(Press-News.org) ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories grew its Mentor-Protégé program from three companies to five with the addition of Dynamic Structures and Materials, LLC of Franklin, Tennessee, and Compunetics Inc., of Monroeville, Pennsylvania. The program not only helps small businesses develop and grow, but also helps foster long-term relationships that help Sandia achieve its mission.
As one of 17 DOE national laboratories, Sandia’s mission includes: anticipating and resolving emerging national security challenges and innovating and discovering new technologies.
“I am being asked by my customers to do things faster, better and cheaper,” said Norm Padilla, senior manager of interconnects at Sandia. “We already work with a lot of vendors, protégés are different, we are partners. We are going to be working with them for years, figuring out how to meet that goal.”
As part of the program, DSM and Compunetics get on-site visits from Sandia’s experts, gap analysis, workshops, outreach events and other one-on-one guidance. Another benefit is their ability to secure noncompetitive subcontracts from Sandia and DOE Federal agencies up to $7 million.
Dynamic Structures and Materials, LLC
DSM, which builds precision motion systems for extreme or unique environments, has worked with Sandia before. They’ve also worked with the aerospace industry, military, and the US ITER Project, an international collaboration of scientists and engineers to build a reactor-scale burning plasma device that can demonstrate the feasibility of fusion power. “With magnetic fields and radiation in the reactor, the environment is not suitable for normal process valves, so we are making a custom valve that can survive and operate in that environment,” said DSM Director of Mechanical Engineering, Patrick McGirt. The company is currently working to develop nonmagnetic robotic components for heart surgeries that can perform tiny motions using very little weight and power.
While it might seem like DSM is already a success story, with only 15 employees, it’s still a very small company. Leadership sees the Mentor-Protégé program as a potential boost. “We are excited to work with Sandia because it provides a level of manufacturing that will improve our company; we will be able to get to the next level,” said DSM Chief Financial Officer Jim Bickmore.
Compunetics Inc.
Compunetics is a leading manufacturer of rigid and flexible printed circuit boards and assemblies. They have been used in applications like nuclear control systems, guided missiles and secure communication systems. Compunetics also produces electronics for transportation and medical equipment.
Started in 1968, Compunetics was the vision of Dr. Giorgio Coraluppi, or Dr. C., the same man who developed teleconferencing technology, still widely used today. As an employee-controlled company, Compunetics continues to carry on Dr. C’s vision of innovative cutting-edge technology.
Compunetics sees the Mentor-Protégé program as a potential boost. “We are one of those hidden niches that people don’t know about; being a small company, we don’t have huge resources like Sandia,” said John Gralewski, director of sales. “Our goal is to continue to challenge ourselves and leverage the vast knowledge at Sandia.”
Sandia is currently working with Compunetics to build a flexible cable within 12 months that can fit in a small, contorted space while meeting specific standards. That’s no small feat. “A system won’t work without cables, plain and simple. They are important and need to be done correctly,” Padilla said. “What we do at Sandia is vital. Working with protégés helps them understand why it’s so important.”
The Sandians behind the success
The Mentor-Protégé program has become a big success in its short existence. Started in 2019 with three mentors, it has grown to 127, with the credit going to the many Sandians who dedicate their time to it. That includes program lead Royina Lopez, leadership, mentors and support personnel.
“The mentors are key; they are the ones establishing personal connections with these small businesses. They are the ones who explain what we do and how we do it, in turn making sure these businesses are successful,” said Maria Galaviz, senior manager of product delivery value streams. Galaviz engages protégés and mentors on the production side of the house. She says this program is helping Sandia address the supply chain challenges affecting the country. “We need to have suppliers that can meet our schedule, quality and reliability requirements. It’s a perfect example of a partnership in design, supply chain and production. It’s a win-win-win situation,” added Galaviz.
END
Two small businesses added to Sandia National Laboratories’ Mentor-Protégé program
Working to grow with Sandia’s guidance and knowledge
2023-05-22
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Scientists at Wake Forest University School of Medicine discover metabolic sensor may play role in Alzheimer’s disease
2023-05-22
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – May 22, 2023 – It’s well-known that people with Type 2 diabetes are at an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, but the reason why isn’t fully understood and is an area of current research.
Now, scientists at Wake Forest University School of Medicine have uncovered a novel mechanism that shows increased sugar intake and elevations in blood glucose are sufficient to cause amyloid plaque buildup in the brain, which increases the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Amyloid plaque is made up of toxic proteins in the brain.
The study findings appear online ...
Early Frontier users seize exascale advantage, grapple with grand scientific challenges
2023-05-22
With the world’s first exascale supercomputing system now open to full user operations, research teams are harnessing Frontier’s power and speed to tackle some of the most challenging problems in modern science.
The HPE Cray EX system at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory debuted in May 2022 as the fastest computer on the planet and first machine to break the exascale barrier at 1.1 exaflops, or 1.1 quintillion calculations per second. That’s more calculations per second than every human on Earth could perform in four years.
Frontier ...
Researchers modify drug to enter cells and treat pain
2023-05-22
Altering the chemical properties of an anti-nausea drug enables it to enter an interior compartment of the cell and provide long-lasting pain relief, according to a new study led by researchers at NYU College of Dentistry’s Pain Research Center.
The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), illustrates how pain signaling occurs inside cells rather than at the surface, highlighting the need for drugs that can reach receptors within cells.
G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are a large ...
Ozone treaty is delaying first ice-free Arctic summer
2023-05-22
A 1987 global deal to protect the ozone layer is delaying the first ice-free Arctic summer by up to 15 years, new research shows.
