Los Alamos National Laboratory

Seventy-three students from seven Northern New Mexico counties are recipients of this year’s scholarships through the Los Alamos Employees’ Scholarship Fund.

Funding for the scholarships comes from $411,500 in donations from Los Alamos National Laboratory employees and Los Alamos National Security, LLC.

Los Alamos High School senior Kevin Gao, Micaela Lucero of St. Michael’s High and Danielle Harrier of Pojoaque High School share this year’s gold scholarship, which provide $5,000 in financial assistance annually for four years.

Five students will receive $2,500 annual, four-year silver scholarships: Aaron Bao and Paulina Majewska of Los Alamos High School; Anna Finck of West Las Vegas High School; Kimberly Nguyen of Rio Rancho High School; and Victoria Gomez of Las Vegas Robertson High School; Gomez also received a $1,000 Phil Barker Memorial Scholarship.

Seven students will receive $2,500 annual four-year Domenici scholarships named after former U.S. Senator Pete Domenici (R-N.M.): Dalton Smith of Los Alamos High School; Chantel Rivera of Mora High School; Monica Abeyta of Escalante High School; Gregory Medina of West Las Vegas High School; Cary Thomas of Cuba High School; Isaac Green of Desert Academy; and Andrew Mascareñas of Questa High School.

Nearly 400 Los Alamos National Laboratory employees on 47 teams received Pollution Prevention awards for protecting the environment and saving taxpayers more than $8 million. The employees were recognized at the Laboratory’s annual Pollution Prevention Awards ceremony on Monday, Earth Day.
Five projects received the Lab’s Best in Class Star Award for outstanding achievement. These projects will be submitted to the U.S. Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration for national Pollution Prevention award consideration. They are:
 Acetone out, rhenium in: employees made changes to an acetone sample rinsing process, eliminating 48 liters of mixed low-level waste per year. Now the team separates a small rhenium metal ribbon from stainless steel posts and recycles the steel instead of disposing of the entire apparatus.
Streamlined plutonium operation: By changing the vessel shape for the process, which extracts americium from old plutonium so that the plutonium can be reused, this method generates less than half of the waste of the former process. The new approach also requires less salt and avoids the generation of more than 20 kilograms of mixed transuranic and low-level radioactive waste per year and an additional 80 kilograms from subsequent processes.

Northern New Mexicans wanting to return to college for a certificate or two-year program are eligible for $1,000 awards from the Regional College/Returning Student program of the Los Alamos Employees’ Scholarship Fund.
The application deadline is June 17 to the Los Alamos National Laboratory Foundation’s Regional College/Returning Student Scholarship Fund. Applications must be submitted online at lanlfoundation.org before June 17.
The awards go to students returning to a formal education after an absence, such as business, the military or personal reasons. Candidates from Santa Fe, Rio Arriba, Los Alamos, San Miguel, Taos, Mora and Sandoval counties are eligible and must show that have been accepted for certification, or a two-year degree program at an accredited regional college.
Since the program began in 2011,
36 students have been awarded the scholarship. Students who previously received the Regional College/ Returning Scholar award may reapply.
Funding for the Los Alamos Employees’ Scholarship Fund comes from contributions by LANL employees and a match from Los Alamos National Security, LLC.
Sauer to chair campaign

State Representatives Stephanie Garcia Richard and Carl Trujillo spent Monday morning meeting with LANL scientists and staff. Garcia Richard, meanwhile, will host a town hall meeting along with the AARP at 1:30 p.m. Friday at the Betty Ehart Senior Center.