vate industry. VP Walter Mondale came tosee Sandia’s solar facilities on Jan. 10. Inone hour the VP and an entourage coveredthe solar facility, the wind turbine, and thecentral solar test facility (power tower).

20 years ago . . . In 1983 nine sites forthe first nuclear waste repository were iden-tified in six states — Louisiana, Mississippi,Nevada, Texas, Utah, and Washington. InMay 1986, the president narrowed the listof sites to be further characterized to three— Deaf Smith County in the Texas Panhan-dle, the Hanford Site in Washington state,

and Yucca Mountain at Nevada Test Site. Site character-ization work has concentrated in those three locationssince then. Congress recently selected Yucca Moun-tain at Nevada Test Site as the front-runner amongpossible sites for the civilian nuclear waste repository.

10 years ago . . . The effort by Sandia researchersto build a self-contained chemistry laboratory in ahandheld device received high marks as well as guid-ance in the project’s second review by an independentpanel at Sandia/California. The intent is to create auser-friendly ana-lyzer that quicklywill characterizechemical agents inboth gasses andliquids. Finishingtouches werecompleted to theCenter forNational Securityand Arms Con-trol (CNSAC)building beforethe area wasopened for use.The CNSACbuilding was ded-icated on Aug. 28.Lockheed Martinannounced that Al Narath is retiring as president ofthe corporation’s Energy & Environment Sector inAlbuquerque. The E&E Sector manages Sandia and sev-eral other government labs and projects on DOE’s behalf.Robert J. Stevens, president of Lockheed Martin AirTraffic Management, will replace Al Narath, a formerSandia President, as the E&E Sector’s president andchief operating officer.

New MexicoDonna Kao from PMLS, Payroll Services Dept.

10502, to manager of that same department.Donna joined Sandia in

August 2005, working as thelead for payroll operations,tax, and control functions.Prior to coming to Sandia,Donna managed variousfinance groups at Intel andfor Bernalillo County. Shealso worked as a tax auditorfor the IRS and the state ofNew Mexico, preparingfinancial statements as wellas notes to the financials andmanaged the procurementdepartment for Bernalillo County.

Donna received a BBA in finance from the Univer-sity of New Mexico and an MBA in human resourcesfrom the College of Santa Fe. She is licensed as a CPA.

* * *Alex Roesler from PMTS, NG Design Integration

Dept. 2723, to manager, Ceramic & Glass Dept. 2454.Alex joined Sandia in

June 2002 and has worked inpulsed power design forminiature firing systems(2600) and in neutron gener-ators (2700).

Alex received his PhD andMS in electrical and com-puter engineering fromCarnegie Mellon University,and his BS in electrical andcomputer engineering fromthe University of Texas atAustin.

Al Beradino from PMTS, Cyber Security Tech-nologies Dept. 9312, to manager, Security OperationsDept. 5997.

Al recently celebrated his 30th service anniversary atSandia. During his first 10 years, he implemented com-puter-aided design and man-ufacturing systems, rapidmodel making, and a varietyof tooling systems to manu-facture prototype telecom-munications products. Alsoduring this time, he con-tributed to the machine toolindustry in its migrationfrom the international auto-mated programmed tool sys-tem to integrated, stand-alone systems. Hisassignments in the produc-tion capability assurance program and advanced designand production technologies contributed to thedeployment of product realization throughout thenuclear weapons complex. He has been in the cybersecurity department for almost a decade, focusing onthreat/risk management, self-assessment, and patchdeployment.

Al received a PhD in mathematics from St. LouisUniversity.

* * *

Charlie Harmon fromPMTS, International BorderMonitoring Dept. 6753, tomanager of that samedepartment.

Charlie joined Sandia inAugust 1981 working innuclear reactor engineeringand program management.

Charlie is a graduate ofthe US Army Nuclear ReactorEngineering School.

DONNA KAO

ALEX ROESLER

AL BERADINO

CHARLIE HARMON

Manager promotions

THE SANDIA ENGINEERING REAC-TOR FACILITY (SERF) shown in thiscutaway model reveals the remotehandling facilities used to transporttest materials in and out of theradiation cell (center).

PREPARING TO BLAST A MICROSPHERE ofplutonium dioxide in the plasma jet facilityin Bldg. 849.

RIBBON CHUTE used in a recenttest is shown draped over aninstrumentation payload afterimpact at Tonopah Test Range.

A NEW PHASE of testing startsat Sandia’s Vertical Axis WindTurbine Facility with the addi-tion of a third blade.

YUCCA MOUNTAIN straddles the southwest boundary of theNevada Test Site, which is about 100 miles northwest of LasVegas. More than 30 geologic and hydrologic exploratory drillholes have been drilled into the mountain. One of the drillingrigs is shown in the lower left.

LAB ON A CHIP DESIGN — Top levelview shows pushbutton controls andviewing screen; mid level encasementsperform (l to r) computation and powermanagement; and bottom (l to r) arepumps, gas and liquid analysis channels,and batteries.

The Employee Recognition Awards program is away for Sandians to recognize individuals and teamswhose work or contributions in support of Sandia’smission and values have been exceptional. Take thisopportunity to acknowledge a deserving individual orteam. Nominations will be accepted from Jan. 8-28.

