Incumbent Lockheed Martin said Monday it has teamed with the Purdue, New Mexico State, and New Mexico Tech universities to bid on the Sandia National Laboratories management and operations contract. The announcement clarifies the cooperative arrangement that was still unclear when Lockheed announced early last month its intent to bid to retain the contract.
The Sandia National Laboratories produce non-nuclear components for nuclear weapons and develop systems to ensure the reliability of the U.S. nuclear arsenal for the NNSA. The lab, which has operations primarily in New Mexico and California, is also at the “cutting edge” of nonproliferation and other technology areas, according to a press release.
Personnel and facilities from all three institutions would support research and development activities at Sandia. The collaboration also “will allow students and faculty from the universities to interact more strategically at Sandia to promote collaboration, innovation and talent development,” Lockheed said.
Purdue will lead technology transfer initiatives for Sandia, partnering with entrepreneurs to license Sandia technology for commercial use.
Vimal Chaitanya, vice president for research at New Mexico State University, highlighted in the release that over 25 percent of Sandia employees have at least one degree from the university. Van Romero, chief operating officer and vice president for research and economic development at New Mexico Tech, also highlighted his university’s history with Sandia, noting that it has developed programs specifically in support of the lab.
Lockheed Martin wholly owned subsidiary Sandia Corp. holds the current contract, worth approximately $2.9 billion, which is scheduled to expire at the end of next April. The new cost-plus-fixed fee contract will involve a four-month transition, five-year base period, and up to five one-year extensions. The NNSA expects to award a contract by the end of the year.
Battelle and Boeing were the first to announce that they were bidding on the contract as a team, which also features the University of New Mexico, the Texas A&M University System, and the University of Texas System. Fluor did not submit a bid, while other potential bidders have remained silent on their intentions.
