Sandia National Labs Academic Programs Collaboration Report

Synergistic opportunities for Sandia and Purdue Collaborative discussions identified beneficial overlap in national security initiatives, including hypersonics, cybersecurity, energetics, and microelectronics In March 2021, Theresa Mayer, Purdue Executive Vice President for Research, and six other esteemed faculty and staff members visited New Mexico to meet with Deputy Labs Director Laura McGill and other Sandia leaders. Ken Patel, Sandia’s CPM for Purdue, facilitated the visit to identify opportunities of overlap in national security initiatives such as the “CHIPS for America Act,” which will provide more than $50 billion in incentives to accelerate and catalyze domestic leading-edge semiconductor production. Other strong areas of synergy were found in hypersonics, cybersecurity, energetics, and microelectronics. Leaders also discussed the Purdue Applied Research Institute (PARI), how Sandia’s Faculty Loan Program can be leveraged to incorporate Sandia staff in the university ecosystem, and ways to utilize Sandia virtual workers in Purdue research areas. Leaders also discussed the classified facilities model and how to facilitate a Sandia classified suite in the Purdue Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, which allows undergraduates to learn about cutting-edge science, engineering, and technology research tools from a faculty member and graduate student mentor during an 11-week summer program. Leaders also reviewed best practices at Purdue to attract underrepresented minority students and Sandia’s diversity initiatives to increase STEM opportunities

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Academic Programs