2013 News Stories
Startup Nanosys Behind Brighter Displays
12.12.13 Berkeley Lab startup Nanosys reached a milestone this fall by manufacturing enough material for its Quantum-Dot Enhancement Film™ (QDEF) to move forward with plans to produce televisions, computers, tablets and smart phones with more vivid color and lower power consumption than competitors. QDEF already enables the newly released Kindle Fire HDX7’s high color accuracy.TVs utilizing QDEF technology were demonstrated at the 2013 CE Week consumer electronics show. Nanosys’ Milpitas plant is capable of producing enough quantum dots to build 5 million big-screen TVs annually.
Berkeley Lab Startups Recognized for Energy Saving Innovations
12.05.13 USA Today’s roundup of breakthrough innovations for the home featured Berkeley Lab startups Heliotrope and View, formerly Soladigm.
Darfur Stoves Project Wins Tech Award
11.15.13 The Darfur Stoves Project, now managed by the non-profit organization Potential Energy, originated as an effort at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to develop fuel-efficient stoves for the developing world. The Tech Awards are presented by the Tech Museum of Innovation in California to laureates from around the world for their efforts to use technology to benefit humanity.
Alphabet Energy Named to 2013 Global Cleantech 100
10.10.13 Berkeley Lab startup Alphabet Energy has been named to the 2013 Global Cleantech 100 — the 100 cleantech companies most likely to significantly impact the market in the next 5 to 10 years — by a panel of venture capitalists and other technology investors. The same organization also recognized the startup, which is developing a low cost waste heat recovery technology, as its Early Stage Company of the Year. For more on the 2013 selection, go here
Forbes Spotlights Lab’s Smart Windows Startup
10.09.13 Forbes’ Q&A interview with Berkeley Lab researcher Delia Milliron covers her breakthrough smart window technology and startup, Heliotrope. For the complete story, go here.
Startup Second Genome Profiled
09.06.13 MIT Technology Review highlighted Second Genome’s role in understanding inflammatory and metabolic disorders, including type 2 diabetes, and paving the way to better human health. For the complete story, go here.
Lygos Leaders Discuss Synthetic Biology Industry in Wired
09.03.13 Wired blogger Jeffrey Marlow shared insights from Eric Steen and Jeffrey Dietrich of Lygos on the next phase of the synthetic biology business. To read the blog, go here. Lygos is a startup based on technology developed at the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI), led by Berkeley Lab.
Two Big Deals for TeselaGen
08.30.13 Berkeley Lab startup TeselaGen and Redbiotec are joining forces to build a herpes vaccine library that could lead to new or more effective vaccines against shingles, chickenpox and genital herpes. For the complete story, go here. In July, the company signed a multi-year license with Genomatica, which will use TeselaGen’s technology to speed development of organisms used to help make chemicals from renewable feedstocks. For the Genomatica story, go here.
Alphabet Energy Named a Technology Pioneer
08.27.13 The World Economic Forum named Berkeley Lab startup Alphabet Energy among its 2014 Technology Pioneers — startups developing technologies anticipated to have a significant future impact. For more about this honor, go here. Earlier in the year, Alphabet Energy announced it had secured $16 million in a Series B financing round. For details on the startup and its funding, go here.
Berkeley Lab Wins Eight 2013 R&D 100 Awards
07.08.13 Presented by R&D Magazine, the R&D 100 Awards recognize the year’s top 100 technology products from industry, academia, and government-sponsored research. Berkeley Lab’s eight awards mark a record high for the lab and the most wins among Department of Energy (DOE) Labs this year. Berkeley Lab has won a total of 70 R&D100 awards plus two Editors’ Choice Awards.
Award winners span the scientific gamut, from computing science to life science to materials science to nanoscience. “These eight R&D 100 awards are a testament to both the breadth and depth of science that we do at Berkeley Lab,” said Horst Simon, the Lab’s deputy director. “Moreover they also demonstrate our commitment to transforming the science into technologies that will address real issues in society today.” Read more here.
Second Genome Receives Pharma Funding to Address Ulcerative Colitis
06.05.13 Second Genome, a Berkeley Lab startup supporting the discovery and development of therapeutics for infection, inflammation and metabolic diseases, will collaborate with Janssen Biotech to identify microbial patterns that impact ulcerative colitis. The ultimate goal is carving a pathway to treatment. Johnson & Johnson Innovation Center and the Immunology Therapeutic Area within Janssen Research and Development will fund the research. Read more here.
