DoE Invests $1.2M for National Lab Partnerships with Manufacturing Leaders

The U.S. Department of Energy announced the initial selections for the second cohort of the Technologist in Residence (TIR) Program. Three national laboratories will receive nearly $1.2 million to advance collaborative research and development focused on improving the manufacturing processes of industry partners.

The TIR Program is designed to streamline engagement and increase collaborative research and development between national laboratories and private-sector companies. The program partners a senior technologist from a national laboratory with an industry professional from a clean energy manufacturing company or consortium of companies.

The selected Technologist in Residence pairs are:

ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY AND KYMA TECHNOLOGIES

This partnership will focus on the development of advanced semiconductor devices for use in advanced power electronics, optoelectronics, solid-state lighting, and photovoltaics. The researchers will investigate the manufacturing of ultrahigh-quality, bulk, single-crystal materials for semiconductor devices.

IDAHO NATIONAL LABORATORY (INL) AND DUPONT

This partnership will focus initially on biofuel production and the opportunities to optimize an integrated ethanol cellulosic technology pathway from feedstocks through bioconversion. The technologists at INL and DuPont will partner to streamline engagement across the national lab complex, break down barriers in working with the national labs, and increase collaborative research and development between national labs and DuPont.

OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY AND PIONEER NATURAL RESOURCES

This partnership will focus on advanced materials and coatings, smart parts and sensors, advanced material design, and additive manufacturing, leveraging Oak Ridge's strong expertise and resources in advanced manufacturing.

The TIR program increases industry engagement by capitalizing on the Department of Energy's 17 national laboratories' rich history of industry partnerships and commercial impact, and helps to bridge the gap between the private sector and the national laboratories. Through this initiative, our industry partners can better understand and tackle their most important problems and discover the lab capabilities that can best solve them.

This announcement follows the successful launch of TIR in December 2015, when seven industry-lab pairs—including national companies like Proctor & Gamble, Hewlett Packard, and Cummins—were selected to undertake advanced research in clean energy manufacturing and establish mechanisms that will help interested companies more easily leverage the national lab network in the future. Learn more about the initial round of our Technologist in Residence Program.

Applications for the TIR Program are accepted and evaluated on a rolling basis to give lab and industry pairs the opportunity to apply according to their business schedule. Interested national labs and companies may determine areas of mutual interest, identify technologist pairs, and apply to TIR through the Lab Call for Proposals.