Jan. 13, 2020 — Former Secretary of Energy Rick Perry recognized Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) staff with six Secretary’s Honor Awards at a ceremony at Department of Energy (DOE) headquarters. The Secretary’s Honor Awards are bestowed on teams that have achieved a singular accomplishment that demonstrates a high level of performance and dedication to public service. As his last address to DOE employees, Secretary Perry also thanked all DOE employees for their hard work and commitment to DOE’s mission.
Foreign Nuclear Weapon Program Analysis Team
The Foreign Nuclear Weapon Program Analysis Team, a group of 10 LLNL researchers, was cited for contributing to a technically challenging, high-priority intelligence community assessment. The award citation noted that, “their expert analytic inputs and extraordinary dedication to an intensive and complete interagency coordination process resulted in an assessment that effectively examines and explains complex technical subjects…advancing the U.S. government’s understanding of a growing foreign nuclear threat and its implications for the Department of Energy and national security policy.”
“We’re grateful to the Department of Energy for recognizing the contribution of our multidisciplinary team to a U.S. national strategic priority and are honored that LLNL nominated us for this award,” team member Jennifer Swenson said. “My colleagues exemplify the qualities required to successfully meet the challenges of the Lab’s mission: dedication, technical rigor and the ability to create unique approaches to solving time-sensitive problems. The team continues to work collaboratively with our external partners to provide timely, analytic and technical support to inform policymaker decisions on this national security priority.”
Members of the team include: Patrick Beck, Mark Harper, Patrick Harwood, Mark McDaniel, Gary Rutledge, Cary Spencer, Jennifer Swenson, Guy Urbina, David Ward and Joseph Wasem.
High-Value Component Design and Manufacture Team
Livermore’s 34-member High-Value Component Design and Manufacture Team received an award for, “their extraordinary efforts in which they successfully invented advanced materials, manufacturing and metrology technologies that have pushed the boundaries of what is possible and transformed the way our national security enterprise thinks about design, manufacturing and qualification for similar components. Faced with a challenging national security need, the team overcame long odds and an aggressive schedule to invent, design, manufacture, inspect and deliver a new high-value component both on schedule and on budget.”
“This award is recognition of the unbelievable innovation and creativity that results from bringing together a diverse yet cohesive team in pursuit of shared purpose — it’s something that only happens in places like Lawrence Livermore,” team member Eric Duoss said. “The recognition also speaks to our team’s ability to face innumerable and seemingly insurmountable obstacles, both technical and otherwise, and overcome them through a combination of determination, discovery and invention. It’s incredibly rewarding to contribute to LLNL’s mission and strengthen our nation’s security while advancing the frontier of scientific and engineering understanding. I thank everyone at LLNL and elsewhere who helped make this achievement possible.”
Team member Denis Richard added: “This award recognizes an exceptional effort that exemplifies the historical LLNL way of tightly integrating world-class subject matter experts and technical personnel within the weapon design process. In doing so, the honored team is enabling the insertion into the U.S. stockpile of technical solutions that strengthen our national nuclear deterrent. Beyond the remarkable technical achievements, this award is a recognition of the spirit of collaboration and partnership that has and will continue to make us successful in our mission to deliver security to the nation.”
Members of the team include: Eric Avalos, Steve Benson, Taylor Bryson, Mark Cunningham, Chuck Divin, Eric Duoss, Scott Fisher, Tim Ford, Stuart Gammon, Robin Gilbert-O’Neil, Alexandra Golobic, Dana Goto, Steve Guzorek, Sally Hall, Mark Herynk, Adam Jaycox, B.I. Jun, Jeremy Lenhardt, Jim Lewicki, Ward Small, Robert Maxwell, Christopher Spadaccini, Clif Mortensen, John Vericella, Jason Ortega, Todd Weisgraber, Mark Pearson, Josh Wen, Lemuel Perez, Thomas Wilson, Denis Richard, Amanda Wu, Ken Saito and Mitchell Shiflett.
The Summit Sierra Team
The Summit Sierra team, consisting of 45 staff at Lawrence Livermore and Oak Ridge national laboratories and the Livermore Field Office, received a Secretary’s Achievement Award for delivering Summit at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Sierra at LLNL, the two fastest computers in the world, according to the Top500 benchmark. The successful deployment and use of these computers are a culmination of a multi-year effort and partnership between the labs and the vendors IBM, NVIDIA and Mellanox. The citation notes that, “the Summit and Sierra procurements…are delivering breakthrough insights in science and national security. They have transformed the international landscape in high performance computing, and they will influence the modernization of future generations of computing throughout the Department of Energy complex.”
“Building and operating a scientific instrument that provides capabilities on the scale of Sierra requires tremendous effort,” team member Bronis de Supinski said. “We are honored that the secretary has recognized the teamwork and partnership that is enabling unprecedented simulations in support of the ASC program.”
LLNL members of the team include: Dong Ahn, Anna Bailey, Adam Bertsch, Ben Casses, Chris Deprater, Dave Fox, Robin Goldstone, Elsa Gonsiorowski, John Gyllenhaal, Brandon Hong, Ian Karlin, Matt Leininger, Michel McCoy, Adam Moody, Rob Neely, Terri Quinn, Bronis de Supinski, Gary Ward, Py Watson, and Lance Weems.
To read the full article, visit: https://www.llnl.gov/news/lab-teams-recognized-secretary-energy-awards
About Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
For more than 60 years, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has applied science and technology to make the world a safer place. Livermore’s defining responsibility is ensuring the safety, security and reliability of the nation’s nuclear deterrent. Yet LLNL’s mission is broader than stockpile stewardship, as dangers ranging from nuclear proliferation and terrorism to energy shortages and climate change threaten national security and global stability. The Laboratory’s science and engineering are being applied to achieve breakthroughs for counterterrorism and nonproliferation, defense and intelligence, energy and environmental security.
Source: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory