ORNL offers five researchers coaching in technology commercialization
The initiative helps prepare them for opportunities such as the Energy I-Corps program and to compete for dollars from the Technology Commercialization Fund.
Five researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory recently completed an eight-week pilot commercialization coaching program as part of Safari, a program funded by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) through its Practices to Accelerate the Commercialization of Technologies (PACT) initiative.
PACT promotes the transition of research developed at DOE national laboratories to the marketplace to promote U.S. competitiveness and national security. At ORNL, the Safari program is led by Susan Ochs, ORNL Engagements Program Manager.
“The coaching program provides a critical first step to prepare our researchers to take advantage of DOE programs such as Energy I-Corps and to compete for funding from the Technology Commercialization Fund,” said Jennifer Caldwell, Director of Technology Transfer at ORNL. “It’s important for researchers to be able to effectively explain their technologies in non-technical terms to entrepreneurs and business owners. This coaching program gave them a lot of practice and the professional feedback needed to gain confidence in presenting to business leaders.”
The coaching program is led by Angelique Adams, Chief Executive Officer of Angelique Adams Media Solutions. Prior to her career as a leadership coach and media entrepreneur, she had a 20-year career in metals and mining.
“Having spent years leading teams of scientists and engineers, I know the challenges of communicating research to business audiences very well,” Adams said. “Over the years, I developed strategies to overcome the challenges that worked well for my teams, and I was excited to share what I’ve learned.”
At an event hosted by the ORNL Technology Transfer Office in July, the researchers pitched their technologies to laboratory staff and leaders, as well as East Tennessee entrepreneurial ecosystem leaders such as Jim Biggs, Executive Director of the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center; Rob Coleman, Director of Entrepreneurship and New Ventures at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; Kusum Rathore, Executive Director and Vice President of the multi-campus office at the University of Tennessee Research Foundation; and Lilly Tench, Director of the Spark Innovation Center at the University of Tennessee Research Park.
The technologies and their inventors include:
- Carbon dioxide removal from seawater — Nick Gregorich, Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Chemical Sciences Division;
- Membrane contactor-based CO2 capture using green solvent— Syed Islam, Staff Scientist in the Chemical Sciences Division;
- Deploying CO2-based products — Michelle Kidder, Distinguished Scientist in the Manufacturing Science Division and the ORNL Program Manager for Fossil Energy and Carbon Management; and
- A potent and selective inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 through covalent reactivity — Brian Sanders, Associate Staff Scientist in the Biosciences Division.
Tugba Turnaoglu, Associate Staff Scientist in the Buildings and Transportation Science Division, was unable to attend the final presentation. She is focused on developing an innovative thermal energy storage solutions for heat pumps that revolutionizes building efficiency with advanced phase change materials.
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