Thirty-five teams from DOE's national laboratories are being honored with these awards. Rules stipulate national labs can earn a maximum of four in one year, which is ORNL's total.
These awards recognize national laboratory employees who have accomplished outstanding work in the process of transferring a technology developed by a federal laboratory to the commercial marketplace.
The awards were presented in the following categories: .
- RABiTS(TM) Substrate for Second-Generation Superconducting Wire: Researchers developed a method for fabricating the wire by employing the process of rolling-assisted biaxial textured substrates, or RABiTS. The process conditions the substrate upon which superconductors can be formed and provides the underlying foundation for the wire. RABiTS(TM) enables the superconducting materials to have a high degree of grain alignment in all directions along the wire, allowing for more efficient current flow through the superconductor.
Members of the RABiTS team are Parens Paranthaman, Donald Kroeger, David Christen, Amit Goyal, Ron Feenstra, Fred List, Dominic Lee, David Beach, Eliot Specht, David Norton and Bob Hawsey.
- High-Thermal Conductivity Graphite Foam. This graphite material has the ability to conduct or remove heat through a heat transfer process. It has applications for the automotive and electronics industries. Team members include James Klett, Ashok Choudhury and Timothy Burchell.
- Microcantilevers: Microcantilever sensors represent a paradigm shift in sensing concepts. The technical work conducted at ORNL is widely regarded as the preeminent and foundational work in microcantilever sensor technology.
Team members are Thomas Thundat, Robert Warmack, Charles Britton and Grady Vanderhoofuen.
- Polymer Boot Heater to improve assembly-line ergonomics and production: This technology allows for more efficient time use by heating joints on an assembly line with less physical work by individuals.
Team members are Vinod Sikka, Craig Blue, Barry Whitson and Madu Chatterjee.