Oak Ridge National Laboratory wins six national technology transfer awards in a single year
The Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) awards recognize outstanding achievements in the successful transfer of technology from laboratory to industry
Oak Ridge National Laboratory swept six Federal Laboratory Consortium awards this year, including the top honor — the 2026 Excellence in Technology Transfer Award — for technology that extracts lithium from oil and gas wastewater.
The winning technology, commercialized by Element3, addresses a critical need: securing a domestic supply of lithium for advanced manufacturing and national defense.
“Winning six highly prestigious FLC awards in a single year is a testament to both the quality of the innovations that the ORNL staff produce and the commitment to excellence of our technology transfer team,” said Shaun Gleason, director of ORNL’s Partnerships Office.
Other honorees include a team recognized for ORNL’s long-running security partnership with Geospace Technologies, whose heartbeat detection technology is now deployed in more than a dozen countries across four continents. Vlastimil Kunc, an ORNL Corporate Fellow, received the Outstanding Researcher award for work tied to an estimated $5.5 billion in follow-on funding for partners of ORNL’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility.
One award with direct Knoxville ties recognized a collaboration between Innovation Crossroads startup founders at ORNL and marketing students from the University of Tennessee’s Haslam College of Business.
Honorees will be recognized at the FLC National Meeting in Seattle on May 13, 2026.
Like what you've read?
Forward to a friend!