Berkeley Lab Startup Provides Reliable Power Source for Developing World
04.24.13 Point Source Power, a startup based on a solid oxide fuel cell technology developed at Berkeley Lab, offers an inexpensive device fueled by burning charcoal, wood, or other biomass that can be used for lighting or charging a phone, a potential boon to the world’s 2.5 billion people without access to reliable electricity. For the full story, go here.
Low Cost Water Treatment Technology Honored
04.11.13 Berkeley Lab’s UV Waterworks technology to purify water for drinking using ultraviolet light was awarded an Honorable Mention in the US Patent and Trademark Office’s 2013 Patents for Humanity competition. Go here for details on the award. The technology was licensed by WaterHealth International, a company recently in the news for adding municipal water centers across Bangalore while continuing to provide clean, affordable drinking water to five million people daily in rural India.
Nanosys Expands Manufacturing, Creates 50+ Additional Jobs
04.02.13 Nanosys, a Berkeley Lab startup, has expanded into a new 60,000 square foot production facility, in Milpitas, California, with the capacity to produce enough quantum dots to build more than five million big-screen quantum dot televisions per year. The expansion will add over 50 manufacturing jobs in the region. For more details, go here. The company’s Quantum Dot Enhancement Film (QDEF) creates richer color displays for televisions and other devices while consuming less energy.
Spinoff Second Genome Explores the American Gut
03.20.13 Berkeley Lab spin-off success Second Genome is joining an initiative by the American Gut project to explore the connection between the human microbiome and type 2 diabetes.”By working with the American Gut project and its preeminent group of microbiome scientists, we have the opportunity to accelerate the clinical impact of this citizen science effort to build the world’s leading reference dataset of microbiomes,” said Peter DiLaura, President and CEO of Second Genome. ‘Second Genome is focusing on patients with type 2 diabetes as one part of its effort to translate microbiome science into the discovery and development of microbiome modulators with therapeutic potential.” The company spawned from the research made available by the PhyloChip technology, developed by Berkeley Lab’s Gary Andersen. For more on this story, go here.
Tech Transfer Staff Supports Winning Business Plan Team
02.25.13 A software technique developed by Valeri Korneev of the Earth Sciences Division provided the basis for a startup, Seismos, that won $135,000 in a venture plan competition. Korneev, members of the startup team, and Bill Shelander, Tech Transfer’s commercialization expert, collaborated to evaluate potential real-world applications. Ultimately, they identified a significant opportunity to overcome current blind spots involved in enhanced oil recovery (EOR). CO2 EOR frees oil trapped in reservoirs that have become unproductive, and now accounts for nearly four percent of all U.S. oil production. Following its regional win, Seismos will compete in the Global Venture Labs Investment Competition in April at UC Berkeley.
Path to Takeda’s Diabetes Treatment Paved by Berkeley Lab Startup
02.14.13 The FDA approval in January of Takeda Pharmaceutical’s Nesina® for the treatment of type 2 diabetes is the culmination of work that began with Berkeley Lab startup Syrrx. Syrrx offered high-throughput, rational drug discovery using a robotics technology for rapid protein crystallization. Takeda acquired Syrrx in 2005 to be the pharmaceutical company’s global center for structure-based drug discovery focusing on cancer and metabolic diseases. Nesina, now approved for use in the US following clinical trials, was a product of Syrrx’s unique platform.
Startups Lygos and TeselaGen to Pursue Development of Synthetic Consumer Products
01.10.13 Lygos, a Bay Area biotech spin off from the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI), will receive $1.8 million in Department of Energy funding to work on converting cellulosic biomass into sugars to design chemicals and synthetic materials for consumer products. Scientists from Lygos will team up with researchers at another JBEI spin-off, TeselaGen Biotech, to develop a non-polluting chemical manufacturing process that avoids the use of petroleum.
2012 News Stories
PolyPlus Receives $4.5M from ARPA-E
12.03.12 PolyPlus,a startup based on Berkeley Lab technology, will receive $4.5M from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) to develop, along with Johnson Controls, a water-based lithium-sulfur battery. ARPA-E invests in projects with the potential to be game changers in energy technology. The PolyPlus battery combines high energy with light weight, making it attractive for commercial and military markets. This funding announcement follows the award of nearly $9M to PolyPlus by DOE’s Investments in Innovative Manufacturing Technologies program last June.
