Focusing on the mission
For 28 years, Allan Stratman served in the Civil Engineering Corps (CEC) of the Navy, supporting Navy and Marine Corps infrastructure requirements and operations, completing tours, deployments and assignments worldwide.
?We planned them, built them, maintained them and ran them,? said Stratman, who recently began his role as engineering director at Sanford Lab.
He retired as a Captain in 2013 and began working as the director of facilities at the University of Illinois. It was a natural fit. ?Managing a base infrastructure is similar to managing a university infrastructure,? he said. ?You?ve got a contiguous piece of property with facilities and utilities, dorms and barracks, and transportation networks.?
A native of Springfield, S.D., Stratman graduated from South Dakota State University with a degree in Civil Engineering and received a master?s degree in Geotechnical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Part of his desire to work at Sanford Lab was ?coming home,? he said.
?I spent a lot of years wandering around. But South Dakota was always home.? But he?s also excited about the research at Sanford Lab and being part of a small, close-knit team. ?It?s amazing that they?ve taken a mine and converted it into this?a world-leading research facility. It?s really a great story.?
While in the Navy, Stratman built ?all kinds of stuff,? but always behind the scenes and in a support role. ?The CEC?s job was not to be the forward presence of the Navy. We were there to support the mission of the Navy,? said Stratman.
And that?s largely how he sees his role here. ?You never want to lose sight of the mission,? he said. ?At Sanford Lab, the science is the reason we exist. We are here to support the scientists so they can do what they need to do.?
Glad to be home
Ask David Rynders what he thinks about Sanford Lab and he?ll tell you, ?It?s an amazing place!?
The new radiation/experiment health and safety manager grew up in Rapid City, graduated from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, and retired from the Army after 20 years on active duty as a Lieutenant Colonel.
A certified health physicist and safety professional, Rynders worked at Idaho National Laboratory, Cornell University and Uranium One in Wyoming. He also has a master?s degree in health physics.
Rynders is glad to be working at a place where ?the integration of the old and new is truly unique,? and the people take pride ?in all that has been achieved.?
Rynders is married and has three children, two of whom will be commissioned as 2nd Lieutenants in the Air Force next spring and another who plans to attend SDSMT next year.
?We?re all thrilled to be back in the Hills after having moved 14 times in 27 years.?
Sneesby retires
A top lander with the Ross rehab project, Doug Sneesby once worked on the 8,000-foot level where temperatures reached as high as 105 degrees. Today, after a long career with Homestake and then Sanford Lab, Sneesby retired.