Laboratory: National Cancer Institute

Invention: A new strategy based on RNA/DNA hybrid nanoparticles, which generally can be used to trigger multiple functionalities inside diseased cells, is presented. Individually, each hybrid is functionally inactive, and functional representation can only be activated by the reassociation of at least two cognate hybrids simultaneously present in the same cell. Overall, this novel approach allows 1) the triggered release of therapeutic siRNAs or miRNAs inside the diseased cells, 2) activation of other split functionalities (e.g. FRET, different aptamers, rybozymes, split proteins) intracellularly, 3) higher control over targeting specificity (e.g., if two hybrids are decorated with two different tissue-specific recognition moieties), 4) biosensing and tracking of the delivery and reassociation of these hybrids in real-time inside cells, 5) increasing the number of functionalities by introducing a branched hybrid structure, 6) introduction of additional functionalities without direct interference of siRNA processivity, 7) increasing the retention time in biological fluids by fine-tuning chemical stability through substituting the DNA strands with chemical analogs (e.g., LNA, PNA, etc.), and 8) conditional release of all functionalities.

Commercial Applications:

• Therapeutic siRNA for cancer, viruses, and other diseases
• Therapeutic for delivery of multiple functionalities
• Diagnostic to visualize cancer cells, virus-infected cells, or diseased cells, or to track the delivery and effectiveness of siRNA treatment or other treatments associated with the particle
• Research tool to study cancer, viral infections, or other diseases

Advantages:

• Novel way for multiple functionality delivery and activation
• Enhanced chemical stability and pharmacokinetics due to the average size of nanoparticles exceeding 10 nm
• Increased specificity for selecting cells of interest using more than one target gene

Opportunity:

Licensing and collaboration opportunities may be available. The NCI Center for Cancer Research Nanobiology Program is seeking statements of capability or interest from parties interested in collaborative research to further develop, evaluate, or commercialize therapeutic RNA/DNA nanoparticles.

Contact:

• Collaboration opportunities: John Hewes, Ph.D.
• Licensing information: John Stansberry, Ph.D.

View the full listing here (focused on licensing) or here (focused on collaboration).

Nanoscale building blocks allow scientists to create novel materials with unique structures and functions. Scientists at the National Energy Technology Laboratory and the University of Pittsburgh have successfully developed a method to self-assemble gold into nanowires for gas-sensing applications. Tests to determine the composite materials’ effectiveness demonstrated an ultra-sensitivity to hydrogen sulfide.

Development of chip-based sensors that rely on nanomaterials to detect hydrogen sulfide in complex gas mixtures opens up practical ways to create portable, less-expensive devices with direct applications in the natural gas industry, personal safety, and healthcare.

We are pleased to announce that the election results came in last week. Not only did we get a great voter turnout – many of you also participated in lively discussion with the candidates.

Congratulations to the following national winners:

• Chair: Paul Zielinski, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
• Vice-Chair: Mark Reeves, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• Members-at-Large:
• Cathy Cohn, USDA – Agricultural Research Service
• J. Scott Deiter, Naval Surface Warfare Center – Indian Head Division
• Tom Stackhouse, National Cancer Institute and the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research

Congratulations to the following regional winners:

• Regional Coordinators:
• Robert Braun, U.S. Army Armament Research, Development & Engineering Center (Northeast)
• Jack James, NASA Johnson Space Center (Mid-Continent)
• Courtney Silverthorn, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research/SAIC-Frederick, Inc. (Mid-Atlantic, special election)
• Ramona Pelletier Travis, NASA Stennis Space Center (Southeast)
• Deputy Regional Coordinators:
• Jeremy Benton, Y-12 National Security Complex (Southeast)
• Jackie Kerby Moore, Sandia National Laboratories (Mid-Continent)
• Michael Larkin, Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport (Northeast)

In most cases, those elected will take office on October 1, 2013. However, in the case of the Mid-Atlantic Region special election, Courtney Silverthorn will assume the one-year Regional Coordinator term effective immediately. An acting Deputy Regional Coordinator will be appointed in the Mid-Atlantic Region to serve until next year’s elections.

The FLC sincerely thanks all candidates for their willingness to serve as leaders in the Consortium, as well as all the Consortium Representatives who voted. Your dedication and commitment enable the FLC to thrive.

As well, we want to recognize the efforts of all chairs of the various elections to ensure the entire process went smoothly, particularly in this year without an onsite voting event. Thank you – and kudos – to Theresa Baus, Tammy Graham, Stacy Joiner, Bryan Kaphammer, Terry Lynch, and Belinda Snyder.

The Space Development and Test Directorate (SDTD) at Kirtland AFB, N.M., is helping NASA launch a spacecraft to the moon this summer.

NASA is sending the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) to orbit the moon and study its atmosphere. LADEE will be launched into space from a rocket the SDTD helped build.

“We developed a unique five-stage rocket that could get a probe to the moon and utilize the different experiments onboard,” said Col. Urban Gillespie, SDTD Launch Systems Division chief.

The rocket is built with five stages to ensure that the probe makes it to the moon and is in the right orbit to perform its mission.

NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer, seen mounted on the vibration table prior to the start of vibration testing, will be launched in August with the help of Kirtland's AFB's Space Development and Test Directorate. (Photo: NASA)

“It’s similar to the different clubs you use in golf,” Gillespie said. “The first three stages of the rocket are like your drivers, and will be used to send the probe into orbit around the Earth. The fourth stage is like your mid-iron, and is used to propel the probe toward the moon. The final stage is like a putter, and will put the probe in the exact orbit trajectory it needs to reach the moon.”

The rocket, which uses three retired Peacekeeper intercontinental ballistic missile motors and two commercial motors, is scheduled to be launched Aug. 12 from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. LADEE is the first major NASA payload to fly on an Air Force rocket from NASA’s range at Wallops.

“The rocket is being processed at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., and then will be transported to Wallops and assembled there before it is launched,” said Master Sgt. Dave Grimes, Peacekeeper operations support manager.

Grimes said transporting 35-foot, 117,000-pound rocket motors presents unique challenges, particularly moving it along traffic-congested highways and narrow back roads in eastern states; so, to gain experience he and his team transported rocket motor mockups across the country last year. The mockups are the same size as the real rocket motors, but are weighted with cement instead of propellant.

Once LADEE is launched, its mission is expected to last 160 days. It will take 30 days for the probe to reach the moon, followed by 30 days of ensuring that everything on the satellite is working properly. For the next 100 days, LADEE will orbit the moon, studying the lunar atmosphere, performing various science experiments and analyzing data.

“Obviously, we want NASA to be successful, but for us, success will be getting the rocket and the probe on the precise trajectory, which will be challenging, because we have only a narrow 30-minute window to launch the rocket and get it where it needs to be,” Gillespie said.

Upon mission completion, the probe will gradually lower and crash into the moon while relaying data to NASA.

It’s time for another news roundup!

• In an example of T2 between government agencies, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab helps the Smithsonian, and now we can hear Alexander Graham Bell’s voice (Smithsonian Magazine).
• ‘Curiosity Rover Takes a Sharp 3D Picture of Mars‘ (Slate)
• Check out some videos from the White House Science Fair
• Argonne materials scientists have made a discovery that can reduce wear and tear on steel (R&D Magazine)
• A network of cancer research centers sponsored by the National Cancer Institute brings physicists and biologists together to study how cancer spreads (R&D Magazine)
• Agriculture Secretary blogs about boosting American innovation through open data
• AFRL will test a private company’s new bio-based jet fuel (Aviation Pros)
• ‘New NIST Measurement Tool Is on Target for the Fast-Growing MEMS Industry‘
• At Slate: ‘Scientists in Antarctica Find Invading Neutrinos from Another Galaxy!‘ (featuring an international collaboration including Berkeley Lab)
• Science News profiles the curator of the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Ice Core Laboratory
• Brookhaven National Lab and the NYPD will collaborate this summer on a study of airflow in NYC streets and subways
• Kansas governor intends to fight to ensure money is available to build the planned DHS National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (Kansas City Public Media)
• ‘Female Undergrads in IU’s STEM Initiatives Explore Careers at Argonne National Laboratory‘ (Lab Manager)

Replacement of conventional carbon fiber-reinforced composites with advanced composites reinforced with carbon nanotube-based fibers and fabrics can lead to substantial reductions in aerospace vehicle weight and improvements in vehicle performance.  Under the Space Technology Mission Directorate’s Game Development Program, scientists at the NASA Glenn and Langley Research Centers are working with industry (Nanocomp Technologies and General Nano) and universities (University of Cincinnati, Kent State and Michigan Tech) to develop carbon nanotube reinforcements with 1 ½ to 2 times the tensile strength of conventional aerospace-grade carbon fiber.

CNT forest (Photo: NASA)

This team is utilizing modeling and simulation together with experimental approaches to explore ways of improving the mechanical properties of commercially available carbon nanotube reinforcements through a combination of processing modifications and post-processing treatments to produce materials with better nanotube alignment and increased bonding between nanotubes.  Post-processing treatments include approaches to introduce chemical bonds between nanotubes (cross-linking) using electron beam irradiation, reactive molecule/polymer cross-linking, and polymer infusion.  In addition, the team is investigating the use of conventional composite processing and fabrication methods to produce composites from these advanced reinforcements to determine the effects of their use on increasing composite strength and durability. Materials developed under this effort will be scaled up and used in component-level demonstration efforts to fabricate and test sub-scale aerospace components.

NASA is collaborating in this activity with the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and other DOD agencies under the National Nanotechnology Initiative’s Sustainable Nanomanufacturing Signature Initiative.

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) research scientist Hao-Chih Yuan is reflected in a highly reflective untreated silicone wafer (left) compared to a silicone wafer that has been etched (right). The simple etching process creates a nano porous silicon surface creating 10 nanometer-diameter holes in the surface. He is working in a lab at the SURF building at NREL in Golden, Colo. (Photo: Dennis Schroeder)

Organization: National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Technology: Nonlethal means of temporarily incapacitating a person are greatly needed for law enforcement as well as personal protection. One common approach is to use pepper spray. Although current pepper sprays are effective, they cause pain for excessively long periods and could be life-threatening for people who suffer from asthma and have hypersensitive airways. This technology describes a composition for use in an aerosol or spray that, when administered, causes a painful stimulation and incapacitates a person for only a brief period. This technology may improve safety over currently available pepper sprays.

Advantages: Incapacitating pepper spray with reduced toxicity

Opportunity: Available for licensing

Contact: Charlene Sydnor Ph.D., NIH Office of Technology Transfer

In addition to protecting the Curiosity rover, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) heat shield contains embedded sensors to measure actual atmospheric conditions on Mars and thermal protection system (TPS) performance during atmospheric entry. The MSL Entry, Descent, and Landing Instrument (MEDLI) suite contains seven instrumented sensor plugs strategically installed on the heat shield to measure performance during entry into Mars. Designed and built at Ames, these sensors were an innovation that had not existed prior to the MSL mission. Each instrumented plug, containing temperature and ablation sensors, is designed to make measurements of the heating environment as the vehicle enters the atmosphere of Mars at a speed in excess of 12,000 miles per hour.

On Wednesday, we were excited to bring you a fantastic webinar with some of the best content we had planned for Westminster. Paul Zielinski provided the latest on what agencies are doing to accelerate tech transfer and measure its impact, in response to the charge in President Obama’s memorandum. More than 100 of you heard the information live! But if you missed it, you can view the recording here at your convenience.

This week’s webinar was the first in an ongoing series developed by the Program Committee to stand in place of this year’s meeting. Our next session, “Open Innovation and Technology Scouting,” is scheduled for May 22. To register, click here. We hope to see you there!

Organization:  National Security Agency (NSA)

Technology: A patented methodology (US 8,069,483) that improves intrusion detection for wireless computers.

Summary: This method improves on the prior art by adding additional preprocessors to detect and alert on previously undetectable activity.  For example, present commercial systems cannot detect and alert on a policy violation for NULL SSID association or an authorized client communicating in ad-hoc mode with a rogue client.

In addition, this invention continuously and simultaneously monitors all 802.11 channels so that no packet goes undetected. Simultaneous packet monitoring improves the ability to detect NETSTUMBLER and MAC spoofing.

This invention also determines the packet transmit channel versus receive channel, supports intrusion detection at full data rate of the physical channel without dropping packets, captures all frames, including frames with 802.11 protocol violations, such as those having reserve type set, and alerts on frames having 802.11 protocol violations. This method also continuously monitors alert list MAC addresses to eliminate multiple entries for the same activity.

Potential Applications: The wireless intrusion detection technology has several potential security applications, including:

• Wireless network monitoring services
• System security operations
• Wireless network providers
• Government, academic, and commercial WLAN administration.

Contact: For more information on this and other technologies available for license from the NSA, email NSA Tech Transfer.

Argonne scientist Anil Mane inspects an Argonne/Incom large-area microchannel plate (MCP). This represents a cost-effective route to fabricate large-area microchannel plate (MCP) detectors, offering great potential for detector-based technologies such as medical imaging.

Organization: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

Overview: The  USGS operates extensive networks of seismic sensors for earthquake hazards studies and monitoring man-made explosions. Depending on its purpose, the size of a network ranges from global to regional and to local. Examples of the application of a local seismic network include the study of aftershock distribution after a major earthquake and the evaluation of engineering site conditions in sedimentary basins. USGS scientists are also working in partnership with industry to develop technologies for rapid earthquake notification and response that will permit users of these data to avert losses or guide recovery efforts. One technology recently developed is a three-component borehole seismometer.

Technology: Scientists at USGS have developed a three-component borehole seismometer with leveling capability for use during earthquake site response studies. There are several reasons for using such a seismometer in earthquake studies. For example, the low velocity and high attenuation of weathered near-surface rocks strongly influence the amplitude and phase characteristics of seismic waves. Therefore, it is important for earthquake-source and seismic-shear-wave-polarization studies to place seismometers at depths below the weathered rocks. In another example, because surface-wave amplitude decreases exponentially with depth, the seismic noise generated by human activities in a metropolitan area is reduced considerably even at a shallow depth. Thus, borehole seismometers can be used as elements of a seismic network for determining earthquake locations and magnitudes.

The three-component borehole seismometer uses 2-Hz electromagnetic moving-coil geophones as sensing elements. The system features a compact internal device for leveling the horizontal components after emplacement. It has a low noise level, consumes no power, is simple to build, and is inexpensive. It is also suitable for rapid deployment for after-shock studies and low-noise operation at remote sites. The three-component borehole seismometer has been installed at several sites in California. Earthquake data recorded by these seismometers have been used in studies on the effects of near-surface weathered rocks on the corner frequencies of earthquake spectra near Anza, California; on the seismic-shear-wave-polarization characteristics of seismograms recorded in the southern California batholith at 300m depth; and on site-resonance amplification caused by sedimentary deposits overlying bedrock in the Marina District of San Francisco.

Opportunity: The USGS is seeking partners to commercialize this technology.

Contact: Hsi-Ping Liu, USGS Western Earthquake Hazards Team

View the full listing here.

Congratulations to NASA Glenn Research Center and its commercial partners! Last week, they were inducted into the 2013 Space Technology Hall of Fame®.

Members of a team from NASA Glenn, GATR Technologies, and Vantage Partners were honored for their Inflatable Satellite Communication System.

Image of the Inflatable Satellite Communication System (Photo: GATR Technologies)

This commercial technology originated from an SBIR contract to develop a solar concentrator for power generation. GATR Technologies then commercialized the technology for terrestrial use and achieved the world’s first inflatable antenna certified by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The system has benefited not just Americans, but people all over the world by providing communications support for U.S. armed forces, special forces, Homeland Security, intelligence agencies, and international aid organizations.

Since its launch in 2004, GATR Technologies has voluntarily supported relief efforts for Hurricanes Ike and Katrina, the earthquake in Haiti and, recently, was on the front lines in support of Hurricane Sandy victims.

Global DIRT (Disaster Immediate Response Team) uses the Inflatable Satellite Communication System on a church roof after Hurricane Sandy. (Photo: GATR Technologies)

The Space Foundation developed the Space Technology Hall of Fame program to “increase public awareness of the benefits of space exploration and encourage further innovation by recognizing individuals, organizations and companies that effectively adapt and market technologies originally developed for space to improve the quality of life for all humanity.” The 2013 induction ceremony was held April 11 in Colorado Springs. This was NASA Glenn’s first induction.

