Liquid Atomizing Nozzle

FLC's Tech Transfer Award Winners

June / July 2006 Volume 4 Number 3

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More than 700 laboratories and research centers—€”representing almost all federal departments and agencies—€”conduct over $100 billion in research and development annually and employ more than 100,000 scientists and engineers. The Awards for Excellence in Technology Transfer are presented each year to FLC member laboratories and their partners for successfully transferring federally developed technologies.

Following are those recognized at this year's conference held in May in Minneapolis.

Department of Agriculture

—€Agricultural Research Service, Mid South Area
Vaccines for the prevention of two major catfish diseases.
Summary: The modified live vaccine team demonstrated exceptional creativity in the invention and transfer of the first U.S, modified live vaccines that protect channel catfish from enteric septicemia and columnaris, two major diseases of U.S. farm raised catfish. Both diseases together cost the U.S. catfish industry $50-70 million annually. The modified live vaccines are administered by bath immersion, a non-stressful and inexpensive process, to large numbers of young fish and provide life-long protection.
Team: Phillip H. Klesius, Joyce J. Evans and Craig A. Shoemaker
Transfer: Both vaccines (AQUAVAC-COLTM and AQUAVAC-ESCTM) were developed under a CRADA with Intervet, Inc., and exclusively licensed to Intervet.

—€Agricultural Research Service, South Atlantic Area
A fertilizer alleviating nickel deficiencies.
Summary: The new Nickel Plus—„ associated technology has cured significant plant disorders and diseases having a beneficial impact of millions of dollars. Additionally, evidence indicates improving nickel nutrition may also serve to improve environmental quality because it reduces the use of fungicides and nitrogen fertilizers for certain crops.
Team: Bruce W. Wood
Transfer: A cooperative interaction was initiated to jointly develop a commercial nickel fertilizer product (Nickel Plus—„), and a new company (NIPAN, LLC) was formed. NIPAN, the co-owner of the patent, is negotiating an exclusive license to ARS' interest in the technology for correcting nickel deficiency in plants.

Department of Defense—€”Army

—€ Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory
Electro-Osmotic Pulse (EOP), for the control of moisture in below-grade concrete structures.
Summary: EOP eliminates moisture in below-grade structures, preventing the occurrence of mold, mildew, bacteria, corrosion, and standing water. It uses the concrete itself as the waterproofing agent by exploiting the fundamental properties of electro-osmosis. EOP is better, faster and 40 percent less costly to install than conventional moisture control solutions.
Team: Orange S. Marshall, Michael K. McInerney, Sean Morefield and Vincent F. Hock
Transfer: In 2004, a new CRADA was implemented with industry partner, Drytronic. The parent company created the spin off, OsmoTech, to maximize EOP commercialization. The novel inter-relationship between the ERDC, Drytronic and its licensee OsmoTech has grown client application potential to include projects such as highway construction and tunnels.

—€ Edgewood Chemical Biological Center
Enzyme-based decontamination technology for organophosphorus nerve agents and pesticides.
Summary: This technology simplifies and improves the process of decontaminating a class of highly toxic chemicals, including nerve agents. The ECBC technology is non-toxic, non-corrosive, and environmentally safe. While initially intended for decontaminating equipment, facilities, and large areas, the enzymes could potentially be used in shower systems for decontaminating personnel and casualties.
Team: Joseph J. DeFrank, Tu-Chen Cheng, Vipin K. Rastogi and Christopher S. Penet
Transfer: Genencor International, Inc., agreed to license the technology and is now successfully producing the licensed enzymatic decontamination technology under the trademark DEFENZ—„. Companies that produce and sell fire-fighting foams and sprays and other matrices are purchasing this product.

—€ Institute of Surgical Research
Special Medical Emergency Evacuation Device (SMEED).
Summary: A patent-protected metal framework that attaches to evacuation litters and holds individual pieces of medical equipment needed for optimal patient transport, lessening the discomfort of burn victims during medical transport. It eliminates the need to fasten uncomfortable equipment directly to patients and gives health care providers a clear view of any readout monitors on attached medical devices.
Team: Sgt. Eric Smeed (yes, that's Smeed!)
Transfer: The Army patented the device and in 2002 awarded a Small Business Innovation Research contract and exclusive license agreement to Impact Instrumentation Inc. of New Jersey. The company further developed the technology, manufacturing a commercial product now on the market.

