Raymond L. Orbach

A Tech Transfer Boss for DOE

August / September 2007 By: Tom Michael Volume 5 Number 4

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Two years after President Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 into law, the Department of Energy has fulfilled a key directive in the bill—€”appointing someone at the agency to help move government technology to the marketplace.

The wide-ranging energy bill, among other things, required DOE to appoint a technology transfer coordinator who would be principal advisor to the secretary on how to generate more commercial spin-off from government investment in research and technology.

On June 28, Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman announced the appointment of Raymond Orbach, the department's under secretary for science, to the position. The job description has been added to Orbach's existing list of duties.

"The under secretary for science is uniquely positioned to expand and enhance the department's coordination of world class scientific research to further the deployment of technologies that are ripe for commercialization," Bodman said in announcing the appointment. "By applying scientific research to develop energy solutions, we are advancing President Bush's plan to increase the use of cleaner, more efficient energy technologies that will reduce our nation's reliance on foreign sources of energy."

Two powerful U.S. senators who crafted the 2005 energy bill said they have deep respect for Orbach, but they both hoped that the position would be filled by someone whose sole responsibility would be technology transfer.
Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, told Innovation he was surprised that DOE didn't hire someone specifically for the job.

"Ray Orbach is very well respected and I have a lot of respect for his abilities," Bingaman said. "But this is being added as one additional responsibility for him and that concerns me.

"I think this is the kind of responsibility that someone has to devote substantial time to, so I'm a little concerned we still don't have the thing staffed the way we should. My expectation is that we would have an individual who would have this as his sole job."

Senator Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), the top Republican on the energy committee, also expressed reservations about the decision to place the job responsibilities under an already busy DOE official.

"I think the only way they would satisfy me after all the work I've done on this is to turn around and hire somebody," Domenici said in an interview with Innovation in Washington. "We intended to hire someone who is experienced in this—€”a shining light—€”and we went to great ends to say DOE should do that."
A day later, Domenici's office issued a statement praising Orbach. He also indicated that some type of workable arrangement for tech transfer might be possible under Orbach's direction.

"Naming Dr. Orbach may not be specifically what we had in mind in EPAct, but he has shown himself to be a very good scientist and federal manager," Domenici said. "The key to making this work will be his ability to surround himself with people who understand technology transfer and who can help develop a progressive technology transfer strategy. This will require the department seeking input from both the technical community, as well as business and investment sectors."
The new law also requires the establishment of "advanced energy technology transfer centers" near the labs to help spin the government-funded R&D off to the private sector.

A DOE official said a new Technology Transfer Policy Board was scheduled to have its first meeting July 31, and Orbach has asked the heads of all relevant departments within DOE to designate a tech transfer liaison who will serve on the board.

The board, chaired by Orbach, will provide guidance on funding tech transfer initiatives and review contracts and other legal mechanisms governing access to the DOE labs by state and local governments, universities and industry.

The Energy Policy Act also calls for the establishment of Advanced Energy Technology Transfer Centers that would be located strategically around the country at the energy secretary's discretion. These centers, authorized at $10 million a year for 2006-2010, would act as business incubators.The legislation also calls for the establishment of an Energy Technology Commercialization Fund that would be used to pay for the new initiatives.

Tom Michael reports from Washington for Innovation.