View releases on the award here and here. A more detailed story also appears in the April issue of NASA Glenn’s AeroSpace Frontiers publication.

Normally, this time of the year you’d be seeing a lot of  news items and reminders from us about what’s coming up at the national meeting. While that’s not possible this year, we have been working hard to develop new and different opportunities for you to learn and share best practices with the colleagues you’d usually see there. The first of these opportunities is now a week away.

We’ve reviewed the sessions planned for Westminster, and identified the material that’s most urgent and relevant to FLC members. From there, we are creating new ways to get that content to you. We’re starting with a webinar next Wednesday sponsored by the Program Committee. In “Accelerating Technology Transfer,” Paul Zielinski will examine President Obama’s memorandum about accelerating technology transfer and the commercialization of federal research in support of high-growth businesses. In particular, Paul will focus on implementation efforts, future plans, and interagency metrics for technology transfer from federal laboratories. The webinar will be moderated by Mojdeh Bahar. If you’re interested, we hope you’ll join us next Wednesday at 11 a.m. EDT.

You can sign up for the webinar here. See you next week!

Organization: National Security Agency (NSA)

Technology: A patented methodology (U.S. 6,912,284) that improves autokey synchronization and error detection

Summary: An advantage of autokey systems is their ability to self-synchronize (the receiving key generator is not required to be preset to a previously determined value prior to receiving and decoding cipher messages). In addition, cipher text autokey systems continuously self-synchronize throughout the duration of transmission.

Prior autokey systems featured limited error extension, where a transmission error affects the key generated by the receiver for only a limited number of steps while the bit in error passes through the key generator register, after which the error no longer has any effect.

Infinite error extension, where an incorrectly received data bit would be inserted into the receiver key generator with the result that all succeeding key bits could be affected, would offer an advantage in capability to ensure to a high degree of probability that a message has been received without error. However, infinite error extension has not previously been available in an application featuring acceptable cryptographic characteristics.

This invention overcomes this deficiency by providing an enciphering/deciphering system incorporating a linear sequence generator and providing encipherment and authentication in a single process. This method provides self-authentication capability while providing authentication without the need for a parity check code, as well as offering error detection for messages of arbitrary length.  The result is an improved autokey cipher utilizing infinite error extension while also possessing a high degree of cryptographic security.

Potential Applications: The wireless intrusion detection technology has several potential information security applications, including:

• Telecommunications
• Secure communications
• Encryption/authentication
• Error detection.

Contact: For more information on this and other technologies available for license from the NSA, email NSA Technology Transfer.

For more than 40 years, the warfighter has trusted Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC Crane) to design and develop infrared countermeasure (IRCM) technology for aircraft protection. As a natural extension of its expertise, the Center began modeling and simulation (M&S) efforts in the 1980s. NSWC Crane established the Navy Infrared Countermeasure Effectiveness Laboratory (NICEL) in 2008 as a core component of this research and development capability. NICEL’s primary goal is to determine the best use of countermeasures to protect Navy aircraft from hostile infrared missiles. The laboratory conducts M&S to determine the effectiveness of infrared countermeasures, primarily for the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) Advanced Tactical Aircraft Protection Systems Office (PMA-272). NICEL also performs IRCM effectiveness analysis for the Army, Air Force, and some Department of Defense (DOD) contractors, as well as projects for IRCM usage to support aircraft procured through DOD foreign military sales.

One aspect that makes NICEL so unique is its full complement of M&S tools. The laboratory has both all-digital simulators and hardware-in-the-loop simulators that can run continuously to analyze a multitude of different threat missile encounters. Models are available for numerous threat missiles, many aircraft, and virtually all in-service expendable infrared countermeasures. At NICEL, experts generate and maintain high fidelity databases of aircraft and countermeasures information, including spectral radiant intensity and trajectory models for all Navy airborne expendable infrared countermeasures, as well as many aircraft and countermeasures from the Army and Air Force. “We’re constantly chasing performance advancements—increased fidelity, faster computing—to stay on the front edge and ahead of the threat,” said Brent Waggoner, NSWC Crane Lead Engineer for NICEL.

Laboratory: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Technology: An apparatus for externally controlling one or more brakes on a vehicle with a pressurized fluid braking system. The apparatus can include a pressurizable vessel that is adapted for fluid-tight coupling to the braking system. Impact to the rear of the vehicle by a pursuit vehicle, shooting a target mounted on the vehicle, or sending a signal from a remote control can all result in the fluid pressures in the braking system of the vehicle being modified so that the vehicle is stopped and rendered temporarily inoperable. A control device can also be provided in the driver’s compartment of the vehicle for similarly rendering the vehicle inoperable. A driver or hijacker of the vehicle preferably cannot overcome the stopping action from the driver’s compartment.

Opportunity: Available for license under LLNL ‘s Ready-to-Sign (RTS) Licensing Program, a fast-track process by which technology companies and other commercial partners may license patented technologies developed at LLNL in an expedient manner. Under this new program, LLNL is prepared to provide nonexclusive patent licenses of preselected LLNL-developed technologies with preapproved favorable licensing terms in a shortened license agreement.

Contact: Catherine Elizondo

View the ready-to-sign license agreement for this technology here.

Greetings from D.C.  In a recent public letter to National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) expressed his “concerns about achieving a reasonable balance between getting breakthrough pharmaceuticals to market quickly, making sure patients can afford these medicines, and protecting the interests of taxpayers.”

His concerns stem from a particular NIH Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), noted in the letter, which led to a recent drug development for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) that is ready to enter the market.  The Senator noted that while drug discovery and preclinical and clinical development were undertaken by the collaborating partner (Pfizer), NIH research (with public dollars) was foundational to the development of the drug.  He quotes the expected annual cost of the drug and questions whether the “public investment [that led to this drug] has assured accessibility and affordability.”

The letter essentially lays out his case for why he believes NIH should have a say in the pricing of drugs (i.e., downstream results) that emanate from collaborations incorporating publicly funded research.  He notes that this was the case prior to 1995 when (in his words), “NIH abandoned the policy requiring ‘a reasonable relationship between the pricing of a licensed product, the public investment in that product, and the health and safety needs of the public.’ ”

Senator Wyden has asked NIH to provide a list of the major medicines and therapies that have come to market as result of research there since 1995, and has suggested that an outside panel be convened to “reexamine the pricing of medicines and treatments developed with public funds.”

The reaction from interested parties was swift and as anticipated.  Two of the more informative responses are provided by Joe Allen (former staffer of then-Senator Birch Bayh, co-author of the Bayh-Dole Act) and John LaMatinna (former president of Pfizer Global Research).  Allen provides some historical perspective on the issue, highlighting the effort 20 years ago, led by then-Congressman Wyden, that resulted in the NIH “reasonable pricing” policy later abandoned by NIH.  As Allen points out, the result of the reasonable pricing policy was not lower drug prices, but “a breakdown of industry/NIH cooperation as companies rightly feared how such a vague formula would be applied.”

LaMatinna follows suit, noting that under the prior “reasonable pricing” policy, industry shied away from government collaboration, concerned with the prospect of government control in setting prices for products developed over lengthy time horizons at great cost to the industry partner.  LaMatinna also does a nice job of laying out the process by which the research at NIH fed into the development process at Pfizer for the RA drug in question.  His takeaway? Taxpayers are indeed realizing a real return on the public investment in research—realized here as a new drug that benefits millions of RA sufferers.

You can find Senator Wyden’s letter here, Joe Allen’s response in IP-Watchdog here, and John LaMatinna’s Forbes article here.

Aircraft component test (Photo: Laurie Zaleski and Michael Gross)

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) William J. Hughes Technical Center’s (WJHTC)  Aviation Fuel and Engine Test Facility (AFETF) is a leading test facility in the area of alternative fuels for general aviation. The AFETF includes both a state-of-the-art fuel laboratory and an engine test facility dedicated to providing safety research for the development of approval standards of alternative aviation fuels and for the development of standardized alternative fuel testing procedures. AFETF researchers lead many industry working groups and task forces for the development of standard test methods and industry fuel specifications development. The photo depicts researchers at the AFETF performing periodic maintenance on a Pratt and Whitney PT-6 turbine engine.

If you’ve ever been to an FLC event or been trained by an FLC trainer, you’ve most likely heard someone say, “Tech transfer is a contact sport.”  Well, there may be no better example of that than this story. A Space Act Agreement leading to a joint project between NASA and Illinois’ Morton Arboretum came about after a conversation between neighbors.

Melis looks at data being generated by stereo photogrammetry equipment during tree biometrics research. (Photo: NASA)

According to the NASA release, “It all started when two trees began to die in Matt Melis’s front yard. When the NASA Glenn engineer noticed the robust health of a mighty oak tree in his neighbor’s front yard, he asked for advice and was referred to local Cleveland arborist Mark Hoenigman.…Hoenigman was servicing Melis’s trees one day when he mentioned that he and the greater arboriculture technical community were struggling to find better ways to quantify and understand the biomechanics of tree failure. They wanted to know how trees fail under hurricanes, ice and snow loads, but attempts at finding a comprehensive way to measure and analyze the data weren’t adequate.…Melis had just the answer—stereo photogrammetry—technology he used during the Space Shuttle Columbia accident investigation.”

From there, they were off—figuring out how to use the technology to find deformities in the trees, conducting demonstrations to large groups of foresters and arborists, and analyzing data.

Research trees were whitewashed, and black dots were applied so computer-imaging equipment could capture the stress points as the tree was pulled by a winch. (Photo: NASA)

Their work has so much potential that the Tree Research and Education Endowment Fund (TREE Fund) awarded a grant, which funded a Space Act Agreement that enabled NASA engineers to conduct a collaborative photogrammetry research study with Morton.

Now, there’s already a potential commercial application that could have great benefit to communities that are at risk from extreme weather. According to NASA, “A consulting firm, Bio-Compliance, is working with utility companies on the east coast where billions of dollars have been lost due to extreme weather events, including Hurricane Sandy. The company wants Melis and his team to look at branch structures. Falling branches account for a high degree of damage to property and have been responsible for human fatalities during these incidents.”

So a collaborative effort, a new spinoff capability, and a whole lot of learning later, there’s a new method in the works that not only has commercial applications, but could also protect infrastructure, reduce repair costs, and save lives.

So the next time you hear us call tech transfer a contact sport, this is exactly the kind of thing we mean. Not bad for a neighborly chat!

Read the full NASA story here.

Today, we are featuring Edgewood Chemical Biological Center‘s (ECBC) Colorimetric Reconnaissance Explosive Squad Screening (CRESS) detector. The CRESS Kit is a hand-held detection capability similar in function to the fielded M256A1 chemical agent detector kit for presumptive identification of bulk homemade explosives (HME) precursor compounds.

The product is easily carried by the soldier because it is lightweight and requires no power. Its ease of use reduces the burden of training because the detector does not require a mission occupation specialty (MOS), which increases the utility of the CRESS Kit and can enable more widespread use in the field. The kit was used successfully in a Military User Assessment conducted by the Maneuver Support Battle Lab at Fort Leonard Wood in June 2011. Nearly 5,000 CRESS Kit units were scheduled for further fielding by soldiers in 2012, and approximately 15,000 units are scheduled for fiscal year 2013.

Laboratory: Naval Research Laboratory (NRL)

ALF-processed image, showing increased visibility.

SPAWAR Systems Center Pacific (SSC Pacific) has developed the adaptive linear filter (ALF), an image processing filter for real-time video and still imagery that enables the user to see through sub-visibility conditions such as thick fog, brownout conditions, and darkness.  The ALF technology provides superior image detail and contrast over current market solutions by enhancing images with contrast levels below 2 percent to levels above 60 percent.

Typical long-wave infrared image, without the ALF technology.

Products currently available in the vision systems market allow users to see up to three times farther in some sub-visibility conditions (smog, dust, smoke, snow, darkness), providing enhanced real-time views of the surrounding terrain.  However, these current technologies cannot penetrate thick fog and smoke, brownout conditions caused by dust, and other adverse conditions that can compromise user safety and security.  ALF can cut through sub-visibility difficulties by breaking the image into sub-images, and analyzing and enhancing each sub-image, providing a higher quality image than what is offered by currently commercially available products.

ALF is suitable for a variety of professional and consumer applications, including enhanced vision systems for aircraft, ground vehicles, and ships; security and surveillance; underwater environments; still imaging and video editing software (a Photoshop plug-in exists); and is compatible with a variety of cameras, including analog and digital infrared cameras.

For more information on ALF, please email SPAWAR Systems Center Pacific.

The nominating committees for all elections have spent a lot of time cultivating the best candidates for the 2013 elections. You’ve had time to nominate—now find out who “bit”!

The FLC is pleased to present this year’s slate of national and regional candidates. We had a great response, particularly for the three open Member-at-Large slots.

We encourage you to take the time to learn more about the people who may be leading the FLC starting this fall. You can see the candidates’ information—including their bios and statements outlining their priorities if elected—here. Follow the links in those pages to see the list of candidates. Clicking on each candidate’s name will take you to his/her bio and statement.

Got a question for any of the candidates? Submit questions here and we’ll pass them on. Or, you can contact the candidates directly at the email addresses listed with their bios.

Voting will take place starting April 24. In the absence of a national meeting, the ballots will be emailed to you, and you can return them the same way. If you’re a voting member, keep your eyes peeled for your ballot (or, depending on your region, ballots) later this month.

The FLC wishes all candidates the best of luck!

Driven by the critical role photonic technologies play in today’s defense and industrial economies, the SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing (DSS) conference and exhibition have grown to become the leading forum where developers of advanced technologies and products meet face-to-face with government and industry customers.

Running April 29 through May 3 at the Baltimore Convention Center, DSS provides government, industry, and academia economical access to technical presentations, professional development courses, and a free exhibition featuring 500 developers and suppliers of sensing, imaging, display, and other technologies.

The three-day exhibition (April 30 – May 2) features the industry’s leading suppliers of products such as robotic systems, infrared detectors, chemical sensors, high-speed imaging systems, lasers, night vision, and advanced display technologies.

In addition, 55 conferences covering infrared systems, lidar and radar, laser technology, ISR, display technologies, unmanned systems and robotics, cybersecurity, CBRNE, biometric technology for human identification, sensor data analysis, and energy harvesting and storage, and a suite of 50 professional development courses taught by leading experts are top features of the meeting.

Click here to register!

Relevance and Value

“It is a true sign of the relevance and value that our customers place on DSS that not only will the meeting take place this year as planned: it is thriving and on track to be another robust event,” said Dr. Andrew Brown, SPIE Senior Director. “While U.S. government budget cuts and sequestration have resulted in some uncertainty in the U.S. defense sector, the global photonics industry is growing, and SPIE is committed to supporting the creative individuals, companies, and organizations that serve this industry nationally and internationally.”

Brown noted that researchers understand the importance of meeting face-to-face to advance technologies and develop new collaborations. At the same time, companies value a platform on which to showcase their latest products and services, and end users looking for solutions can efficiently compare capabilities through product demonstrations and tutorials.

“Scientific conferences and exhibitions such as DSS are efficient, effective, and invaluable in bringing together scientists and engineers with system integrators and end users to ensure that the best and newest technologies are available to address the most challenging applications,” he said. “Not only do interactions lead to the development of new technologies and solutions, but the meeting acts as a catalyst in the economic engine of the photonics industry, with companies securing new business leading to jobs and economic growth.”

Fiscal Responsibility

SPIE is acutely aware of the need to ensure fiscal responsibility, and to this end anchored SPIE DSS in Baltimore, a cost-effective city within convenient driving distance for a high density of government labs, military establishments, and defense contractors, Brown said. “We’ve worked hard to ensure participation in conference, free exhibition, and professional development programs that provide the highest value with very economical access.”

Kenneth Israel, Major General (USAF Ret.) is Symposium Chair, and David Whelan of Boeing Defense, Space, and Security is Symposium Co-Chair.

For our energy issue this month, we’ve featured a number of fascinating things that the labs are working on. Here are two more from the Department of Energy, specifically Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL).

