The Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) values industry partners and the potential public-private partnerships they present to commercialize technology and strengthen the global competitiveness of U.S. industries. Below we have gathered a list of resources to best assist our industry partners looking to connect with OTT and the Department.

ARPA-E

The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) advances America's energy researchers with funding, technical assistance, and market readiness. The Agency focuses on high-potential, high-impact energy technologies that are too early for private-sector investment and can be meaningfully advanced with a small investment over a defined period of time. The streamlined awards process enables ARPA-E to act quickly and catalyze cutting-edge areas of energy research that have the potential to radically improve U.S. economic prosperity, national security, and environmental well being. 

Click here to visit the ARPA-E homepage.

User Facilities

The Department of Energy’s Office of Science maintains and operates 27 user facilities across the National Laboratories system, including accelerators, colliders, supercomputers, light sources and neutron sources. These facilities are used by tens of thousands of researchers each year, and provide some of the most advanced tools in the world.

To learn more about DOE’s Office of Science User Facilities, click here.

Program Offices

The Department of Energy houses 12 program offices across the complex. From the Office of Nuclear Energy to the Artificial Intelligence and Technology Office, the Department covers an extensive portfolio of research.

To learn more about each program office as well as additional staff offices, click here.

InnovationXlab

The Office of Technology Transitions’ InnovationXLab summits facilitate a two-way exchange of information and ideas between industry, universities, manufacturers, investors, and end-use customers with innovators and experts from across the National Labs and broader DOE R&D complex. These events were designed in collaboration with the Labs to expand the commercial impact of the substantial investment in the National Lab innovation portfolio. Past event topics include Artificial Intelligence, Biomanufacturing, Energy Storage, Advanced Manufacturing, and Grid Modernization.

To learn more about our InnovationXlab series, click here.

SBIR | STTR

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) are U.S. Government programs in which federal agencies with large research and development (R&D) budgets set aside a small fraction of their funding for competitions among small businesses only. Small businesses that win awards in these programs keep the rights to any technology developed and are encouraged to commercialize the technology.

Congress established the SBIR and STTR programs to support scientific excellence and technological innovation through the investment of Federal research funds in critical American priorities to build a strong national economy.

Click here to visit the homepage for the SBIR and STTR program at DOE.

Technology Commercialization Fund

The Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF) is a $30+ million funding opportunity that leverages the R&D funding in the applied energy programs to mature promising energy technologies with the potential for high impact. It uses 0.9 percent of the funding for the Department’s applied energy research, development, demonstration, and commercial application budget as well as matching funds from private partners to promote promising energy technologies for commercial purposes.

The goal of the TCF is two-fold. First, it is designed to increase the number of energy technologies developed at DOE’s National Labs that graduate to commercial development and achieve commercial impact. Second, the TCF enhances the Department’s technology transitions system with a forward-looking and competitive approach to lab-industry partnerships.

To learn more about TCF, including current awardees and how to apply, please visit our TCF page here.

Lab Partnering Service

The Office of Technology Transitions’ Lab Partnering Service (LPS) offers unprecedented access to the world’s most advanced scientific facilities and researchers across the Department’s National Lab complex. LPS provides investors and other parties looking to advance energy innovation a single online platform to connect with leading DOE National Laboratory technical experts to quickly answer innovation questions, as well as discover opportunities for building partnerships. Visitors can easily search hundreds of technologies, experts, facilities, and success stories tailored to their individual needs. The site also houses subject specific portals (COVID-19, Space, Artificial Intelligence) and a dedicated Visual Patent Search.

To explore our Lab Partnering Service, click here.

Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear

The Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) provides the nuclear energy community with access to the technical, regulatory, and financial support necessary to move new or advanced nuclear reactor designs toward commercialization while ensuring the continued safe, reliable, and economic operation of the existing nuclear fleet.

GAIN provides the nuclear community with a single point of access to the broad range of capabilities – people, facilities, materials, and data – across the DOE complex and its National Lab capabilities. Focused research opportunities and dedicated industry engagement are important components of GAIN, ensuring that DOE-sponsored activities are impactful to companies working to realize the full potential of nuclear energy.

To learn more about GAIN, visit here.