MAE Seminar – MISSION BASED R&D

Details

MAE Seminar – MISSION BASED R&D

November 5, 2024, at 12:50pm, Location: MAE-A 303

Thomas O. Hunter, Ph.D
Retired President and Laboratories Director
Sandia National Laboratories

Abstract
The evolution of modern technology toward larger, more complex systems often requires R&D of greater scale and the involvement of numerous participants typically with specific goals and, sometimes hectic timeframes. Further, many times the efforts must result in functioning hardware or deployable solutions that can be implemented or placed in service immediately. In most cases, teams are formed from numerous, often disparate, disciplines. Beyond the well-established processes of systems engineering there are unique factors that can determine success or failure. No matter the depth of research or the complexity of development, effective solutions must be sought. Examples of such efforts and factors will be drawn from direct experience with the testing of nuclear weapons, the development of Extreme Ultraviolent Lithography, and the national effort to stem the oil well of the Deep Water Horizon disaster.

Biography
Dr. Thomas O. Hunter retired in July 2010 as President and Laboratories Director of Sandia National Laboratories. Sandia, with principal sites in Albuquerque, NM, and Livermore, CA, is a multi-program laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. Dr. Hunter joined Sandia in 1967 and became president in April 2005. His responsibilities included managing the Laboratories’ $2.3 billion annual budget and approximately 10,000 employees. In that role, he was personally involved in support of national security issues that required engaging leaders in the executive branch of government and in the U.S. Congress. Further, he was charged with providing assurance of essential elements of the U.S. nuclear deterrent and advising on matters such as energy, nuclear nonproliferation, and the nation’s R&D agenda.

In May, 2010, DOE Secretary Steven Chu appointed Dr. Hunter as lead of the federal government’s scientific team that worked with BP officials to develop and analyze solutions to the BP oil spill. Early in 2011, Dr. Hunter was appointed Chairman of the Department of Interior’s Ocean Energy Safety Advisory Committee. A committee charged with identifying future technology needs for offshore oil and gas development.

Before assuming his role as Sandia’s Director, Dr. Hunter served as Sandia’s Senior Vice President for Defense Programs. In that capacity, he led the Laboratories’ principal mission Strategic Management Unit, which managed the R&D, engineering, information systems and production involved in Sandia’s support of the nuclear deterrent. From October 1995 to March 1999, Dr. Hunter served as Vice President of Sandia’s California Laboratory. He also served as corporate leader for the development of nuclear nonproliferation, arms control, and materials management programs. Earlier in his Sandia career, Dr. Hunter was Sandia’s Director of the Energy and Environment Program Center, where he coordinated activities in energy development and environmental quality and emphasized international energy and environment development and supporting information systems. He led Sandia and U.S. DOE laboratory programs to establish cooperative R&D programs in the former Soviet Union to support nuclear nonproliferation. He was Director of Nuclear Waste Management and Transportation Programs and Manger for Sandia’s role in the Yucca Mountain Project.

Dr. Hunter is a member of the Engineering Advisory Board for the University of Florida and Council on Foreign Relations. He was recently chairman of the National Academy of Sciences Advisory Board for the Gulf Research Program. Recently he was a member of the American Nuclear Society and served on the U.S. Strategic Command’s Strategic Advisory Group. He has served on various review groups for the Federal government and with other DOE laboratories, guest lecturer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology on nuclear waste management, and as an adjunct professor at the University of New Mexico. Since retirement Dr. Hunter has been a member of the PCAST panel for the report “Transformation and Opportunity: The Future of the US Research Enterprise”. He served as a board member for the Energy Policy Initiative for the Bipartisan Policy Center. He recently chaired the advisory committee for the University of Florida College Of Engineering Leadership Institute. He is the author of numerous technical papers and presentations. He is a recipient of the 2007 New Mexico Distinguished Public Service Award.

Dr. Hunter earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Florida, an M.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of New Mexico, an M.S. in nuclear engineering from the University of Wisconsin, and a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from the University of Wisconsin. He was recognized as a distinguished alumnus by both the University of Florida and the University of Wisconsin.

MAE Faculty Host: Dr. Sivaramakrishnan Balachandar