The University of California San Diego has announced a joint appointment with Los Alamos National Laboratory with the appointment of Senior Scientist Rodman Linn to a three-year position with the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute (HDSI). Linn’s expertise lies in solving and modeling problems involving complex thermal, mechanical and fluid dynamics systems, including wildfire behavior. This is the university’s first joint appointment with a national laboratory in this area and the first joint appointment program between Los Alamos and a UC campus.
National labs were created by the Department of Energy (DOE) in the postwar era to address large scale, complex research and development challenges with a multidisciplinary approach that places an emphasis on translating basic science to innovation—an objective that aligns well with UC San Diego’s goal to transform lives and society through multidisciplinary research. The University of California is a partner in DOE’s managing and operating contract for Los Alamos, a role it has had since 1943.
“Partnerships and collaborations with multiple research organizations reap widespread benefits,” says UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. “In bringing together data science expertise from the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute and thermal expertise from Los Alamos National Laboratory, we will leverage our collective skills and knowledge to develop better wildfire forecasting and modeling. Discoveries made together will help mitigate the catastrophic impacts of severe wildfires that increasingly threaten communities across the globe.”
Although interest in joint appointments between the UC-affiliated national laboratories and the UC campuses goes back decades, the establishment of the Southern Hub in 2020 helped put the pieces into place. The hub is a consortium of the five southern UC campuses and the three UC-affiliated national laboratories to create a collaborative network that will enhance research partnerships and education and support a workforce pipeline to the three laboratories.
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