NREL Staff Honored for Innovative Thinking, Accomplishments
The Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) celebrated the innovative minds behind cutting-edge research at its annual Innovation and Technology Transfer Awards ceremony last month.
The event occurred as NREL is on pace to see more records of invention and software records submitted this year than at any time in the lab’s history. Since fiscal 2018 began in October, 111 records have been filed compared to 168 during all fiscal 2017, which is about 30 percent more than at this point in a typical year.
“This is indicative of an unprecedented level of participation in the commercialization function at NREL,” said Eric Payne, senior licensing executive, who works in the lab’s Technology Transfer Office. “We also have a record number of partnerships, a record number of licensing activity. Across the board, we’re seeing more and more people engage in that industrial outreach.”
Albin named Distinguished Innovator
NREL honored David Albin, a senior scientist hired 30 years ago, as Distinguished Innovator. Albin, whose expertise is in thin-film photovoltaics, has helped industrial partners enter the field. The award is presented to a researcher based on such criteria as the number of patents issued, the number of licenses incorporating the patents, the successful of the technologies in the marketplace, and leadership in commercialization. Albin, who holds 10 patents, has published 159 papers that have been cited more than 3,114 times.
“They say science is a village, and really, when I get an award like this, there isn’t anything I do without the input of everyone I work with, some of the best scientist and engineers in the field,” Albin said. “You really can’t innovate without that kind of input.”
Kruger and Johnson named Rising Stars
Jacob Kruger and Brian Johnson were named Rising Stars, an honor given to employees who have been at NREL for less than six years and who have made great strides in turning ideas into opportunities for commercialization. Kruger, who works extensively with biomass, has submitted eight records of invention since joining NREL in 2013. Johnson, whose research interests lay at the intersection of power electronics, power systems, and controls, and also started at the lab in 2013, has submitted seven records of invention to date.
“Being named a tech transfer rising star is pretty cool,” Kruger said. “I know our research teams are pushing the frontiers of bioenergy science and technology, which helps us come up with some groundbreaking ideas. Sometimes these ideas prove out in the lab and sometimes they don’t, but it’s great to know the Tech Transfer Office is enthusiastic about the potential of these concepts to make a difference in the real world.”
Technology Transfer Excellence Awards
Technology transfer excellence awards are presented to individuals or teams who have made significant accomplishments in technology transfer by demonstrating leadership, innovation, and quality of activity.
The Outstanding New Partnership acknowledges NREL activities that result in a notable new partnership agreement. The FY 2017 awardees were Kate Doubleday, Matt Futch, Kenny Gruchalla, Andrew Parker, Bri-Mathias Hodge, Shanti Pless, and Martha Symko-Davies, who executed a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with Panasonic, Xcel Energy, and their partners L.C. Fuldenwider and Denver International Airport to examine different design and technology options in creating an energy master plan for the Peña Station NEXT district in Denver.
The Outstanding New License Award recognizes NREL activities that result in the licensing of a lab technology, noteworthy for its anticipated impact. The FY 2017 awardees were Jeff Carapella and Mark Wanlass, who executed a license agreement with MicroLink Devices, Inc., to NREL’s foundational patents relating to inverted metamorphic high-efficiency multijunction solar cells.
Key Contributor Awards
NREL scientists who contributed to the development of technologies licensed in 2017 were recognized as Key Contributors. The FY 2017 recipients were Azure Avery, Jeff Blackburn, Andrew Ferguson, Andrey Bernstein, Emiliano Dall'Anese, Chuck Booten, Dave Roberts, Jon Winkler, Larry Brackney, Luigi Gentile Polese, Adam Duran, Kevin Walkowicz, Peter Graf, Jacob Lawrence-Simon, Kandler Smith, Steve Johnson, PinChing Maness, Mike Seibert, Jianping Yu, Andy Walker, and Ed Wolfrum.
NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy's primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for the Energy Department by The Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.