WaterHealth Named to Global Cleantech 100 for 3rd Consecutive Year
11.01.12 WaterHealth International, a Berkeley Lab startup working to make safe drinking water available to millions worldwide, has been named to the Global Cleantech 100 for the third consecutive year. The Global Cleantech 100 list recognizes innovation and leadership in clean technologies based on data from the Cleantech Group and review by a panel of judges in the field.
Berkeley Lab / JBEI Startup TeselaGen: AutoCAD for Biology
10.01.12 TeselaGen Biotechnology, founded by Berkeley Lab researcher Nathan Hillson and two partners, is poised to significantly reduce the time and cost involved in DNA synthesis and cloning, a multi-billion-dollar market. Go here for the complete story.
Lab Researchers Win UC Proof of Concept Grants
09.19.12 Yuegang Zhang of the Materials Sciences Division, Youn-Hi Woo of the Physical Biosciences Division, Woon-Seng Choong of the Life Sciences Division and Xiang Zhang, a UC Berkeley and Berkeley Lab joint appointee, were awarded 2012 UC Proof of Concept grants.
The grants support technologies approaching commercialization and based on UC intellectual property that require a demonstration of their marketplace viability to potentially secure a licensee. Ninety-six proposals from across the UC system competed on commercial interest, level of innovation, and their likelihood to benefit California’s economy once commercialized. Only 22 proposals, representing six UC campuses and Berkeley Lab, were selected for funding.
Berkeley Lab Wins Four 2012 R&D100 Awards
06.20.12 Berkeley Lab technologies have won four 2012 R&D100 awards, which recognize the year’s 100 most significant proven technological advances. For details about the four winning technologies, go here. This year’s awards bring the Lab’s total R&D100 Award wins to 62. Additional information about Berkeley Lab’s winning co-nomination with Adelphi Technology, Inc. is available on the company’s website.
Lab’s Clean Tech Research Highlighted at Silicon Valley Showcase
06.06.12 Goldman Sachs, in conjunction with the Lab’s Tech Transfer office, hosted a first-ever showcase of Berkeley Lab clean technology research in the heart of Silicon Valley. Over 100 investors and entrepreneurs attended the May 30 presentation and poster reception highlighting research, emerging Lab start-ups seeking investment and user facilities. Guests commented they enjoyed learning more about Berkeley Lab without having to leave Palo Alto’s Sand Hill Road, a venture capital hub.
2012 Gold Edison Award Goes to Lab Startup PolyPlus
04.26.12 PolyPlus Battery Company, a Berkeley Lab spinout, won a 2012 Gold Edison Award as the best innovation in the Energy & Sustainability category. The startup celebrated alongside noteworthy awardees in other categories including Ford Motor Company, Corning, Dyson and Apple. PolyPlus was founded in 1991 by a team of scientists that included Steve Visco and Lutgard De Jonghe of the Materials Sciences Division. The company’s batteries use ordinary seawater or air to interact with lithium, delivering high energy density in a safe, non-toxic product. Go here for more on PolyPlus.
FY11 Royalties Near All Time High
02.13.12 Licensed Berkeley Lab inventions, software and published books yielded royalties of over $3.6 million in FY 2011, a 39-percent increase over the previous year. The researchers’ share of the royalties, totaling over $1.1 million, went to 136 scientists. Many of the researchers were on hand Jan. 27 to receive their royalty checks from Director Alivisatos and Cheryl Fragiadakis, head of Technology Transfer. For the full story, go here.
Seeo Powers Forward
01.02.12 Berkeley Lab startup Seeo has installed a pilot production line, placing the company one step closer to commercialzing its innovative lithium-ion battery technology.Go here for more on Seeo’s latest news. Seeo was founded in 2007 to develop a safer, longer-life lithium-ion battery for electric vehicles by using a dry polymer electrolyte.
2011 News Stories
New Blog Highlights Emerging Technologies at Berkeley Lab
12.01.11 Berkeley Lab’sTechStream blog (techblog.lbl.gov), focuses on emerging technologies that just may be the “next big thing” as well as successes that have already moved to the marketplace, such as the PhyloChip™ technology at Second Genome and Aeroseal’s energy-saving ductwork sealing system.
