Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

From Oak Ridge:

EarthEn, a leader in advanced energy storage that is also a member of the 2023 cohort of the “Innovation Crossroads” program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), has announced its selection as a recipient of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) High Performance Computing for Energy Innovation (HPC4EI) grant, alongside its inclusion in the DOE Voucher Program. These prestigious recognitions underscore EarthEn’s commitment to pioneering scalable, efficient, and sustainable energy storage technologies.

Through the first DOE program, EarthEn will collaborate with ORNL on a project titled “Modeling of a Supercritical CO₂ Compressor-as-a-Turbine (CaT) for Energy Storage System.” By leveraging high-performance computing resources, the project aims to:

1. Optimize the design and operation of EarthEn’s Compressor-as-a-Turbine (CaT) for energy storage;
2. Enhance thermodynamic efficiency in the energy storage cycle using supercritical CO_₂; and
3. Develop a cost-effective and scalable solution for large-scale deployment of CO_₂-based energy storage.

In addition to the HPC4EI grant, EarthEn was selected for two opportunities under DOE’s Voucher Program. Funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the program provides in-kind commercialization assistance to help companies address key barriers in bringing energy technologies to market.

1. The first voucher focuses on overcoming adoption risks associated with scaling up from research to production.
2. The second voucher is designed to validate EarthEn’s technology performance under certification-relevant conditions, preparing it for market deployment.

From Knoxville:

Jennifer Zachry, Co-Founder and Director of Business Development at Orion Therapeutics Inc., was a presenter during the November 21 inaugural SCbioDrive Accelerator cohort Demo Day by virtue of the company being an alum of the 2022 MassBio program. The event was held just days after the Life Science Tennessee annual conference in Nashville where Zachary was one of the judges for the Scipreneur Challenge.

Announced earlier this year, the program was billed as accepting six life science/biotech start-ups, but ended up selecting seven for the inaugural cohort that is a collaboration between SCbio and MassBio, officially known as the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council. Orion was not part of the inaugural, but was invited to pitch at the event in Charleston.

“MassBio has been instrumental in supporting Orion through our early stages, and we’re so grateful for their leadership and global network,” Zachary posted on LinkedIn. “It’s exciting to see initiatives like SCbio Drive emerging outside of Massachusetts, showing that supporting innovation anywhere benefits patients everywhere.”

Three more from Knoxville:

1. The Knoxville Entrepreneur Center is accepting applications for its “Idea to Reality” five-week program that is the introductory course in the 100Knoxville Program. “It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more,” the promo reads. “Idea to Reality” is a an introductory level business development course that helps aspiring entrepreneurs put their “Big Ideas” into action. The next class begins January 16. To apply, click here.
2. RegScale, a leader in Governance Risk and Compliance and Continuous Controls Monitoring (CCM), is celebrating two milestones – its third year in business and a new Strategic Advisor. The company announced the appointment of Roland Cloutier, a globally recognized technology and security expert, as a Strategic Advisor. He most recently served as Global Chief Security Officer of ByteDance & TikTok, where he oversaw security, privacy, and risk operations worldwide. His strategic vision will be instrumental in helping RegScale continue to align offerings with customer priorities for meeting security, risk, and compliance requirements.
3. Enigma Biomedical USA has announced the formation of its Scientific Advisory Board. Comprised of nine top-tier physicians and scientists from around the globe, the group spans areas of expertise ranging from chemistry and biology to medicine associated with the assessment and ultimate treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s Disease. An affiliate of Toronto-based Enigma Biomedical Group (EBG), the parent company is focused on enhancing access to key technologies with a focus on molecular imaging and medicine. EBG offers a suite of services to the pharmaceutical industry and clinical research community to accelerate drug development and global access. EBG also partners with academic institutions and universities to foster and broaden access to novel research.

From Knoxville, Oak Ridge, and Loudon County:

Sandra Clark spotlighted the work of Pat and David Coffey in an article last week in KnoxTN Today.

As noted in our multi-part series on Dave that posted almost three years ago (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3), he and his wife have been longtime fixtures in the Oak Ridge science and technology community. Many old timers know him for the various businesses he started, while others recall the five terms he served as a State Representative (1986 to 96) after now Lieutenant Governor and Senate Speaker Randy McNally decided to relinquish his House seat and run for the State Senate.

Yet, as we know from our usual once-a-week interactions with him at the Friday morning gathering of the East Tennessee Economic Council members and guests, it is education that drives his passions to new levels. Being the scientist, Coffey is particularly interested in data, and Clark captures the passion of the Coffeys in her article that can be found here.

 

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