Eight Los Alamos National Laboratory-led technologies won R&D 100 Awards, including three special recognition awards for corporate social responsibility, market disruptor and green technology. Often called the “Oscars of Innovation,” these awards recognize technologies for their ingenuity and potential impact.
“We’re extremely proud of Los Alamos’ winners,” said Los Alamos’s Director Thom Mason. “As a Department of Energy national lab, part of our mission is to develop technologies that can then be used by companies, academic institutions and other research organizations to enable everything from better energy efficiency to safety and security. These awards recognize those contributions and are a testament to the cutting-edge work being done at the Laboratory.”
Los Alamos 2024 R&D 100 award winners
The Los Alamos winners are:
- Compact Space Plasma Analyzer — Small sensor monitors space weather for space asset protection.
- Fierro: Computational Mechanics and Materials Science Software – Code leverages advanced models, methods and computers to realize the potential of modern manufacturing methodologies.
- Ion Pair Membrane Electrode Assemblies — Robust fuel cells provide superior performance and clean energy.
- MENDS: Modular Electrochemical Nuclear Decontamination System — Technology removes radioactive surface contamination and reduces waste.
- NDAlpha: Nondestructive Alpha Spectrometer — First field-deployable instrument for “point and shoot” in-situ measurement of actinides in material.
- PHOENIX: Portable, High-efficiency, Orthovoltage ENergy Imaging X-rays – first portable x-ray source to optimize imaging of thin and thick objects simultaneously.
- QUIC-DEPDOSE: Radiation Aerosol Dispersion and Inhalation Model — Application running on a laptop calculates radiation dose to support emergency responders.
- SAFE: Secure Automatic Failsafe Eraser — Information barrier technology protects data from theft or accidental dissemination.
“The Lab’s scientists and engineers are committed to work that benefits the greater good by developing scientific and technological solutions to some of the world’s toughest problems,” said J. Patrick Fitch, deputy Laboratory director for Science, Technology and Engineering. “These R&D 100 winners exemplify that commitment by creating game-changing tools for a broad spectrum of industries.”
The R&D 100 Awards
R&D 100 awards honor the latest and best innovations and identify the top technology products of the past year. They span industry, academia and government-sponsored research organizations.
Since 1978 Los Alamos has won more than 205 R&D 100 Awards. The Laboratory’s discoveries, developments, advancements and inventions make the world a better and safer place, bolster national security and enhance national competitiveness.
See all of the 2024 R&D 100 Awards.
More information about the winners
Compact Space Plasma Analyzer
The space plasma environment can damage satellites and interfere with communication signals. Researchers have developed the low size, weight, and power sensor to monitor satellite environments and protect assets for commerce and national security applications. Three years after initial concept, the Department of Defense Space Test Program deployed the analyzer on the International Space Station for data collection.
Los Alamos led the joint entry with the United States Air Force Academy. Carlos Maldonado directed the Los Alamos team of Daniel Reisenfeld, Kateryna Yakymenko, Gabriel Wilson, Justin McGlown, Anthony Rogers and Tatiana Espinoza.
Fierro: Computational Mechanics and Materials Science Software
To advance engineering and manufacturing applications, multiscale physics solvers predict product behavior by modeling how detailed material properties and microstructure influence bulk-scale performance under various conditions. Advanced artificial intelligence techniques that search for the optimal design among millions of design options, combined with the flexibility of additive manufacturing to create parts, paves the way for transformative improvements to engineered systems. The combination of numerical methods, models and computer science leads to enhanced products and cost savings across a wide range of industries and applications.
Nathaniel Morgan led the Los Alamos team with Ricardo Lebensohn. The team members are Vincent Chiravalle, Adrian Diaz, Daniel Dunning, Erin Heilman, Sarah Brown, Evan Lieberman, Konstantin Lipnikov, Mounia Malki, Russel Marki, Lorenzo Micalizzi, Jacob Moore, Andrew Morgan, Eappen Nelluvelil, Robert Robey, Calvin Roth, Tayna Tafolla, Svetlana Tokareva, Joshua Vedral, Steven Walton, Kevin Welsh, Caleb Yenusah and Miroslav Zecevic.
Ion Pair Membrane Electrode Assemblies
Researchers have developed the high-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell for clean-energy production. The advanced fuel cell stacks operate over a wider temperature range, delivering more power, greater durability and higher tolerance to hydrogen fuel impurities than traditional fuel cells. Advent Technologies Holdings, Inc. has licensed the patents and established a research, development and manufacturing facility in Massachusetts to support various power applications.