Lithium Battery by Lab Spinoff PolyPlus Makes TIME’s Top 2011 Inventions
11.21.2011 PolyPlus Battery Company, a Berkeley Lab spin-off, made TIME magazine’s prestigious “50 Best Inventions of 2011” list for its high-energy, lithium metal battery. Using ordinary seawater or air to interact with lithium, the PolyPlus lithium battery delivers unprecedented energy density levels in a product that is non-toxic, environmentally friendly and inherently safe. PolyPlus was founded in 1991 by a team of scientists that included Steve Visco and Lutgard De Jonghe of the Materials Sciences Division. Go here for more on PolyPlus.
KQED’s QUEST Science Radio features Berkeley Lab Smart Window Research
11.11.2011 Berkeley Lab researcher Delia Milliron explains her dynamic window coatings, designed to let light in while blocking heat from the sun, in a recent San Francisco Bay Area science radio program. Milliron was joined by other Lab researchers working in the field of energy-saving window technologies. Click here to access the podcast.
Berkeley Lab Start-up Tapped For Energy Innovation Initiative
11.11.2011 Point Source Power, a start-up whose core technology was invented at Berkeley Lab, is one of ten energy innovators selected to participate in LAUNCH, an initiative to accelerate sustainable energy solutions in the developed and developing world. Point Source Power’s fuel cell operates at biomass-fueled cook stove temperatures to generate electrocity.
Finalists will present their innovations to investors and thought leaders at a Nov. 10-13 forum at the Kennedy Space Center. LAUNCH is a joint project of NASA, U. S. Agency for International Development (USAID), U. S. Department of State and NIKE, Inc. Previous LAUNCH modules focused on sustainable water and health innovations. Read here for more information.
Berkeley Lab’s Gas-filled Insulation Rivals Fiber in Buildings Sector
10.19.2011 Within weeks of seeing a story online about gas-filled insulation panels, Bill Lippy, the president of Florida-based reflective insulation company FiFoil, was on a plane to California to view the prototype. When he arrived, researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory showed him a flat, shallow foil bag that, when inflated with air or other gases, insulated as well as the pink insulation common in residential attics. As he found out, the secret was the patented honeycombed, also referred to as baffled, interior. The Berkeley Lab invention prevents heat from escaping a building in several ways. Read more here.
Advanced Battery Technology Awarded $240,000 UC Discovery Grant
09.19.2011 A technology with the potential to increase the lithium-ion storage capacity of advanced batteries by eight times has been awarded a $240,000 grant from the University of California’s Discovery proof-of-concept grant program to accelerate its entrance into the marketplace. This project is led by Gao Liu (Principal Investigator) and Vince Battaglia (co-PI) in the Environmental Energy Technologies Division. Read more here.
Energy Saving Berkeley Lab Technology Widens Reach
08.16.2011 Aeroseal, an energy-saving ductwork sealing system developed on Berkeley Lab technology, is now offered to by 65 dealers in 28 states. Read more here.
To learn more about the Aeroseal technology, go here.
Berkeley Lab Wins Four 2010 R&D 100 Awards
06.22.2011 Two Berkeley Lab inventions received a 2011 R&D100 Award from R&D Magazine, which recognizes the 100 most significant proven technological advances of each year. Read more here.
Tech Investors Treated to Energy Innovation Showcase
On May 20, 2011, Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property Management hosted more than 100 investors from venture funds and corporations interested in learning about the breadth and depth of energy research available for commercialization. The fast-paced agenda included researcher presentations highlighting future applications of ongoing research, plus the entrepreneurial perspectives of current and former Lab scientists involved in recent venture start-ups. Lab Director Paul Alivisatos and JBEI CEO Jay Keasling gave keynote presentations. A reception and poster session introduced attendees to more specific technologies and provided highly beneficial industry contacts to researchers. More >
Commercialization Plans Just One Benefit of Cleantech to Market Program
| 05.12.2011. UC Berkeley graduate student teams presented to industry executives and investors their analyses of how best to commercialize twelve of Berkeley Lab’s technologies. Read more here. |  |
Technology Royalties Shared with a Record 165 Berkeley Lab Researchers
01.26.2011. Lab Director Paul Alivisatos recognized Berkeley Lab researchers who have earned royalties through the successful commercialization of their technologies. Read more here.