Department of Defense—€”Navy

—€Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst
Liquid Atomizing Nozzle
Summary: A lightweight, non-clogging, inexpensive technology that does not require the extremely high operating pressures of standard fire suppression systems. It conserves water and minimizes consequential water damage and is a more environmentally safe method of fire suppression onboard aircraft. Smaller amounts of water can extinguish a fire more quickly, making it possible to carry water rather than environmentally harmful chemicals like halon, which is traditionally used in aircraft fire extinguishment systems.
Team: Joseph Wolfe
Transfer: Patented in 1996, the technology was transferred in 2001 via a partially exclusive license agreement to the aerospace supply company, International Aero Inc. of Burlington, Wash. The resulting commercial product, the Fine Water Mist System, awaits FAA approval for widespread aircraft use.

—€Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River
Trivalent Chromium Processes (TCP).
Summary: A metal surface coating containing trivalent chromium sulfate that protects against corrosive environments, a significant improvement over the widely used, traditional but toxic hexavalent chromium process. The chemical solution minimizes corrosion of aluminum, zinc, and other substrates while it improves the bonding surface for paints.
Team: James L. Green, Michael J. Kane and Craig Matzdorf
Transfer: Under nonexclusive patent license agreements with several companies, the center has successfully transferred this important advance in metal finishing to widespread civilian use. Currently four licensees are in various stages of marketing TCP to consumers in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

—€Naval Medical Center, San Diego
Treatment of noise-induced hearing loss through biologic mechanisms.
Summary: An orally administered antioxidant pharmaceutical product that will prevent, reduce, and in some cases even reverse acute noise-induced hearing loss. According to the Center for Disease Control, hearing loss costs the nation about $56 billion a year.
Team: Richard Kopke and Michael Hoffer
Transfer: This technology has been successfully transferred to the private sector through an exclusive patent licensing agreement with American BioHealth Group (ABG). ABG has been on the fast track and one product based on this technology is already available to the public as a nonprescription nutraceutical known as "The Hearing Pill—„."

—€Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Newport
Robust dimension reducing decision support tool for large, complex datasets.
Summary: The Data Extraction and Mining Software Tool (DEMIST) for large, complex data sets was developed and patented to support classification of targets for U.S. Navy sonar systems. DEMIST takes large, multi-dimensioned datasets and reduces them dramatically in size to include only the relevant information needed for decision-making.
Team: Robert Lynch
Transfer: Under multiple CRADAs, DEMIST is being incorporated in software suites for credit scoring, consumer market targeting, chemical analysis, enterprise level risk management and decision support industries. Additional applications and licensing agreements are in process to apply DEMIST to problems associated with medical applications such as bioinformatics, pharmacogenomics and for homeland security-related data mining.

Department of Defense—€”Air Force

—€Air Force Research Laboratory, Directed Energy Directorate
Low emission, high current density field emission cold cathode.
Summary: This cold-cathode technology can deliver high electron current densities using very low power, therefore allowing the systems into which they're installed to operate at cool temperatures and be light in weight.
Team: Donald Shiffler
Transfer: The technology has been transferred to Fiore Industries, Albuquerque, through a licensing agreement. The technology has been further transferred to the private sector through CRADAs with companies that are developing X-ray tubes based on this cold cathode technology and has also been directly transferred through consultation and discussion to other federal labs, including Sandia National Laboratories.

—€Air Force Research Laboratory, Human Effectiveness Directorate
The Attenuating Custom Communications Earpiece System (ACCES®)
Summary: The Attenuating Custom Communications Earpiece System (ACCES®), integrates specialized electronics and cabling into a custom-molded earplug that provides 40dB of mean noise reduction while providing clearly intelligible voice communication.
Team: John A. Hall
Transfer: Westone Laboratories, the tech transfer partner producing this state-of-the-art device, was recently awarded a General Services Administration contract. Even before gaining the GSA contract, ACCES had its inaugural commercial use in Spaceship One, the first private craft to fly more than 50 miles above the earth.

—€Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate
Vascular Viewer—„
Summary: A patent-protected viewing device that reveals blood vessels in the body under a broad range of lighting conditions. Medical personnel can use the invention to access blood vessels more quickly and accurately, even in extreme conditions such as on the battlefield or during trauma care.
Team: Robert Crane, Byron Edmonds, Walter Johnson and Charles Lovett
Transfer: The invention now is available as a commercial product—€”the Vascular Viewer—€”with impressive potential for saving lives, minimizing patient discomfort, and reducing health care costs. The Air Force awarded an exclusive license to a company to develop and market the technology, InfraRed Imaging Systems of Columbus, Ohio.

—€Air Force Research Laboratory,
Propulsion Directorate
Silicon Carbide Schottky Diodes
Summary: This specialized semiconductor device is proven to reduce energy losses from conduction and switching, and for faster switching characteristics in high-speed electronic circuit applications.
Team: James Scofield
Transfer: In collaboration with Mississippi State University to incubate SemiSouth Laboratories under funding from the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (now known as the Missile Defense Agency), this collaboration made Silicon Carbide fabrication practical for power devices. Also, a dual use science and technology agreement was implemented with manufacturer Cree, Inc., of Durham, N .C.