1. The Snowflake Power Divertor, developed by LLNL researcher Dmitri Ryutov with researchers at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and the Center for Research in Plasma Physics in Switzerland, uses a previously unknown configuration of the divertor magnetic field whose shape is reminiscent of a snowflake. The resulting magnetic field lines spread the exhaust over a larger wall area and reduce the exhaust heat flux to manageable levels. Installing the Snowflake in a newly built fusion facility does not lead to any cost increase. The Snowflake Divertor already has demonstrated large heat-flux reduction in tokamaks in Princeton, N.J., and Lausanne, Switzerland, and will be installed in several facilities under design.

John Heebner with OALV. (Photo: Alex Camargo, LLNL)

2. LLNL’s Laser Energy Optimization by Precision Adjustments to the Radiant Distribution (LEOPARD) consists of 48 customized “programmable spatial shapers” that have been installed in the preamplifier modules (PAMs) at the front end of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) laser system. At the heart of each spatial shaper is an optically addressable light valve (OALV) that can obscure laser light at programmed locations within the beam profile to prevent the otherwise harsh laser fluence (energy per unit area) from exacerbating small, isolated flaws on downstream optical components. The ability to temporarily “shadow” these isolated flaws from high-fluence laser pulses protects the laser system and enhances operational flexibility. The obscurations that produce the shadows, called “blockers,” are introduced in the PAMs feeding NIF’s beamlines in the laser’s low-fluence, 1,053-nanometer (infrared) region upstream of the main amplifier chain. Imaging and aligning the shadows onto flaws in the output 351-nanometer (ultraviolet) optics ensures that these flaws are protected with only a modest loss of beam area. The LEOPARD system saves an estimated $5 million annually.

Optimizing sensors and controls may be the key to combustion-free electricity production in fuel-cell turbines fuel cell/turbine hybrids. So, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory and National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), T3D Creative Studios, and Skew-Matrix are using the open-source software VE-PSI to integrate dynamic process simulation, to stream and test sensor data, and to provide real-time hardware controls.

The result is a unified virtual platform for collaborative engineering and design, virtual training, and operational control with real-time feedback. NETL is demonstrating this project capability at its Hybrid Performance Project’s “Hyper” Lab fuel-cell turbine fuel-cell/turbine hybrid test facility.

Laboratory: National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL)

Overview: Research is active on technologies entitled “Process for CO2 Capture Using a Regenerable Magnesium Hydroxide Sorbent” and “Process for Minimization of Steam Requirements and Enhancement of WGS with Warm Gas Temperature CO2 Sorbent.”

Fossil fuels will be used to provide clean, affordable energy well into the 21st century; however, there are concerns about the impacts of greenhouse gases (GHGs), particularly carbon dioxide (CO2), from fossil fuels. The capture of carbon from fossil fuel plants can produce CO2 in a concentrated stream that is amenable to geological storage. Carbon capture after fossil fuels are burned for electric power production (post-combustion capture) significantly reduces efficiency and increases electricity cost. Pre-combustion CO2 capture, which is more effective, can be done in gasification plants, where coal is converted into a clean low-carbon fuel gas that is burned in a gas turbine. However, more efficient processes for carbon capture are needed.

NETL has developed a cyclic CO2 capture process based on a novel sorbent that can be used in gasification plants at high pressures and temperatures for high efficiency and better compatibility with gas turbine combustion, warm gas cleanup and water-gasshift (WGS is a process to increase hydrogen content in the fuel gas). The sorbent can be regenerated to maintain activity over many absorption cycles, uses steam from the plant for regeneration, and is tolerant to water in the fuel gas. The magnesium hydroxide sorbent absorbs CO2 through the formation of magnesium carbonate and releases water as a product. The sorbent is regenerated to convert it back to magnesium hydroxide for reuse. The sorbent capacity is considerably higher and the regeneration energy is lower than that of current commercial CO2 capture processes. Enhancements to the process allow CO2 removal at moderate/high temperatures and high pressures, while producing the H2O concentration necessary for the WGS. This reduces the requirement for process steam, allowing more steam to be sent to a steam turbine for additional power generation and improving the overall efficiency of the process by several percentage points.

Significance:

• The carbon capture process operates at moderate or high temperatures in gasification-based systems for better efficiency and compatibility with other processes in the system.
• The sorbent is regenerable at high pressure to reduce costs, is not damaged by water in the fuel gas, produces steam for the WGS reaction, and can improve efficiency by reducing added steam.

Applications: Capture of carbon from fossil fuel plants that use gasification to produce a clean low-carbon fuel

Opportunity: These two related technologies are available for licensing and/or further collaborative research.

Contact: NETL Technology Transfer Group

View the full listing here.

Cadet Zach Bruhn sets up an illumination experiment to observe oil accumulation effects in strains of Nannochloropsis oculata algae. (Photo: Elizabeth Andrews, Air Force Academy)

Searching for good “fats” fast! Dr. Don Veverka, Director of the Life Sciences Research Center in the Department of Biology, U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA), teams with his department and cadets to cultivate and identify algae that are fastest at producing oils.

Research in biofuels creation may lead to a dramatic reduction of conventional fossil fuel usage in aviation–the objective is renewable bio-jet fuel!

Dr. Veverka has established collaboration partners throughout the country. Cool Clean Technologies, LLC (Eagan, Minn.) has teamed with his center to find efficient ways of extracting the algae oils cost-effectively.

USAFA Research offers cutting-edge research opportunities to USAFA cadets and to Air Force organizations such as the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Department of Defense, as well as private corporations.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution, is soliciting patented technologies to showcase at the 2013 Innovation Expo to be held June 21–23, 2013.

Applications to nominate patented and commercialized U.S. technologies must be submitted by 5 p.m., April 1, 2013. The criteria for nominations may be found here. Please contact the USPTO directly if you have any questions.

It would be wonderful if there were a lot of submissions so we could have a great showcase of federal technologies at the Smithsonian. What a great venue!

Laboratory: Argonne National Laboratory

Summary: Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries have become the battery of choice for everything from cell phones to electric cars. Scientists at Argonne National Laboratory are leading efforts to revolutionize battery technology with the design and development of new battery materials for electrolytes, electrodes, and interfaces that will increase the specific energy of advanced batteries while simultaneously providing enhanced stability at a lower cost.

Technology: Promising alternatives to graphite electrodes. Argonne researchers have developed a new type of lithium-titanium-oxide material that can be used as a negative electrode (anode) for nonaqueous lithium electrochemical cells and batteries. Conventional lithium-ion battery configurations often contain graphite electrodes, which operate at a potential very close to that of metallic lithium and are extremely reactive. This composition can cause lithium-ion batteries to overheat, particularly if the battery is in a charged state or if it is overcharged without protective electronic circuitry.

Details: Argonne has identified the spinel Li4Ti5O12 as a promising alternative to graphite electrodes. By successfully modifying  the lithium-titanium-oxide composition with a spinel-type structure, the new material offers improved electronic conductivity. The Argonne innovation uses Li4-xTi5MxO12, in which M is Mg2+and/or Al3+, to reduce the oxidation state of the titanium ions, thereby enhancing the electronic conductivity of the spinel electrode. This modification to lithium-titanium-oxide materials improves on the safety of graphite electrodes while also offering enhanced voltage and energy density.

Benefits:

• Prevents overcharge
• Improves safety
• Increases reliability
• Enhances cell voltage and energy density

Applications and Industries: 

• Transportation applications, such as electric and hybrid-electric vehicles
• Portable electronic devices, such as cell phones and laptop computers
• Medical devices
• Space, aeronautical, and defense-related devices

Opportunity: Available for licensing

Contact: Connie Cleary, Argonne Technology Development and Commercialization

View the full listing here.

Laboratory: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Data Buoy Center

Summary: System for monitoring, determining, and reporting directional spectra of ocean surface waves in near real-time from a moored buoy

Abstract: A moored buoy floating on the ocean surface and anchored to the seafloor precisely measures acceleration, pitch, roll, and the Earth’s magnetic flux field of the buoy over a limited sampling period. The system includes:

1. Buoy
2. Mooring system
3. Electronic data logger controlling communications between the system and the onboard remote telecommunications system
4. Embedded computer for data input/output, temporary or permanent data storage, and algorithms to convert the measured time series data into surface ocean wave spectra and quality assurance statistics, and encode the results for transfer to the data logger
5. Sensors include one or three acceleration sensors, three orthogonal angular rate sensors, and three orthogonal magnetometers to measure the Earth’s magnetic flux field
6. Telecommunications system that links the buoy data logger and a shoreside processing system
7. Shoreside processing system that decodes the transmitted data, performs quality control, and computes derived wave parameters.

Opportunity: Available for licensing (request form available here)

Contact: NOAA Technology Partnerships Office

View the full listing here.

Check out some more of March’s relevant news at the links below.

The America Invents Act fully took effect on Saturday! The USPTO is offering a wealth of training material all through March and April.

AIA News:

• How the America Invents Act Will Change Patenting Forever
• What you should know about patents before this Friday
• A Brave New Patent World – First to File Becomes Law
• Tipping point arrives for America Invents Act
• Patent Reform 2013 — The “America Invents Act” — Much Ado
• Starting today, the US has a ‘first to file’ patent system

Lab/Agency News: 

• Energy Department Accelerates the Deployment of Advanced Vehicle Technologies with Private Industry Partnerships
• AFOSR Spring Review Provides an Inside Look at the Research Being Funded by AFOSR
• DOE Offers $50 Million to Advance Plug-in Electric Vehicle (PEV) Technologies
• Mars Curiosity’s Secrets for Social Media Success

Tech Transfer/Innovation Landscape News: 

• Tech Transfer: The Brookings Take
• USPTO Releases Statistics on Filings for New Proceedings That Became Available in September 2012
• MIT Technology Review names its 50 Disruptive Companies of 2013
• MIT: America’s Manufacturing Sector Has Lost the Ability to Turn Innovative Products Into Volume Production
• Wichita State creates technology transfer office (and follow-up piece here)
• Ambassadors Wanted for Crowdsourced Book on Women in Tech
• Our Future Will Be Brighter Than You Think, but More Disruptive
• Pumping Muscle into U.S. Manufacturing
• Experts respond to Wall Street Journal question: “How Can Leaders Spur Innovation?“

Sequester News:

• How Sequestration Will Affect the SBIR/STTR Programs (this one quotes a few people well known to the FLC community!)
• Idaho National Laboratory lays off 101 workers
• N.M. will fight for labs, bases (by New Mexico’s governor)

On July 5, 2012, the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory fired the world’s first 1.8-million-joule, 500-trillion-watt laser shot, achieving a crucial milestone on the path to achieving fusion ignition and energy gain in a laboratory setting. Combining extreme levels of energy and peak power on an NIF target is a critical requirement for exploring one of physics’ grand challenges—igniting hydrogen fusion fuel in the laboratory and producing more energy than the amount delivered to the target.

NIF, the world’s largest and highest-energy laser system, is a key component of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Stockpile Stewardship Program to maintain the safety and reliability of the nation’s nuclear stockpile without underground nuclear testing and to attract and retain the next generation of scientists. By creating the extreme states of matter that exist in the centers of planets, stars and other celestial objects, NIF also is providing a unique experimental platform for scientists to enhance our understanding of the universe. In addition, NIF experiments are laying the groundwork to provide the world with abundant and sustainable clean fusion energy.

Laboratory: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)

Overview: Promoting energy efficiency is a primary focus for achieving sustainable energy. Many programs have targeted the use of energy-efficient technologies; however, to increase the likelihood of achieving desired energy savings, citizens need to go beyond one-time improvements that often are not monitored and measured over time. By allowing consumers to easily analyze and share their own energy usage data, an effective and sustainable way of achieving energy efficiency goals can emerge.

Researchers at ORNL have developed a system, Citizen Engagement for Energy Efficient Communities (CoNNECT), a community-based computational framework that enables consumers to benchmark their consumption against that of their peers. Taking advantage of energy usage data, including the smart meter data from the utilities as well as property and spatial data from county government offices, CoNNECT provides an improved energy feedback mechanism that informs households in more detail about their consumption pattern so they can achieve better awareness and control, which in turn motivate them to conserve. The web-based feedback application uses Geographic Information System (GIS)- based approaches to identify a consumer’s peer group for energy usage comparison. The application provides consumers with possibilities for saving energy through sharing best practices. In addition to the framework, the system includes a depository of energy usage and related data, and data analysis algorithms for comparative visualization and identification of spatial consumption and carbon emission patterns. CoNNECT can also enable users to evaluate future energy technologies, including renewable energies.

Advantages:

• Enhances consumer access and understanding of energy consumption data
• Provides computational framework to allow consumers to benchmark themselves against their peers and enhance energy efficiency
• Enables users to evaluate future energy technologies, including renewables

Potential Applications:

• Utility companies, government agencies, consultants, and energy consumers
• Sustainable energy technology developers and providers

Opportunity: Available for licensing (patent pending)

Contact: David L. Sims, Commercialization Manager

View the full listing here.

In this new age of fiscal austerity, with deep budget cuts and travel restrictions, it is more important than ever to do more with less. We at the FLC want to know the best ways we can help you, and the best resource to tell us is you! So we’ve developed a survey so you can do just that.

Please take ten minutes to share your thoughts and ideas on how the FLC can adapt to this changing environment. Your input is greatly appreciated.

Click here to take the survey.

Some states are exploring the implementation of alternative energy technologies and alternative fuel facilities along publicly owned highway rights-of-way (ROWs) to curb the impacts of climate change and achieve other benefits. In a report prepared for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), researchers at the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe) describe the state of practice in accommodating renewable energy technologies and alternative fuel facilities within highway ROWs. Solar applications along roadways, and wind power applications at service areas and maintenance facilities are examples of projects that were examined. This report is intended to provide transportation agencies with information that will better enable them to consider the implications and evaluate the feasibility of implementing renewable energy and fuel options in ROWs.

The findings presented in this report are based on the review of relevant literature and a series of interviews with stakeholders representing state highway ROW renewable energy and alternative fuel facility projects. The projects reviewed are in varying stages of completion and involve a range of technologies. A peer exchange convened among the interviewees and additional stakeholders supplemented the information collected during interviews. The lessons learned inform others seeking to pursue similar projects.

From a highway ROW perspective, there are considerable economic, ecological, legal, and political uncertainties. These uncertainties are related to whether or not accommodating renewable energy technologies and alternative fuel facilities can be practical highway land management practices.

According to Carson Poe, Volpe project manager and transportation industry analyst, “There are still quite a few unanswered questions and uncertainties facing the DOTs that are innovating in this area. The practice of using ROWs for alternative uses is quickly evolving, so there is a compelling need for states to share their lessons and talk about the best ways to overcome challenges.”

The Volpe team synthesized information collected during the interviews to offer a set of observations and key findings that have implications for the success of similar projects.

Several of the Volpe researchers’ findings are described here:

• A supportive institutional environment is critical for the success of renewable energy projects in the ROW
  Since alternative energy projects in the ROW are atypical projects for state DOTs, the process of securing internal leadership support can be challenging, but is critical.
• A variety of public-private partnership models are used by states
  Each of the renewable energy projects that the project team examined utilized a different business model, which in turn influenced the permitting process and contracting mechanism involved.
• Siting concerns and requirements are a principal issue
  In order to gain acceptance for renewable energy projects, project siting proposals should address specific transportation issues such as safety, reliability, durability, security, and avoidance of traffic flow disruptions.
• Permitting processes vary by project
  Each solar and wind energy case the project team reviewed utilized a different permitting process to approve the use of the highway ROW: the utility permitting process, an airspace lease, a special use permit, and an easement.
• Developing the lease agreements is a multifaceted process
  Whether a project is permitted through the utility permit process, airspace lease, or special use permit, the DOT and the project partner will need to enter into a written agreement that outlines the applicable terms and conditions for use of the ROW. A DOT must ensure that the written agreement used to permit renewable energy facilities in the ROW is adequate to protect the transportation facility and clearly defines the responsibilities of the parties regardless of the permitting process used.

A complete description of the findings, recommendations, and conclusions can be found in the full report.

Ed.: This article originally appeared in Volpe’s news center on Jan. 21, 2013.

Have you ever wanted an up-close and personal view of a NASA space shuttle as it lifts off?

