The People of NIF

Pat Coyle: From Belize to NIF and Back, an Unexpected Journey to Remember

Though his intended path to graduate school was deflected by the Vietnam War, Pat Coyle’s principles led him perhaps on a more interesting journey that included a livestock development project in Central America, work in solar energy long before its heyday, a 30-year career at the Lab with side trips to Colorado and Washington D.C., then full circle again, giving back to the people of Belize.

While a student at the Colorado School of Mines where he earned a degree in engineering mathematics and geophysics in 1969, the Vietnam War was raging. Rather than going to graduate school as planned, Pat decided to resist the draft, turned in his draft card, and took a job programming computers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, which he presumed would be short-lived before he would face a two-year jail term. He also got registered as a Professional Engineer during that time.

When Pat refused induction, his case needed to be restarted and was delayed over a year. By the time he was called for induction a second time, he had developed a disqualifying case of eczema (much to his mom’s relief!), so was declared unqualified for military service. No longer facing the prospect of incarceration, Pat took his dad up on an offer to help the family relocate to Belize in Central America where his dad had been hired for a land development project. Pat worked there from 1974–1977 helping develop 20,000 acres of property with infrastructure, roads, wells, improved pastures, and livestock. Gina Bonnano in Control Room

Pat Coyle in Belize with a mahogany tree he purchased at a fundraising auction for the Blue Creek Mennonite community senior housing facility. Proceeds from future harvests will support the facility. The event was to celebrate 50 years of Mennonites working in the community.

During that time, Pat was fortunate to meet his wife, Kathy, who was working on a Canadian/USAID water and sewage project. Since traveling throughout Belize by car was prone to breakdowns due to rough roads, they bought a Cessna 172, which they used to fly to Canada to get married. They then logged about 300 hours on the Cessna before leaving Belize.

Returning to the U.S., Pat took a job with a mechanical engineering consulting firm in Phoenix where he was able to apply solar energy solutions, a great interest of his, to several residential and industrial systems.

In 1980, Pat heard that LLNL was recruiting through local interviews, so applied for a position in the hope of pursuing his interest in energy-efficient buildings. In his early years at the Lab, he did just that, designing and fielding two solar water-heating systems. He then ran the Lab’s Energy Management Program, for a time, before coming to the Laser Directorate in 1986. In 1990, Pat was sent on assignment to the Rocky Flats Plant in Colorado to work in plutonium processing technology for two years, then to DOE Headquarters in Washington D.C. in the environmental remediation and mixed waste treatment technology development program.

When he returned to Livermore in 1994, Pat worked as Project Engineer for a team developing technical approaches to deal with surplus plutonium and highly enriched uranium for the DOE Fissile Material Disposition Program. He also represented LLNL in a Sandia National Laboratories-led team for whom he planned a successful test of Pu immobilization in glass carried out at the Savannah River site.

Pat then worked on the Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation (AVLIS) project in a number of roles, including technical representative for the contract with Babcock & Wilcox, who provided preliminary engineering for pod refurbishment and uranium handling. In 1999, when the AVLIS project closed down, Pat joined the NIF team to work on the Conventional Facilities and Beampath Infrastructure Systems, where he led the Statement of Work preparation for Integration Management and Installation Services, serving as deputy. He later worked in Systems Engineering.

“One of the best things about working in Lasers and NIF,” Pat says, “is the amazing people you get to work with. It's been a terrific opportunity to be part of the Laser Program and NIF enterprise as we move toward ignition.”

Since 2005, Pat has been the Inertial Confinement Fusion and High Energy Density Science Deputy for Planning. He works on budget plans, tracks milestones, and reports earned value and accomplishments for the National Ignition Campaign. He is also the Project Engineer for planning and reporting for the Radiation Transport Integrated Experimental Team.

“One of the things I’ve learned through my career is how fortunate we are to have the staff, capabilities and willingness to help that we have here at the Lab. It’s a real differentiating factor compared to other places,” he says.

In the next phase of his life, Pat will come full circle, doing more work in Belize. He still owns 40 acres of land there and has founded a non-profit, Belize Open Source Sustainable Development (http://belizeopensource.org/), which promotes environmentally and socially sustainable development and invites people to participate in a community outreach center and working farm. The first users of the new visitors accommodations are the Cleveland State University Engineers Without Borders teams who are overseeing construction of a new classroom building in the nearby village of August Pine Ridge through mid-July 2011.

In addition, he has been volunteering with Grid Alternatives (http://www.gridalternatives.org/), which provides renewable energy and energy efficient services, equipment, and training to low income families, a pursuit also echoing his early interest in solar energy.

Pat and his wife Kathy, who has a web development Internet business, have a son, 26, and a daughter, 28, who both went to UC Berkeley.

Looking back at his career, Pat reverts to song lyrics and quotes the Grateful Dead song, Truckin’: “…Lately it occurs to me what a long strange trip it's been…,” then adds his own conclusion, “and a very good one.”