Department of Energy

—€Argonne National Laboratory
Ultrananocrystalline Diamond (UNCD) coating technology for advanced multifunctional devices.
Summary: The coating technology captures many natural diamond properties in thin-film form and greatly surpasses other diamond film technologies with commercial potential.
Team: Orlando Auciellor and John A. Carlisle
Transfer: The UNCD thin-film technology was successfully transferred to an ANL-founded startup company, Advanced Diamond Technologies, Inc.

—€Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
ELITE: Easy Livermore Inspection Tester for Explosives
Summary: A disposable, portable, highly accurate explosives detector.
The ELITE detection card is highly sensitive to more than 30 explosives, making it one of the most effective detection systems available.
Team: John Reynolds, Ray Pierce, Peter Nunes, J. Del Eckels, Randall Simpson, Catherine Elizondo and Richard Whipple
Transfer: Field Forensics, Inc. responded to a Federal Business Opportunities announcement of the ELITE licensing opportunity and was chosen as the licensee.

—€Los Alamos National Laboratory
PowerFactoRE—€”Reliability engineering toolkit for optimizing the manufacturing process.
Summary: A comprehensive approach to reducing operating costs and minimizing capital expenditures for manufacturing operations. PowerFactoRE enables manufacturers to predict, prevent, and reduce reliability losses, equipment failures, and repair downtime.
Team: Mike Hamada and Harry Martz
Transfer: Proctor & Gamble and LANL signed a CRADA to do reliability modeling using P&G data and Los Alamos expertise. Other manufacturers are realizing the same advantages P&G has enjoyed by licensing the PowerFactoRE toolkit from P&G and its marketing partners, BearingPoint and Zarpac, Inc.

—€NNSA's Kansas City Plant
Improved method to separate and recover oil and plastic.
Summary: A new system for recycling plastic and oil that uses liquid and supercritical carbon dioxide to blast oil residue off of empty plastic motor oil bottles.
Team: George Bohnert, Thomas Hand, Gerald Woodburn, Edward Fuller, Charles Cook, Charles Long and Louis Mautino.
Transfer: The Kansas City Plant patented this process and licensed the technology to Itec Environmental Group, which used it to develop a plastics recycling system called the ECO2. Itec has been able to use this system to recycle not only motor oil bottles, but almost every other type of consumer plastic as well.

—€Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
A breakthrough treatment for prostate cancer.
Summary: A powerful new brachytherapy seed that uses 131Cs, which has a low-energy x-ray that effectively provides a cancer-killing dose to a tumor in a short period of time.
Team: Larry R. Greenwood, Donald Segna, Mark K. Murphy, Jaquetta R. DesChane, Lane A. Bray, Deborah S. Coffey, David Swanberg, Chuck Z. Soderquist, Clay L. O'Laughlin and Garrett Brown.
Transfer: IsoRay, which became a publicly owned company in July 2005, started the effort to produce the seeds commercially using PNNL's Radiochemical Processing Laboratory in 2004 under a current agreement with PNNL.

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Improving medical care and saving lives with bioactive thin-film coatings.
Summary: A first-ever, water-based process that allows calcium-phosphate thin-film coatings containing controlled-release bioactive therapeutic agents to be deposited on orthopedic devices and other medical implants, such as catheters and stents. This technology will play a major role in dramatically reducing post-surgical infections in implant recipients and wounded military personnel, and will greatly increase acceptance of artificial joints by the body.
Team: Allison A. Campbell and Eric R. Jurrus
Transfer: The technology was licensed in 2004 by Bacterin, which recently joined forces with the Department of Defense, receiving a $1.4 million appropriation to coat metal rods and pins with the technology for use in the battlefield. In addition, Bacterin has forged new relationships with three medical device manufacturers—€”Baxter International, C.R. Bard, and Cook—€”that have agreed to use the unique coating on their products.

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Self-assembled monolayers on mesoporous silica (SAMMS) technology for mercury source reduction
Summary: A technology that quickly and easily reduces or removes mercury content without creating hazardous waste or by-products, and can be disposed of as a non-hazardous waste.
Team: Richard Skaggs, Glen E. Fryxell, Eric C. Lund, Shas V. Mattigod, Raymond S. Addleman, James J. Toth and Thomas S. Zemanian
Transfer: The technology has been presented to appropriate audiences and PNNL has developed relationships with industry partners, including Steward Advanced Materials, Chevron (formerly Unocal), Molycorp and PECO.

