Each summer, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) welcomes students from broad academic backgrounds who bring fresh perspectives and technical expertise to the Lab's mission. This year, interns are contributing to engineering, national security, high-energy laser research and artificial intelligence. Meet four interns and learn how their LLNL experiences are shaping their skills, interests and career goals. Applying classroom lessons to pioneering engineering Julien Rodriguez applies mechanical engineering principles to support safety analysis for a National Ignition Facility diagnostic. Julien Rodriguez is a junior mechanical engineering student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, interning in LLNL's
Space & AstronomyEnvironment & ClimateEnergy Infrastructure#Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory#Academic Engagement#Careers#Engineering#HPC#Simulation#and Data Science#Lasers and Optical S&T
Technology & InnovationLawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Each summer, students from across the country join Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to gain hands-on experience, work alongside researchers and contribute to projects supporting the Lab's mission. Meet four interns whose work spans emergency preparedness, artificial intelligence, actinide chemistry and additive manufacturing, and learn how their experiences are shaping their careers. Exploring actinide chemistry and nuclear material tracking Asia Jones explores actinide chemistry and nuclear material tracking through spectroscopy and synthesis. Asia Jones, who graduated from Norfolk State University in spring 2026 with a degree in chemistry, is an intern in LLNL's Physical and
Technology & Innovation#Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory#Academic Engagement#Advanced Materials and Manufacturing#Careers#HPC#Simulation#and Data Science#Nuclear
Space & AstronomyLawrence Livermore National Laboratory
It has been a long-standing mystery in nuclear physics: why do the nuclei of some atoms emit more low-energy gamma rays than they should? The answer can be found in a new study from an international scientific team led by the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) and including authors from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Published in Nature, the work sheds light on the internal structure of atomic nuclei and has far-reaching implications for national security and astrophysics. Gamma rays are a type of electromagnetic radiation like visible light and radio waves. Atomic
Space & AstronomyEnergy Policy#Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory#Academic Engagement#Nuclear#Chem#and Isotopic S&T#Physical and Life Sciences#Top Story#astronomy
Space & AstronomyLawrence Livermore National Laboratory
From off-roading in rural Nevada to commuting during rush hour on the 405 in Los Angeles, the space domain has undergone a rapid transformation over the past five years. What began as a vast landscape with a few high-profile, large-scale missions is now a heavily trafficked orbital freeway, rife with accident debris and security risks. To navigate this new environment, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) built the Satellite, Telescope, Aerial drone, and Remote sensing Mission Operations Center (STARMOC). The latest episode of the Big Ideas Lab podcast takes listeners inside the
Space & Astronomy#Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory#computing#Engineering#HPC#Simulation#and Data Science#Space security#Top Story
Space & AstronomyLawrence Livermore National Laboratory
On a multi-billion-mile journey to the asteroid Psyche, a gamma-ray sensor developed by a team at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) took its first measurements of a planetary surface after 2.6 years in deep space. NASA's Psyche spacecraft flew behind Mars for a gravity assist, with the red planet's gravitational field acting as a slingshot to change the flight path and increase the velocity of the spacecraft. The sensor is part of the mission's gamma-ray spectrometer built in partnership with Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. The instrument will allow researchers to
Space & Astronomy#Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory#Academic Engagement#Government#Nuclear and Chemical Sciences#Nuclear#Chem#and Isotopic S&T#Physical and Life Sciences
Space & AstronomyLawrence Livermore National Laboratory
For the better part of a century, people have been trying to understand dark matter. This invisible substance makes up roughly 85% of the mass in the universe but has never been directly detected. Determining exactly what it is remains one of the biggest questions about our world. Now, a new analysis from the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment has recorded a single particle interaction that researchers have great difficulty explaining with known background signals from normal matter. The result does not yet meet the statistical threshold required to claim a discovery, but is the most compelling
Space & AstronomyParticle Physics#Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory#Laboratory Directed Research and Development#Nuclear#Chem#and Isotopic S&T#Physical and Life Sciences#Top Story#astronomy
