Engineering Institute

The Los Alamos Institutes
A Proactive Approach to Workforce Recruiting, Revitalization and Retention

Introduction. The newly formed Los Alamos Institutes represent a substantial Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) investment dedicated to developing the next generation of scientists and engineers, revitalizing current LANL technical staff and retaining these staff. These Institutes are collaborative efforts with university partners and represent a significant investment of LANL funds and Los Alamos National Security, LLC fee money. When these Institutes are viewed in conjunction with LANL’s wide range of existing critical skills development programs that address K-12, undergraduate and graduate student development, it is evident that LANL has been a leading innovator in addressing technical work force development issues for many years.

Unique Contributions. These Institutes directly address US economic competitiveness issues raised the National Academy of Science’s recent Rising Above the Gathering Storm report. Through these Institutes LANL is taking a more aggressive approach than suggested in this report by working with its university partners to not only increase the number and quality of technical graduates and educators, but to also develop new multidisciplinary curricula based on LANL’s strategic technical needs. If the US is to maintain its technology lead, it will not only need more scientists and engineers, but it will also need to train them in evolving curricula that are at the forefront of emerging technology. The particular emphasis on multidisciplinary curricula coupled with the Institutes’ collaborative campus research establishes them as premier educational/research programs that are training the next generation of technology leaders in the US.

Return on Investment. LANL’s, the National Nuclear Security Agency’s (NNSA) and inherently the nation’s return on investment in these Institutes include:

• A new comprehensive National Laboratory-University collaborative model for education and research that provides a novel recruitment-to-retirement professional staff development strategy.
• Cutting-edge degree programs in mission-relevant technology that train people in unique aspects lf our current and future NNSA mission (e.g. model validation and uncertainty quantification).
• Programs that explore new mission-relevant technology through graduate student research.
• A mechanism to provide challenging and mission-relevant work environment that promotes professional development for new hires awaiting clearances.

RELATED LINKS

• About the LANL Institutes
• UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering
• Los Alamos Research Park