The ERA program recognizes excellence in four cate-gories: three for individual nominees and one forteams. The individual categories are: technical excel-lence, which recognizes individuals whose innovativescience and predictive, science-based engineering capa-bilities contribute to the transformation of Sandia’sbusiness practices and provide solutions to nationalsecurity problems; exceptional service, which recog-nizes employees distinguished by their commitmentand efforts to enable others to succeed; and leadership,which demonstrates exceptional creativity, courage,and integrity in leading others to the successful accom-plishment of Sandia’s work. The team category recog-nizes teams whose exceptional achievements are criti-cally enabled by teamwork and model the value ofpeople working together toward a common goal.

Nomination forms with detailed instructions willbe available from Sandia’s internal web homepage orat http://www-irn.sandia.gov/era/08era.htm. Thewebsite will be available Jan. 8. Each division has anERA coordinator who is also listed via the link above.

Any current, regular Sandia employee may nomi-nate individuals or teams. A separate nomination formmust be submitted for each individual and team nomi-nation. A combined total of 122 individuals and teamswill receive corporate Employee Recognition Awards.

ERA individual winners and designated representa-tives from winning teams will be recognized at theCorporate Employee Recognition Night Banquet,Saturday, July 12.

Recognize a remarkable coworkerwith a nomination for a covetedEmployee Recognition Award

Michael Bukaty35 5432

Stanley Kawka30 2916

Merri Lewis30 10265

Douglas Weaver40 10710

Joane Maese30 3012

Wayne McMurtry30 2611

Anthony Baca25 4826

Jeff Bobbe25 5933

Jerome Cap25 1523

Roger RizKalla39 4825

Jerry Smith35 10827

Marty Carr25 5933

Neill Gilbertson25 4241

George Greer25 4825

Michael Hannah25 301

John Henfling25 1515

Ken Bell31 5742

Joseph Henfling25 6331

William Hensley25 5342

Jeffrey Kern25 5713

Anthony McDonald25 8331

Daniel Naru25 9752

Cathleen Ann Reber25 5765

Walter Rutledge25 5422

David Gardner20 5432

Ramona Myers20 12332

Ruth Boyd15 9329

Cassandra Shaw15 9511

Gregory Shirley15 5057

Linda Sickles15 12330

Barbara Williams15 252

Jeffrey Young15 2996

SANDIA LAB NEWS • January 4, 2008 • Page 10

Cynthia Burns15 10507

Nancy Clise15 12820

Paul McConnell15 6764

Barbara Meloche15 6034

Norman Schwers15 1383

Peggy Dubois25 12830

Sharon Walsh25 9312

Heather Tate15 5933

Robert Parson30 2555

Greg Homicz22 1541

Mark Brynildson20 8516

Laurie Farren30 8516

Johnny Ellison30 8518

Sandra Simmons30 8527

New Mexico photos by Michelle FlemingCalifornia photos by Randy Wong

SANDIA LAB NEWS • January 4, 2008 • Page 12

Determination and attitude, not all the medals,make Jessica Long a true champion

When she was 13 months old, she was adoptedfrom an orphanage in Russia by Steve and Beth Longfrom Baltimore, Md. At 18 months both her legs wereamputated below her knees. Today at 15 years old,Jessica Tatiana Long is a champion swimmer andmotivational speaker.

Cosponsored by Sandia’s Disability AwarenessCommittee and NNSA’s diversity initiatives in thearea of disability awareness, Paralympic swimminggold medal champion Jessica was at the Steve SchiffAuditorium for a talk on overcoming adversities. “Ihave missing legs,” says Jessica. “I don’t have a disabil-ity. When I was younger the hardest part was con-vincing kids that they could not get my disease.”

Jessica was born without fibulas, ankles, heels, andmost of the other bones in her feet. When Jessica hadher legs amputated she started walking by pushinga child’s shopping cart. “She required no physicaltherapy,” says her dad. “She has always had a lot ofdetermination.”

“I never say I might,” says Jessica “I always say Iwill. I have to work harder to break even, but I amdetermined enough to make it happen.”

She was a very active child and her parents intro-duced her to different activities — gymnastics, hiking,cheerleading, basketball. Her parents encouraged herswimming because that way she could save her knees.She has been swimming competitively and winningmedals for the last five years. “Many times people donot realize I have missing legs until I get out of the

pool,” she says.Jessica is the owner of

three gold Paralympicmedals, nine world cham-pionship medals, and 14world records. She is alsothe first Paralympic ath-lete to win the AmateurAthletic Union (AAU)James E. Sullivan Awardpresented to the USA’sbest amateur athlete.

The Paralympic Gamesare a multisport event forathletes with physical,mental, and sensorial dis-abilities. This includesamputees and those withmobility disabilities,visual disabilities andcerebral palsy. The Para-lympic Games are heldevery four years, follow-ing the Olympic Games.The Paralympic Gamesare sometimes confusedwith the SpecialOlympics, which are onlyfor people with intellec-tual disabilities.

