At Berkeley Lab, cutting-edge research depends on equally advanced technology. From precision scientific instruments to massive data pipelines, researchers rely on IT systems that work flawlessly. Ensuring this reliability is the mission of the Embedded IT Support Team, a group of specialized IT professionals embedded directly within scientific divisions such as the Molecular Foundry, Earth and Environmental Sciences, the Joint Genome Institute (JGI), Engineering, and the BioSciences Area. This team’s goal is straightforward but essential: make technology seamless so scientists can stay focused on discovery.
“Scientists at the Lab shouldn’t need a degree in IT to do their work. That’s where we come in,” says Bill Ou, an Embedded IT Engineer. “We’re right there with them, ensuring their tools, data, and complex instrumentation systems are reliable so they can concentrate on their research.”
Integrated Support, Built on Relationships
Embedded IT engineers serve not just as technical troubleshooters but as long-term partners. Working side-by-side with researchers, in labs, machine shops, clean rooms, field stations, and specialized facilities, Embedded IT engineers gain a deep understanding of each division’s unique scientific workflows. This hands-on, consultative approach ensures IT infrastructure evolves alongside the Lab’s research priorities.
The Embedded IT Support Team operates across some of the Lab’s most demanding scientific environments:
Engineering – CAD and Fabrication Systems
Engineers Jimmy Mai, Jorge Lopez, and Austin Cooksey-Nguyen support the Engineering machine shops and CAD teams spanning Electrical, Mechanical, and Project Controls. Their work ranges from desktop and application support to maintaining servers and fabrication equipment including mills, lathes, waterjets, and Wire EDM machines. These systems produce critical components for Advanced Light Source (ALS) beamline experiments and other Lab projects.
The team also maintains the infrastructure behind Windchill, the Lab’s product lifecycle management system. “We’ve built a reliable, redundant system,” Ou explains. “If one server goes down, another takes over instantly—and all production data is backed up offsite.”
Joint Genome Institute (JGI) – Genomic Instrumentation IT
At JGI, Carlos Lopez and Chad Montville manage the specialized computers that control genomic sequencing instruments which are considered the core of the Department of Energy’s genomics mission. Through Macrium image-based backups, Windows 11 migrations, and network segmentation efforts, Carlos and Chad ensure secure, uninterrupted data flow from sequencing instruments to analysis systems.
Earth and Environmental Sciences Area (EESA) – Field Science Technology
Bryan Taylor supports researchers studying soil, climate, and atmospheric processes at field stations ranging from local test sites to remote Arctic locations. He configures mobile servers, sensor networks, and data-collection systems in field vans and research outposts, ensuring reliable data capture and transmission in challenging environmental conditions.
Biosciences / BioEPIC – Advanced Instrumentation Support
Odette Lounds and Val Ramos support advanced biological research tools such as the EcoPod, a controlled ecosystem chamber used to simulate climate and soil conditions. Their work enables secure data storage and remote experiment monitoring. Val also supports sophisticated technologies including Cryo-Electron Microscopy (cryoEM) systems and the EcoBOT. The BioEPIC facilities underpin major research initiatives like ENIGMA and m-CAFEs, all of which depend on tightly integrated IT and instrumentation systems.
Molecular Foundry – Nanotechnology and Quantum Research
At the Molecular Foundry, Perry Lao supports state-of-the-art nanoscience and quantum research instrumentation. The facility hosts more than 1,000 visiting scientists each year from academia, industry, and government. Perry supports instruments including TEAM I, a double-aberration-corrected STEM/TEM—and the SPECTRE S/TEM, a probe-corrected electron microscope used for atomic-scale characterization.
Technology Embedded in Discovery
By embedding IT professionals directly within research divisions, Berkeley Lab ensures that technology accelerates science rather than slowing it down. The Embedded IT Support Team aligns technical expertise with scientific goals keeping experiments running, protecting data, and enabling innovation.
One experiment, one server, and one collaboration at a time, Embedded IT is helping power the discoveries of tomorrow.
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