Photographic documentation of space shuttle launches was critical to the engineering analysis and evaluation process that took place during each and every mission. Motion and still images enabled shuttle engineers to visually identify off-nominal events and conditions that required corrective action to ensure mission safety and success. This imagery, however, also provides a highly inspirational and educational insight to those outside the NASA family.

Matt Melis, an engineer at NASA Glenn Research Center, was tasked to conduct materials testing after the Columbia accident in 2003.  Matt and the accident investigation team spent countless hours viewing this footage.  After this testing was completed, he had an epiphany. Instead of all this high definition motion and still images being stuffed in a vault, never to be seen again, why not utilize it beyond its intended use?  A seed was planted, and the spinoff project now consists of an iPad app and a DVD.  The base technology and genesis for this project are the direct results of safety improvements recommended by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board.

Screenshot of Ascent app

This compilation of film and video presents the “best of the best” ground-based shuttle motion imagery from the STS-114, STS-117, and STS-124 missions. Rendered in the highest definition possible, the production is a tribute to the astronauts, dozens of men and women of the shuttle imaging team, and the 30 years of achievement of the Space Shuttle Program.

This app, designed for iPad, contains the entire Ascent video production with commentary, numerous additional scenes, selected images, production notes, and an unreleased trailer. All video sequences have been bundled with the app to enable users to view the movies while offline. Also available is the newly released “Ascent Commemorating Shuttle Special Edition” DVD, which contains 45 minutes of video capturing the essence of the shuttle ascent.

See more about the Ascent app on NASA Glenn’s Ascent page or on YouTube.

The National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC) has been working to make airport grounds both safer and more productive! NWRC research is exploring alternative uses for lands on and near airports (i.e., solar, wind, biofuels), with the goal of reducing wildlife hazards while also providing a source of revenue for airports.

Productive land use near airports is limited and keeping the land fallow is usually the norm. Yet even when fallow, the associated land covers vary (e.g., from domestic turf varieties to indigenous grasses), and can provide food and cover resources to wildlife that are hazardous to aviation safety. Converting airport grasslands to biofuel, solar, or wind production may not only provide more environmentally sound alternative energy sources, but also increase revenue for airports and reduce use of airport lands by wildlife hazardous to aircraft. NWRC research is helping shed light on this promising concept.

Technical assistance at O'Hare International Airport. (Photo: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture)

In a 2012 study, NWRC researchers and collaborators estimated that airport properties in the contiguous United States contain approximately 1,276 square miles of idle grasslands─an area larger than Rhode Island. Much of this land could potentially be converted to biofuel, solar, or wind production.

NWRC researchers and collaborators at Mississippi State University are investigating whether switchgrass and native warm-season grass mixtures—both crops useful in cellulosic biofuel production—may be suitable for use on and near airport grounds. The goal is to identify biofuel crops that limit use by wildlife hazardous to aircraft and are compatible with safe airport operations.

Laboratory: National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Overview: With the annual potential of over 1.3 billion dry tons of biomass, the prospective growth of biomass-related industries is tremendous. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) leads the Department of Energy’s National Bioenergy Center, with research spanning the full spectrum from fundamental science to demonstration in fully integrated pilot-plant-scale operations. Plant cell walls represent a vast renewable carbon source. Biofuels derived from plant cell wall material is a promising renewable energy technology, in part because of the large amount of low-cost biomass feedstock. Efficient actions of cellulases to release fermentable sugars from biomass cellulose are an important step in making this conversion economically viable.

Greetings from D.C.  Approximately 500 active licensing agreements between the Department of Defense (DOD) and U.S. industry partners were responsible for creating or sustaining over 163,000 jobs with an average annual wage of $65,000 during the period 2000-2011.  Nearly half of the companies associated with those licenses reported over $13.4 billion in total sales and $1.3 billion in military sales (in 2011 dollars), collectively.

These are some of the impressive findings of a recent study commissioned by the U.S. Air Force to assess the “extent to which [all DOD licensing agreements with U.S. industry] (1) contributed to new economic activity and job creation in the United States, and (2) resulted in the transition of new technology to U.S. military use.”  The study was conducted by TechLink, a DOD partnership intermediary located at Montana State University, in collaboration with the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Montana.

The study authors contacted 505 companies with active licensing agreements with the DOD during the study period, reflecting 602 licenses (some had multiple licenses) with 60 different DOD facilities.  Participants were asked about total sales of new products and services directly related to their DOD license agreements, as well any license-related sales to the military.  The sales figures noted above were reported by 234 firms.

Total economic impacts related to these identified sales were then extrapolated using IMPLAN impact-assessment software.  That assessment focused on total economic output, value added, employment, labor income, and tax revenues.

The study reports that total economy-wide sales, as measured by output, were estimated at $36.3 billion.  Value added was estimated to be $17.4 billion, representing new wealth creation in the economy.  Employment impacts included 163,067 jobs with an average wage of $65,000.  Labor income in 2011 was estimated at $10.6 billion.  The $13.4 billion in sales and its economy-wide effects generated approximately $2.3 billion in federal tax revenues and over $1.3 billion in state and local tax revenues.

As I’ve noted before, one of the shortcomings in the federal lab tech transfer world is the limited data we have on the economic impacts of the important work in which our members are engaged.  This current study is another step in correcting that limitation.  As with any modeling-based assessment, it is always important to understand the methodology on which the findings are based (see the link below for more details on that and other aspects of the study).  Also as noted in this space, when highlighting other similar studies, these results are specific to the study population and not transferable to all federal licensing agreements government-wide.  However, they do offer yet another data set highlighting, for their population, what we in the tech transfer community know intuitively —federal lab tech transfer is an important driver in national economic growth and development.

You can find the TechLink press release with a link to the final report here.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is asking for your help! Vote for the “People’s Choice” in its HHSinnovates contest all this week—and ask your friends and family to join you.

Voting is open through March 8. To view the nominations and vote, click here.

The HHSinnovates program is designed to shine a spotlight on the most innovative and impactful work developed by HHS staff—often in collaboration with partners. From a panel of submissions, HHS employees select finalists they think deserve a chance to be chosen by the public, and they’re asking you to spread the word!

For this round, there are six finalists:

• Connecting to Combat Alzheimer’s
• FDA-iRISK
• Body Weight Simulator
• Portal System: Linking Healthcare Clinics
• Counterfeit Detector Device
• The Weight of the Nation Campaign

What are they? You’ll have to view the nominations to find out! You are also invited to comment on why you think your choice is the best.

Once the winners have been chosen, a live-streamed awards ceremony will take place March 19 at 11:00 a.m. Winners will be recognized by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

The HHSinnovates program was launched in 2010 as part of the Department’s open government efforts to celebrate innovation by HHS employees. The biannual program, aimed at building a culture of innovation at HHS by facilitating the exchange of innovative ideas throughout the Department, seeks  to recognize and reward good ideas and promote them across the Department. The current round is its sixth iteration.

The FLC is now accepting submissions for the 2013 edition of Federal Laboratories & State and Local Governments: Partners for Technology Transfer Success.

The publication focuses on outstanding partnerships between federal research laboratories and city, state or regional government entities.

The intent is to highlight the value state and local government entities could obtain for their regions by strategically partnering with federal laboratories. These laboratories are a key element in creating technology-based regional economic development. We need to get the word out!

As with all our publications, we endeavor to represent every FLC region with AT LEAST ONE compelling example; however, multiple success stories per region or agency are encouraged!

For examples of content, click here to view the 2011 edition.

The initial distribution of this year’s book will take place at the 2013 State Science and Technology Initiative (SSTI) annual conference. SSTI is a national nonprofit organization that strengthens efforts to improve state and regional economies through science and technology innovation. The annual conference attracts a who’s who of members from national, state, local, and regional science and technology programs supporting technology-based economic development, and universities.

Submission Requirements

Success stories should be no more than 500 words, and must represent a successful partnership between state or local governments and federal laboratories for regional economic benefit. If you have a story in mind and are unclear if it meets the criteria, please call Belinda Snyder at (505) 699-0998 to discuss.

All success stories REQUIRE:

• state or government entity as a partner in the success
• high–resolution, color image (300 dpi, in one of the following formats: TIFF, JPEG, GIF, EPS, PSD; illustrations also welcome)
• caption to accompany your photo
• photo credit

Submission Deadline

All content must be submitted by June 3, 2013. Send your stories, images, and caption information via email to submissions@federallabs.org or via mail to:

Denise Wainer
UTRS, Inc.
950 North Kings Highway
Suite 208
Cherry Hill, NJ 08034
(856) 667–6770, ext. 170
dwainer@utrs.com

Check out the following links for what’s new in the tech transfer community.

Brookhaven Lab Offers New Partnerships Mechanism, “Agreements for Commercializing Technology”

Since this month is our energy issue:

• PNNL Rolls Out Its Clean Energy Tech at ARPA-E
• Energy Department and USDA Partner to Support Energy Efficiency in Rural Communities
• ARPA-E Announces Projects Have Attracted Over $450 Million in Private Sector Funding, Spurred Start-up Company Formation
• NASA Goddard Team to Participate in Dark Energy Mission
• Study shows NREL’s Economic Benefit to Colorado totaled $814.8 Million in FY 2012
• Staff at Redstone Arsenal and Marshall Space Flight Center participated in the unveiling of a new energy project by the University of Alabama in Huntsville

The SHIELD Act, which attempts to protect against patent trolling, has been reintroduced in the House. Read about it at TechCrunch and Corporate Counsel.

The Washington Post looks at what sequestration could do to federal R&D. Many local news organizations are also reporting the effect on federal labs in their areas (examples from California, Chicago, California again, Colorado, Maryland, New Mexico, and Tennessee). The Guardian reports on what federal employees are saying. Additionally, an editorial on the potential effects of sequestration on science.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services’ (WS) National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC) recently announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has granted regulatory approval for the use of GonaCon™-Equine immunocontraceptive vaccine (GonaCon) in adult female wild or feral horses and burros. Developed by NWRC scientists, GonaCon is the first single-shot, multi-year wildlife contraceptive for use in mammals.

“Since 2009, GonaCon has been available for use in female white-tailed deer. We are pleased to be able to expand the vaccine’s application to include wild horses and burros,” said NWRC Director Larry Clark. “This nonlethal tool will provide another option to wildlife managers working to reduce overabundant wild horse and burro populations in the United States.”

Overpopulation of wild horses and burros is a significant concern in the United States, as these animals can overgraze native plant species and compete with livestock and local wildlife for food and habitat. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) estimates that approximately 37,300 wild horses and burros (about 31,500 horses and 5,800 burros) are roaming on BLM-managed rangelands in 10 western states. The estimated current free-roaming population exceeds by nearly 11,000 the number that the BLM has determined can exist in balance with other public rangeland resources and uses. Current management options are limited, with the majority of actions involving the removal of horses and burros from the range, and either offering them for adoption or holding them indefinitely in captivity. The BLM estimates that there are more than 49,000 wild horses and burros off of BLM-managed lands that are fed and cared for at short-term corrals and long-term pastures.

The GonaCon-Equine vaccine stimulates the production of antibodies that bind to the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) in an animal’s body. GnRH signals the production of sex hormones (e.g., estrogen, progesterone and testosterone). By binding to GnRH, the antibodies reduce GnRH’s ability to stimulate the release of these sex hormones. All sexual activity is decreased, and animals remain in a nonreproductive state as long as a sufficient level of antibody activity is present. The product can be delivered by hand injection, jab stick, or darting.

GonaCon-Equine is registered as a restricted-use pesticide, and all users must be certified pesticide applicators or persons under their direct supervision. Only USDA-WS and Veterinary Services, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. National Park Service, U.S. Department of Defense, federally recognized Indian tribes, state agencies responsible for wild or feral horse and burro management, public and private wild horse sanctuaries, or persons working under their authority can use it. In order for GonaCon to be used in any given state, it must also be registered with the state’s pesticide registration authority. Additionally, users are encouraged to contact their state fish and game/natural resource agency to determine specific state requirements. The vaccine is currently manufactured by NWRC; however, the WS program is interested in licensing the vaccine to a private manufacturer.

Future NWRC research with GonaCon will likely involve studies to support expanded registration to other species (e.g., prairie dogs and feral dogs) and aid in preventing the transmission of wildlife diseases.

WS-NWRC is the federal institution devoted to resolving problems caused by the interaction of wild animals and society. The center applies scientific expertise to the development of practical methods to resolve these problems and to maintain the quality of the environments shared with wildlife. To learn more about NWRC, visit its website here.

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) scientists have developed a system that uses controlled microwave irradiation to accelerate the freeze substitution fixation (FS) of samples for examination with light and electron microscopy. FS of hydrated samples enables immunological detection of thermolabile antigens that can be damaged during the lengthy periods required for passive diffusion of fixatives and solvents into the frozen hydrated material. This new system, which utilizes microwave-assisted processing of samples under cryogenic conditions, accelerates the FS of samples to less than 4 hours, compared to the normal 2 to 5 days. Acceleration of the FS process provides superior preservation of the samples (approaching native state) and improved reproducibility of results.

Organization: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Summary: A system and method for time-stamping and signing a digital document by an authenticating party and returning the signed, stamped document to the originator or his designated recipient. Messages may be received by a first “public” machine over a network, by fax, or through input mediums such as diskettes. The clock of the first machine is synchronized with Universal Coordinated Time (UCT) and can be checked for accuracy by anyone on the network. A second “private” machine, not connected to any network, receives the time-stamped message, applies a hashing procedure, and provides a signature using a private key. The signed hashed time-stamped message is then returned. A verify procedure is made widely available to check the genuineness of a document by rehashing the document and applying a public key. The result should match the signed, time-stamped message returned by the authenticating party.

Opportunity: Available for exclusive or nonexclusive commercialization licensing. Collaborative research opportunities are also available.

Contact: Jack Pevenstein, NIST Technology Partnership Office

View the full listing.

If you’ve been considering running for a national or regional office, but are on the fence, you’re in luck—you have more time to decide!

The FLC’s 2013 national and regional Nominating Committees announce an extension of the nomination period for all elections. All nominations are now due Friday, March 29.

For more information about the positions, instructions on how to nominate, and the nomination form, visit the elections page.

Laboratory: Idaho National Laboratory

Summary: Method and process for detecting, locating, and quantifying physical phenomena using a “data” trace that may be incorporated and/or installed on structures, including oil and gas pipes and bridges, buildings, etc. It characterizes strain or deformation in such structures, such as leaky pipes.

Benefits: Detects physical phenomena and aberrations, such as leaks, breaks, etc., in pipelines, bridges, buildings, etc.

Applications and Industries: Strain, deformation, detecting deformation, detecting structural deformation

Opportunity: Available for license

Contact: Contact form

View the full listing here.

While working on high performance polyimides at Langley Research Center, a NASA researcher noticed that some of the films were nearly colorless—an attractive property for materials used in space, where color causes heat absorption. The polyimides, known as LaRC-CP1 and LaRC-CP2, were licensed to NeXolve Corporation, based in Huntsville, Alabama. Today, NeXolve provides polyimide film products to commercial customers for spacecraft, telescopes, circuit boards, and hard disk drives. Shown here is a five-layer sunshield for the James Webb Space Telescope that incorporates materials produced by NeXolve.

For members of the tech transfer community who want to help interest girls in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), today’s the day! The National Engineers Week Foundation has designated today as Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day (and includes some recommended activities). If you’ve been waiting for a sign, this is it. Set up a tour at your lab for girls, arrange for a girl  you know to shadow you at work, speak to a class or activity group for girls—or whatever other creative idea you can come up with.

If you’re inspired to participate, let us know how it goes!

Photo: U.S. Air Force

Fostering future computer experts in modeling and simulation (M&S) has had remarkable success at the Gaming Research Integration for Learning Laboratory (GRILL), Warfighter Readiness Research Division (711 HPW/RHA), Human Effectiveness Directorate, 711th Human Performance Wing, Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio. Last year, local high school students mentored by lab scientists and engineers developed a high-school level M&S curriculum for area schools. The GRILL program was conceived by 711 HPW/RHA staff and their community partners, and it continues to support both the Dayton STEM initiative and the 711 HPW/RHA’s own commitment to building technical M&S expertise across the region.