2010 News Stories
JBEI Wiki-based Model is a Successful Technology Commercialization Project
11.02.2010. Thanks to the U. S. Department of Energy’s Technology Commercialization Fund and the support of an industry consortium including Boeing, GM and Statoil, researchers at the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) have created a technoeconomic model that should help accelerate the development of next generation biofuels. This on-line, wiki-based model enables researchers to pursue the most promising strategies for cost-efficient biorefinery operations by simulating such critical factors as production costs and energy balances under different processing scenarios. The goal is to compete successfully with gasoline in terms of economics as well as performance. Read more here.
This technology was also highlighted in the Editor’s Choice section of Science (10/22/10).
Berkeley Lab Start-ups Among Wall Street Journal Innovation Award Winners
09.27.2010. Two start-up companies based on Berkeley Lab technologies were recognized in the 10th annual Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Awards announced Monday.
Solexant, a runner up in the Energy category, has developed an ultra-thin solar cell manufactured in a roll-to-roll process at a significantly lower price per watt than its competitors. This innovation draws from a Berkeley Lab portfolio of nanocrystal solar cell technologies licensed to Solexant in 2008. The well-funded company has already completed a 2-MW pilot line at its San Jose headquarters and will begin building a 100-MW manufacturing plant next year.
The Nanosys QuantumRail™ device, named a runner up in the Semiconductor category, uses an energy-efficient approach to improve the color range, brightness and intensity of LED displays in notebook computers, smart phones and other devices. QuantumRail employs high performance inorganic nanostructures, called quantum dots, originally developed at Berkeley Lab. Nanosys, Inc. licensed the quantum dot portfolio in 2002.
Almost 600 applications from organizations across 30 countries were submitted to the 2010 Wall Street Journal competition. Innovations that broke from industry standards and showed potential to affect future technologies across many fields received the highest ratings.
A panel of judges from VC firms, research institutions and private companies ultimately selected 49 technologies as winners and runners up in 17 categories. See here for the complete story and list of winners.
Berkeley Lab Gets Its Own Entrepreneur in Residence
07.26.2010. Science can be a long, slow haul. The road to discovery is usually filled with endless experiments, much trial and error, reformulating of hypotheses, re-experimenting and, sometimes, a very lucky break. Contrast that with venture capitalism, generally a whirlwind of activity, marked with a rush to get a product to market, beat competitors and turn a profit. Can the two work together? Since late last year Jim Matheson, a partner at VC firm Flagship Ventures, has been Berkeley Lab’s “entrepreneur in residence.” Read more here.
Berkeley Lab Wins Four 2010 R&D 100 Awards
07.08.2010. Four inventions from Berkeley Lab have been recognized with the R&D 100 award for 2010 from R&D Magazine, which recognizes the 100 most significant proven technological advances of the year. The 2010 awardees are:
Home Energy Saver/Hohm—a free online web tool that identifies a range of energy-saving upgrades specific to each user’s home construction and geographic location.
Rough Silicon Nanowires for Waste Heat Utilization—a thermoelectric material that can be used to recover waste heat from automobiles, airplanes, power plants and other sources to offset energy use.
Chemicals on Demand—laser-triggered microcapsules designed to provide controlled, remote delivery of materials such as cancer therapeutics or surgical glue for hip replacements, or industrial products such as self-repairing electronics and self-healing paint.
APPELS: Differentially Pumped Ambient Pressure PhotoElectron Lens System for Photoemission Studies—enables scientists to use X–ray photoelectron spectroscopy to analyze liquid/gas and solid/gas interactions at ambient pressures, studies that should accelerate the development of more efficient catalysts, improved fuel cells and solar cells, and a greater understanding of the effect of atmospheric pollutants on ozone.
Read more here.
Scientists Benefit as Much as Students from “Cleantech to Market” Program
05.14.2010. Launched as a pilot project at Berkeley Lab, the Cleantech to Market program is finishing its first semester as an official class at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, and it’s safe to say the students learned more than they expected on how to take a technology from the laboratory to the marketplace. What was less expected is how much the scientists got out of the program. Read more here.
Berkeley Lab Licensed Semiconductor Nanocrystals Put to New Use
03.01.2010. Life Technologies Corporation announced early stage results from its single molecule sequencing technology, a technology that promises to deliver targeted genomic sequence with unmatched accuracy and speed. The core sequencing engine is based on the Qdot(R) nanocrystals technology that was developed at Berkeley Lab by Lab Director Paul Alivisatos and colleague at the Materials Sciences Divisions. Read more here.
