Nano Elements selected in latest round of DOE “Small Business Vouchers” program
Nano Elements Source LLC of McDonald, TN near Chattanooga is one of six companies tapped by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to access technical expertise from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).
The company, previously profiled in a teknovation.biz article, is among 43 from around the nation selected in the second round of DOE’s “Small Business Vouchers” pilot program. The nationwide effort involves a number of the DOE labs.
According to an ORNL release, each company is provided a voucher worth up to $300,000 to be applied toward the time and other costs incurred in providing the assistance.
During the first round of voucher awards, nine companies secured grants to work with ORNL. None of those was based in Tennessee.
Nano Elements initially entered into an R&D license with ORNL for a nanofermentation technology before executing a full license around the first of the year.
“Being awarded a Small Business Voucher means that Nano Element Source, LLC gets to continue to push the development of low cost, non-toxic photoluminescent materials,” Patrick Caveney, Vice President of Technology at Nano Elements, said. “We have spoken to a number of potential partners and customers and have carefully laid out the material qualities we need. Many of these companies have expressed interest in our low cost particles if we can hit certain targets for efficiency. This Small Business Voucher makes hitting those targets an achievable goal because of the amazing staff and resources at Oak Ridge National Lab.”
