Oak Ridge National Laboratory is driving innovation-based economic growth and opportunity in our nation, region, and community by connecting our scientific advances with industry, academia, and government-agency partners. Central to this vision is a focus on fostering an innovation culture that encourages staff members to actively work to deploy their scientific outcomes to advance the United States’ economic competitiveness.
ORNL is committed to engaging disadvantaged communities and to ensuring equity, diversity, and inclusion in its economic development and technology transfer programs.
The Partnerships Office pursues these objectives by identifying, protecting, maturing, and licensing laboratory-generated intellectual property; partnering with the private sector through cooperative research and development agreements and strategic partnership projects; providing the scientific community with access to our research capabilities; working to strengthen regional and national innovation ecosystems; and supporting the next generation of clean technology entrepreneurs.
TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OFFICE
Within the Technology Transfer Office, the Technology Commercialization Group identifies, protects, matures, and licenses laboratory-generated intellectual property.
Technology Transfer Liaison Program
Successful technology commercialization programs depend on close collaborations with researchers. To increase researcher engagement in technology transfer, ORNL led a team of 11 DOE national laboratories in launching the Technology Transfer Research Liaison program. Read more about the program
National Innovation Day
To celebrate our record year for invention disclosures in 2023—which represents the contributions of more than 400 ORNL researchers—the Technology Transfer Office offered inventors free coffee on National Innovation Day. Michelle Kidder, right, inventor and senior scientist in the Chemical Process Scale-Up Group, disclosed three inventions in 2023.
Battelle Distinguished Inventors
Four scientists were named Battelle Distinguished Inventors during the lab’s 2023 Innovation Awards in recognition of being granted fourteen or more United States patents. The honorees join an elite group of inventors recognized by Battelle, the Columbus, Ohio, research firm that co-manages the lab through the UT-Battelle partnership. Since UT-Battelle began managing ORNL in 2000, ninety-seven ORNL researchers have reached this milestone. Read more
FY23 TECHNOLOGY HIGHLIGHTS
MATERIALS AND MANUFACTURING
Research partner ZEISS licensed technology developed at the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility that enables industrial X-ray computed tomography to perform rapid evaluations of 3D-printed components using ORNL’s machine learning algorithm, Simurgh.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
A 2023 Technology Innovation Program project, led by Zhiming Gao, developed an ultraclean condensing furnace that incorporates compact and cost-effective acidic gas reduction components to achieve ultraclean flue gas and neutral condensate.
BIOTECHNOLOGY
Electro-Active Technologies, an ORNL spin-out company, brings affordable, efficient, and locally sourced hydrogen to market by transforming waste into renewable products.
CHEMICALS
An innovative and sustainable chemistry for capturing carbon dioxide from air developed by an ORNL Chemical Sciences Division team, led by Radu Custelcean, was licensed to Holocene, a Knoxville-based startup.
FUSION AND FISSION
A method using augmented reality to create accurate visual representations of ionizing radiation was licensed by Teletrix, a firm that creates advanced simulation tools to train the nation’s radiation control workforce.
QUANTUM, COMPUTING, AND SECURITY
A technology developed in the Cyber Resilience and Intelligence Division and used by the U.S. Naval Information Warfare Systems Command to test the capabilities of commercial security tools was licensed to cybersecurity firm Penguin Mustache to create its Evasive.ai platform.
Nondisclosure Agreements
In FY23, there were 502 active nondisclosure agreements (NDAs), a record-setting number of agreements for the Technology Transfer Office. An NDA allows staff to engage in discussions and exchange proprietary information with companies, universities, and other nonprofit organizations. This record high illustrates the growth of new engagements between ORNL researchers and potential collaborators and partners.
Licenses
U2opia Technology, a consortium of technology and administrative executives with extensive experience in industry and defense, exclusively licensed two technologies from ORNL that offer a new method for advanced cybersecurity monitoring in real time. Read more
Innovation Crossroads
Innovation Crossroads is a Department of Energy Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program node located at ORNL. By embedding the next generation of top technical talent within ORNL, Innovation Crossroads positions entrepreneurial researcher-fellows to address fundamental energy and manufacturing challenges identified by industry. Read more
Strategic Partnerships
ORNL engages with industry and academic partners primarily through cooperative research and development agreements (CRADAs) and strategic partnership projects (SPPs), and user agreements. The success of these agreements is critically important to the deployment of lab technologies to the US marketplace and to the fulfillment of DOE’s mission.
CRADAs allow ORNL and an outside partner to collaborate and share the results of a research and development project.
SPPs are a vehicle for industry, nonprofit institutions, and federal entities to engage the laboratory to perform a defined scope of work or tasks on a full-cost recovery basis.
User agreements allow the research community to access ORNL facilities, specialized equipment, instrumentation, and personnel to conduct research.
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS
FEDERAL SPP
DOE and the Department of Defense teamed up to create a series of weld filler materials that could dramatically improve high-strength steel repair in vehicles, bridges, and pipelines.
NONFEDERAL SPP
ORNL is working with Collaborative Composite Solutions, which operates IACMI-The Composites Institute as a wholly owned nonprofit subsidiary of the University of Tennessee Research Foundation, to expand and transform the use of coal and coal-based resources to produce rare earth elements, critical minerals, and novel high-value, nonfuel carbon-based products.
CRADA
Through DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Office LightMAT program, ORNL worked in close collaboration with Cummins to develop high-performance alloys that can withstand extreme environments.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIPS
REVV
RevV is a voucher program for Tennessee companies that offsets the costs of working with leading-edge experts in advanced research facilities to solve complex manufacturing challenges in product development and process innovation.
TECHSTARS INDUSTRIES OF THE FUTURE ACCELERATOR
In 2021, ORNL, UT, and the TVA joined forces with Techstars, a global leader in developing entrepreneurial communities, to launch the Industries of the Future Accelerator in Knoxville.
INNOV865
ORNL is a founding member of Innov865, an alliance that develops, supports, and promotes the Knoxville region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.