Sandia National Labs FY20 LDRD Annual Report

FY20 ANNUAL REPORT

Michael Omana and a team of Sandia researchers tested materials for Albuquerque companies looking to manufacture N95-like respirators that could be used in local medical facilities. The project originated from the urgent need for personal protective equipment when the COVID-19 outbreak began. (Photo by Bret Latter)

LDRD IMPACT STORY: COVID-19 pandemic. Eight weeks. Seven research areas. Thirty-four LDRD projects.

MISSION MOTIVATION: Immediately assist the nation with pandemic crisis. LDRD CHALLENGE: Leverage Sandia expertise and capabilities to provide technical solutions to key COVID-19 challenges. March 13. The U.S. declared a national health emergency. March 15. A Sandia COVID-19 internal site launched to incubate ideas and encourage team building. March 16. Susan Seestrom, CRO, sent an email to the entire workforce soliciting ideas that could enable Sandia to respond quickly to the needs of the nation.

March 16-25. Senior leadership from all LDRD areas participated in an accelerated peer review and approval process to maintain quality while executing same-day reviews for the hundreds of innovative ideas special “Rapid Response” LDRD program and allocated $1.7M of internal LDRD funding to leverage the Labs’ extensive and relevant capabilities in modeling and simulation, machine learning, biodefense, and materials science for research efforts in manufacturing of medical equipment and critical consumables, epidemiological modeling-based tools for decision support, flowing in from across Sandia Labs. March 26 – May 12. Sandia set up a

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LABORATORY DIRECTED RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

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