Los Alamos led the joint entry with Advent Technologies Holdings, Inc. Sandip Maurya directed the team of Eun Joo (Sarah) Park, Yu Seung Kim and Katie Heeyum Lim.
MENDS: Modular Electrochemical Nuclear Decontamination System
The self-contained, scalable system removes radioactive contaminants on surfaces that impact nuclear industries, such as nuclear energy, national laboratories and nuclear medicine. The technology uses a fixed volume of internally generated and recycled solution to decontaminate surfaces to safe, low-level waste limits. MENDS promotes worker safety, eliminates the need for intensive manual labor leading to ergonomic injuries, and reduces generation of secondary waste. MENDS is poised to advance green methods for recycling and recovery of rare earth metals, mitigating biofouling and enhancing adherence of protective coatings.
Rami Batrice led the Los Alamos team of Cesar Dominguez, Janelle Droessler, Benjamin Karmiol, Sean Walsh, Gabriel Andrade, Sheldon Apgar, Jerzy Chlistunoff, Enkeleda Dervishi-Whetham, Alp Findikoglu, George Goff, Tye Jorgenson, Taeho Ju, Alexandria Marchi, Quinn McCulloch, Jackson McFall, Marisa Monreal, Jeremy Monroe, Donivan Porterfield, Jung Rim, David Rodriguez, Kirk Weisbrod, Bryan Steinfeld, Jared Stritzinger and Ning Xu.
MENDS also received the Gold Medal Special Recognition Award for Green Tech, which honors innovations that help make our environment greener and our goal towards energy reduction closer.
NDAlpha: Nondestructive Alpha Spectrometer
Alpha radiation measurements of plutonium, uranium and other actinides require time-consuming destructive sample analysis in a special laboratory. Researchers have created the first field-deployable alpha spectrometer for surface scanning of material noninvasively, quickly and safely. Such measurements are needed after a nuclear incident, as well as applications in nuclear power, environmental remediation and targeted alpha therapy in nuclear medicine.
Mark Croce and Katherine Schreiber led the Los Alamos team of Matthew Carpenter, Daniel McNeel, David Mercer, Emily Teti, Rico Schoenemann, Athena Marenco, Hye-Young Lee and Istvan Robel.
NDAlpha also received the Silver Medal Special Recognition Award for Market Disruptor, which honors any product or service from any category that has truly changed the game in any industry.
PHOENIX: Portable, High-efficiency, Orthovoltage ENergy Imaging X-rays
This field-deployable x-ray source operates in the orthovoltage (500KV-1MV) energy range, which is significantly more penetrating than medical x-rays. PHOENIX provides high-resolution images in a range of applications previously deemed impractical or impossible for x-ray inspection. The source can be taken to inspect stationary objects, such as bridges and pipelines. PHOENIX eliminates the use of hazardous radioisotopes and portable power generators that other sources require.
The Los Alamos team includes Scott Watson, Nicola Winch, Lauren Misurek, David Platts, Myles Cartelli, Chris Romero and Eric Sorenson. Golden Engineering was a partner on the R&D 100 entry.
QUIC-DEPDOSE: Radiation Aerosol Dispersion and Inhalation Model
Radioactive aerosols can cause radiation doses to workers and the public through inhalation. Los Alamos has developed the software to calculate radiation doses from inhalation of radionuclides downstream from an atmospheric radiological release. QUIC-DEPDOSE uses real 3D topography to model the atmospheric dispersion and lung deposition of radiological particles from the scale of kilometers across a city down to microns in the human respiratory tract. Unlike other software, QUIC-DEPDOSE provides accurate, individualized dose information quickly on a laptop to support emergency responders.
Jennifer Harris and Mike Brown were the PI and co-PI, respectively, of the HEROS Project under which QUIC-DEPDOSE was developed. John Klumpp and Matthew Nelson led the Los Alamos team of Luiz Bertelli, Keith Eckerman, Michael Brown, Sara Brambilla and Liam Wedell.
QUIC-DEPDOSE also received the Silver Award for Corporate Social Responsibility, which honors organizational efforts to be a greater corporate member of society.
SAFE: Secure Automatic Failsafe Eraser
This unique information security device manages data collection with failsafe auto-erase of sensitive data for unrivaled information security. SAFE completely and permanently erases all digital information automatically via a triple overwrite after a triggering event. No human intervention is needed. Triggering events could include power loss, device tampering or transportation outside of a secure area.
Ernst “Shorty” Esch led the Los Alamos team of Bertrand Dushime and Luke Strebe.
Read more about the Laboratory’s past R&D 100 Awards.
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