Students at Auburn University. Courtesy/TechSource, Inc.
TechSource, Inc. CEO Brian D’Andrea, center, with students from UT El Paso. Courtesy/TechSource, Inc.
By CAROL A. CLARK
Los Alamos Daily Post
caclark@ladailypost.com
Weapons Production, Technology and Nuclear Training (WP-TNT) Program is an innovative collaboration developed by LANL and teammate TechSource, Inc. that leverages university research and development capabilities to augment the laboratory’s capacity to deliver highly focused technology solutions in direct support of LANL’s weapons production mission. The national security mission operations pace and program expansion demands innovative approaches to move faster and with greater agility. WP-TNT fosters the cultivation of talent essential for maintaining LANL’s leadership in innovation and needed focus on mission delivery by eliminating obstacles, allowing for swift project kickoff and funded work within 60 days.
An ancillary, yet, important benefit is the opportunity for the universities, professors, and students at all levels to be exposed to and directly involved in LANL’s mission. This provides an opportunity to create significant interest in the mission and give first-hand insight to the lab. Of the candidates approached after involvement in WP-TNT, LANL has experienced an impressive 32% interview-to-hire success rate. This program has added value to current laboratory hiring practices and enhanced efficiency. WP-TNT involvement is delivering important R&D and has evolved into a critical pathway for career advancement, significantly enriching the educational journeys of students from a variety of fields.
The WP-TNT Program aims to:
- Drive innovation by leveraging academia’s extensive skill base, laboratory space, and passion to enhance mission delivery;
- Cultivate talent to foster the next generation of expertise and scientific and engineering leadership for LANL and all the National Labs; and
- Create career pathways and prepare engineers and technologists to solve existing and emerging national security challenges.
WP-TNT recently expanded its circle of partners to include Auburn University. This program already boasts partnerships with Arizona State University, Brigham Young University, Montana State University, Texas A&M University, UT Rio Grande Valley, UT El Paso, and the University of Michigan.
“Inventory management of materials, containers, spare parts and other items in a secure setting is a challenge,” said Bob Putnam, director of the Technical Applications Office in the associate Laboratory directorate for Weapons Production at Los Alamos National Laboratory. “We’re partnering with Auburn to help us understand which RFID technologies perform best in a radiological environment. This is a win-win: it helps students hone their skills by taking on a difficult project they wouldn’t typically have exposure to, while helping the Lab tackle a challenging problem. It also introduces students to career possibilities at the Lab.”
WP-TNT will enable Auburn to explore new avenues of collaborative research with LANL and to enhance curriculum, educational, and career opportunities for Auburn students.
“The WP-TNT partnership will advance RFID technology for precision location systems, and hopefully open up many paths of opportunity for Auburn students to work with a premier government technology lab,” Auburn RFID Lab Director Justin Patton said.
As a WP-TNT Partner, Auburn University will collaborate with LANL and TechSource Inc. to introduce advanced Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tracking and analytical data processing techniques aimed at optimizing inventory management within LANL’s secure environment. “The WP-TNT program offers a unique career opportunity for Auburn students to support the mission and needs of the Nuclear Security Enterprise,” said Brand L. Elverston, TechSource’s internationally recognized RFID operations expert.
The Auburn – LANL engagement provides students the exceptional opportunity to expand their RFID knowledge in real time while working to address some of the complex and ever evolving issues facing the national laboratories.
“This partnership is very timely in addressing some of LANL’s immediate workforce development needs and is a significant step towards Auburn and LANL’s mutual goal of building a long-term relationship, as formalized in the memorandum of understanding the two institutions signed in June 2022,” said Daniel Tauritz, Auburn’s Director for National Laboratory Relationships.
About the Auburn RFID Lab
The Auburn RFID Lab is an academic institute committed to sensor technology advancement. The lab employs over 100 students who work on various projects ranging from the creation of optimized supply chain and retail experiences to the optimization of RFID tag placement and performance. The lab works with our many partners to create an RFID system specific to their needs through discovery, data analysis and reporting, and guidance on best practices. Although the lab has a strong focus on RFID, we also have experience in Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, barcode, and other technologies. For more information about the partnership between Auburn RFID and LANL or general lab operations, please contact the lab at rfidlab@auburn.edu.
About TechSource, Inc.
Founded in 1997, TechSource is comprised of over 500 senior level scientists, engineers, and industry leaders from the national laboratories, federal technology programs and the nuclear industry. We are recognized as an independent qualified expert whose advice and products are accepted as authoritative by our clients and their stakeholders.