Sandia National Labs NM Partnerships Collaboration Report 2021-2022

Growing research and talent through partnerships In 2021, the Sandia University Partnerships Network (SUPN) was created. The structure of SUPN includes two categories: Alliance Partners and National/Regional Partners. The goal of the new structure is to establish and cultivate enduring strategic and mutually beneficial relationships with a focused set of schools. The structure provides Sandia with numerous avenues for accomplishing mission and talent pipeline objectives. Under the new university partnerships network, a balanced selection of universities was chosen based on academic standing, strategic research directions, pipeline diversity, ability to attract and retain alumni, and geographic diversity. This approach allows Sandia to partner broadly with universities while investing corporate resources at a level commensurate with the expected partnership impact. The SUPN Alliance Partners category includes schools previously known as Academic Alliance schools (including the Georgia Institute of Technology, Purdue University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of New Mexico, and The University of Texas at Austin). Joining these five as new SUPN Alliance Partners are Texas Agricultural and Mechanical University, and the University of California, Berkeley. The SUPN National/Regional Partners category includes 20 schools across the country representing various areas of expertise complementary to that of Sandia. Half of these academic partners are minority-serving institutions, and five of them are part of Sandia’s Securing Top Academic Research Talent (START) at Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCU) Program. Each school in the National/Regional Partnership helps Sandia execute top research and facilitate diversity goals. “Sandia is excited by the opportunity to partner with these distinguished institutions. Our nation will continue to reap the rewards of the strong academic collaborations far into the future,” said Deputy Chief Research Officer Basil Hassan.

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