Berkeley Lab Start-up Artery Therapeutics Collaborates with Roche
02.10.2010. Artery Therapeutics signed a deal with Swiss drug giant Roche to collaborate on the development of ApoA-I peptide mimetics for cardiovascular disease treatment. The ApoA-I peptide mimetics technology was originally developed by Staff Scientist John Bielicki at the Life Sciences Divsion. In 2006, Artery Therapeutics licensed it to develop AT5261, a lead compound for the treatment of atherosclerosis and secondary prevention of cardiovascular events in patients who have suffered a heart attack or stroke. Read more here.
Nearly 20 Percent Bump for Technology Royalties in FY09
01.27.2010. Lab Director Paul Alivisatos recognized Berkeley Lab researchers who have earned royalties through the successful commercialization of their technologies. Out of the Lab’s $3.8 million in licensing income for FY09, an 18 percent increase from the previous year, over $1.2 million went directly to 128 scientists and authors from the Lab. Read more here.
2009 News Stories
12.3.2009. Berkeley Lab Start-up, Solexant, Gears up for Solar Cells Production.
It took Silicon Valley start-up, Solexant, only three months to transfer the nanocrystal solar cell technology from Berkeley Lab. The company is now raising its Series C round of funding for its commercial modules production. The semiconductor nanocrystal technology was also this year’s R&D 100 Award winner. Read more here.
11.18.2009. Berkeley Lab Technology Wins People’s Choice Award at Cleantech Open Alphabet Energy was named one of the two runners-up out of 70 companies competing at this year’s Cleantech Open, known as the “Academy Awards of Clean Technoloy.” The Berkeley-based company was also voted as the People’s Choice business competition winner by audience members at an awards ceremony in San Francisco. Alphabet Energy hopes to produce modules that will turn waste heat into electricity using silicon nanowires developed in Dr. Peidong Yang’s lab. Other scientists who worked on the technology are Arun Majumdar, Renkun Chen and Allon Hochbaum. Read more here.
07.20.2009. Berkeley Lab Wins Four 2009 R&D 100 Award
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Four of R&D Magazine’s prestigious R&D 100 Awards for 2009 have gone to researchers at the Berkeley Lab. The 2009 award designees are: EMGeo ElectroMagnetic Geological Mapper, Nanocrystal Solar Cells, NEXUS® DLC-X Coating System with Pulsed Filtered Cathodic Arc Technology, and the TEAM Electron Microscope Stage. Read more here.
06.24.09. Microsoft Licenses Berkeley Lab’s Home Energy Saver Code for Its Energy Management Software
Microsoft Corporation has launched a web-based home energy management service, Hohm, which uses the energy models in the Home Energy Saver, developed by Berkeley Lab. “Microsoft’s licensing of the Home Energy Saver will bring important capabilities of our home energy-efficiency software technology to an even broader user base than it currently has,” said Evan Mills, with the Environmental Energy Technologies Division who serves as team leader for the Home Energy Saver project. Read more here. 06.23.09. Novartis Licenses Technology For Breast Cancer Diagnosis
Berkeley Lab executed an exclusive license agreement with Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics for patent-pending technology “SATB1: A Determinant of Morphogenesis and Tumor Metastasis.” The SATB1 technology, developed by lead inventor Terumi Kohwi-Shigematsu in the Life Sciences Division at Berkeley Lab, showed that SATB1 protein can be down-regulated to prevent a tumor cell from becoming malignant, rendering it to be an effective prognostic and diagnostic marker for detecting aggressive cancer cells. Go here for a description of the technology.
05.11.09. Students from the Cleantech to Market Program Deliver Another Success
Even if your solar cell materials are dirt cheap, how efficient do they have to be to compete on the market? Why might isopentanol be a better biofuel than ethanol or butanol ? What are the technical, economic, and policy drivers that influence innovation in a mature industry like boilers? These are questions posed and answered by interdisciplinary student teams at the give-and-take Cleantech to Market (C2M) workshop held on April 29 on campus. Read more here.
02.24.09 Lab Scientists Receive Over $1 Million in Licensing Royalties
More than $1 million in royalties was distributed to 119 scientists and authors at Berkeley Lab for inventions and software that was licensed to industry and publishers in 2008. The researchers received their checks at a special ceremony on Feb. 11. Among the technologies that received licensing were robotics for nanovolume protein crystallography, highly sensitive room temperature semiconductor radiation detectors, and energy efficient fume hoods. The licensing deals will bring approximately $2 million to the Lab to fund research and development. Read more here.
