How I learned about why I work in the National Labs

It was late spring in 2016 and I was riding BART from the San Francisco airport to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, on my way to the first meeting of the first cohort of the Department of Energy Oppenheimer Science and Energy Leadership Program.? I would be in the San Francisco Bay area for a week — part of a year-long program to teach a group of us about the diversity of activities in the U.S. National Labs.?

Dr. Teeb Al-Samarrai , then a White House Fellow, and Kevin Doran welcomed me to the program on behalf of then Deputy Undersecretary for Science and Energy, Dr. Adam Cohen .?

The group would spend a total of five weeks together that year.? At the time, I was a little skeptical — it seemed like a long time to be away from work.? Would it be worthwhile?? Looking back now several years later, I can say for sure that the experience transformed me.? It seems a little strange to say, but the Oppenheimer Program helped me understand why I work in the Labs.

So, let me tell you. ?

During the program, we saw examples of the most inspiring kinds of leadership, and at times we were ‘In the Room Where It Happens.’?

One morning during the program, we found ourselves in a Pentagon briefing room in conversation with General Paul Selva , then the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.? General Selva reminded us that the Armed Services’ approach to conflict is to ‘engage‘ — when confronting an adversary, and whenever differences exist.? Engage.?

Another afternoon we met with Professor Chris Gerdes, on leave from Stanford at the time to be the first Chief Innovation Officer at the US Department of Transportation.? At some point, one of us ( Howard Yuh ) asked him: “So…it sounds like you’ve got a pretty nice life in Stanford.? Why did you come to DOT?”? Prof. Gerdes’ answer was to describe the then-recently issued DOT guidelines for autonomous vehicle manufacturing, which he had helped write.? “Creating a policy like this, to encourage US innovation,” he said, “will have a bigger impact than anything I could ever do at a university.”? We understood his call to service, and the extraordinary talent at work for our country every day.

And we saw leadership up close when we visited the wastewater treatment plant, DC Water, and spoke at length with then General Manager George Hawkins .? DC Water promotes that ‘Water is Life,’ and they are leading the country innovating new ways to make use of resources.? Which for DC Water means turning shit into energy.? We could feel the sense of greater purpose Mr. Hawkins had instilled in the workers at DC Water — a sewage plant!

We saw the diversity, excellence, and importance of the US National Laboratories.?

During the program, we spent time in seven of the seventeen U.S. National Labs.? Most of us worked in the Labs, but none of us fully understood the scope of what the Labs do.?

Our group stood in the lobby of a building at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, looking at a nuclear missile on display.? A REAL nuclear missile.? It’s one thing to read about the nukes, but it’s another to talk with scientists who spend their careers in the most serious business of keeping the country safe.

We visited the National Renewable Energy Laboratory outside of Denver, where we came to appreciate the challenges associated with deploying renewable energy at large scale.? We learned that wind turbines will stand ever-taller — ideally with blades more than 100 meters long (!!) — because the wind is more reliable at higher elevations.? And so NREL is using 3D printing to manufacture 100-meter-long windmill blades right at the wind farms.? No factory, or transportation, needed.??

And in a steady rainstorm in remote West Virginia, we climbed the many steps of a fracking well on an isolated hilltop, wearing coveralls over our clothes, to watch a team of five young people drilling a horizontal well more than two miles long.? They showed us giant drill bits used to drill fracking wells — drill bits we had learned were made possible because years before, National Lab scientists had figured out how to glue on diamond tips such that they don’t break off during drilling.?

Our Group

You can learn about people by spending time with them.? In all, our group spent five weeks together — eating in hotels, and sharing cabs, buses, and subway rides. And chatting in sometimes absurd situations.? At different times during the year:

• We watched our bus catch fire while we were still onboard. (!)
• We shared a pizza with an astronaut. (!)?
• We mused about the smell of human poop at a sewage treatment plant. (!)?
• And we roamed the halls of the White House Executive Office Building, searching for snacks. (!)

These are the ways we learned about each other. During the year, we learned about our senses of humor ( Daniel Sinars ). We learned about our families. And we learned about our interests.? We became friends.?

And do you know what surprised me about our group was how long it took us to learn about each other’s accomplishments.? My colleagues in the group are incredibly talented – highly motivated, highly ambitious, and highly decorated.? And yet, without looking them up on the internet, I would never have known.?

Near the end of our program, one of my colleagues, Nancy Haegel , summed up her experience by saying: “I’m ready to do my part.” I agree!?

I came to the group ready to learn about all the activities going on in the DOE Labs. But by the end of the program I realized I had learned even more about why we work in the Labs.?

One of our group’s mentors, Mike Knotek, challenged us by saying that many of the biggest things DOE has ever accomplished have been led by regular people like us.? And he reminded us that our group’s namesake, Dr. Robert Oppenheimer, was only 37 years old when he led the Manhattan Project.

During his time as U.S. Secretary of Energy, Governor Rick Perry called the National Labs the greatest science enterprise the world has ever known.? I've always liked that.

I’m definitely ready to do my part.

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