Laboratory physicist Tammy Ma has been selected for a 2016 Presidential Early Career Award for Science and Engineering (PECASE), 1 of 106 recipients nationwide and 1 of 13 from the Department of Energy. The awardees will be honored in a ceremony later this year. Ma was recognized for her “innovation and leadership in quantifying hydrodynamic instability mix in the hot spot of inertial confinement fusion implosions on the National Ignition Facility; key contributions to experiments demonstrating fusion fuel gains exceeding unity; and broad educational outreach and service to the scientific community.” PECASE is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers.
Livermore’s Forensic Science Center received an “A” grade from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on its most recent proficiency test. OPCW administers the Chemical Weapons Convention treaty, which has been in force since 1997 and has been ratified by 190 nations, including the United States. Each October, a score of chemists at Livermore’s Forensic Science Center, along with researchers from 23 other laboratories around the world, face the challenge of passing the OPCW proficiency tests to maintain their designation as one of its laboratories. The challenge involves identifying the presence of chemical weapons compounds in six samples within a 15-day period. To be OPCW-certified, a laboratory must maintain a three-year rolling average of at least two “A” grades and one “B.” The latest test results mark the sixth straight “A” grade earned by Laboratory researchers.
Eighteen teams, which included 17 Laboratory employees, recently received Excellence Awards from the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA’s) Office of Safety, Infrastructure, and Operations (NA-50). The annual program recognizes teams and individuals for exceptional accomplishments made in support of NA-50 efforts to achieve the NNSA mission.
Recipients were honored for work performed in 2015 that demonstrated extraordinary achievements on key projects at the Livermore site. Livermore employees Lisa Clowdus, Mark Costella, and Greg Stremel were individually recognized for their efforts and achievements as team leads for three different projects. In total, Livermore personnel participated on six of the winning teams.