Organization: National Security Agency

Description: This method addresses reassembling, acknowledging, and transmitting data packets of a data stream by accounting for the received packets in groups rather than individually. The groups may be of data packets received or of gaps in the data packets received. Both groupings are more efficient ways of processing data packets. The method uses a counter to determine which data packet is expected next. After a data packet is received, its identification number is determined. Groups of received data packets or gaps in the data packets are then recorded. Message reassembly from packets is greatly aided by this record keeping. Acknowledgment packets sent to the sender are efficiently constructed by noting sequences of missing packets (gaps) rather than enumerating each individual missing packet. These steps are repeated for each additional data packet received.

Technical Challenge Addressed: Connectionless networks decrease the likelihood that an entire message must be retransmitted, but increase the likelihood that some of the packets of a message must be retransmitted. Technological advancements continue to decrease the time it takes to transmit a packet over a network. Improvements in speed make it more feasible to transmit messages, such as photographs, consisting of larger numbers of packets. With an increase in the number of packets sent that must be reassembled into a message, a better packet acknowledgement scheme and message reassembly scheme is needed.

Demonstration Capability: Software can easily be installed on workstation.

Potential Commercial Application(s): WAN data transport, QoS applications.

Opportunity: Patent, available for license.

For more information or contact information, view the full listing here.

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Senior Scientists Ibrahim Reda and Afshin Andreas developed the solar position algorithm (SPA) now used by solar trackers, orchard growers and movie-camera makers, among others. The algorithm used in the SPA appears in the shadow.  The algorithm calculates exactly when to add a leap second because included in its equations are rapid, monthly, and long-term data on the solar day provided.

What if you could take a naturally occurring compound and make it stronger so it could make food last longer, create better flame-retardant material, and possibly develop a cancer-fighting drug? Nicole Favreau Farhadi and Ferdinando Bruno, research chemists at the U.S. Army’s Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center believe they may have found an answer to this question. They took a naturally occurring phenolic-based compound and enzymatically polymerized it; this chemical process basically means the compound is reacted to form a long chain of repeating units.

Approximately 10 years ago this process began to be used with epicatechin, an antioxidant found in green tea, white tea, red wine, and elsewhere in nature. Natick research chemists thought they could use this same tactic for other compounds such as hydroxytyrosol, one of the most potent antioxidants found in olive oil. Polymerization in this way is incredibly important because it is relatively simple now that the process has been formulated, which means that polymerizing on a mass scale is feasible.

To the Technology Transfer Community:

Due to the current fiscal constraints our government faces, ranging from moratoriums on non-mission-critical travel to potential furloughs of civilian employees, we have made the difficult, but fiscally responsible decision, to cancel the 2013 national meeting, Reaching New Heights With Technology Transfer, which was scheduled to be held April 23-25 in Westminster, CO. Our Executive Board did not make this decision lightly; however, they believed it was the most prudent course to take considering the uncertainty of how our laboratories and personnel may be affected by ongoing budgetary issues. In addition, the potential sequester has caused all of our agencies to examine their financial obligations, including attendance at conferences such as the FLC national meeting.

We take our mission to support and foster federal technology transfer with the highest level of commitment. We believe our efforts for this year are better directed to creating programs in which all our members are able to participate. The FLC will be working to produce alternative methods that will fill the gap in terms of training, networking, facilitating collaboration with industry, and recognition of outstanding technology transfer achievements. Given the current fiscal environment, we will utilize the virtual world to deliver to you the highest quality training and networking opportunities. Please watch our website, www.federallabs.org, for more information, and contact us if you have suggestions for ways we could improve our networking, collaboration, or training processes.

Please also note the following:

• All registered attendees, supporters, and exhibitors will receive a full refund or a credit on their credit card statement.
• All meeting attendees are responsible for canceling their own travel arrangements (e.g., flight, hotel reservations, etc.).

Elections for Executive Board members will proceed on schedule using electronic voting. More information will follow.

Thank you for your understanding and continued support of the FLC during this challenging time. If you have any questions, please contact me at baharm@mail.nih.gov or the Management Support Office.

Laboratory: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders

Technology: Hearing loss is a common communication disorder affecting nearly 1 in 1,000 children in the United States alone, and nearly 50% of adults by the age of 80. Hearing loss can be caused by environmental and disease-related factors; however, hearing loss due to genetic factors accounts for approximately 50% of cases.

The NIH announces the isolation of two novel genes involved in hearing; TMC1, short for transmembrane channel-like gene 1. The inventors have discovered that dominant and recessive mutations in TMC1 underlie two forms of hereditary deafness, known as DFNA36 and DFNB7/11. TMC1 encodes a protein required for normal function of the mammalian hair cell, which plays a critical role within the hearing pathway that detects sound in the inner ear.

The invention discloses TMC1 nucleic acids, vectors, and cells. Also disclosed are methods of detecting hearing loss, or a predisposition to hearing loss, due to a mutation in TMC1, as well as methods for identifying agents that interact with the TMC1 gene in a cell. Nucleic acids and methods of use for TMC2, a gene closely related to TMC1, are also disclosed.

Applications:

• Development of a genetic diagnostic test for hearing loss
• Development of pharmaceuticals to treat hearing loss

Opportunity: Available for nonexclusive licensing. The NIDCD Otolaryngology Branch is also seeking statements of capability or interest from parties interested in collaborative research to further develop, evaluate, or commercialize this technology, as well as collaborate on further pre-clinical and clinical studies with the TMC2 gene mutations.

Contact:
Lauren Nguyen-Antczak, Ph.D.

View the full listing here.

The Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Testbed is an integrated communications laboratory facility installed on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS). By performing experiments in orbit, researchers will advance communications, networking and navigation technologies for future NASA missions and other U.S. endeavors.

NASA Glenn Research Center led the development of the payload, which was launched to the ISS by the Japanese H-II transfer vehicle on July 20, 2012. The SCaN Testbed uses a new generation of software defined radios (SDRs) developed by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, General Dynamics, and Harris Corporation. It is the first space system that incorporates the Space Telecommunications Radio System (STRS) architecture standard, which will promote portability, interoperability, and reuse of applications among different radio vendors.

Yet more proof of the amazing contributions federal laboratory scientists make in both the public and private sectors!  Naval Research Laboratory Space Science Division (SSD) scientist Dr. George Carruthers has received the 2012 National Medal of Technology and Innovation. The nation’s highest honor for technology achievement, the medal is bestowed by the president of the United States on America’s leading innovators.

Dr. Carruthers (center) discusses the far ultraviolet camera/spectrograph with Apollo 16 Commander John Young (right). (Photo: NASA)

Geospace research led by Dr. Carruthers, which this award celebrates, is contributing to improving our ability to understand and forecast space weather on Earth that can affect military and civilian space and communication systems. The award recognizes those who have made lasting contributions to America’s competitiveness and quality of life, and helped strengthen the nation’s technological workforce.

The award ceremony was held at the White House on February 1, 2013. In announcing the National Medal recipients, President Barack Obama said, “I am proud to honor these inspiring American innovators. They represent the ingenuity and imagination that has long made this Nation great—and they remind us of the enormous impact a few good ideas can have when these creative qualities are unleashed in an entrepreneurial environment.” (View the video of the White House ceremony here, or read the transcript here.)

John W. Young leaps from the lunar surface during the first Apollo 16 extravehicular activity. The Lunar Module "Orion" is on the left. The Far Ultraviolet Camera/Spectrograph is behind Young in the shadow of the Lunar Module. (Photo: NASA/Charles M. Duke Jr., lunar module pilot)

In 1972, Dr. Carruthers’ Far Ultraviolet Camera Spectrograph, the first moon-based space observatory, was sent to the moon with the Apollo 16 mission. This 50-lb., gold-plated camera system allowed researchers to take readings of and understand objects and elements in space that are unrecognizable to the naked eye, and also gave them views of stars and solar systems thousands of miles away. His NRL camera still sits on the surface of the moon. A second version of this camera was sent on the 1974 Skylab space flight to study comets, and it was used to observe Halley’s Comet, among others.

He has been the principal investigator for numerous NASA and Department of Defense (DOD)-sponsored space instruments, including a 1986 rocket instrument that obtained ultraviolet images of Comet Halley. His experiment on the DOD Space Test Program Advanced Research and Global Observation Satellite (ARGOS) captured an image of a Leonid shower meteor entering the Earth’s atmosphere, the first time a meteor has been imaged in the far ultraviolet from a space-borne camera.

The first observatory ever operated by man from a fixed platform outside the Earth was this gold-plated ultraviolet camera/spectrograph invented by Dr. Carruthers. Apollo 16 astronauts placed the camera on the moon in April 1972. Right: Carruthers. Left: William Conway. (Photo: U.S. Naval Research Lab)

Dr. Carruthers grew up during the space race and was intrigued with space science. While still a boy, he began building telescopes and model rockets, and was an enthusiastic reader at the local libraries. His love for space science extended through his youth, and eventually led him to pursue degrees in Aeronautical, Nuclear, and Astronomical Engineering from the University of Illinois. Following his graduate studies, he accepted a position at NRL in 1964, after receiving a fellowship in Rocket Astronomy from the National Science Foundation. Throughout his tenure in the NRL SSD, Dr. Carruthers has focused his attention on far ultraviolet observations of the Earth’s upper atmosphere and of astronomical phenomena. In 1969 he received a patent for his pioneering instrumentation, “Image Converter for Detecting Electromagnetic Radiation Especially in Short Wave Lengths.”

The National Medal of Technology and Innovation was created by statute in 1980 and is administered for the White House by the Department of Commerce’s Patent and Trademark Office. National Medal of Technology and Innovation nominees are selected by a distinguished independent committee representing the private and public sectors.

President Obama didn’t mention technology transfer by name last night, but he wasn’t far from it. In his State of the Union address, he touched on several issues that have been hot in the T2 community. Among all the other issues, he called for a massive push for federal R&D, with the goal of churning up the speed of our economic progress. He also touched on something near and dear to many of you—STEM education. And he mentioned something we’ve been telling you a lot about recently, the 3D printing center known as the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute (NAMII) and the plans to create more such facilities. The President announced the creation of three more of these centers, which (like NAMII) would be public-private partnerships working toward revitalizing the manufacturing industry in communities that have been hard-hit by job losses.

Read more about these topics from the State of the Union address here, here, here, and here.

The transcript from the State of the Union speech is available here.

How do you think these ideas relate to technology transfer and the T2 community? Will they help you meet your goals? Let us know in the comments.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS) is hard at work in its Boulder, Colorado, labs testing next-generation technology that will be used in a new nationwide public safety broadband network to be built by the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet). (We showed you an example of their work back in December!)

Public safety official participates in testing of digital LMR intelligibility. (Photo: ITS)

Congress directed that the new FirstNet public safety network utilize Long Term Evolution (LTE) radio technology, a developing commercial network standard for broadband transmission. The public safety community identified LTE as the most promising technology to satisfy its growing need for advanced communications capabilities. As a result, voice communications for first responders will migrate to LTE networks using Voice over LTE (VoLTE), a digital protocol under which the network handles voice as just another form of data. ITS is working with the public safety community to ensure that mission-critical voice transmission using this new technology is at least as clear to practitioners in field conditions as current technologies.

When the first digital land mobile radios (LMR) appeared in the public safety market, firefighters reported that some of the unique environmental conditions associated with firefighting appeared to be problematic for digital LMR.  ITS joined with other government agencies, the public safety community, and industry to resolve these issues through extensive laboratory research and testing with the direct involvement of practitioners and manufacturers. In anticipation of the move to public safety broadband using this new digital VoLTE technology, ITS several years ago began planning, designing, conducting, and analyzing tests to assess the intelligibility of voice communication over VoLTE in field conditions.

A head and torso simulator (HATS) is set up in a sound isolation booth and used to prepare sound clips for subjective testing. (Photo: ITS)

NTIA Technical Report 13-493, “Intelligibility of the Adaptive Multi-Rate Speech Coder in Emergency-Response Environments,” recently released by ITS, describes laboratory tests that compared speech intelligibility over two types of VoLTE technologies with speech intelligibility over both legacy analog radios and digital LMRs. The report analyzes the results and concludes that, in some operating environments, the new technology offers clearer voice communication than currently used existing systems. A panel of 15 public safety practitioners from 14 agencies and jurisdictions tested VoLTE transmissions under 7 different simulated field conditions. Five companies loaned equipment or provided support for equipment used in this and related work. In only one of 14 cases was VoLTE intelligibility lower than that of current standard equipment.

The work described in this report was carried out in the Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) laboratories at ITS. PSCR is a collaborative interagency project sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Interoperability and Compatibility and the National Institute of Standards and Technology Office of Law Enforcement Standards.

Laboratory: U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC)

Summary: The U.S. Army seeks a partner to license and commercialize a patented technology to enhance wireless communication network robustness and security, as well as to enable new radar target detection techniques.

Overview: CERDEC’s Intelligence and Information Warfare Directorate has successfully created and demonstrated the advanced pulse-compressed noise (APCN) radar waveform. The APCN waveform enables a noise correlation radar (NCR) detection system that has low susceptibility to co-channel interference and a low probability of intercept by outside parties. The robustness of the waveform means it retains fidelity even in a crowded radio frequency environment. The low probability of intercept enables a level of security not currently available to radar.

An enhanced battery technology that can potentially reduce the time it takes to charge cell phones, electric vehicles, and other battery-powered devices from hours to minutes is the subject of a commercial license agreement between Battelle and Vorbeck Materials Corp. of Jessup, Md.  Battelle operates the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash.

Vorbeck Materials has licensed an enhanced battery technology that was developed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and could reduce the time it takes to charge cell phones and other battery-powered devices from hours to minutes. Pictured here is a PNNL lab test for lithium ion batteries. (Photo: PNNL)

The agreement will allow Vorbeck to bring to market lithium batteries incorporating Vor-X® graphene technology for use in consumer portable electronic and medical devices, tools and electric vehicles. Lithium-ion batteries are rechargeable and are widely used in electronic devices such as laptops and smartphones, as well as to power electric cars and trucks.

“Today, a typical cell phone battery takes between two and five hours to fully recharge, and an electric vehicle has to be plugged in most of the night to recharge,” explained John Lettow, president of Vorbeck Materials. “The pioneering work done by Vorbeck, Princeton University, and PNNL is leading to the development of batteries that recharge quickly, reducing the time it takes to charge a smartphone to minutes and an electric vehicle to just a couple of hours.”

Lettow noted that the research effort also could lead to the development of batteries that are more stable, have a longer life, and store larger amounts of energy.

“We are very pleased to add this substantial portfolio of graphene-based battery technologies, developed with PNNL and Princeton, to our already very strong graphene patent portfolios in conductive inks, printed electronics, composite materials, and energy storage,” added Lettow.

“This license is the culmination of a substantial investment of laboratory-directed research and development funds, innovative work by our researchers, and a proactive patenting strategy recently deployed at PNNL,” said Cheryl Cejka, the national laboratory’s director of technology commercialization. “PNNL is a leader in linking research to real-world impact, so we are thrilled to see a company like Vorbeck bring our technology to U.S. consumers.”

Electronics and auto manufacturers would like to develop the next generation of batteries using low-cost materials such as titanium dioxide to replace the more expensive materials used today. But titanium dioxide on its own doesn’t perform well enough to serve as a replacement.

Recently, PNNL researchers collaborated with Vorbeck to develop a method for building tiny titanium oxide and carbon structures, and then demonstrated that small quantities of Vor-X® graphene—a good electronic conductor made from ultra-thin sheets of carbon atoms—can dramatically improve the performance of the batteries, especially with respect to how rapidly the batteries can be charged.

Structural analysis studies of the material were conducted with scientists at the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), a DOE national user facility located at PNNL. When they compared how well the new combination of electrode materials charged and discharged electric current, the electrodes containing graphene outperformed the standard titanium dioxide by up to three times.

Lettow noted that the Vorbeck-PNNL team recently received a grant from the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy to develop advanced battery chemistries, and has contracts with major manufacturers for graphene-based printed electronics and battery systems. “As a result, Vorbeck anticipates continued breakthroughs, new patents, and rapid commercialization of the new technology in consumer goods,” he said. “Prototypes of Vorbeck’s battery technologies were already on display earlier this month at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.”

