Partnerships & Technology Transfer:New Vitality at DOE and Fermilab

Cherri J Schmidt

SPAFOA

04 November 2014

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Agenda

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• What’s Changed in Washington?– Presidential Memorandum– New Leadership at DOE– Congressional Interest

• What’s Changed at Fermilab?– Management Commitment– A Vision for Success– New Opportunities– New Challenges

• Working with Fermilab– Some New Tools– Some New Rules– More Changes to Come

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Presidential Memorandum: Accelerating Technology Transfer and Commercialization of Federal Research in Support of High Growth Businesses

• Memorandum released on October 28, 2011

– “One of the goals of my Administration's "Startup America" initiative, which supports high growth entrepreneurship, is to foster innovation by increasing the rate of technology transfer and the economic and societal impact from Federal research and development (R&D) investments.”

– “The aim is to increase the successful outcomes of these activities significantly over the next 5 years, while simultaneously achieving excellence in our basic and mission focused research activities.”

• President directs each agency with federal laboratories to:

– Establish Goals and Measure Progress

– Streamline the Federal Government’s Technology Transfer and Commercialization Process

• Licensing• CRADAs• SBIR/STTR

– Facilitate Commercialization through Local and Regional Partnerships

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New Leadership at DOE -- and a New Commitment

Ernie Moniz Secretary of

Energy

Elizabeth Sherwood-

Randall

Deputy Secretary of Energy

Franklin Orr

Nominee

Under Secretary for Science and

Energy

Marc Kastner

Nominee

Director of the Office of Science

Ellen D. Williams

Acting Head

Office of Technology Transitions

Mike Knotek

Deputy Under Secretary for Science and

Energy

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• Integrated basic research and applied energy programs under a single Under Secretary for Science and Energy

• Established direct dialog between DOE leadership and lab directors through the National Laboratory Policy Council

• Established the Laboratory Operations Board (LOB) to improve effectiveness and efficiency of lab system

• Established the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB) Standing Task Force on the National Laboratories

– Focused on a few issues where the Secretary has the authority to make changes to improve lab performance

– Technology transfer is one of the priority areas of interest

• Establishing the Office of Technology Transitions to coordinate across DOE

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Significant Congressional Interest

• Stimulated in part by “Turning the Page: Reimagining the National Labs” published in June 2013

• Commission to Review the Effectiveness of the National Energy Laboratories (CRENEL)– Established in Section 319 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2014– Phase I Report Due 1 February 2015– Phase II Report Due in the Spring

• A Plethora of Legislative Proposals – TRANSFER Act (H.R. 2981, S. 2551)– America INNOVATES Act (S. 1973)– DOE Lab Modernization and Tech Transfer Act (H.R. 5120)– EINSTEIN Act (H.R. 4869 Energy Title of COMPETES Reauthorization)– America COMPETES Reauthorization Act (H.R. 4159, Senate Version in Draft)– ATTAIN Act (S.2129)

• Mostly on hold until election is over

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What’s Changed at Fermilab?

• New Lab Director and Chief Operating Officer who have experience with technology transfer at a High Energy Physics Laboratory– Formed Advanced Applied Physics Solutions (AAPS) at TRIUMF– Focused on bridging the gap between innovation and commercialization in the

physical sciences

• Illinois Accelerator Research Center (IARC)– Office building funded by the State of Illinois– Heavy Assembly Building “contributed” by DOE– Expectations it will become “self-funding” over time

• Office of Partnerships and Technology Transfer– Work for Others– Cooperative Research and Development Agreements– Patent and Licensing Program– Letters of Support for SBIR/STTR and Other Grant Programs– User Facility Agreements

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A New Vision:Fermilab as an engine of innovation

•Leveraging Facilities and Relationships•IARC

•Leveraging Unique Skills•WFO•SBIR

•Driving New Jobs and New Industries•Procurement

•Partnering to Advance Technology•CRADAs•STTR

Collaborator Customer

FacilitatorSupplier

Inventions

Patents

New Products

& New Solutions

Licenses

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Fermilab Accelerator Technology (IARC)

