Public-private collaboration stimulates innovation to bolster U.S. competitiveness

The Department of Energy (DOE) on Tuesday announced more than $24 million in funding for 77 projects supported by the Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF). With matching funds from the private sector, these projects will advance the commercialization of promising energy technologies and strengthen partnerships between DOE’s national laboratories and private sector companies to deploy these technologies to the marketplace.

"Technology transfer is an essential component of our mission at DOE, helping ensure we deliver the maximum return on the investment of the American taxpayer," Secretary of Energy Rick Perry said. "Through the Technology Commercialization Fund, we are connecting entrepreneurs in the private sector with researchers at our national labs to help deliver the innovations and technologies that will keep our nation secure, competitive and energy abundant."

"Working alongside the private sector through initiatives like the Technology Commercialization Fund ensures our innovators in the national labs are plugged into the engine of our economy, American business," said Chief Commercialization Officer and OTT Director Conner Prochaska. "The TCF creates an effective pathway to putting these lab-derived technologies to work and helps to maximize the impact of our research investment for the benefit of the entire nation."

The TCF was created by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to promote promising energy technologies. The TCF selections announced will expand DOE’s efforts to catalyze the commercial impact of the department’s portfolio of research, development, demonstration and deployment activities.

OTT was established in 2015 to advance the economic, energy and national security interests of the United States by expanding the commercial impact of the Department of Energy’s research and development portfolio.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory won several of the projects, including:

• Cold Spray Manufacturing of High-Performance Magnets and Energy-Harvesting Materials, $300,000
  - TTEC LLC, Berryville, Va.
• Commercializing 3D Printable Feedstocks for the Advanced Manufacturing of Energy Products, $300,000
  - MilliporeSigma, St. Louis , Mo.
• Hydroscanner: Instrumentation for water ingress imaging in photovoltaic module packaging materials, $250,000
  - D2Solar Inc., San Jose, Calif.
  - Quanex Building Products Corporation, Houston, Texas
  - SCP SYS LLC, San Francisco, Calif.
  - Sunrun, San Francisco, Calif.
  - Vitriflex Inc., San Jose, Calif.
• Instrumentation to Provide Realistic Training Exercises for Radiation Protection at Nuclear Facilities, $750,000
  - Argon Electronics (UK) LTD, Luton, UK
• LLNL Composite Sorbents: Enabling Economical Biomethane Production, $500,000
  - SoCalGas, Los Angeles, Calif.
  - WWTP, Antioch, Calif.
  - Xebec, Québec, Canada
• Reservoir Evaluation Tools Using Seismic Interferometry and Fiber Optic Sensors, $150,000

DOE received more than 160 applications for 2019 TCF funding, with project teams engaging more than 90 different partners across multiple diverse disciplines. Teams must receive a 50 percent match of non-federal funds from private partners to receive a TCF award.

To see a full list of all national lab projects, go to the DOE site.