The Montreal Protocol – the first treaty to be ratified by every United Nations country – regulates nearly 100 man-made chemicals called ozone-depleting substances (ODSs).
While the main aim was to preserve the ozone layer, ODSs are also potent greenhouse gases, so the deal has slowed global warming.
The new study shows the effects of this include delaying the first ice-free ...
Montreal protocol is delaying first ice-free Arctic summer
2023-05-22
New York, NY—May 22, 2023—When scientists discovered a hole over Antarctica in 1985, countries across the globe got together and wrote a treaty designed to protect the ozone layer, which shields the Earth--and us--from harmful levels of ultraviolet radiation. The resulting Montreal Protocol, the only United Nations treaty ratified by every country in the world, was signed in 1987 and entered into effect in 1989, when little was known about its impact on the global climate. Its purpose was to reduce atmospheric concentrations of ozone-depleting substances (ODSs), materials ...
Targeting Phage Therapy World Congress will bring Phage Therapy up to another level with more than 70 communications
2023-05-22
The 6th World Congress on Targeting Phage Therapy 2023, being held on June 1-2 in Paris, will include more than 70 communications highlighting the most recent advances in phage and phage therapy.
150+ attendees will gather to discuss the future potential of phage therapy. The most strategic question to discuss is: “how to bring phage therapy up to a new level?”.
Targeting Phages 2023 will address how phages play a strategic role to combat infection and antibiotic resistance. A special session ...
A brand new, shiny CAR design
2023-05-22
Immunotherapy is rapidly becoming a well-founded form of cancer treatment as it employs and strengthens a patient’s immune system to attack tumors.
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells – genetically altered T cells used in immunotherapy that can locate and destroy cancer cells – show great promise. Yet they still struggle in broader applications, particularly in attacking non-tumor cells and persistence in killing tumor cells.
Natasa Miskov-Zivanov, principal investigator and assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, received a $299,986 EAGER ...
A new map reveals the complicated world in which cells seek to repair damaged DNA
2023-05-22
Writing in the May 22, 2023 issue of Cell Systems, a diverse team of scientists, led by researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, have produced a novel map that depicts the human body’s enormously complicated and highly evolved system for addressing and repairing DNA damage — a cause and consequence of many diseases.
Damage to DNA and replication errors caused by stress and other factors play a major role in disease, and are a hallmark of cancer and other afflictions. To maintain the ...
What constitutes a paradigm shift? An olive shrub’s mating system as a case study of Kuhn’s theory
2023-05-22
Philosopher Thomas Kuhn’s influential theory of how scientific knowledge is built introduced the term “paradigm shift” to explain a transformation of a field’s ideas and methods. “A Paradigm Shift, or a Paradigm Adjustment? The Evolution of the Oleaceae Mating System as a Small-Scale Kuhnian Case Study,” a new paper published in The Quarterly Review of Biology, seeks to apply this analytical framework to a small controversy in population biology: the mating system of the shrub Phillyrea angustifolia.
Traditional theory states that the sex ratio of a population should be 1:1 male to female (or ...
New book eyes Earth's excavators, from microbes to elephants and dinosaurs
2023-05-22
The ordinary person looks at Georgia’s Stone Mountain and sees a solid, unmovable monolith. Emory University paleontologist Anthony Martin, who thinks in geologic time, sees something more akin to a giant sugar cube.
Ever since the crystalized mass of igneous-born minerals rose from deep underground, pushed by the upwelling of magma that formed the Blue Ridge Mountains around 350 million years ago, the giant rock’s flanks have faced continuous assault — and not just from weather and water.
Stone Mountain “is fighting a battle against life, and life is winning,” Martin writes ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Evolution of fast-growing fish-eating herring in the Baltic Sea
Cryptographic protocol enables secure data sharing in the floating wind energy sector
Can drinking coffee or tea help prevent head and neck cancer?
Development of a global innovative drug in eye drop form for treating dry age-related macular degeneration
Scientists unlock secrets behind flowering of the king of fruits
Texas A&M researchers illuminate the mysteries of icy ocean worlds
Prosthetic material could help reduce infections from intravenous catheters
Can the heart heal itself? New study says it can
Microscopic discovery in cancer cells could have a big impact
Rice researchers take ‘significant leap forward’ with quantum simulation of molecular electron transfer
Breakthrough new material brings affordable, sustainable future within grasp
How everyday activities inside your home can generate energy
Inequality weakens local governance and public satisfaction, study finds
Uncovering key molecular factors behind malaria’s deadliest strain
UC Davis researchers help decode the cause of aggressive breast cancer in women of color
Researchers discovered replication hubs for human norovirus
SNU researchers develop the world’s most sensitive flexible strain sensor
Tiny, wireless antennas use light to monitor cellular communication
Neutrality has played a pivotal, but under-examined, role in international relations, new research shows
Study reveals right whales live 130 years — or more
Researchers reveal how human eyelashes promote water drainage
Pollinators most vulnerable to rising global temperatures are flies, study shows
DFG to fund eight new research units
Modern AI systems have achieved Turing's vision, but not exactly how he hoped
Quantum walk computing unlocks new potential in quantum science and technology
Construction materials and household items are a part of a long-term carbon sink called the “technosphere”
First demonstration of quantum teleportation over busy Internet cables
Disparities and gaps in breast cancer screening for women ages 40 to 49
US tobacco 21 policies and potential mortality reductions by state
AI-driven approach reveals hidden hazards of chemical mixtures in rivers
[Press-News.org] Two small businesses added to Sandia National Laboratories’ Mentor-Protégé programWorking to grow with Sandia’s guidance and knowledge