Ronald C. Pate
Alumni, Sandia National Laboratories
Energy-Water Interdependencies
Ron Pate joined Sandia in 1986 and spent the first two years with
the company working in Pulsed Power Sciences on the design and
development of the HERMES-III accelerator. This was followed by two
years in Strategic Arms Control working on tagging technology
development, followed by six years as project leader in Renewable Energy
Systems Engineering with emphasis on international project development,
technical assistance, and educational outreach. For the past six years,
Ron has been leading projects in Directed Energy Special Applications,
with emphasis on high power electromagnetics and associated compact
pulsed power system drivers. He joined the Advanced Concepts Group in
the Fall of 2001. Prior to joining Sandia, Ron spent five years as a
commissioned officer in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) Officer Corp with assignments doing hydrographic
survey work in the Pacific region (Alaska and Hawaii) on the NOAA ship
FAIRWEATHER based out of Seattle, WA, followed by doppler radar remote
sensing technology RDT&E with the NOAA Environmental Research
Laboratories based in Boulder, CO. This was followed by further graduate
study and private sector jobs in exploration geophysics with Shell Oil
Company in Houston, TX, electromagnetic applications research and
testing with EMA, Inc. in Albuquerque, NM, and management of advanced
ignition systems research and development for an entrepreneurial venture
in Albuquerque. Ron was born and raised in Arizona, growing up in the
cotton farming community of Casa Grande where his family owned and
operated a farm. He graduated from the University of Arizona in Tucson
with a BS degree in engineering physics, and later earned a MS degree in
electrical engineering from the University of Colorado in Boulder. Ron
and his wife Becky live in Corrales and have two sons. Ryan (25) is a
second year medical student at UNM, and Eric (21) is a third year
architectural interior design major at Texas Tech University in Lubbock.
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