Winter 2002 Vol. 11 No. 1

Research Laboratories

University Contest

University competition to accelerate technology transfer

The U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory will host a Technology Demonstration Day January 29, 2002 to open a venture development competition for university students.

The competition, open to teams of students from universities nationwide, asks the students to develop plans to commercialize one of the new technologies being researched at Argonne.

On January 29, the students will hear presentations by four innovative Argonne scientists who have made recent scientific discoveries in advanced materials, energy storage, lasers and optics, and nanotechnology. The students will then select one of the technologies to create a development plan.

Argonne scientists and their research areas are:

George Fenske, advanced materials, including a super-slick and very strong coating for metals and plastics;

John Hull, energy storage, including several innovative techniques for holding excess energy for later use without any loss;

Mike Pellin, lasers and optics, including a new technique for trace analysis of samples no larger than a micron - much smaller than the period at the end of a sentence;

Jeff Eastman, nanotechnology, including a new technology for adding tiny spherical particles to a conventional fluid that improves its ability to transfer heat by 40 percent (nanofluids, thermal properties of nanocrystalline films).

Student teams composed of either undergraduate or graduate level academic programs in science, technology, or entrepreneurship will be encouraged to participate in the competition. To qualify, each team must prepare and submit an official "Technology Application Plan," developed by Jerome M. Juska, president of Technology Transformations, Inc., sponsor of this academic program.

Project entries will be evaluated by Argonne scientists and a group of venture formation experts; semifinalists will be invited for a final presentation on May 1, 2002.

Don Joyce, deputy to the director at Argonne, said, "As worldwide leaders in advanced scientific research, it is most appropriate that we engage in projects which enable students to benefit from our knowledge and expand their own visions of technology based on the foundations that Argonne has created."

Registration is required for both the Technology Demonstration Day and involvement with the competition. Additional information and details are available by clicking the "University contest" link on the Argonne home page at www.anl.gov, or go directly to the contest Web site at projects.dep.anl.gov/.

The nation's first national laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory conducts basic and applied scientific research across a wide spectrum of disciplines, ranging from high-energy physics to climatology and biotechnology. Since 1990, Argonne has worked with more than 600 companies and numerous federal agencies and other organizations to help advance America's scientific leadership and prepare the nation for the future. Argonne is operated by the University of Chicago as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's national laboratory system.

For more information, please contact Catherine Foster at Argonne National Laboratory. Source: Argonne National Laboratory.