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Engineering
LLNL supports successful demonstration of a new space inspection capability
Over the past decade, global space launch cadences have grown dramatically, frequently placing multiple payloads into orbit on a single booster. Robust Space Domain Awareness (SDA) and precise characterization of resident space objects are vital to safeguarding the orbital environment. To confront this emerging national security risk, a team of scientists at Lawrence…
Teacher Research Academy connects educators to LLNL science
For nearly 30 years, LLNL has offered Teacher Research Academy (TRA) to middle school, high school and community college teachers looking for unique professional development experiences. At no cost to educators, TRA workshops offer classroom-focused applications of LLNL’s groundbreaking science and technology. Over two weeks this summer, four different TRAs were offered as…
Big Ideas Lab podcast takes on the science of scale-up
Rechargeable lithium batteries trace back to 1972, but they wouldn’t reach consumer products until 1991. Solar photovoltaic cells existed in the 1950s, long before solar panels appeared on rooftops. And the MRI was demonstrated in the 1970s, years before the machines became hospital staples. In each case, the core scientific principles had been proven. The difficult part…
LLNL CHAMPS team selected to develop a heavy-lift drone for DARPA competition
A team of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and engineers pushed the limits of unmanned aerial systems to earn a place at the DARPA Lift Challenge, hosted by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The LLNL Collaborative Heavy-lift Aerial unManned Propellor Systems (CHAMPS) team ranked among the 132 teams selected from more than 480…
Lab scientists and engineers win six R&D 100 awards
The FlowVAM system eliminates the need to manually exchange print volume in Tomographic Volumetric Additive Manufacturing and incorporates in situ metrology, yielding a 200-fold improvement in part production rates. Image credit: Hazel Rose Galvan/LLNL Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and engineers have earned six R&D 100 Awards, which recognize…
3D-printed ceramic waveguide lasers could surpass the power of glass fiber lasers by 10 times
At the bottom of the ocean, optical fibers transmit telecommunications and internet data across the world. Waveguides make that feat possible by channeling and amplifying the light — and therefore the data within — over enormous distances. And the technology goes beyond undersea cables. Waveguiding optics are among the most important advances in photonics since the…
The Big Ideas Lab takes measure of NIF diagnostics
How do you measure what can’t be seen? In the medical field, this is routine. Thermometers check temperatures and X-rays can show broken bones. But what if you are trying to measure something hotter than the center of the sun that vanishes in 100 trillionths of a second? What if it’s an experiment on Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility (NIF)…
A decade of discovery: the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory begins survey of the sky
The NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory marked a major milestone with the beginning of the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), a 10-year effort to capture the universe in unprecedented detail. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) engineer and former project manager for the LSST Camera, Vincent Riot reflected on the culmination of the project and the journey…
Meet LLNL interns: advancing engineering, national security and artificial intelligence
Each summer, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) welcomes students from broad academic backgrounds who bring fresh perspectives and technical expertise to the Lab’s mission. This year, interns are contributing to engineering, national security, high-energy laser research and artificial intelligence. Meet four interns and learn how their LLNL experiences are…
LLNL celebrates incoming and graduating machinist apprentices
Central to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) prestigious Machinist Apprenticeship Program is a tradition of mentorship and support. That was evident on July 23, when four new apprentices joined the program and three graduating apprentices transitioned to state-certified machinists. “We are so proud of you,” said Manuel Iniguez, Manufacturing Engineering…
Big Ideas Lab podcast explores STARMOC: LLNL’s mission operations center
From off-roading in rural Nevada to commuting during rush hour on the 405 in Los Angeles, the space domain has undergone a rapid transformation over the past five years. What began as a vast landscape with a few high-profile, large-scale missions is now a heavily trafficked orbital freeway, rife with accident debris and security risks. To navigate this new environment,…
How LLNL is using AI, robotics and automation to accelerate advanced manufacturing
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and engineers, in conjunction with the Department of Energy (DOE) and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), are increasingly looking to AI, robotics and automation to help accelerate advanced manufacturing, materials discovery and experimental science. The work is part of a broader push to move faster from…
Advanced Space selects LLNL to provide optics system for CAPSTONE 02
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) will support the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment 02 (CAPSTONE 02), led by Advanced Space’s mission integration team. Building on the Laboratory’s optics expertise, the tri-optical imaging payload will enable advanced imaging for the mission’s rendezvous and proximity…
Signal and image sciences community celebrates record-breaking 30th annual CASIS workshop
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory called and the signal and image sciences community answered: The Center for Advanced Signal and Image Sciences (CASIS) hosted their 30th annual workshop at the University of California Livermore Collaboration Center (UCLCC) on June 24-25, setting new records for attendance and technical contributions in the workshop’s three-decade…
LLNL, Oxylus Energy capture commercialization grant with reactor that converts carbon waste to methanol
Many industrial processes produce large volumes of carbon as a waste product. New reactor technology from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has the potential to turn that waste into a valuable feedstock for useful chemicals and fuels. The result could bolster domestic manufacturing, diversify supply chains and ensure lasting energy security in the U.S. These …
LLNL selected to lead 10 projects under DOE’s Genesis Mission
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and engineers have been selected to lead 10 Phase I projects under the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Genesis Mission, applying AI to challenges spanning high-performance computing (HPC), fusion energy, Earth systems science, materials discovery, biology, quantum technologies and fundamental physics. LLNL…
Milestone shipments power next phases of Scorpius accelerator project
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has completed delivery of the first 220 line-replaceable units (LRUs) to the Integrated Test Stand (ITS) at Nevada National Security Sites (NNSS), as well as the first 100 LRUs to be used at NNSS’s underground facility, the Principal Underground Laboratory for Subcritical Experimentation (PULSE). The two major hardware delivery…
LLNL, Pacific Fusion partnership advances next-generation pulsed-power technology
A pulsed-power prototype designed and built at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has surpassed 3,000 shots, a milestone researchers say demonstrates the maturity of a new accelerator architecture and marks an important step in evaluating how the technology could be scaled for future national and economic security applications, including fusion energy. The campaign was…
LLNL helps advance AI-driven design and simulation for NNSA Aires Tide collaboration
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is contributing AI-enabled payload optimization and advanced modeling and simulation expertise to Aires Tide, a collaborative National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) demonstration exploring new ways to design flight test vehicles. Developed in collaboration with Sandia National Laboratories, Los Alamos National…
Meet LLNL: Workforce Development Administrator Shaine Athey
Shaine Athey did not follow a linear path to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), but she helped create one for others. A workforce development administrator in the Engineering Directorate’s Associate Director’s Office, Athey works in recruiting and workplace development programming. Her job centers on bringing people together, from students arriving for summer…