As technology transfer professionals, a frequent topic for discussion is how to nurture the next generation of U.S. scientists, researchers, and engineers. We are all aware that replenishing the workforce is necessary to perform the work that makes federal laboratories and their technologies such an engine for innovation—and, as such, is key to economic development. With that in mind, there’s no question why science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education is such a hot topic when we get together to discuss the tech transfer community’s needs and concerns.

So it’s disheartening to see this piece that the New York Times posted earlier this week. The interactive graphic shows in stark clarity that girls are more successful in STEM in many countries that aren’t the U.S. The source for the visual is “a test given in 65 developed countries by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [that] finds that among a representative sample of 15-year-olds around the world, girls generally outperform boys in science—but not in the United States.”

If we want to keep pace, we need students of all genders interested in STEM. What can we in the technology transfer community do to help address this imbalance? Share your thoughts in the comments!

At the start of this year, we told you about a hearing in Huntsville that previewed some exciting plans for innovation and partnerships in manufacturing. Late last month, NIST and the National Science and Technology Council released the full report of what this network would look like.

The report presents a vision and a preliminary map for a National Network for Manufacturing Innovation, including what it would do, how it would be funded, how it would operate and collaborate with industry, and proposed institutes—as well as a rationale for why it’s a good investment. The National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute (NAMII) served as a pilot case, and the report uses lessons learned in building the NAMII to provide practical advice for establishing a network with multiple institutes. Activities proposed for the institutes in this network include:

• Applied research, development, and demonstration projects that reduce the cost and risk of developing and implementing new technologies in advanced manufacturing
• Education and training at all levels
• Development of innovative methodologies and practices for increasing the capabilities and capacity for supply chain expansion and integration
• Engagement with small- and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises, as well as large original equipment manufacturers (OEMs)
• Access to shared facility infrastructure, with the goal of scaling up production from laboratory demonstrations and making technologies ready for manufacture.

The goal is to revitalize the U.S. manufacturing industry through public-private partnerships and collaborations. What do you think?

View NIST’s press release, or read the full report.

Greetings from D.C.  As the new Congress takes office, I thought I would provide a little information on some leadership changes for the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.  The committee is first among several equals in the House that are of importance to the technology transfer community and those interested in federally funded research programs in general.  The committee has oversight responsibility for all non-defense, federal, scientific R&D programs and, most importantly to our members, federal technology transfer.

Taking over as the new Committee Chair is Lamar Smith (R-TX), recently of the House Judiciary Committee, where he played a key role in the passage of the America Invents Act.  On January 8, he announced the new subcommittee chairs and two other leadership positions for the 113^th Congress.  All told, the committee will have 40 members—22 Republican (majority) and 18 Democratic (minority). At the time of this writing, all Republican members have been identified, but only six Democrats have been named to the Committee.

Chairman Smith notes that “[T]he Science Committee plays an exciting role in the discoveries of science, the exploration of space, and the application of new technologies.”  Overseeing a $39 billion budget, “more than 80% of which touches on research and development,” the Committee is charged with encouraging the R&D that “leads to new innovations and technological advancements, which will strengthen our economy and raise our standard of living.”  Looking ahead, he points out that in the coming term the Committee will “promote policies that support our nation’s space program, encourage energy independence, expand scientific education, fund basic research, and enhance the development of new technologies.”

There are now six subcommittees (there were five in the 112^th Congress) to handle the Committee’s workload: Energy (Chair Cynthia Lummis, R-WY), Environment (which used to be combined with Energy; Chair Andy Harris, R-MD), Space (Chair Steven Palazzo, R-MS), Research (Chair Larry Bucshon, R-IN), Technology (Chair Thomas Massie, R-KY) and Oversight (Chair Paul Broun, R-GA).  While all are important to the federal S&T community generally, the Subcommittee on Technology specifically identifies technology transfer as part of its portfolio, and it is under this subcommittee that most tech transfer activity (e.g., hearings, legislative proposals) will occur.

As the 112^th Congress came to a close, former Committee Chair Ralph Hall (R-TX) issued a summary of the accomplishments. Noted under “technology transfer” were two hearings held by the then-titled Technology and Innovation Subcommittee: one on the role of small businesses (and the SBIR/STTR programs) in innovation and job creation, held in spring 2011, and a second held in summer 2012 that focused on creative approaches to the Bayh-Dole Act.  Although the more detailed legislative agenda for the House Science, Space and Technology Committee has yet to be posted, as the 113^th Congress begins its business, one wonders what level of congressional interest there may be in technology transfer over the coming two years.

All 2013 award winners have now been announced. The FLC congratulates more than 25 laboratories and 130 individuals for their outstanding technology transfer efforts.

Winners span across 11 agencies and cover the best and brightest of your recent efforts. We honor laboratory representatives, directors, and other tech transfer professionals; laud collaborations, outreach and development efforts; and recognize long-term tech transfer professionals as well as newcomers.

A round of applause to all. Your hard work has really paid off!

To see the full slate of winners, click here.

Since 1917, scientists and engineers at the U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) have extended their talent and expertise in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) beyond the defense against chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosives threats. They have mentored students in their surrounding community in an effort to inspire, develop, and attract a highly skilled STEM workforce that is prepared to find solutions to complex problems and tackle the challenges of the future.

Daniel O’Neill, a young mechanical engineer who has only worked at the Center for the past  2 1/2 years, has already started to pay it forward to 14 students at Bohemia High School in Cecil County, Md.

“I first attended an info session held by the Center’s community and educational outreach program manager, Mary Doak, where she described all the programs she’s in charge of, then briefed opportunities that were available and asked us about our area of interests,” O’Neill said.

“After I filled out a survey, Mary contacted me to see if I was interested in working with local high school students as part of the FIRST [For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology] Tech Challenge,” he continued. “I thought it sounded pretty neat and went for it.”

The FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) is a competition that allows students to design, build and program robots, to apply real-world math and science concepts while developing

ECBC Mechanical Engineer Dan O’Neill (left) mentors Team ‘Baybillies,’ students from Bohemia Manor High School in Cecil County, during this year’s FTC robotics competition. (Photo: Mary Doak, Edgewood Chemical Biological Center)

problem-solving, organizational and team-building skills. Participating teams have the opportunity to compete in tournaments, earn a place in the world championship, and vie for $16 million in college scholarships.

Referring to his skills in microelectronics and experience in basic programming from college, O’Neill was poised to mentor Cecil County’s students, who as a class coined their FTC team “Baybillies” and their robot project “Robot de Niro.”

“While class instructor Andy Borzok was their primary coach, I served as backup for him,” O’Neill explained. “I was there to share advice and guidance when students were stuck on a problem and to give them an idea of engineering in the real world.

“When team members, for example, became discouraged that one of their ideas didn’t work, I reassured them that this happens in the workplace all the time, that it was part of the engineering process and that you could never expect your first idea to work perfectly the first time.”

If the team was in doubt about a technical approach or the programming code, O’Neill regularly corresponded with Borzok to address the issue and exchange suggestions.

“I was impressed with the team’s overall enthusiasm and their eagerness to learn,” he stated. “In terms of technical abilities, I was amazed how quickly they picked up the C programming, quicker than some of the kids in college classes.

“It is rewarding to see their excitement about science and engineering and that I had some impact on their interest to move into STEM fields,” he concluded. “Mentoring can definitely offer a fresh, new perspective on how younger minds work and what they are capable of.”

Daniel O’Neill (middle) attends the regional FTC competition in Annapolis, Md., to support the "Baybillies." (Photo: Mary Doak, Edgewood Chemical Biological Center)

Three weeks ago, the first of six qualifying FTC tournaments was held in Annapolis, Md., where the Baybillies ranked eleventh of 28 teams. For their ingenuity in the autonomous period of the competition, the team won the Rockwell-Collins Innovate award. In addition, their overall performance helped the team accelerate to the FTC State Championship at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab on Feb. 23. They collectively decided to participate in the next regional event on Feb. 9 at Havre de Grace High School to adequately prepare for the upcoming state championship.

In celebration of National Mentoring Month, ECBC acknowledges all of its employees who have mentored students from kindergarten through college in additional programs, such as Edgewood Middle School’s A.M. Academic Club, the Science and Math Academy, Joppatowne High School’s Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Program, local Project Lead the Way Biomedical Sciences and Pre-Engineering Programs, the FreeState ChalleNGe program, the Army’s Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program, the Center’s Minority Undergraduate Summer Internship Program, and the SMART Scholarship Program.

Laboratory: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)

Overview: Class 8 tractor-trailers consume 11 to 12 percent of the total U.S. petroleum use. As much as 65 percent of the fuel goes to overcoming air resistance, or aerodynamic drag. Making heavy trucks more aerodynamic and reducing air resistance will greatly increase fuel efficiency. However, trucks are much more complicated than cars and planes, which are integrated and streamlined. The two challenges are the gap between the truck and the trailer as well as the trailer’s shape. That box-like configuration, so excellent for maximizing cargo space, is highly unstreamlined. Fairings, which smooth a vehicle’s shape and reduce drag, are common on airplanes and motorcycles but are used less frequently on trucks because they may interfere with loading and unloading. LLNL scientists, and researchers from other members of a Department of Energy collaboration, have developed several new fairings and other drag-reduction devices.

Description: The goal of the research and development project is to reduce drag by at least 25 percent, which would represent a 12-percent improvement in fuel economy at highway speeds, equivalent to the oil in 130 midsize tanker ships per year. Devices that LLNL has developed include:

• Underbody fairings
• Wheel fairings
• Trailer skirts
• Boat-tail plates
• Gap plates
• Vortex fans.

These devices have been examined in wind-tunnel testing, track tests, and computational fluid-dynamics modeling on supercomputers.

Benefits: Installation of drag-reduction devices significantly increases fuel efficiency. The least expensive approach is to install them after purchasing the vehicle—during after-market detailing.

Applications: Any combination of these devices can be installed on any big-rig tractor-trailer.

For more information, view the listing (including video demonstration) here or contact Leah Rogers.

Last week, the Southeast Region announced a date for its annual regional meeting, usually held in late winter or early spring. However, the March date has been temporarily postponed. The new date has not yet been determined, but we’ll keep you posted, so look for updates soon!

If you’re part of the Southeast Region, you’ll still have a chance to network with others in your region soon at the FLC national meeting this April. If you have suggestions for the regional meeting or other regional activities, share them there or email Cris Johnsrud of the Regional Support Office.

Thank you for your continued participation in the Region and its valuable meetings, networking, and training efforts.

The NextGen Integration and Evaluation Capability (NIEC) cockpit simulator (see photo) is capable of reconfiguration to virtually any aircraft type using large format graphic displays equipped with touch overlays, enclosed cockpit shell, ambient sound synthesizer, and 190 degree out-the-window visual system. The cockpit is configured as an Airbus 320, and has conversion kits for the Boeing B-737 and B-777. The simulator is medium fidelity to any aircraft type, and can be flown in standard aircraft configuration or modified to accept test systems for human in-the-loop evaluations. The cockpit is fully integrated with the NIEC airspace simulation capability, and can be extended to operate within the FAA Federal Laboratory’s overall NAS simulation capability by virtue of its Aviation Simnet interface.

NIEC cockpit simulator. (Photo: TSL)

The FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center is one of the nation’s premier aviation research, development, test and evaluation facilities. Its world-class laboratories and top-notch engineering place the Technical Center at the forefront of the FAA’s challenge to modernize the U.S. air transportation system. The Technical Center serves as the FAA national scientific test base for research and development, test and evaluation, and verification and validation for air traffic control, communications, navigation, airports, aircraft safety, and security. It is the primary facility supporting the nation’s Next Generation Air Transportation System, called NextGen.

At last we are in full swing planning the annual FLC Southeast Region training meeting, which will be held March 6-8, 2013, at the Francis Marion Hotel in Charleston, S.C.

The agenda will be full of opportunities to gain knowledge that will increase effectiveness for technology transfer professionals.  Session topics are under development; however, they will include presentations on how to use social media (including the Southeast Region’s Facebook page) to market laboratory technologies and capabilities, demonstrations of the FLC’s new tools and capabilities that you can utilize in your own offices, legal aspects and impacts of the patent law changes for laboratory intellectual property management, and more!

We will also recognize the Region’s award-winning laboratories and their innovators and partners during the awards luncheon scheduled for Thursday, March 7, 2013.

An agenda will be posted soon on the website, and registration will open in the coming days.

We look forward to seeing you in Charleston!!

Nationally, you’ll elect a Chair, Vice-Chair, and three Members-at-Large. If you’re in the Mid-Continent, Northeast, or Southeast regions, you’ll vote on your Regional Coordinators and Deputies as normally scheduled. The Mid-Atlantic Region has also called a special election to fill a vacant Regional Coordinator position. All nomination periods will be open through February 25.

If you’re a laboratory representative, agency representative, or Consortium Participant, you can run or nominate another person who meets those qualifications. You’ll also need to provide proof that your organization of employment supports your serving in the position if elected.

Laboratory and agency representatives (or their alternates) will vote on the candidates submitted. If you’ll be attending the national meeting, voting will begin there on April 24. If you’re not, absentee voting will take place earlier in the spring. If you’re not sure yet, that’s fine—just don’t vote twice!

To find out more, click here. If you have questions about the process, send us an email.

Now is the chance to nominate the people you think will best lead the FLC. You only have 30 days. Don’t miss this opportunity to participate in your Consortium!

Summary: Neural network-based method for estimating helicopter low airspeed

USDA-ARS is looking for input/suggestions as it begins planning and setting research priorities for the next five years for its veterinary, medical and urban entomology research program. You can post your suggestions to the USDA “Idea Space.”

Research under this program focuses on eliminating losses to animal production and products caused by insect-transmitted diseases; enhancing animal food product safety and quality; improving the quality of life for humans by combating agricultural and urban pests; and increasing the value and competitiveness of U.S. agriculture. This space will remain open for ideas and comments through March 8, 2013.

You must register first (top right-hand corner) before you can post ideas and comments.

Please let me know (301-504-1663) if you have any problems accessing the site or have questions about posting your comments.

Every year, the U.S. airline industry loses more than $600 million in damages as a result of aircraft collisions with wildlife. Approximately 97 percent of those collisions involve birds.

Research plane over geese. (Photo: Gail Keirn)

Vision is a primary sensory pathway in birds, and recent research indicates that aircraft lighting may increase a bird’s ability to detect and avoid approaching aircraft, thus potentially reducing bird-aircraft collisions.

Researchers at the USDA National Wildlife Research Center’s (NWRC) Sandusky, Ohio, field station are working collaboratively with private companies and universities (i.e., Purdue University and Indiana State University) to learn more about how birds detect and respond to approaching objects. Results from experiments have direct implications for the design of aircraft lighting systems. Current efforts involve the field testing of lighting systems using radio-controlled aircraft (approximately 10 feet in wingspan) and captive Canada geese.

NWRC scientist recording data. (Photo: Gail Keirn)

Because of their large size and flocking behavior, Canada geese pose a high risk to airplanes. According to Federal Aviation Administration strike statistics for 1990-2010, Canada geese accounted for a disproportionate number of the bird-aircraft collisions recorded and caused more catastrophic damage to aircraft when struck as compared to other bird species.

Indiana State University scientist with remote-controlled plane. (Photo: Gail Keirn)

Using knowledge about birds’ visual systems, NWRC researchers and their collaborators tested the response of Canada geese to two radio-controlled aircraft: the first, a standard fixed-wing design, approaching either with lights off or with lights on, and a separate aircraft that in form and paint scheme resembled a bird of prey. First, researchers found geese responded to both aircraft as they would to a predator (i.e., both aircraft posed a threat to the birds). Second, the geese responded more quickly to the threat of the approaching standard model aircraft when its lights were on, making it more visible to the birds, relative to lights-off approaches or the predator model.

In case you missed our announcement last week, registration is open for this year’s national meeting!

We’ve put together a really exciting agenda this year, with more to come. Don’t miss our experts, in-depth training, networking with industry, or the chance to recognize your fellow tech transfer professionals.

Register now. Early bird rates are in effect until March 1.

Hope to see you in Colorado!

It is with great regret that we announce the resignation of Paul Fritz as FLC Mid-Atlantic Regional Coordinator, effective immediately.