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Starlight information visualization system
Summary: Starlight is the only software that can integrate many different data types and formats, perform high-speed, high-efficiency analysis, and display the results graphically so that the relationships among the data and their implications can be quickly and easily understood.
Team: John S. Risch, John Pinto, Michelle Hart, Dennis McQuerry, Brian Kriztstein, Scott Dowson and Wes Hatley.
Transfer: Between 2000 and 2005, nearly 40 licenses were issued to enterprises ranging from government offices to academia, from small competitive intelligence companies to large companies such as Toyota and Proctor & Gamble.

—€Sandia National Laboratories
Robust, wide-range hydrogen sensor
Summary: The sensor offers both low-range and high-range hydrogen measurement capability on the same chip, virtually eliminating false readings and making it an ideal candidate for a variety of government and commercial applications.
Team: Paul Smith, Robert Hughes, Michael Knoll, Jose L. Rodriguez and Wayne T. Corbett
Transfer: H2scan Corporation of Valencia, Calif., has licensed the technology and through a formal CRADA has developed a small in situ sensor with the capability of detecting hydrogen concentrations between 10 parts per million and 100 percent. H2scan has three retail products in commercial use and has delivered sensors to over 200 government and industry customers, including a classified DOE plant in Idaho Falls.

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SMART: Sensor for measurement and analysis of radiation transients system
Summary: This system uses detectors and software to distinguish between normally occurring radioactive materials and those that are potential signatures of terrorist activities. The system operates in real time and indicates the level of confidence (low, fair, high) that the material has been correctly identified.
Team: Dean Mitchell, Jerry D. Strother, Peter E. Havey, Gene A. Kallenbach and Brent A. Burdick
Transfer: Sandia licensed its FitToDB and PASSBY software technology to Thermo Electron Corporation in 2003 and its GADRAS-LT software to Thermo Electron the following year. Under a CRADA signed in 2005, Sandia and Thermo Electron are also collaborating on refinement of the software for large-scale commercial deployments in Thermo Electron's advanced spectroscopic portal system.

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SUMMiT V—„ Fabrication Process and SAMPLES—„ Program
Summary: The Sandia Ultraplanar, Multilevel MEMS Technology (SUMMiT—„) fabrication process is a MEMS batch fabrication process that uses conventional integrated circuit processing tools to achieve high volume, low cost MEMS production.
Team: Over 50 individuals.
Transfer: The SAMPLES—„ program, which enable customers to develop their own innovative MEMS-based products by leveraging advanced design, fabrication (utilizing the baseline SUMMiT IV—„ and V—„ technologies), has generated 49 Work for Others agreements and over 75 software licenses related to the SUMMiT—„ fabrication processes.

Department of Health and Human Services

—€ National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health
Kepivance: Improving the quality of life for cancer patients.
Summary: This invention describes the use of Palifermin, a recombinant human keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) that can be used to reduce the incidence and duration of oral mucositis (painful sores and ulcers in the lining of the mouth) in cancer patients.
Team: Jeffrey S. Rubin, Paul W. Finch and Stuart A. Aaronson
Transfer: Amgen was chosen as a commercial partner to develop a useful therapeutic with this molecule because it had worked with other growth factors such as PDGF and G-CSF. Convinced that KGF would fit well in Amgen's product development strategy, NIH granted them an exclusive license to the invention in 1992. It was approved by the FDA in 2004 and sold under the brand name Kepivance.

NASA

John F. Kennedy Space Center
Emulsified zero-valent iron (EZVI)
Summary: A cost-effective technology for the in-situ treatment of dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPL) source zone remediation and groundwater cleanup.
Team: Jacqueline W. Quinn, Debra R. Reinhart, Christian Clausen III and Cherie L. Geiger
Transfer: Kennedy Space Center signed five nonexclusive licenses with companies wanting to market and further develop EZVI.

—€Marshall Space Flight Center
High-strength, wear-resistant aluminum alloy
Summary: Originally developed by NASA as a high-performance piston alloy to help meet U.S. automotive legislation requiring low-exhaust emission, the substance offers the dramatic increase in tensile strength at elevated temperatures (from 450 to 650 °F) needed for many applications.
Team: Po-Shou Chen, Jonathan Lee and Sammy Nabors
Transfer: The technology was recently used in Bombardier Recreational Products' Evinrude product line to meet the unique requirements of a direct-injected two-stroke outboard engine with world-class emissions levels. An ideal low-cost material for cast automotive components, the innovative alloy is enabling engine manufacturers to make engines that produce more horsepower at lighter weights that emit less pollutants.

For more information, see www.federallabs.org.