2017 Federal Laboratory Consortium Meeting & Awards

Blog Post from Marlin Martes from the Office of Technology Transitions, May 24, 2017

The 2017 Federal Laboratory Consortium Meeting is a celebrated annual event for the federal technology transfer community offering networking opportunities and training for its attendees as well as an awards ceremony for FLC Award winners across federal agencies, national laboratories, and partners. This year’s national meeting took place in San Antonio, Texas and held in attendance approximately 400 technology transfer and industry professionals from across the country. Panel discussion topics ranged from “Licensing and Negotiation” to “Spurring Innovation through Collaboration in the Home of Military Medicine.”

Our very own Rochelle Blaustein, Director (Acting) of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) moderated a panel on “Intellectual Property Strategy.” The panel focused on creating a sound IP strategy at the laboratories by integrating legal components of patenting with business-and operations- focused decision making.  Panelists included technology transfer experts Thomas Stackhouse, Ph.D. from the National Cancer Institute, Suresh Sunderrajan from Argonne National Laboratory, Elizabeth Arwine from the U.S. Army Medical Research & Materiel Command, and Mark Dvorscak from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The audience attending the panel was particularly engaged with the innovative projects and transitioning programs developed at the labs. To view panel presentations and for more information on the panelists click here.

Clara Asmail, OTT's Senior Program Analyst also participated in the FLC's Lab Commercialization Panel. Highlights of her remarks during the panel included various innovative ways in which the DOE engages with its stakeholders and the 17 national labs in programs such as the Small Business Vouchers Pilot. In discussing how the agencies define success for their technology transfer and commercialization, Mrs. Asmail stated the

“importance of having flexibility so that each of the DOE labs and facilities can engage with stakeholders and the private sector in ways that make sense for them.”

Surely, all the panels at the 2017 FLC Meeting were a great success and provided a stage for the awards ceremony to follow later in the evening of April 26th.  Rochelle Blaustein shared pictures from the event showcasing a proud smile as she congratulated nine teams from the Department of Energy’s National Labs and their partners in recognition of their FLC awards for Excellence in Technology Transfer and to Sandia National Laboratory for its successful partnership in State and Local Economic Development. Winning teams are listed below.

Excellence in Technology Transfer

Novel Corrosion Coating Process - National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL)

Miniature Ion Trap Analyzer License by 908 Devices Inc. - Oakridge National Laboratory (ORNL)

Commercialization of ORNL’s Piranha Text Mining Tool by VortexT Analytics, Inc. - Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)

Superhydrophobic Transparent Glass Thin Film Innovation License to Samsung - Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)

Physical and Cyber Risk Analysis Tool (PACRAT) - Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)

Smartphone Microscope – Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)

The Selection, Evaluation and Rating of Compact Heat (SEARCH) Exchanged Software Suite - Sandia National Laboratories

State and Local Economic Development Award

New Jersey Transit Microgrid Research, Development and Deployment/ TransitGrid Project- Sandia National Laboratories

The Office of Technology Transitions congratulates all FLC Award winners for their efforts in technology transfer and commercialization! Stay tuned for more updates on OTT.