OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – Traditionally, technology transfer projects with U.S. Department of Energy sites have been outwardly focused. Technology that has been researched and developed with government funding is transferred to the private sector to serve a large commercial market, yielding royalties to the inventing organization. Examples of DOE Technology Transfer successes include lithium-ion batteries, all-weather tires for Goodyear, and advanced manufacturing technologies such as microwave furnaces.
This traditional model doesn’t provide incentives to drive low-volume, high-impact technologies to small- and medium-sized businesses for development and transfer to DOE sites and labs.
“With this project, we really want to flip the script on technology transfer,” said Daniel Riddick, Y-12 Technology Transfer program manager. “Instead of working to push technologies out, we want to partner with small and medium businesses to scale technologies that form the basis for commercial products and services that advance our nuclear deterrence and national security missions.”
Technologies that are ripe for this type of development include applications for high-speed cameras, air sampling units, and pressure, gas, and chemical sensors. These specialized technologies can provide high-impact results for DOE entities, but the market is relatively small. It’s in this space that the DOE-funded project will intervene.
Partnerships will be built
The project, Bolstering Underutilized Industry by Leveraging Technology Transfer, or BUILTT, will be led by the Nevada National Security Sites (NNSS) in collaboration with Y-12 and the Kansas City National Security Campus.
Matthew Fritz, manager of Technology Partnership and Intellectual Property at NNSS, is the principal investigator for the project, which is funded by the DOE Office of Technology Commercialization and DOE/NNSA for two years.
“We know there are small- to medium-sized businesses that have the capabilities to advance technologies that are needed across DOE,” said Fritz. “Working with our economic development partners, like UNLV’s (University of Nevada, Las Vegas’) Office of Economic Development and the East Tennessee Economic Council, we plan to develop a pool of business that can produce these technologies at scale for the DOE Complex.”
Such small-volume projects are often priced at a premium and rarely prioritized by large suppliers. BUILTT wants to pool these smaller projects and transfer the technologies to small- to medium-sized businesses that can prioritize and deliver these high-impact technologies for the DOE sites.
New capabilities for smaller businesses
BUILTT will indeed “flip the script” by providing a low-risk entry point for technology transfer and government contracting for underutilized small business and lower mission costs for the DOE sites. The program will achieve that goal through a new tech transfer vehicle—a Cost Reduction License—that will transfer the technology at a lower cost.
The project’s economic development partners will work with their existing networks to refer businesses to the BUILTT pilot team. This network of businesses will develop experience with government licensing and subcontracting as they leverage traditional technology transfer tools to satisfy mission needs.
Through this two-year project, the BUILTT team will create a simple, scalable, and replicable model for implementing the program in Technology Transfer offices throughout DOE and other government agencies.
Y-12 technologies available under this program
The following Y-12 technologies are available for cost-reduction licensing under this program:
- Hardface Coating Systems for wear and corrosion applications
- Toughened and Corrosion- and Wear-Resistant Composite Structures and Fabrication Methods provide a durable, reactive thermal coating for metal systems
- Methods and Systems for Metal Chloride Production facilitate production of uranium chloride in a molten salt, which allows for rapid production rates without contamination
- Passive In Situ Gas and Chemical Sensor enables sealed systems to be monitored for the infiltration or generation of gasses or other chemicals
- Infrared Debonding, a dry, nondestructive method of using heat to separate components joined by adhesives
- Apparatus for the Characterization of Respirable Aerosols, a laboratory-scale apparatus that determines the amount of aerosols under catastrophic conditions
- Blast-Resistant Vehicle Seat offers new applications of fluidized bed technologies ideal for use in military vehicles
- Detector Array determines the location of radiation emitters in an area
For more information, reach out to Y-12 Technology Transfer’s email, OTCP@y12nsc.doe.gov.
This work is supported by funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Technology Commercialization through the Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF). The goal of TCF is to bridge the gap between research and commercial application.