Technology & InnovationLawrence Livermore National Laboratory
For nearly 30 years, LLNL has offered Teacher Research Academy (TRA) to middle school, high school and community college teachers looking for unique professional development experiences. At no cost to educators, TRA workshops offer classroom-focused applications of LLNL's groundbreaking science and technology. Over two weeks this summer, four different TRAs were offered as two-day workshops: Understanding Energy Technology, Drone Design & Application, Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the Classroom and Data Analytics for STEM Labs using AI. Understanding energy technology This session
Fusion Energy#Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory#Academic Engagement#Community Outreach#computing#Engineering#HPC#Simulation#and Data Science
Press ReleasesLawrence Livermore National Laboratory
The FlowVAM system eliminates the need to manually exchange print volume in Tomographic Volumetric Additive Manufacturing and incorporates in situ metrology, yielding a 200-fold improvement in part production rates. Image credit: Hazel Rose Galvan/LLNL Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and engineers have earned six R&D 100 Awards, which recognize the top 100 inventions worldwide. LLNL was the lead laboratory on four of the winning inventions and contributed to two multi-lab invention wins. Often called the "Oscars of innovation," the trade journal R&D World Magazine
Research#Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory#Advanced Materials and Manufacturing#Engineering#HPC#Simulation#and Data Science#Industry Collaborations#Lasers and Optical S&T
Space & AstronomyLawrence Livermore National Laboratory
The NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory marked a major milestone with the beginning of the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), a 10-year effort to capture the universe in unprecedented detail. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) engineer and former project manager for the LSST Camera, Vincent Riot reflected on the culmination of the project and the journey ahead. Development of the world's largest digital camera began before Riot arrived at the Lab in 2003. For most of his career, he worked to build first-of-its kind optical components, including lenses that would later be
Space & Astronomy#Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory#Academic Engagement#Engineering#Lasers and Optical S&T#Top Story#astronomy#astrophysics#NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory
Research NewsLawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Nearly 100 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) students, mentors and staff joined colleagues from across the Department of Energy (DOE) complex recently for a hands-on clinic focused on using agentic artificial intelligence tools in real scientific and technical work. Held in the Lab's Research Library, the 2026 Cross-Laboratory AI Clinic combined shared presentations from DOE and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) with local working sessions at LLNL. Participants could bring their own data or research problem or work through a challenge problem developed through LLNL's Data
Particle PhysicsEnergy InfrastructureTechnology & Innovation#Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory#Academic Engagement#computing#Government#HPC#Simulation#and Data Science#Top Story
Technology & InnovationLawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory called and the signal and image sciences community answered: The Center for Advanced Signal and Image Sciences (CASIS) hosted their 30th annual workshop at the University of California Livermore Collaboration Center (UCLCC) on June 24-25, setting new records for attendance and technical contributions in the workshop's three-decade history. This year's workshop drew 303 registrants, a 35% increase over 2025 and more than double the attendance of just three years ago, along with around 70 talks and 55 posters spanning eight tracks on a parallel agenda
Fusion EnergyTechnology & Innovation#Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory#Advanced Materials and Manufacturing#Engineering#HPC#Simulation#and Data Science#Lasers and Optical S&T#National Ignition Facility and Photon Science
Technology & InnovationLawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Recently, the University of California (UC), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) convened researchers and leaders from across the UC system in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for the first annual AI Science at Scale summit. The summit was planned in recognition of AI's growing role in scientific discovery and the Department of Energy's increasing interest in frontier AI, which subsequently formalized in the Genesis mission. Backed by a $19 million investment from fee income UC earned from managing its DOE national labs, the AI Science at Scale
Technology & Innovation#Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory#Academic Engagement#Government#HPC#Simulation#and Data Science#Industry Collaborations#Top Story