03.20.09
Students Test Clean Energy By Degrees. Lab, Campus Collaborate on Clean Tech Licensing Effort Berkeley Lab is partnering with the Berkeley Energy & Resources Collaborative (BERC) at UC Berkeley to engage graduate business, policy, law, and science students in efforts to move the Lab’s clean technology to the marketplace. The program will also match students with energy policy and analysis projects. The effort will culminate in a market analysis based on individual technologies and a VIP reception with energy notables. For more information, go here and article in Financial Times.
2008 News Stories
08.29.08
DOE Announces Up to $7 Million for Technology Commercialization Acceleration
The Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office is distributing up to $7 million to accelerate the movement of clean energy technologies from the national laboratories to the marketplace. Berkeley Lab was selected to receive $1.5 million, which will help post-research technologies in areas related to EERE programs move toward commercial viability. At Berkeley Lab, the money will be administered by the Technology Transfer Department to advance the Lab’s intellectual property and encourage private industry partnerships to ultimately bring new clean energy and energy efficiency technologies to market. Read more here.
- Berkeley Lab PhyloChip – a DNA microarray that quickly, comprehensively, and accurately identifies species within microbial samples from any environmental source, without any culturing required.
- Biomimetic Search Engine – a search engine that mimics the human cognitive process to find hidden and contextually relevant information in literature, databases, music, and other digital content.
- FastBit Bitmap Index – the fastest indexing technology for accelerating searching operations of massive databases. FastBit is able to search up to 100 times faster than other technologies.
- Nanostructured Polymer Electrolyte for Rechargeable Lithium Batteries – a polymer electrolyte that enables the development of rechargeable lithium metal batteries with energy density that is at least a factor of two larger than that of existing technology.
To learn more about the winners, please visit here.
01.30.08
Expo Brings the Marketplace to the Lab
The Technology Transfer Department and the Molecular Foundry jointly hosted the first Technology and Inventors Expo which brought venture capitalists and scientists together on January 30, 2008. Please visit here to read an article about the event. “Tech transfer is a powerful validation of scientific accomplishment. It’s the most stringent evaluation because it is rife with difficulties.” – Paul Alivisatos, Director of Materials Sciences Division. “We want a technology that fills a market need. Technologies that make it to market have strong, relevant patent protection, and are a solution to a practical, real problem.” – Chris Sevrain, CEO of CJPS Enterprises. To download a copy of the talks, please visit Technology and Inventors Expo web site.
2007 News Stories
10.30.2007
Make Way for the Real Nanopod: Berkeley Researchers Create First Fully Functional Nanotube Radio
A team of researchers at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley have created the world’s first fully functional radio from a single carbon nanotube. For more information on the nanoradio, read the article in San Francisco Chronicle here and Berkeley Lab’s press release here.
07.25.2007
SeeqPod Music Releases First iPhone-Enabled Music Search & Discovery Widget
Berkeley Lab start-up, SeeqPod, released first iPhone-enabled music search and discovery widget. Read press release here.
07.05.2007
Berkeley Lab Wins Three Prestigious 2007 R&D 100 Awards for Technology Advances
Three of R&D Magazine’s prestigious R&D 100 Awards for 2007 have gone to Berkeley Lab technologies. The 2007 award designees are: Laser-Detected MRI; Low Swirl Injector for Fuel-Flexible Near-Zero-Emission Gas Turbines; Berkeley Unexploded Ordnance Discriminator. More details about these technologies can be viewed here.
06.2007
Fueling Hope
Fuel efficient Berkeley stove helps Darfur refugees. See a short article in The Oprah Magazine here.
2006 News Stories (and older)
12.21.2005
Genzyme acquires gene therapy technology invented at Berkeley Lab. Read more here.
07.19.2005
Symyx, a start up company using Berkeley Lab combinatorial chemistry technology licensed by the Technology Transfer Department and developed by Peter Schultz and colleagues in the Materials Sciences Division, will be honored with Frost & Sullivan’s 2005 Technology Leadership Award at their Excellence in Emerging Technologies Awards Banquet for developing enabling technologies and methods to aid better, faster and more efficient R&D. Read more here.
07.11.2005
Nanosys, Inc., a Berkeley Lab startup, is among the solar nanotech companies investors along Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park hope that thinking small will translate into big profits. Read more here.
