b'PEOPLE OF INLRESEARCH SCIENTIST DAWN SCATESTRANSITIONING FROM A CAREERinIn the years since coming to Idaho, Soelberg and is committed to helping her team membersthe military to a job in the civilian sector hashis wife have built a house. Its nice to be able develop into sought-after researchersin fact,a special set of challenges, according to Brentto establish roots, he said. Still, there are things she is well known for her willingness to mentorSoelberg, a 20-plus year veteran of the Unitedabout the service he misses. In 23 years in the junior staff. I love helping individuals become theStates Army. But thanks to a national programArmy, I never had to worry about what clothes to best they can be, she said. Scates emphaticallythat INL participates in called Hiring Our Heroes,wear. My wife says she misses the camaraderie believes in the power of strong mentors. Shethe transition was a breeze for Soelberg. and shopping at the post exchange.credits her own childhood influences with starting her on the path to a career in the sciences. Being able to do the fellowship and then to land a job made the transition from military to civilian Scates joined INL in 1999 after earning herlife so much easier, said Soelberg, who cameSAM EDWARDS IS A 20-PLUSyear masters degree in physics from Idaho Stateto work for INLs National & Homeland Securityveteran of the Armed Forces who is grateful University. Since then, she has developed one- directorate in May 2019. A veteran of the wars inHiring Our Heroes helped him make the jumpof-a-kind scientific instruments to evaluate theIraq and Afghanistan, Soelberg now belongs to ato the civilian sector. products of nuclear fission. She also manages fourteam developing courses focused on managing Nuclear Science and Technology labs at INL. Name: Dawn Scates and securing industrial control systems. ControlEdwards came to Idaho from Washington, D.C. systems help operate vital military and civilianHis family had already migrated to the Rexburg In early 2020, Scates was among 50 recipientsPosition: Research scientistassets like the electric power grid, communicationarea, so he had an idea of where hed need to find of the Idaho Business Reviews Women of theYears at INL: 21 networks and water treatment facilities.a job. He began eyeing post-retirement optionsYear Awards. Each recipient is included in thesomething service members are advised to start annual list based on their leadership experience,Education: Idaho State University A Utah native, he holds a masters degree indoing three years prior to the date they pick for professional accomplishments, mentorship andmanagement information systems from Utahtransitioning.community service. State Universitys Jon M. Huntsman School of Meanwhile, she supports the professionalLOOKING OUT A WINDOW of his home,A software analyst in INLs Risk AssessmentBusiness. He was stationed at Fort Leavenworth,His familiarity with the lab was limited.development of fellow employees while alsoTed Wood can see the log cabin his grandparentsdepartment, Wood is the software team leaderKansas, in October 2018 while he was gettingI understood they did energy research, he said.Name: Sam Edwardsbuilt more than a century ago. Both cabin andand lead developer for SAPHIRE (Systemsthe paperwork ready for Hiring Our Heroes. WithThen I found out they do research and testing Position: Wireless Test Bed Operations participating in STEM outreach activities withina daughter attending BYU-Idaho, he and histo protect critical infrastructure.the Idaho Falls community. I think its importanthouse sit on the 40-acre family farm in Idaho thatAnalysis Programs for Hands-on Integratedwife knew about eastern Idaho. You have to say& Maintenance managerto realize that science is all around us every day.Wood now manages. Reliability Evaluations), a program that where you want to do your corporate fellowship,In the military, Edwards had been a programYears at INL: 1 (nearly)I love seeing young peoples faces light up whenFarmers know that life is full of risks. In some ways,estimates risk.he said. When he began looking into INL online,manager involved in IT solutions, includingEducation: Babson College, Virginia they learn and understand a complex process andthen, its fitting that risk assessment has definedOver some 30 years, Wood has seen SAPHIREhe thought to himself, If they have a program,interoperable communications. When Hiring OurTechBusinessthen in their own words are able to relate it to real- Woods 33-year career at INL.undergo significant changes. Originally amaybe I can slide in. Heroes sent Edwards resume to INL, interest from life circumstances, she said. To me this is success. text-based program, the software has movedthe lab was immediate and enthusiastic.to more advanced technologies that improveHis resume made it to Lynda Brighton, director of INLs Wireless Test Bed.visualization of results and allow larger andHis resume very much resonated with the test bed activities, she said. larger models. The two met for three hours while Edwards was in the area at Thanksgiving, Work on SAPHIRE has taken Wood around theand Brighton said she was impressed not only with his strong background world. Hes taught classes in Russia after helpingbut also with his character.port SAPHIRE to Cyrillic, an alphabet used acrossWhile every candidate has to be evaluated independently, there are Eurasia. Last year, he earned a top recognitionadvantages Hiring Our Heroes corporate fellows have going for them. from his peers at the American Nuclear SocietyAccording to Brighton, They have discipline and ability to understandfor this body of work. what they need to do and how to get it done. Along with that, once a You keep working at something and hopefullydecision has been made, they get behind it. They have leadershipyou do some good, he said, summing up hisabilities that are very advantageous for a team.career so far and any recognition that has come his way. I very much do not consider myself a giant but somebody that tries to create tools that will help people become giants.Name: Brent SoelbergName: Ted Wood Position: Virtual learning administratorPosition: Software analyst Years at INL: 2Years at INL: 33 Education: Utah State University,Education: Brigham Young University Jon M. Huntsman School of Business18|Idaho National Laboratory|your.inl.gov your.inl.gov|Idaho National Laboratory|19'