Jessica has five sets of prostheses that she uses atdifferent times. She says she has a cool pair of legs that

are mostly yellow with asplash of green. She evenhas a pair with adjustableankles that allow her towear high heels. She saysthey have lifelike toesthat can be painted.

She would like towrite a book about herlife. She says there aremany chapters to bewritten. “Think aboutit,” she says, “You maynot get what you want,but you always get whatyou expect. You make achoice to rise above.”

“God has a plan formy life,” says Jessica.“Things always happenfor a reason. He gives methe strength to be what Iwant to be.”

She says she would notmind being a model likeTyra Banks in the future,or studying nutrition ordermatology, but for nowJessica and her familyhave their reservations

booked for the upcoming Paralympics to be held inBeijing in 2008.

By Iris Aboytes

CHAMPION SWIMMER and motivational speaker JessicaTatiana Long shows off one of her favorite prosthetic legs.

(Photo by Randy Montoya)

Hats and gloves were the style of the day. Fashionshows with extravagant productions were held.Sanado debutantes were introduced at one of twoelaborate formal balls. Sanado Woman’s Club, whichrecently celebrated its 50th anniversary, has a historyof all this and more.

Sanado Woman’s Club was formed at the sugges-tion of James McRae, then president of Sandia Corpo-

ration, as a social club for many Sandia wives. Theorganization was named Sanado Woman’s Club —the “San” coming from Sandia, the “ado” comingfrom the Coronado Club, which opened on base in1958. At one time, Sanado was the largest women’sclub in the state with more than 500 members. Boththe Albuquerque Journal and the Albuquerque Tribunecovered the club’s monthly events.Most of the mem-bers in the early years had young children. Sandiamade it possible for women to use the Sandia Base

By Iris Aboytes

Sanado Woman’s Club was Sandia’s personal welcome wagon nursery for about 40 cents an hour so they couldattend the various events. “There was lots of bond-ing,” says former president Pat Goettsche. “Our chil-dren grew up together. We all became friends.”

Pat Millsap, who joined Sanado in 1959, says, “Itwas a life-saver for me because it put me in contactwith people and activities to alleviate the feeling ofisolation I had. We lived in an apartment buildingacross the street from the Coronado Club. At thattime, many employees lived on base and shopped atthe commissary.”

One of the events Patremembers best is whenMr. Blackwell (famousfashion critic) was a spe-cial guest. He called oneof the members onstageand critiqued herappearance. It was cruel,but she was a goodsport. He later sent her adress he had designed.

Carol Larson, whowas president from1978 to 1979, says sheespecially rememberssitting next to Sen. PeteDomenici at a specialluncheon.

“All of our meetings were held at the CoronadoClub,” says another past president, Millie Tjeltweed.“The club had a large ballroom, catering facilities, anda stage — everything needed to accommodate lun-cheons for a large group. Luncheons were only $1.75.”

Members were notified of the programs bynewsletter. Interest groups included: art, arte decocina, bowling, bridge, quilting, choral, gardening,golf, horseback riding, skiing, social living, and tennis.Today there are five interest groups — books, bridge,quilting, and Arte de Cocina II and IV.

In 1973 Sanado coordinated the Le Grande BALInternational for the foreign ambassadors, ballooncontestants, and other dignitaries and visitors attend-ing Balloon Fiesta. The event was held at Albuquerque’sconvention center ballroom with a gondola largeenough to hold the dance band.

“Although Sanado membership is much smallertoday, the club is still very active,” says President

Cherry Swartz. “Lifelong friendships were madethrough this wonderful club, and it still provides awelcoming and friendly atmosphere for new mem-bers.” Membership is no longer limited to wives ofSandia employees.

In honor of its anniversary, the club recently pub-lished its second cookbook, with proceeds going toMeals on Wheels and Barrett House.

For more information on the Sanado Woman’sClub contact Cherry Swartz at swartz2@flash.net or867-6767.

Technology Ventures Corporation is currentlyaccepting business plans and executive summaries fortechnology companies/startups interested in present-ing at the 2008 Equity Capital Symposium. For thepast 15 years the Equity Capital Symposium has servedas a vehicle to connect growing or expanding technol-ogy companies with investment opportunities.

This year the New Mexico Equity Capital Sympo-sium will be held May 14-15 in

Albuquerque. TVC projectmanagers are currentlysoliciting business plans orexecutive summaries fromNew Mexico technology

companies and entrepreneurs. Prefer-ence will be given to those opportunities

that are based on technology developed by orwith one of the national laboratories or research

institutions in New Mexico.According to venture capitalist Len Rand, the

symposiums are an effective tool. “I've been to sev-eral of these and they are both an excellent source ofleads and a great chance to interact with qualityentrepreneurs,” he says.

Interested companies should contact TVC or a TVCproject manager now for assistance with their busi-ness plan development. Contact information is:

• Technology Ventures Corporation1155 University Blvd SEAlbuquerque, NM 87106

• www.techventures.org/whatwedo/submit.php• For more information call 505-246-2882

TVC accepting business plans

MR. BLACKWELL

STYLE OF THE DAY — Ladies show off the latest in style atone of many fashion shows held in the Coronado Club bythe Sanado Woman’s Club.