ORNL announces return of in-person “Technology Innovation Showcase” on June 16
After a several year hiatus due to COVID-19, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is resuming its annual “Technology Innovation Showcase.” The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 16 at the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF), 2350 Cherahala Boulevard in the Hardin Valley area of West Knoxville.
The showcase will include technology presentations followed by demonstrations and a tour of the MDF, a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science user facility focused on early stage research and development. ORNL Technology Transfer staff members will be available to discuss licensing opportunities to industry representatives.
This year’s showcase will feature five promising technologies that have been matured under ORNL’s “Technology Innovation Program,” an initiative to advance high potential inventions for commercialization.
“We will be looking for feedback from showcase participants and for partners to commercialize the technologies,” said Mike Paulus, ORNL Director of Technology Transfer.
The five technologies to be presented during the showcase are:
- ChemSitu Microfluidic Imaging, presented by Jack Cahill of ORNL’s Biological and Environmental Systems Science Directorate. The invention provides a new analytical capability to solve the problem of elucidating the complex chemistry occurring within microfluidic devices. Knowledge of the chemical constituents inside microfluidic devices is valuable for understanding cell function and the mechanisms of molecular transport in living systems.
- Eco-Friendly, High-Lubricity Ionic Liquids, presented by Jun Qu of ORNL’s Physical Sciences Directorate. These new groups of eco-friendly high-lubricity ionic liquids, used as additives for hydraulic and hydropower lubrication, are thermally stable, nonflammable, noncorrosive, miscible and chemically compatible with Environmental Protection Agency-approved eco-friendly base oils.
- Sintered Composite Electrolyte for Lithium Batteries, or SINC-lyte, presented by Sergiy Kalnaus of ORNL’s Computing and Computational Sciences Directorate. The technology introduces a composite electrolyte that addresses lithium battery challenges by combining properties of several materials. Ion-conducting ceramic is partially sintered to provide a conductive percolative pathway and to serve as a skeleton that is subsequently back-filled with a polymer electrolyte.
- Operation Duration Extender for UAV, presented by Veda Prakash Galigekere of ORNL’s Energy Science and Technology Directorate. It uses optimized wireless power transfer systems suitable to be placed on transformers and poles with clear airways. UAVs adapted for the technology will have a compatible, efficient and compact WPT receiver system that can fast-charge the onboard battery by merely hovering over or landing on the transmission pad.
- CAN-D: Controller Area Network Decoder, presented by Stacy Prowell of ORNL’s National Security Sciences Directorate. CAN-D applies machine learning to quickly decode the structure of messages on the controller area network bus to enable downstream technologies to understand them. This innovation creates an ecosystem of monitoring that allows for improvement of vehicle performance, safety and security.
Those interested in attending must register at this link by 5 p.m. June 10. Additional information about the technologies can be found here.
