Microsystems and Engineering Sciences Applications (or MESA) project
The Secretary of Energy’s Excellence Award

For demonstrating exceptional results in completing this 518 million dollar project under budget and ahead of schedule. This project was executed by Sandia National Laboratory and provides for the design, integration, prototyping, and qualification of Microsystems into weapon components, subsystems, and systems within the stockpile. The integrated project team completed the work fifty million dollars under the original approved budget, and three years ahead of schedule. MESA included the design and construction of new facilities, as well as the expansion and/or modification of others that allow fabrication testing and qualification of components for the Nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile. The project team successfully dealt with changes in the departmental requirements for project management and instituted several initiatives establishing new “best practices.”

Scott L. Samuelson
Federal Project Director of the Year

For demonstrating exceptional leadership and project management acumen in completing the National Ignition Facility (or NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory within the approved cost and schedule performance baseline. The NIF is a state-of-the-art experimental Inertial Confinement Fusion facility intended to achieve controlled thermonuclear fusion in the laboratory using a one hundred and 92-beam laser. Mr. Samuelson was officially designated as the Federal Project Director in 2004 and under his leadership all level zero and one milestones and deliverables were accomplished on schedule and within budget. These successes were achieved through implementation of clear performance objectives, tied to measureable deliverables and cost and schedule performance. Mr. Samuelson worked collaboratively with the project team to identify and manage challenges, share and evaluate performance data, and maintain a focus on project success. His superior performance was recently validated when NIF successfully executed the first one hundred and 92-beam shot, delivering 80 kilojoule of ultraviolet laser light to the target chamber.

Office of Science’s Center for Functional Nanomaterials (or CFN)
The Secretary of Energy’s Achievement Award is presented to the

The Office of Science’s Center for Functional Nanomaterials, project is presented this award for demonstrating significant results in completing a project within cost and schedule. The 81 million dollar CFN project is a state-of-the-art 94-thousand, five hundred gross square feet laboratory/office building. The objective of this project is to provide clean and stable laboratories with an initial suite of world-class instruments to focus on the study and fabrication of nanoscale materials. CFN was designed to serve as the key focal point for nanoscience research in the Northeast. The CFN facilitates major new directions in nanomaterials and greatly expands the capabilities available to a national user base including scientists from government, academia, and industry. In addition, it serves to train the next generation of scientists using the latest tools in the forefront of science. The CFN achieved a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design “Silver” Certificate.

United States Compact Muon Solenoid (or U.S. CMS) and
A Toroidal LHC Apparatus (or U.S. ATLAS) Detector Projects 
The Secretary of Energy’s Achievement Award

For demonstrating significant results in completing a project within cost and schedule. The U.S. CMS and U.S. ATLAS projects, at a total cost of 331 million dollars, were supported jointly by the DOE and the National Science Foundation. Through close national and international collaboration, led in the U.S. by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and Brookhaven National Laboratory, these projects successfully contributed key components and expertise to the largest and most state-of-the-art particle detectors ever built, located at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics. These experiments are anticipated to make fundamental discoveries addressing the leading questions at the “energy frontier” in particle physics worldwide. These U.S. contributions affirm the United States as an influential and reliable partner in international science and enable American scientists to participate in the largest collaborative effort in the physical sciences.

National Nuclear Security Administration’s Building Three, Remediation, Restoration, and Upgrade Project 
The Secretary of Energy’s Improvement Award

The Building Three Remediation, Restoration, and Upgrade Project developed and executed an innovative and aggressive acquisition strategy resulting in outstanding project performance on schedule and twelve percent under budget. A small business design-build subcontract was used to complete renovation of a 78-thousand square foot office building containing beryllium. Salvageable materials were recycled, benefitting the overall cost and reducing landfill waste. In addition, this project achieved a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Silver certificate. This renovation yielded a functional yet flexible office space allowing off-site personnel to relocate to one space, saving more than four million dollars per year.