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Fermilab Detector Technology

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Fermilab Computing Technology

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Fermilab as a Source of Expertise

Accelerator Science•Beam dynamics and theory•Simulation and modeling•Phase-space manipulation•Energy deposition

Universities

National Laboratories

International Collaborations

Accelerator Technology•Linear and circular accelerators•Conventional, superconducting, and pulsed magnets

•Cryogenic refrigeration and cooling systems •Detectors and instrumentation

30,000 Industrial Accelerators

Medical Applications

Environmental Applications

Controls Engineering•Control systems modeling and design•Control, Interlock, and Data Acquisition Systems

•VHDL, PLD, PLC, DSP programming

Manufacturing Companies

Process Industries

Computing•Collection, management, analysis of large data sets

•High speed parallel (GRID) computing•High speed networks•Data Storage and Cloud Computing

“Big Data” Applications

From National Security to Walmart

Unique Capabilities… …For Our Partners

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Fermilab and Chicago’s Innovation Ecosystem

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Available Modes of Partnership

Mechanism Availability

Non-Proprietary User Agreements Coming Soon

Proprietary User Agreements Not Yet

Sponsored Research (WFO) Yes

Cooperative Research (CRADAs) Yes

Agreements for Commercializing Technology (ACT)

Not Yet

Technical Services Agreement (TSA) Coming Soon

Licensing Limited

SBIR/STTR Support Yes

ARPA-E or Other Grant Programs TBD

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New Interest Means New Challenges

• Significant Expansion of WFO and CRADA Agreements• Impact of Secretary’s guidance on MOUs• Development of IARC Business Model

• Planned expansion of the Intellectual Property program• Promotion of existing intellectual property for license• Increase Records of Invention and Patent Pursuits

• Outreach and partner selection in support of IARC• Creating awareness with non-traditional partners• Ensuring fairness of opportunity

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We need policies or processes that…

• Keep it simple for all parties– Minimize the red tape, documentation– Streamline approval processes– Use online methods whenever possible

• Support scientists and engineers who participate– Make resources easy to find and accessible– Assistance with developing business plans– Leaves of absence to pursue commercialization– Incentives (financial and/or recognition)

• Nurture relationships with industrial partners – Make resources easy to find and accessible– Help remove barriers and locate assistance– Communication (newsletters, social networks)

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Some New Tools

• Centralized management of Letters of Support improves responsiveness

• Standardized WFO/CRADA procedures drive down cycle time from 6-8 months to 6-8 weeks

• Short Form Model CRADA for SBIR Partners streamlines the process further

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Some New Rules (Help Us Help You)

• Letters of Support – Issued when the work makes use of Fermilab capabilities

or is fully aligned with science mission– Must be approved by the Directorate (takes time)– Need to be requested much earlier– Requests should be made to OPTT

• WFO/CRADA Agreements– A clearly defined Statement of Work is essential– Sometimes the Fermilab PI needs your help– Full-Cost Recovery is required – no exceptions– NEPA and Export Control reviews are mandatory– OPTT will work with you to select the right tool

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More Changes to Come in FY2015

• Technical Service Agreements– Specialized form of WFO– Non-R&D services (e.g. testing)– Standard, More Limited Terms & Conditions– Expedited review and approval

• Updated Web Pages for Industry Access– Model Agreements– SOW and Budget Templates– Technologies Available for License– How To’s and FAQs

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Conclusion

• We are committed to creating a program that is agile and responsive

• We are still building the infrastructure that will allow us to be successful

• We ask for your patience as we move up the learning curve

• We welcome your feedback

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Contact OPTT

optt@fnal.gov

Cherri Schmidt

Manager, OPTT

cherri@fnal.gov

Aaron SauersPatent & Licensing

Executive

asauers@fnal.gov

Questions?

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