Technology transfer is a critical part of the Lab’s mission, “creating science solutions for the world.” On January 22, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) hosted a Lab-wide Innovation Celebration to celebrate the Lab innovators whose inventions and software are making their way into the world.
“Across the Lab, many researchers are working on technologies that can solve real-world problems,” said Lab Deputy Director for Research Carol Burns. “Working with IPO to commercialize their technologies is an important way to increase the impact of their work.”
At the event, Carol announced Berkeley Lab’s FY2024 Inventors and Developers of the Year, awards that recognize the most prolific inventors (submitting the largest number of technologies for IPO review) in each science Area.
Biosciences
The Inventor of the Year in the Biosciences Area is Joseph (Joe) Palasz. Joe, a postdoctoral researcher in the Biological Systems and Engineering Division, contributed to the development of recyclable pretreatment solvents that can efficiently turn non-food agricultural waste into sugars for biofuel production.
Computing Sciences
IPO also recognized Computing Sciences’ Damian Rouson as Developer of the Year. Damian, who is in the Applied Mathematics and Computational Research Division, led the development of new software tools for testing and correctness checking and a library that supports Fortran/C/C++ language interoperability.
Earth and Environmental Sciences
The Earth and Environmental Sciences Area’s Inventor of the Year is Sebastien Biraud. Sebastien, who is in the Climate & Ecosystem Sciences Division, developed novel applications of software and data for eddy flux measurements and was a co-inventor for an innovative method to estimate emissions from forgotten oil and gas wells.
Energy Sciences
The Materials Sciences Division’s Gerd Ceder was recognized as the Energy Science Area’s Inventor of the Year. In FY 24, Gerd led the development of innovative cathode materials and contributed to lithium extraction technologies, advancing energy storage solutions.
Energy Technologies
Mike Tucker, from the Energy Storage and Distributed Resources Division, is the Energy Technologies Area’s Inventor of the Year. Mike has contributed to a variety of rechargeable battery technologies. In FY24, his inventions helped advance solid-state batteries and water electrolyzer technologies.
Physical Sciences
In the Physical Sciences Area, the Accelerator Technology & Applied Physics Division’s Gang Huang and Yilun Xu were named Inventors of the Year. Both contributed to the development of innovative control techniques that enhance quantum computing performance.
In addition to the announcement of the Inventor and Developer of the Year awards, the Innovation Celebration featured Lab Director Mike Witherell and Deputy Director for Research Carol Burns. Chief Technology Transfer Officer Jesse Kindra and the IPO team presented technology transfer highlights from FY 2024. The event also included a panel on ”Paths to Tech Transfer” featuring ETA’s Ken Higa and Mike Tucker, IPO’s Lucian Sweitzer, ESA’s Ting Xu, and Alex Fang from OneValley, an innovation and entrepreneurship services organization. The panelists discussed the different paths to technology transfer, including licensing technologies to external parties, collaborating with industry partners, and startups founded by Berkeley Lab researchers and employees.
A recording of the event will be made available on streaming.lbl.gov.
IPO staff can be reached through ipo@lbl.gov or by scheduling a consult.