Deputy Coordinator Dr. Courtney Silverthorn will serve as Acting Regional Coordinator until a special election can be held at the national meeting. Please look for details next week.

We would like to take the opportunity to thank Paul for his longstanding dedication to furthering the FLC’s mission in promoting technology transfer in the Mid-Atlantic Region.  Thanks to his tireless efforts our laboratories are expanding key partnerships with industry, academia, and local governments.  While Paul’s contributions will be missed, Dr. Silverthorn brings an energy and expertise that will serve her well in her new position.

Thank you for your continued support during this transition.

Laboratory: NASA Langley Research Center

Summary: Self-activating system and method for alerting when an object or a person is left unattended.

Overview: A system and method use a wireless tether comprising a transmitter and a receiver to alert a caregiver that an object has been left unattended. A detector senses the presence of the object, usually a child, located in a position such as a safety seat. The detector is operatively coupled to the transmitter, which is located near the object. The transmitter transmits at least one wireless signal when the object is in the position. The receiver, which is remotely located from the transmitter, senses at least one signal as long as the receiver is within a prescribed range of transmission. By performing a timing function, the receiver monitors the proximity of the caregiver, who maintains possession of the receiver, to the transmitter. The system communicates an alarm to the caregiver when the caregiver ventures outside the range of transmission without having removed the object from the position.

Opportunity: Patent, license available

Reference Number: LAR-16324-2

Contact: Sandra Pretlow, Office of Partnership Development

View the full listing here.

Laboratory: Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Overview: A versatile new power electronics system for electric and hybrid electric vehicles (EVs/HEVs) solves several key challenges in green transportation. Current EVs and plug-in HEVs require an external plug-in charger powered by the utility grid. This ORNL technology eliminates the need for an external charger and enables these vehicles to function as mobile electrical power generators for emergency and other uses.

Description: The technology integrates the battery-charging function into the electrical motor drive system. By using only the onboard inverter and motor without adding any inductors or switches, this system reduces component cost. The system also remedies problems such as inadequate battery capacity and inconvenient chargers.

Specifically, this power electronics system transfers power between an energy storage device, an onboard electrical power generator, a vehicle drive shaft, and an external load. A mode selection switch tells an electronics controller to operate in one of three modes: propulsion mode, for driving the vehicle; charging mode, for charging the battery; or sourcing mode, for supplying power to external loads.

Benefits:

• Integrates level 1 (slow) and level 2 (fast) battery charging functions into the electrical motor drive system
• Enables hybrid vehicles to supply power to external loads without additional components
• Functions as a mobile electrical power generator for emergency and other uses.

Applications and Industries:

• Electric vehicles
• Hybrid electric vehicles.

Opportunity: Available for license.

For more information, view the full summary or contact David L. Sims.

Explosive specialist Patrick O’Connor. (Photo: Bridget Willoughby.)

Explosive specialists Theresa McGhee and Patrick O’Connor operate the Transportation Security Laboratory’s Modified Bureau of Mines (MBOM) impact test apparatus to determine the energy required to initiate a homemade explosive test sample.

The Transportation Security Laboratory (TSL) is a Department of Homeland Security federal laboratory located at the William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City, N.J. TSL’s core mission is to enhance homeland security by performing research, development, and validation of solutions to detect and mitigate the threat of improvised explosive devices. The lab also conducts certification testing for explosive detection systems.

TSL’s specially designed facilities are used to perform research on explosives characteristics and chemistry, suicide detection imaging technology, communications, and human factors performance evaluations.

Explosive specialist Theresa McGhee. (Photo: Bridget Willoughby)

The six specialized lab cells (four blast-resistant) are used to evaluate explosives detection equipment, weapons imaging systems, and trace equipment against an extensive library of domestic, foreign, and homemade explosive compounds.

Overview: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has developed a wheelchair convoy system (WCS) that will allow one attendant to transport a group of people safely at one time.

Key Features:

• Provides ability to transport multiple people with mobility difficulties at one time
• Eliminates the need for unsafe practices, reduces staff required, and reduces time involved in transport
• Compatible with manual and power wheelchairs
• Encourages participation in group activities by removing the current limitations moving a group of people with mobility difficulties

Description: The wheelchair convoy system consists of a manual wheelchair frame with motorized rear wheels, a processor, and a physical or “virtual” linkage between the chairs. (Video of the WCS in action)

Competitive Advantage: The developed convoy system will reduce the time that people with disabilities spend waiting for someone to move them between locations, reduce staff time and physical effort required for transportation, and thereby also increase social and therapeutic opportunities for clients while accommodating staffing limitations.

This wheelchair convoy system:

• Eliminates the need for unsafe practices such as pushing two wheelchairs at the same time by holding one handlebar on the back of each wheelchair, or pushing one wheelchair from the rear with one arm while pulling the second from the front with the other arm.
• Provides a mechanism for evacuating wheelchair users from a facility in the event of an emergency.
• Is compatible with both powered and manual wheelchairs.
• Reduces time, cost, and safety measures required to transport groups of people in a vehicle (cart, van, bus, etc.).

Opportunity: The VA is looking for a partner for further development and commercialization of this technology through a license. The VA inventors are also available to collaborate with interested companies through a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA).

Contact: Ken Levin, Ph.D., VA Technology Transfer Program

View the full listing here.

Greetings from D.C.  Despite a global economy that continues to underperform, intellectual property (IP) protection filings (for patents, trademarks, industrial designs and plant varieties) grew significantly in 2011.  At the same time, the Chinese patent office now accounts for the greatest number of patent, utility model, trademark, and industrial design filings in the world (with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office [USPTO] second)—according to the newly released World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Global IP Indicators report for 2012.

As the WIPO report shows, in 2011 the total number of patent applications filed exceeded 2 million for the first time ever (1.36 million resident and 0.78 million nonresident), reflecting a 7.8-percent growth rate.  China led the way in patent applications, with 526,412, followed by the U.S. with 503,582 and Japan with 342,610. PCT filings (international) also set a new record, with 182,354 in 2011 (an 11-percent growth rate, the fastest since 2005).  Together, China, Japan, and the U.S. accounted for 82 percent of that international growth.

There were also nearly 1 million patents granted worldwide in 2011 (606,800 issued to residents and 390,000 issued to non-residents), showing a growth rate of 9.7 percent.  The Japan Patent Office (JPO) granted the largest number of patents (238,323) followed by the USPTO (224,505).

The number of total patents in force also grew in 2011 (by 6.9 percent), to an estimated 7.88 million.  With 2.1 million patents in force, the USPTO had the largest number, followed by JPO with more than 1.5 million.

The number of trademark applications doubled between 2005 and 2011, from roughly 2 million to 4.2 million.  Rapid growth in trademark filings in China accounted for nearly 62 percent of this growth rate.

There were approximately 23 million trademarks in force in 2011, through 70 IP offices worldwide.  China accounted for 5.5 million (24 percent), while Japan and the United States each had more than 1.7 million.

Industrial design filings increased by 16 percent in 2011, again due mainly to strong growth in China (which accounted for 90 percent of total growth between 2009 and 2011).  There were 775,700 industrial design applications filed, of which 691,200 were resident and 84, 500 were nonresident.  More than 2.5 million industrial designs were in force at 77 offices worldwide in 2011.  Once again, China had the largest number (over 37 percent of the total).

The total number of plant variety applications increased from 10,000 to 14,000 for the period 1995 to 2011.  The number of plant variety grants worldwide peaked at 11,100 in 2010, and decreased slightly in 2011 to an estimated 10,200.  Total grants in force in 2011 were estimated to be 94,300 (doubled from 1995).

You can find the full report here.

Laboratory: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)

Description: The HERMES bridge inspector is an ultra wideband-based nondestructive evaluation (NDE) system. The LLNL-developed system provides 3-D ground penetrating radar information. An array of micropower impulse radar (MIR) sensors is mounted under a trailer. Reflected radar data is gathered by driving the trailer over a bridge at 55 mph, and 3-D image maps of the internal structure of the bridge deck are created.

Background: Concrete structures are ubiquitous in the infrastructure of the country. Bridge decks, roadways, parking structures and more require condition assessment and diagnosis to ensure safety. Currently, bridge decks are inspected using visual inspection augmented by chain dragging or hammering to detect changes in sound reverberations. These protocols result in subjective, highly variable, and unreliable information. They also require that traffic be rerouted during evaluation. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is an evaluation protocol being used more often due to its greater quantitative evaluation. Current 2-D evaluation systems require significant amounts of skilled operator labor for setup, measurement and evaluation, and can also result in subjective evaluations.

Advantages:

Potential Applications: The HERMES system was designed for bridge inspection-detecting delaminations, cracks, voids, etc., as they age, but construction also requires evaluation of structures. Assessment of other concrete structures would benefit from the 3-D images HERMES provides.

Opportunity: The HERMES system and its successor, PERES, are being tested by the Federal Highway Administration for further validation of its bridge inspection capabilities compared to current GPR techniques. LLNL scientists and engineers are experts in nondestructive evaluation techniques, and have the capability to transfer this knowledge to numerous commercial applications.

Contact: Genaro Mempin

View the full listing here.

The innovative public-private partnership around manufacturing we wrote about earlier this year already has a potential expansion in the works! In about two weeks, Huntsville, Ala., will be home to the first public hearing to discuss opening 15 similar centers around the nation. According to the Huntsville Times, local and national manufacturing leaders will talk with Obama Administration officials and others to discuss these centers, which if created would enable “states, cities, companies and colleges [to] collaborate to apply new technologies in ways that improve U.S. manufacturing and innovation.”

The hearing will be hosted by the Department of Defense, with support from NASA and its Marshall Space Flight Center, as well as the University of Alabama at Huntsville.

The pilot center for this program is the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute (NAMII), which centers on 3D printing, launched in fall 2012 in Youngstown, Ohio. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) would organize the additional centers.

For more information about the hearing, click here—or to learn more about what’s going on to promote manufacturing in the U.S., visit manufacturing.gov.

The discussion’s on about public-private manufacturing partnerships. Start talking in the comments!

The findings from a decade of wake turbulence research are helping to reduce airport delays, shorten final approaches to airports, and decrease fuel burn and emissions. Wake turbulence, the movement of air created by an aircraft in motion, may be an esoteric field of study, but the body of knowledge from this field of research has enabled the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to make operational changes in the National Airspace System (NAS), allowing for smaller minimum aircraft separation distances in some situations and increased rates of takeoffs and landings on runways.

Technical staff at the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center have been intimately involved in wake turbulence research for nearly 40 years. Volpe experts, along with scientists and engineers from the FAA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), sensor manufacturers, Eurocontrol, and many other organizations have improved the methods, sensor technologies, and data processing and analysis techniques for measuring wake turbulence. These improvements have provided a greater degree of fidelity in the characterization of wake turbulence, thereby increasing confidence in the measured results and associated safety assessment processes.

A light detection and ranging (LIDAR) system used to measure atmospheric particles in motion. (Photo: Volpe Center)

Encountering wake turbulence disrupts the aerodynamic properties of aircraft, similar to the way wakes created by ships affect other vessels. Like wakes on the water, aircraft wakes dissipate over time and space. When an aircraft proceeds along a runway for takeoff or completes its airport approach and lands, air traffic controllers must allow the wake turbulence created by that aircraft to dissipate or move away from the flight path before other aircraft take off or land. Generally, the larger the aircraft, the greater the amount of wake turbulence and the longer the time required for the wake to dissipate. Understanding how wake turbulence dissipates over time and space, as well as understanding how it is affected by winds and other environmental factors, is essential for determining aircraft separation standards and the time delay required between successive takeoffs and landings.

The implementation of operational changes based on scientific exploration is a success story for the wake turbulence research community. As a federal organization, Volpe not only conducts quality wake turbulence research, it collaborates with operators and policy makers—in this case, air traffic controllers, pilot groups, and FAA headquarters offices—to implement research results.

Three changes in the way operations are conducted highlight the benefits of this seemingly esoteric field of study:

• Recategorization: Based on the improved understanding of wake turbulence dynamics, the FAA has made several operational changes that increase the capacity of the NAS. Beginning at Memphis International Airport (MEM), new separation standards that allow reduced spacing between aircraft are being used. Referred to as “wake turbulence recategorization,” the FAA has moved from a separation distance based primarily on aircraft weight, to one that also incorporates several aircraft design characteristics. This will allow more aircraft to take off and land per hour at this busy FedEx hub.
• Wake Turbulence Mitigation for Departures (WTMD): Through various field experiments, scientists and engineers have refined their understanding of how winds interact with wakes and affect wake dissipation. This improved understanding has been especially important for airports with closely spaced parallel runways: runways separated by less than 2,500 feet. Upwind parallel runways are now known to be affected less by wakes generated by aircraft departing from downwind parallel runways. To take advantage of this insight, three airports—Houston (IAH), Memphis (MEM), and San Francisco (SFO)—are currently installing a system that monitors the actual and predicated wind at that airport. When conditions are within a prescribed safety margin, the WTMD system informs the air traffic operation that a specific runway use can be accomplished free from wake constraints.
• Parallel Runways: Prior to 2008, airports with closely spaced parallel runways were operated during instrument conditions as if there was a single runway to protect small aircraft from the wakes of large aircraft on the adjacent runway. A series of multi-sensor measurement campaigns over several years showed that this “2,500-foot rule” was overly conservative. The FAA has changed the operational procedures at nine airports to allow parallel approaches under specific conditions that had not been allowed previously, thereby increasing airport capacity and reducing arrival delays. Two of the most delayed airports in the NAS, San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), were recent additions to the authorized procedure.

The technologies used to conduct wake turbulence measurements are state-of-the-art and complex, as one might expect. Pulsed LIDARs (light detection and ranging systems) in the infrared range have become the preferred technology.  These devices emit short pulses of laser light that interact with microscopic particles in the atmosphere. The atmospheric particles cause the laser light to scatter, and a portion of this light is scattered back toward the LIDAR. The back-scattered light that reaches the LIDAR provides information on wind velocity and direction. Each pulse, through the same time-of-flight operating principle used in the radar tracking of vehicles on roadways, provides data about the location of the particle that caused the back scatter. Since these atmospheric particles faithfully follow the wind field, pulsed LIDAR directed at an aircraft’s wake provides the detailed information on the movement of these microscopic particles in and around the wake. Technical staff use this information to reconstruct the features of aircraft wake vortices.

Ed.: This article originally appeared in Volpe’s news center on Nov. 30, 2012.

Laboratory: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Summary: Device that allows a patient to remain independent at home, and to stand and walk for rehabilitation.

Opportunity: Available for licensing

HLPR Chair assisting patient with walking. (Photo: NIST)

Description: The Home Lift, Position and Rehabilitation (HLPR) Chair is a powered wheelchair with lift and transfer capability that could be used in hospitals, rehabilitation centers, physical therapy, nursing homes, and private home care. No other medical device provides multiple functions like the HLPR Chair, which has basic mobility similar to a typical powered chair. However, HLPR also provides lift to reach from the floor to tall shelves. It allows patients to stand and walk on the floor while being supported for rehabilitation so the patient does not need to leave the home or hospital room to exercise or be rehabilitated. And, with a unique chair rotation capability, HLPR can transfer a patient independently onto a toilet, bed, or chair with no or minimal help from caregivers. This design can dramatically reduce the more than 200,000 nurse and caregiver injuries that cost approximately $1 billion per year in the U.S., while maintaining patient dignity and independence.

With a simple joystick and switches, the patient controls his or her own mobility, lift, and/or positioning. A duplicate joystick set is provided for a nurse or caregiver in cases where patients are not independent. Even initial autonomous HLPR Chair mobility has been successfully tested to allow one-button commands to dock with a toilet. Sip and puff, voice, and other input types could be used with the HLPR Chair. A unique sling has been developed and tested, or off-the-shelf slings can be used with HLPR to support and/or transfer the patient. HLPR can enter through most home doorways, depending upon patient size, as its design scales easily to support small patients through very large bariatric patients.

Two full-scale, “looks-like, works-like” units have been built and tested in the NIST Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory, and static and dynamic stability tests have been completed. Designs for improving HLPR as an elevator for multi-story homes, patient removal from cars at emergency rooms, and lifting patients who have fallen to the floor are conceptualized and ready to build and test.

