The Role of Federal Research Laboratories

As research and development components of participating agencies of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), the federal laboratories address various grand challenges in nanotechnology, including nanomaterials for energy needs, metrology, nanoelectronics, materials for chemical industries, health-care needs, and space exploration.

The broader goals of many federal agencies are also addressed by academic universities through contracts and grants, and by small businesses through research contracts from the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. All these augment the in-house efforts within the federal laboratories.

In addition to serving the needs of the federal labs' parent organizations, the devices, processes, and technologies developed at federal labs often have commercial applications. Federal laboratories have historically been a rich source of new commercial products, with hundreds of successful stories of tech transfer to the private sector over the past forty years. Products such as cordless drills emerged from the Apollo program because of the need for astronauts to drill down beneath the moon's surface and use compact, battery-powered tools. Wilson Sporting Goods Company used technology developed for the Space Shuttle's tanks to create a more symmetrical golf ball surface. The resulting selection and placement of dimples on the surface of the golf ball help the ball travel longer distances. The Space Shuttle's thermal protection technology is now used to insulate race cars from sweltering interior temperatures. Technology originally developed for NASA's Skylab led to the home smoke detectors commonly used today. Research at DOE national laboratories has contributed to the development of an artificial retina that uses a nanocrystalline diamond film and spun out a company that is one of the leading producers of specialized nanoscale materials.

These are only a few examples of commercial products that can trace their origin to one of the federal labs. One can expect this trend to continue with nanotechnology as well in the coming years. There is a well-established mechanism for technology transfer to the commercial sector. In the case of NASA, there is the Office of Technology Partnerships, which works on all the technology licensing programs. NASA Tech Briefs magazine, a monthly publication, lists and describes NASA innovations that are ready for the marketplace.

In addition, NASA has regional tech transfer offices that focus on matching a particular innovation with the needs of the industry in the region. Regular tech transfer conferences are also organized by the field centers, and regional tech transfer offices bring together NASA innovators and industrial participants. All possible avenues are used to get the word out about the availability of technologies for commercial licensing.

As an example of federal laboratory activities, consider technology transfer efforts at one of the leading nanotechnology laboratories at NASA Ames Research Center. The research focus at NASA Ames is on nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes, inorganic nanowires, conducting organic molecules, and protein nanotubes. The applications focus for these nanomaterials is diverse: nanoelectronics, computing, data storage, nanoscale lasers, chemical sensors and biosensors, ultraviolet and infrared detectors, and advanced life-support systems that address waste remediation, air purification, and water purification as well as instrumentation for planetary exploration and astronaut health monitoring devices.