Since CESER’s inception, strategic and collaborative partnerships with DOE’s 17 National Labs, energy sector industry, and the research community has been key to advancing game-changing R&D efforts and transitioning innovative early-stage research into core capabilities the energy sector can use to mitigate cyber risks.

Recently, research funded by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) to develop a new method to protect the U.S. electric grid from cyberattacks was announced as a finalist in the 2021 R&D 100 Awards.

In partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and EPB – a Tennessee-based public power utility –  CESER initiative is using quantum communications to protect power grid control signals from third party infiltration. Based on cutting-edge quantum science, Quantum Ensured Defense (QED) escapes the ongoing attack-defend cycle of cyber breaches with an entirely different method of information protection. QED has already been successfully tested for operational use on commercial systems in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and Oak Ridge and Chattanooga in Tennessee.

Established in 1963, the R&D 100 Awards annually recognize 100 accomplishments in research leading to new commercial products, technologies and materials from around the world notable for their technological significance. View the final list of 2021 awardees here.