In recognition of significant employee and team accomplishments in operational areas that support the Lab’s mission, three teams have received the Director’s Institutional Operational Excellence Award. This annual award honors operational work that advances institutional goals and has a substantial, positive impact on the Laboratory’s mission.
This year’s winners are:
Enabling Weapons Grade Plutonium Target Experiments at the National Ignition Facility
Matthew Arend, Jenifer Barros, Richard Beale, Michael Blau, Rafael Calvan, Toni Carroll, Preston Cole, Phillip Field, Sullivan Figurskey, Michelle Greenough, Cole Greenwood, John Gundelfinger, Nicholas Hash, Jean Jensen, Kenneth Kasper, Ryan Kissinger, Jeremy Kroll, Adam Langro, Pauline Lee, Korbie Le Galloudec, Uday Mehta, Gino Mercado, Anna Murphy, Anthony Novello, David Pinkston, Joshuah Ponce, James Robbins, Debra Rosas, Carmen Samiere, Shannon Sauers, Camelia Stan, Jeff Stanford and Bruno Van Wonterghem
The team is recognized for enabling the first weapons-grade plutonium experiment at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in April 2025, a major milestone for the Laboratory’s stockpile stewardship mission. Their achievement demonstrates operational excellence, regulatory compliance and safety. The team modernized safety standards, implemented robust software quality assurance and developed innovative fabrication and safety infrastructure, overcoming significant technical challenges. Their success expands NIF’s capabilities and sets new benchmarks for collaboration and innovation.
Exceptional Performance Response to Command Cyber Readiness Inspections
Felipe Alfsen, Kevin Athey, Noah Augason, Thin Aung, Lauren Ayala, Don Balajadia, Angela Baldwin, Evan Barker, Geoff Bennett, Jessie Boland, Amy Brady, Stephen Brehm, Lizzy Brown, Mallory Brown, Russell Bunthouwongse, Glen Bunting, Miguel Burch, Andria Callen, Tim Carnes, Tony Cason, Eric Castro, Sonia Cole, Cheryl Collins, Scott Colonese, Gianni Carlo Contardo, Xandy Corley, Patrick Craig, Shawn Crow, Johnny Curtis, Laurence Dailey, Bing Deleyos, Brad DeMoss, Albert Diaz, Wesley Donahue, Keith Downs, Chris Espino, Nick Evans, Ross Fetterman, Paul Flora, Clayton Franklin, Lee Franklin, Jamee Garcia, Cary Gellner, Joe Giovinco, Brandi Gomes, Carlos Gomez, Stella Gonzalez-Santiago, James Goritz, Michael Grapes, Don Graves, Amelia Groth, Jorge Guerra, Gabrielle Gutierrez, Mansoor Haidari, Tom Halligan, Kevin Hamilton, Nancy Harper, Quentin Harrison, John Heck, Cory Hegman, Nickolas Herbert, Don Herron, Daron Hester, Timothy Holman, Dan Hornett, Steve Iams, Clinton Keller, Steve Kiar, Jeff Klassen, Jon Labarge, Shane Lailhengue, Chris Lamadrid, Michael John Laso, Derek Laza, Phil Litz, Laura Long, Gary Lopez, Lauri Marciel, John Martin, Travis Martin, Armando Martinez, Omar Martinez-Martinez, Brian Moraca, Adam Morgan, Steve Morrow, Matthew Myrick, Thomas Neufeld, Ramon Newton, Natalie Nguyen, JD Nichols, Carmen Parrish, Lourdes Placeres, Mark Pope, Gaby Prado, Juan Ramos, Tracie Reese, Donicio Rice, Jake Rood, Sergio Rosas, Sean Rowell, James Russ, Ryan Saavedra, Garry Schmerer, Andrey Shapovalov, Edwin Shimizu, Harjot Sidhu, Amy Silva, Matt Silva, Claudia Silveira, Jatinder Singh, Dennis Skillen, Will Smith, Tanner Sterud, Shelley Strambler, Daniel Taber, Richard Takamoto, Scott Taylor, Jaleesa Thomas, Lennard Vanderspek, Rebecca Van Horn, Alda Vargas, Haunani Vargas, Vince Vega, Willem Verschuur, Christine Villa, Carlos Marcelo Viscarra, Mike Voelker, Keith Walcott, Christine Ward, Lauren Ware, Oliver White, Derek Williams, Brent Wolfe, Josiah Yoshimura, William Young and Katrina Zapata
This cross-functional team is recognized for outstanding achievement in the recent Command Cyber Readiness Inspection, earning an exceptional score under the most rigorous standards to date. Through months of preparation, collaboration and technical expertise, the team ensured compliance across hundreds of systems, safeguarded classified networks and maintained vital government connections. Their comprehensive policy reviews, security checks and innovative solutions set a new benchmark for cyber readiness and demonstrated exemplary teamwork and operational excellence.
LivChat – Delivery of Private ChatGPT Capability for LLNL
Pablo Arias, Ryan Beall, Michael Corrales, Doug Fenstermacher, Rena Huerta, John Lee, Steven Lopez, Patrick Meissner, Ana Orubeondo and Brett Stimmerman
The LivChat team is recognized for delivering a secure, private instance of a GPT-4o large language model for LLNL’s unclassified data. LivChat provides accurate, efficient AI assistance across a wide range of topics, greatly enhancing productivity and user experience. By enabling broad adoption of AI, LivChat has accelerated scientific discovery, streamlined data analysis and improved collaboration. Operationally, it has optimized workflows and communication, contributing to LLNL’s “million man-hour savings” goal and exemplifying operational excellence.