Bret Simpkins

About Bret Simpkins

Bret serves as the Associate Laboratory Director for Facilities and Operations (ALDFO) at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). ALDFO is the largest directorate at LANL, executing an annual budget exceeding $1B with a staff of 3,500. His ALDFO team is responsible for maintaining a mission ready campus including facility operations, maintenance, engineering, campus master plan, real estate, site infrastructure and fire protection for 8.4 million square feet of laboratory, mission, computational, office, and support facilities spanning a 40 square mile site. Additional responsibilities include nuclear facility safety, safety basis and nuclear criticality safety for LANL’s nuclear and production agency facilities that serve to maintain our nation’s nuclear deterrent. Bret extends his leadership role as the executive champion for the “Diversability” Employee Resource Group, ensuring accessibility to Lab facilities.With over 30 years of experience, Bret has led numerous large inter-disciplinary R&D, applied science, engineering, and technology operations. Teams led by Bret have executed global technology deployment projects in 115 countries, often working in high-risk operational environments to deliver technological solutions to current and evolving national and global security challenges.Prior to his current role, Bret served in several senior positions at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) including Director of Facilities and Operations, Director of Nuclear Operations, Chief Operating Officer, and Division Manager of Nuclear Science, Safety, and Nonproliferation. Topical areas impacted by his work include directed energy weapons, particle accelerators, commercial nuclear reactor safety, safety and physical security of nuclear facilities and materials, nuclear weapons assembly/disassembly process safety, global security, nuclear arms control and nonproliferation.Bret received his M.S. in Nuclear Engineering and a B.E. in Energy and Power Systems from the University of New Mexico (UNM). Awarded as a Distinguished Alumni of the UNM School of Engineering, Bret also serves on the Executive Leadership Board for UNM School of Engineering. He is a registered Professional Engineer.

Experience

1. Associate Laboratory Director Facilites and Operations

   Los Alamos National Laboratory

   Nov 2018 — Present · Los Alamos, NM, US

   As Associate Laboratory Director for Facilities and Operations at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Bret Simpkins leads a diverse, multi-disciplinary organization responsible for site wide facility strategic planning, campus modernization, engineering, facility operations and maintenance, site infrastructure, fire protection, shipping and receiving, warehousing, fleet, and real estate management for over 8.4 million square feet of laboratory, mission, computational, office, and support facilities. The LANL campus covers approximately 40 square miles and is comprised of over 2700 facilities across 49 technical areas, including associated infrastructure (roads, grounds, parking, power, water, waste water, steam, fiber, etc.). This role involves line management responsibility for an organization exceeding 3400 staff members, executing a total annual business volume exceeding $1B.

Education

• University of New Mexico School of Engineering

  Distinguished Alumni Award for Nuclear Engineering

  2019

• The University of New Mexico

  Bachelor of Engineering - BE

• The University of New Mexico

  Master of Science - MS

Skills

• Materials Science
• Policy
• Mathematical Modeling
• Experimentation
• Analysis
• Physics
• Nuclear Engineering
• Nuclear Proliferation
• Program Management
• Radiation Safety
• Science
• Project Management
• Nuclear Safety
• Military
• High Performance Computing
• Monte Carlo Simulation
• Weapons of Mass Destruction
• Fortran
• Nanotechnology
• Emergency Management
• Thin Films
• Systems Engineering
• International Security
• Homeland Security
• Nuclear
• Characterization
• Simulations
• Radiation
• Reactor
• R&D
• Security Clearance
• Defense
• Sensors
• Engineering Management
• Dod
• National Security
• Risk Assessment