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Per tradition, Sandia leadership posed for a cake-cutting at the labs’ 75th anniversary event this week. (Photo by Jude Strzemp) 
Livermore mayor John Marchand came out to celebrate the labs’ 75th anniversary. (Photo by Jude Strzemp) 
Lab employees gathered for Sandia’s celebration on Oct. 22. (Photo by Jude Strzemp) 
As part of the celebration, Sandia awarded $20,000 to the Quest Science Center in Livemore. (Photo by Jude Strzemp) 
Sandia also presented $20,000 to Tri-Valley Haven at the event. (Photo by Jude Strzemp) 
Associate labs director Andy McIlroy shows off time capsule items to a theater full of attendees. (Photo by Jude Strzemp) 
The time capsule was buried in 1999. (Photo by Jude Strzemp) 
Inside the capsule, Sandia leaders found water and soil samples gathered at the laboratory site. (Photo by Jude Strzemp) 
Staff photos from Sandia’s 50th anniversary were included in the capsule. (Photo by Jude Strzemp) 
Sandia will repack the time capsule with current-day items for opening at its 100th anniversary. (Photo by Jude Strzemp) 
Sandia’s combustion research facility, circa 1979. (Photo courtesy Sandia National Laboratories)
Sandia officials cut the cake and popped a time capsule with local leaders and employees at the labs’ 75th anniversary celebration last week.
As a national laboratory centered on nuclear deterrence, its accomplishments have expanded to addressing climate change and contributing to combustion research, associate labs director Andy McIlroy said at the Oct. 22 celebration. On top of that, Sandia National Laboratories and its employees have contributed money and time to the Livermore community.
Now as leadership reflected on 75 years, they restated Sandia’s national importance.
“The work that we do has become ever more diverse in impacting national security and economic security in everything from healthcare and energy to more traditional national security concerns like nuclear deterrence,” McIlroy said. “The breadth of impact and the commitment of our people to that work is just incredibly powerful to me.”
Formally established in 1949, the lab initially began years prior as a segment of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico called Division Z, according to Sandia historian Justin Olmstead.
Only in 1956 was Sandia’s California location set up.
Of these years, the lab in Livermore revisited its most recent 25 when it cracked open a 1999 time capsule at the anniversary event. Inside were a spark plug with fiber optics, a team picture, a site photo, water and soil samples and much more.
McIlroy reflected on Sandia’s legacy as he told the crowd, the Livermore-based projects have strengthened the U.S. nuclear deterrence program.
For Livermore Mayor John Marchand, its presence in the city is a point of pride.
“I’m a chemist by profession, so I celebrate the technologies that come out of here and not only for the good of our community, but for the good of the country and the world,” Marchand said.
Beyond scientific developments, the lab has also donated directly to the community since 2005, McIlroy said during the ceremony. This year alone, the lab has given $175,000 to support K-12 education and family stability.
During the ceremony, McIlroy presented larger-than-life checks of $20,000 to Quest Science Center for its Planetary Health Action Program and $20,000 to Tri-Valley Haven to rebuild its domestic violence shelter.
But Sandia’s work in Livermore exceeds financial support, McIlroy said.
“It’s not just the big checks,” McIlroy told Livermore Vine. “We’ve got people who are contributing back to the community, not just with money but with time as well.”
Marchand sees their presence in the Livermore-Amador Symphony, coaching Little League teams, serving on the City Council and tutoring in elementary schools.
“The impact of the Sandia National Laboratories extends beyond their immediate research endeavors, inspiring future generations of scientists and engineers and playing a pivotal role in shaping the technological landscape of our nation,” Livermore Vice Mayor Bob Carling, a former Sandia director, said at the event.
As the team looked toward the future, it prepared items for the capsule’s reburial and the labs’ 100th anniversary: miniature 3D models of recent projects, a larger-than-life model of ducted fuel injection, a stuffed gavel signed by deputies at Sandia, a paintbrush used to paint a mural at the lab, federal authorization to do COVID testing and more.
”Sandia National Labs is absolutely critical to the national security of this country. And you got to see a piece of that from 25 years ago and today,” labs director James Peery said. “And in 25 years, it’s going to be just as important, if not more important for this country’s security, both from the military standpoint but also the economic security.”
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified ducted fuel injection and misspelled Andy McIlroy’s last name. Embarcadero Media Foundation regrets the errors.
