ORNL Industrial and Economic Development Manager Jesse Smith, right, leads a tour of the finer points of 3D printing techniques at MDF with potential industry partners following the Chamber Event. Credit: Alonda Hines/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy
On January 16, 2026, at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF), the Knoxville Chamber led an informative, engaging event designed to emphasize the importance of partnerships between industry and ORNL.
“Our goal for this event is to demystify what it actually looks like to partner with ORNL,” said Lauren Longmire, Knox Chamber vice president of Economic Development and event moderator, “…whether that means licensing a new technology, collaborating on research or tapping into resources that can strengthen your operations or your workforce.”
Leveraging a long history of industry partnerships and robust support for business growth, ORNL strategically fast-tracks research, entrepreneurship and commercialization. A global network of R&D and commercial partners positions the lab to boost economic development through technology licensing, strategic partnerships and collaborative innovation.
Open for collaboration
Driving technological innovation and economic growth within the energy security realm to build robust and resilient networks, ORNL has a broad portfolio of unique, patented, lab-developed software and technology available for licensure to companies, government agencies and schools.
ORNL is an active supporter of collaborative agreements in the interest of economic development. This includes leadership roles in not only international and domestic partnerships but especially regional economic development amid a nuclear renaissance in East Tennessee. A range of collaborative R&D agreements provides industry participants with flexibility and bolsters the networks that support researchers in the conversion of their innovative discoveries into commercial successes.
“We’ve worked with Oak Ridge on additive manufacturing in the past, and that has been a terrific partnership,” said Jonaaron Jones, president of Additive Parts Sales at Beehive Industries, one of the nation’s largest contractors for large-scale metal printing, which has partnered with ORNL to advance aerospace additive manufacturing, including collaboration on precision components for jet engines. “Now we’re looking forward. A lot of the technology we need doesn’t exist in the additive manufacturing realm. We’ve got materials like some of the high-cobalt alloys that are very difficult to process. There are very few people who have done that with additive manufacturing, but with our relationship with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, all of that can be possible.”
ORNL’s Partnerships Office is an important first step for future partners, from the lab and industry alike, to find out more about exciting opportunities.
“There is a strong innovation/R&D concentration in this area,” said John Lin, principal at Technical Response Inc., a Knoxville-based plastics product manufacturer that has partnered with ORNL to innovate processes and operations. “You may not think that the technology is within the capability of what you have in mind, but ORNL is a huge resource, so don’t hesitate to ask. Reach out.”
UT-Battelle manages ORNL for DOE’s Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. The Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit https://energy.gov/science. — Chris Driver
