Livermore lab interns strut their stuff

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Aug 5, 2006 | by Kristofer Noceda LIVERMORE , STAFF WRITER

SOME OF TOMORROWS SCIENTISTS were on hand at the Sandia National Laboratories to give a glimpse of what science and technology has to offer in the future.

The event marked the seventh Intern Symposium -- an annual program put on by the lab for students to showcase projects they have worked on during their stint at Sandia.

Held in a room full of mini booths featuring oversized project posters, students gleefully

explained to visitors research methods and what they have learned from the process.

Working on the project has given me valuable real world experience and research opportunities to collaborate with quality individuals and seasoned professionals, intern Joshua Reich said.

Reich, 26, studied patterns of activity on the labs network with a mission to find unusual patterns. Simply put, Reich worked on developing a program to prevent hackers from tapping into the labs network.

Students also gave 20-minute presentations of their work in front of colleagues, lab staff and potential employers.

We want to give students an idea of what goes on in a national lab and at the same time create a pipeline for them to enter the industry, said Jan Bachman, student programs coordinator.

For Amador Valley High School student Prachi Priyam, 16, the experience has been a dream come.

Ive always wanted to get into doing research and the experience has given me a lot of hands on experience that I can take with me into next years science classes, she said.

Kristofer Noceda can be reached at (925) 416-4808 or at

knoceda@trivalleyherald.com.