A warm welcome to Sandia Labs’ new team

A new day is dawning at Sandia National Laboratories, one of a handful of U.S. premier science and weapons laboratories.

It’s a historic change. For only the second time in lab history, oversight is changing hands. A Honeywell International subsidiary, National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, replaces Lockheed Martin, which operated the labs from 1993 until its contract expired.

It is not an overstatement to say Sandia Labs is a big deal to the Albuquerque economy, spending more than $2 billion a year on goods, services and salaries. It’s also a big asset to the community, participating heavily in quality-of-life efforts such as United Way.

Honeywell won the new contract, valued at $2.6 billion annually over 10 years if all options are exercised, to operate the sprawling lab complex in Albuquerque along with a team of subcontractors that includes Northrop Grumman Technical Services. New Director Stephen Younger is a 65-year-old career nuclear weapons researcher with a wealth of experience that includes designing nuclear weapons at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, heading the U.S. military’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency and working as associate director at sister weapons laboratory Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Younger has promised to continue the labs’ nuclear deterrence mission and says the weapons life-extension program is his top priority.

“Sandia will maintain its traditional flexibility in responding to that somewhat uncertain future,” he said during a news conference. “I think it’s going to be an exciting future for the laboratory as we respond to upcoming national needs.”

He also pledged to make better use of resources and improve efficiencies by employing best business practices and providing more management support, but has no plans to reduce Sandia’s workforce of 10,500.

Dave Douglass, the new deputy director, adds that he plans to continue tech-transfer efforts that take technologies developed at the labs and transforms them into business opportunities for the state. We encourage the new team to make this a priority. After all, Sandia’s brain power is high-octane fuel for New Mexico’s economy.

This momentous change also offers the new team a great opportunity to strengthen ties to the community. Because of national security, the public often doesn’t get a chance to see much that goes on behind the Sandia fence. But we ask the team to reach beyond it and be active in local community and business groups. We can always use new ideas and expertise.

As the new team takes charge, we wish its members well and offer our support.

Welcome to the Land of Enchantment.