Sandia National Labs Academic Programs Collaboration Report

Fusion Energy Sciences Traineeship pilot project New summer traineeship program grows fusion energy program and increases diversity Through the innovation of Sandia staff members Rico Treadwell and Khalid Hattar, Sandia’s Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) piloted a summer traineeship program to increase diversity and inclusion in the fusion programs talent pipeline. The FES team recruited three undergraduates from NC A&T, a school in Sandia’s START HBCU Program, to partner on a fusion energy research project. The students, Eryal Reinhart, Bria Cook and Lester Coney, worked to develop radiation resistant materials for potential application in a future Fusion Pilot Plant. Their experiments and simulations supported development, characterization and understanding of refractory materials in radiation and plasma environments. In addition to research, the FES Traineeship Pilot project provided tours and a virtual graduate school visit. Because of her participation in the pilot project, Eryal Reinhart decided to change her major from aerospace engineering to materials science, retaining her ambition to work in the aerospace industry using her materials science degree. She also participated in outreach to younger students through a remote chemistry field trip for 200 fourth graders from five Title One elementary schools in Albuquerque.

“This internship opened my eyes to so many things in science that I did not know.”

After the FES experience, Bria Cook stated, “This internship opened my eyes to so many things in science that I did not know. It made me realize that I want to go to graduate school to get my PhD, which was never in my plans after my undergraduate degree.”

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Academic Programs