Delivering innovative and advanced capabilities is the key to ensuring national security and keeping the Department of the Navy ready to meet existing and future challenges,” said Chief of Naval Research Rear Adm. Matthew L. Klunder. “The pipeline of intellectual property produced by scientists and engineers in partnerships across the Naval Research Enterprise is the backbone to bringing new innovations to bear for the Navy and Marine Corps.”

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) serves the Navy’s science and technology needs and is responsible for the service’s policy and direction concerning patents, inventions, trademarks, copyrights and royalty payments (intellectual property).

The Navy also recently made the second annual Top 100 Global Innovators list compiled by Thompson Reuters, the world’s largest multimedia and information conglomerate. The Navy and the Army are the first government agencies to make the list.

While highlighting the quantity of the Navy’s scientific discoveries, these distinctions also emphasize the quality of the research undertaken by Navy scientists—and the impact of their inventions over time.

“This goes beyond simply the number of patents an organization is getting,” said John Karasek, supervisory intellectual property counsel at ONR. “This confirms the strength of the Navy’s patents and shows that the Navy gets a lot of very significant, groundbreaking patents.”

One of the notable patents obtained by the Navy last year was for a fuel cell that can be embedded in the seafloor to convert the interaction of marine sediment and oxygen into electricity. The patent, covering an invention made by the Naval Research Laboratory’s (NRL) Leonard M. Tender, can help reduce the reliance on expensive batteries to power electronic devices such as remote sensors.

In the 1970s, technology invented by Roger L. Easton, a research scientist at NRL, laid the foundation for the Global Positioning System (GPS), commonly used for navigation in today’s cars and mobile devices.

Laboratory: NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center

Overview: NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has developed and patented a headset that eliminates the high-pitched feedback noise associated with behind-the-ear hearing aids.

Description: Ninety percent of hearing loss patients cannot be medically treated and must use hearing aids—often the behind-the-ear type. The most common complaint about these is the presence of feedback noise. Another common problem is the tendency of the hearing aid to shift, especially when used by infants, energetic children, or active adults. This new technology addresses both complaints.

Benefits: 

• Eliminates feedback noise by maintaining the position of the hearing aid
• Reduces damage to or loss of the hearing aid via a cord attachment to the headset
• Children and infants quickly adjust to the headband units

Potential Application(s): 

• Suitable for infants and energetic children fitted with behind-the-ear hearing aids
• Suitable for disabled people who cannot insert or adjust their hearing aids
• Suitable for active adults with hearing loss
• Works in combination with eyeglass hearing aids

Opportunity: Available for license. NASA is flexible in its agreements, and opportunities exist for exclusive, nonexclusive, or exclusive field-of-use patent licensing.

Contact: Sammy Nabors, Marshall Space Flight Center Technology Transfer Office

To view the full listing, click here.

Don Crago (center, with brace) with (from left) Dr. Musa Audu, Curtis To, Rudi Kobetic, and Thomas Bulea. (Photo credit: Jason Miller)

Veteran Don Crago has been helping engineers at the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Advanced Platform Technology (APT) Center test a dynamic brace that uses electrical stimulation to excite paralyzed muscles. The device also features controllers that lock and unlock leg joints. The goal is to enable walking for patients affected by full or partial paralysis.  The APT Center, located in Cleveland, is a joint project between the VA and Case Western Reserve University. Engineers and researchers at the Center design and build innovative prototype devices that show promise for adaptation into everyday clinical use.

Last week, we posted about our newest tool, the Small Business Resource. We told you that the federal laboratories have a lot to offer small businesses, and we weren’t kidding!

Earlier this month, two scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) received awards from the New Mexico Small Business Assistance program (NMSBA) for their work helping small businesses. Their expert assistance ranged from detecting bovine tuberculosis, improving diagnostics for traumatic brain injury, and performing an analysis to help a small company patent a natural wood-staining process.

LANL’s news release states that “At no cost to them, small businesses with technical challenges can seek assistance from Laboratory scientists or engineers for projects that require testing, design consultation, or access to special equipment or facilities.” This kind of opportunity is commonly available across the federal laboratory system.

Another way that the federal labs help small businesses involves networking to learn what opportunities match up with your small business’ capabilities. This spring, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab is presenting its 25th Annual High-Tech Small Business Conference, where small businesses can network with the federal agencies and large companies, as well as attend workshops to learn more about the process.  Registration is open now.  Army labs have recently put on at least two similar events.

Find out more about what the federal laboratories can do for small businesses using our Small Business Resource here.

Eleven U.S. agencies have joined the ranks of big names like Google, Samsung, and Citrix—along with smaller, but wildly innovative companies—as heavies based on the strength and quality of their patents.

IEEE Spectrum magazine’s (produced by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) just-released 2012 Patent Power Scorecard evaluates  both quality and quantity to rate the strength of the patent portfolios “of more than 5000 leading commercial enterprises, academic institutions, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies.” The idea is to show the impact on innovation.

For government agencies, more than half of the 20 top scorers were U.S. agencies, including the top three. The Navy, the Department of Health and Human Services, and NASA took the highest honors. The Army and the Environmental Protection Agency were also featured in the top ten.

According to IEEE Spectrum, the scores are “derived by taking the size of an organization’s patent portfolio, as measured by the number of U.S. patents it has been granted in the most recent full year (2011 in this case). This figure is then weighted based on a number of other metrics that reflect the growth, impact, originality, and generality of the organization’s patent portfolio… The focus on both patent quantity and quality allows small, innovative organizations to sit alongside much larger household names.”

Another intriguing statistic is the pipeline impact, which “shows the impact of an organization’s patent portfolio on subsequent technological developments. It is based on the idea that patents containing important technological information will form the basis for many new innovations.” The EPA shone in this category, far outranking most of the others.

Yet another of the ever-increasing proof that the federal labs’ commitment to using their technologies to benefit the world really pays off!

Other countries with strong agency showings were France, Japan, and Singapore.

View the scorecard here or read the full analysis.

Winter is a busy time for the FLC awards program!

The Awards Committee has been hard at work reviewing all your amazing submissions since the fall, and you’ve seen some of the results of that work as we announced individual category winners (e.g., Outstanding Technology Transfer Professional, Interagency Partnership, STEM Award) from late November into early December. So far we’ve had ten winners from seven agencies, and more are yet to come.

The Awards Committee is in the midst of its final review of the nominations for the Awards for Excellence in Technology Transfer. Once they finish working their magic—the statistical, validated kind—they will know the results. The deadline to nominate a Laboratory Director of the Year has just passed, and the National Advisory Council has begun reviewing the candidates.

Congratulations to all of the winners so far! We also want to extend our thanks to everyone who submitted a nomination. Your work is worth celebrating.

Keep your eyes peeled for two more announcements this winter. Winners of Awards for Excellence in Technology Transfer will be announced next week, and the Laboratory Director (or Directors!) of the Year will be revealed in late January.

For more information, visit the Awards page on our website.

On Dec. 3, the FDA announced that it is part of the new Medical Device Innovation Consortium (MDIC), the first public-private partnership to promote medical device regulatory science with a focus on speeding the development, assessment, and review of new medical devices. MDIC, an independent, nonprofit corporation created by LifeScience Alley (LSA), a biomedical science trade association, will receive input from industry, government, and other nonprofit organizations. MDIC will prioritize the regulatory science needs of the medical device community and fund projects to simplify the process of medical device design and the pathway to market for these innovations.

Regulatory science—the science of developing new tools, standards, and approaches to assess the safety, efficacy, quality, and performance of FDA-regulated products—is critical to the medical device industry and public health. Advancements in regulatory science not only aim to improve how products are developed and evaluated, but also could reduce the cost and time it takes for a promising device to come to market. For example, a computer model might be developed to test an implant on a virtual patient before a manufacturer spends the time and budget to study that product in a clinical trial.

MDIC will bolster the country’s investment in regulatory science research by pooling people, funding, resources, and ideas to develop new tools, models, and methods that may be utilized to better and more efficiently evaluate new devices. FDA staff may collaborate with MDIC on MDIC-supported research and other projects.

“By sharing and leveraging resources, MDIC may help industry to be better equipped to bring safe and effective medical devices to market more quickly and at a lower cost,” said Jeffrey Shuren, M.D., J.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health.

The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products for human use, and medical devices. The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, products that give off electronic radiation, and for regulating tobacco products.

If you’re reading this blog, you probably know that the federal labs have a wealth of unique technologies, facilities, expertise and other resources available for transfer, and that they actively work to find collaborating opportunities with industry partners. And you probably know a lot about how that works. But to a potential industry partner, there’s a lot to learn—especially for the small businesses and startups that are so crucial to our economic development.

The FLC’s goal is to make this process clear and easy for small businesses to navigate by putting everything they need to know at their fingertips. We want to guide individuals to the kind of help they need to get their business off the ground, help them expand, or fill that technical need in their existing product line.

With that in mind, we are pleased to introduce our new Small Business Resource (SBR). This new section of our website is designed to make clear some of the ways that the federal laboratories and federal technology transfer can help small businesses, and to make it easy for small businesses to get to what they need quickly.

If you’re a fledgling startup, an entrepreneur trying to make it on your own or a well-established small business, check out the SBR to learn more. We hope this resource will introduce you to federal tech transfer and what it can do for you—and from there, link you to where you need to be.

If you’re not—say you work at a federal lab or are part of state or local governments, economic development organizations, universities, etc.—you should still check it out, and tell your friends and colleagues! You can be part of the push to get this information out to the small businesses that need it.

We are very excited about the SBR and its potential. Let us know what you think! Leave a comment or email us.

Check out what’s going on in the labs and the tech transfer and innovation communities!

• ARPA-E Awards $130 Million for 66 Transformational Energy Technology Projects (Dept. of Energy)
• Energy Department Announces New Investment in U.S. Small Modular Reactor Design and Commercialization (Dept. of Energy)
• Why 3D Printing Matters for ‘Made in USA’ (LiveScience)
• A Black Hawk Helicopter Goes Autonomous - Featuring the Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center (Popular Science)
• The U.S. and The Netherlands signed an agreement to cooperate on cybersecurity research  (Dept. of Homeland Security)
• EPA Awards Almost $700,000 to Student Teams in Sustainable Technology Competition (EPA)
• NIST–VA Agreement Leads to New Research on Hearing Aids (NIST)
• Former NASA staff are key at a company that just announced plans to send commercial crews to the moon (Wired)
• DARPA and ONR helped fund “[a] new artificial lens that mimics the one found in human eyes is set to dramatically lower the weight of night-vision goggles, laser rangefinders and cameras aboard micro unmanned aerial vehicles that soldiers and marines must carry in the field” (Wired)

Taking place May 12-16, network and meet with leaders from corporations, federal agencies, and universities on technology research, commercialization and entrepreneurship

TechConnect World, the world’s largest annual innovation conference and marketplace for innovators, technology business developers, and investors, will be co-located in 2013 with the National Innovation Summit and Showcase (NISS), May 12-16 in Washington, D.C.

The joint events will feature more than 20 federal agencies and their top funded commercially-viable innovations, including Department of Energy, Department of Defense, National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Standards and Technology, NASA many more.

With over 4,000 attendees representing global research and innovation commercialization communities from over 70 countries, the joint events are an ideal platform for federal laboratories to showcase their office and IP portfolio opportunities.

Hundreds of corporate and investment partners will participate in the TechConnect Accelerator Program, presenting their strategic technology needs and looking for opportunities with innovators and entrepreneurs.  Confirmed speakers for next year include BASF, Dow, Honda, Hyundai, Intel, Lockheed Martin, Panasonic, Sanofi aventis, Solvay, Sumitomo, and more.

The conference is accepting innovation submissions; early submission deadline is December 12, final deadline is January 30, 2013.  Top ranked Innovations will be invited to speak in the partnering program; all accepted Innovations exhibit at the Showcase.

Registration for all events opens this month.  Members of the FLC receive a 10% discount off of registration.  Special pricing is also available for FLC members who would like to exhibit in the Innovation Showcase.

To learn more about the Innovation Showcase and special pricing packages, contact Derek Mayer at 512-800-9796 or dmayer@techconnect.org.

To learn more about the National Innovation Summit & Showcase, visit http://nationalinnovationsummit.com/.

To learn more about TechConnect World, visit: http://techconnectworld.com/World2013/.

The late DJ Atkinson (right) adjusts a self-contained breathing apparatus on the HATS. Note the HATS’ white ear, which closely resembles a human ear in shape and touch. (Photo credit: William Ingram, ITS)

The talking head-and-torso simulator (HATS), a tool used at the Institute of Telecommunication Sciences (ITS) in digital audio quality research for public safety emergency responders, is intended to simulate the way a human ear looks and feels. The HATS is used in experiments to transmit (speak) or receive (listen) recorded audio in the lab.

This research in digital voice and noise studies at ITS in Boulder, Colo., has improved the quality of public safety radio communications by affecting technology and design improvements, and describing best practices for radio use in the noisy environments emergency responders encounter. Electronics engineer DJ Atkinson led the research and was highly respected for his contributions to the safety of first responders. Sadly, Atkinson was killed in a motorcycle accident in April. This summer, the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council established the Atkinson Technical Award in his memory.

ITS is the research and engineering laboratory of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), an agency of the Department of Commerce. ITS performs basic research in radio science that provides the technical foundation for NTIA’s policy development and spectrum management activities. The Institute’s research capacity and expertise is used to analyze new and emerging technologies, and contribute to standards creation. ITS also serves as a principal federal resource for solving the telecommunications concerns of other federal agencies, state and local governments, private corporations and associations, and international organizations.  ITS frequently uses cooperative research agreements to work with the private sector.

Greetings from D.C.  In 2010, federal technology transfer programs across 11 agencies produced over 3,100 new Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) (over 8,500 active); disclosed nearly 4,800 new inventions; filed over 1,800 new patents (just over 1,100 issued); managed over 13,500 active licenses; and generated nearly $143 million total income on all active licenses.

More importantly, the outcomes from these activities helped to support tsunami training and readiness; make available diagnostic testing for avian flu; develop advanced sensor technology; enhance light bulb efficiency and battery technology; refine earthquake hazard assessments; create intelligent transportation systems; provide safe drinking water; improve public health via developing a meningitis vaccine, prostate cancer immunotherapy and technology for HIV detection; and much more.

These statistics can be found in the recently released Federal Laboratory Technology Transfer, Fiscal Year 2010, Summary Report to the President and Congress, prepared annually by the Department of Commerce.  As noted in this column over the past three years, the report provides government-wide results of federal technology transfer activities and includes both quantitative measures (e.g., number of licenses, earned royalty income, etc.) and qualitative measures (e.g., anecdotal evidence of downstream outcomes and benefits) by agency and summarized at the national level.

A few highlights from 2010: The Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Commerce had the highest number of active CRADAs (3,248 and 2,399, respectively); NASA and the Department of Energy (DOE) disclosed the greatest number of new inventions (1,722 and 1,616, respectively); DOE (6,224), NASA (3,901) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (1,941) were responsible for the most active licenses (equaling 89 percent of all licensing); and three agencies—HHS ($80.9M), DOE ($40.6M), and DOD ($13.4M)—were responsible for 93 percent of all licensing income received across agencies.

As reported in the prior three years, the data clearly indicate that technology transfer is a “steady, mature program” that is actively pursued across all agencies.  But the report does highlight a few interesting trends. While licenses, income-bearing licenses, income from licenses, and earned royalty income generally trended up over the past 5 years, invention disclosures, patent applications filed, and patents issued remained flat.  The number of active CRADAs, which dipped in 2008, has now increased for both of the past two years.

As always, the quantitative statistics offer only a necessary, but not sufficient, picture of federal technology transfer success.  The real measure of success is how the results of our national investment in R&D can drive national economic growth and competitiveness while meeting critical societal and agency mission needs.  The downstream outcomes section of this report helps illustrate that benefit.

The quantitative data reported here (e.g., patents, licenses, and CRADAs) are important tools by which technology transfer is accomplished, but it’s what they lead to downstream that provides the real benefits of federal technology transfer.  This is a message that the tech transfer community knows well, and must continue to communicate.

The report can be found at Federal Laboratory Technology Transfer, Fiscal Year 2010, Summary Report to the President and Congress.