07.07.2005
Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have garnered three R&D 100 Awards, R&D Magazine’s picks for the 100 most technologically significant new products of 2005. This is the first time since 1992 that Berkeley Lab has captured three of the prestigious awards in a single year, bringing the Lab’s total of these “Oscars of Invention” to 37. Read more here.
06.09.2005
Fairchild Imaging licenses Berkeley Lab’s CCD technology for near infrared imaging in the space and biotech industries. Read more here.
04.19.2005
RoseStreet Labs Announces License Agreement with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for Multi-Band Semiconductors and High Efficiency Solar Cells. Read more here.
02.08.2005
Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical is buying Berkeley Lab start-up Syrrx, Inc. See the full story here
2005 News Stories
A Berkeley Lab solar cell technology was recognized as the best new technology presented in the UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition and won third prize overall. More here.
12.13.2004
Red Herring has named Nanosys, Inc. and Nanomix, Inc., start-ups using Berkeley Lab technology, to their list of 100 most innovative companies (Dec. 13, 2004). See Red Herring’s list here.
11.11.2004
Ashok Gadgil’s UV water purification technology wins Tech Museum Awards. See the full story here.
08.2004 Nanosys Inc. is awarded U.S. Defense Department contract to develop flexible solar cells. The award has a potential value of approximately $14 million over a five year period. The initial 12 month Phase 1 of the program will include up to $2.2 million of funding to Nanosys and its collaborators (August 2004). See a press release here.
07.21.2004
Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced its initial public offering and is expected to raise up to $35 million (June 21, 2004). See the full story here.
07.06.2004
Synthetic Nanomotor and Transition Metal Switchable Mirror take home 2004 R&D 100 Awards. See the full story here .
05.26.2004
“Mimizing Casualites from a Chem/Bio Attack: Preparation, Training, and Response Resources” wins the 2004 FLC Awards. Go here for more information.
03.24.2004
Multiband semiconductor material for solar cells technology developed by Wladek Walukiewicz and Kin Man Yu won the Most Promising Technology Award at 2006 R&D 100 awards banquet. Read more here.
2004 News Stories
Quantum Dot, a start-up based on Berkeley Lab technology from the Alivisatos Lab, was named to FORTUNE’s 2004 list of “Cool Companies.” See a full story here (subscription needed).
10.15.2003
Spray duct sealer designed to prevent wallet leakage, too (Oct. 15, 2003)
04.21.2003
Nanosys Inc. plans to go public with an initial stock offering valued at up to $115 million, according to a regulatory filing. See the full story in Smalltimes here and San Francisco Chronicle here.
2003 News Stories
Berkeley Lab wins 2 more R & D 100 awards. See more here.
03.29.2002
Nanosys receives an $850,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to further develop and commercialize its nanosolar technology. See the full story here.
Berkeley Lab start-up Nanomix secures $16 million series C financing. More here.
Using a technology that was developed by Berkeley Lab’s Ashok Gadgil of Environmental Energy Technologies, WaterHealth International is leading an effort to provide safe drinking water to the tsunami-affected regions of the Asia-Pacific. See full story here.
Science Magazine names Berkeley Lab’s quantum dot technology as one of the Top 10 Breakthroughs of the Year and the Forbes/Wolfe Nanotech Report names work with LBNL’s quantum dots as the top nanotech breakthrough of 2003. More information from Quantum Dot Corporation.
Nanosys signed a multi-million dollar deal with In-Q-Tel, a private nonprofit group funded by the Central Intelligence Agency, for the development of national security systems. See the full story here.
A new clean-burning combustion technology called UltraClean LowSwirl Combustion (UCLSC), developed by Berkeley Lab researcher Robert Cheng, is entering the marketplace after years of research and development. See the full story here.
Nanomix, a leading nanotechnology company founded by Berkeley Lab researchers Marvin Cohen and Alex Zettl, and utilizing Berkeley Lab licensed technology, grants DuPont an exclusive license. See more here.
Nanosys, a leading nanotechnology company, announced that it has signed exclusive licensing agreements for world-wide rights to a broad set of intellectual properties covering nanocomposite solar cells developed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. More here.
Berkeley Lab’s technologies featured in The Better World Report published by AUTM . Download a copy here.
A Parkinson’s gene therapy co-invented by Krzysztof Bankiewicz while at Berkeley Lab and licensed by Berkeley Lab to Avigen shows early success in clinical trials. Read more here.