Susan Livenick
Project Manager, Nevada Test Site 

On August 12, Susan Livenick, a Project Manager at the Nevada Test Site received the 2009 U.S. Department of Energy’s  Management Award at a special awards ceremony in Providence, R.I. The awards honor outstanding achievements in energy and water management. Susan oversaw Bldg. B3’s abatement and renovation from 2005-2008, making B3 the first “green” building at the North Las Vegas Facility. The B3 project also completed the Nevada Site Office’s beryllium cleanup project and accommodated employees from the Nevada Support Facility and Cheyenne facility to move into the new facility. “The NSTec team worked long and hard to make the B3 project a reality and I’m honored that the DOE would recognize us in this way,” Susan says.  


Lance Rakow 
Logistics Services Manager, Nevada Test Site

Along with colleague Susan Livenick, Lance Rakow was awarded this years Department of Energy's Management Award honoring his outstanding achievements in energy and water management. Lance, the Logistics Services Manager at the Nevada Test Site, oversaw the conversion of nearly all fleet vehicles at NTS to using environmentally-friendly (E-85) ethanol and biodiesel fuels. Many agencies have switched to E-85, which reduces vehicles’ petroleum use by 85 percent. “We took on the task of constructing and operating an E-85 fuel station, and have for a long time used biodiesel as an alternative to Diesel No. 2 at the test site,” Lance says. “It really has been a team effort that’s achieved this over the years.”
 

Charles Mueller
Technical Staff, Engine Combustion, Sandia National Laboratories

Chuck Mueller, a member of Sandia National Laboratories technical staff, has received the 2008 Harry L. Horning Memorial Award for his work on the paper, “Early Direct-Injection, Low-Temperature Combustion of Diesel Fuel in an Optical Engine Utilizing a 15-Hole, Dual-Row, Narrow-Included-Angle Nozzle.” Since Sandia’s Combustion Research Facility (CRF) opened its doors in 1981, CRF researchers have captured the award seven times, which is more than any other institution. The Horning award annually recognizes the author(s) of the best paper relating to the better mutual adaptation of fuels and internal combustion engines presented at a meeting of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) or any of its sections during any calendar year. The award preserves the memory of the dedication of SAE’s 1925 president, Harry L. Horning, to the pursuit of improved mutual adaptability of engines and fuels. It serves as a motivation for others to follow in his footsteps. The award was established in 1938. Mueller coauthored the diesel combustion paper with colleagues from Caterpillar, the world’s largest maker of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, and industrial gas turbines. The paper elucidates mechanisms by which liquid-fuel films can be formed within the combustion chamber and how the subsequent vaporization and/or ignition of the films can affect engine-out emissions.

Mike Dunsmuir
Foreign Research Reactor/Domestic Research Reactor Receipt Coordinator, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions

Mike Dunsmuir, FRR/DRR Receipt Coordinator with Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) Nuclear Materials Storage was presented with an award of appreciation from NNSA Administrator Tom D'Agostino "in recognition of his contributions to the Global Threat Reduction Initiative’s U.S.-origin Nuclear Removal Program," by Chuck Munns,  SRNS president.  Mike has been with the Foreign Research Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel Acceptance Program since 1996.  Since then, he has "established a reputation as a very knowledgeable resource and has frequently responded to last-minute changes with a good nature and a can-do attitude that has been a credit to the project team."  According to the plaque he received from Administrator D'Agostino, his "extraordinary dedication and technical and management expertise as the Savannah River Site L Area Nuclear Fuel Receipt Coordinator was critical in completing several high-priority shipments of highly enriched uranium to the United States."


Artie Rogers
Seismology Group Leader, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory  

Artie Rodgers, Seismology Group Leader at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, was recently awarded a Fulbright Scholarship. In January he will be heading to Grenoble, France to study the relationship between topography and seismology with computer modeling at Laboratoire de Géohysique Interne et Tectonophysique (LGIT), Université Joseph Fourier. While at LGIT, Rodgers, will be using computational models of earthquakes and explosions to determine how free-surface topography impacts ground motion. The Fulbright Scholarship was introduced in 1945 as a bill in Congress by Arkansas Sen. J. William Fulbright. It called for the use of proceeds from the sales of surplus war property to fund the “promotion of international good will through the exchange of students in the fields of education, culture and science.” A year later, President Harry Truman signed the bill into law. Learn more about this award.                                     


Riaz H. Awan
Office Director, Department of Energy, Sophia, Bulgaria

Riaz H. Awan has received the NNSA Administrator’s Silver Award for his sustained superior accomplishments in the Department of Energy (DOE) and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) as Office Director of the DOE office in Kyiv, Ukraine from June 2001 to August 2009.  Mr. Awan consistently demonstrated creative leadership and guidance while achieving notable accomplishments while serving as the senior DOE representative to the U.S. Embassy, Kyiv, Ukraine. He advanced DOE/NNSA interests as a member of the U.S. Ambassador’s country team on energy, nuclear safety, and nonproliferation issues/programs and supported the daily implementation of these programs within Ukraine and the region. Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of Mr. Awan’s time in Ukraine was his devotion to the safe and secure closure of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. His in-depth knowledge of critical energy, nuclear safety and security and nonproliferation earned him the profound respect of the US Ambassador, Deputy Chief of Mission, his country team colleagues, DOE/NNSA officials, the Department of State, U.S. nuclear industry executives, the G-7 embassies in Ukraine, and senior level Ukrainian officials.

Lisa G. Hilliard
DOE Representative to World Institute of Nuclear Safety (WINS)

Lisa G. Hilliard has received the NNSA Administrator’s Silver Award for her sustained distinguished accomplishments as the Office Director of the DOE office to the U.S. Mission to International Organizations in Vienna from May 1993 to April 2009, serving four Ambassadors, two interim Representatives, and six Secretaries of Energy. Ms. Hilliard consistently demonstrated visionary leadership and attained extraordinary achievements while serving as the senior DOE representative to the U.S. Mission to International Organizations, Vienna (UNVIE) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). She significantly advanced DOE/NNSA’s nonproliferation policy in interactions with senior-level U.S. Department of State and U.S. Mission, IAEA, and other international and foreign government officials.