Awards Recognize Outstanding Science and Technology available to the private sector

Annual recognition event held at Fuller Lodge

August 20, 2010—The 12th Annual Technology Transfer Recognition and Awards reception honored Laboratory scientists and technicians who develop scientific technologies in support of the Laboratory’s mission that have great potential for commercialization in business and industry. The awards reception took place yesterday evening at Fuller Lodge in downtown Los Alamos. Keynote speaker for the event was Wendolyn Holland, a senior advisor to the deputy secretary of Energy in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

“The significance of this event is that it's a way of saying thank you for making technology transfer a part of what researchers are doing, that their work makes a difference in the world, “ said Holland. “Los Alamos is a leader among DOE National Laboratories and clearly a leader in technology transfer.”

The event recognized contributors to the protection and transfer of technology through patents, copyrights, cooperative development agreements and licenses. Distinguished Awards were given for accomplishments in patenting, copyright, licensing, programmatic impact, and regional impact during fiscal year 2009.

Distinguished Patent Award

The Distinguished Patent Award honors inventors whose patented invention exhibits outstanding innovation.

The Distinguished Patent Award goes to Robert Hermes of the Technology Transfer Division. The invention provides a material and method for replacing standard oil well drilling fluid with a modified fluid that shrinks when heated during the oil production phase of deep oil well development. The new shrinking fluid reduces the risk of a casing failure due to increasing temperatures and pressures in the trapped fluids in deep wells.

This patent is currently the basis of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with Chevron.

Distinguished Licensing Award

The Distinguished Licensing Award recognizes innovators who proactively engage in commercialization activities at Los Alamos National Laboratory and who have had a positive impact on the Laboratory’s Licensing Program.

The winner of this award is Pat Unkefer of the Bioscience Division. Her innovation led to the creation of Take-Off®, a licensed product based on a metabolic plant stimulant that increases plant photosynthesis rates by coordinating a plant’s uptake of nitrogen from the soil and its use of carbon dioxide for growth. As a synthesized version of a naturally occurring plant metabolite (an amino acid), Take-Off® accelerates growth—thereby speeding plants to maturity and harvest—and enhances yield without the use of growth hormones. It can be applied as a spray to a plant’s leaves or added to water and nutrient solutions to be absorbed by the plant’s root system.

Programmatic Impact Award

The Programmatic Impact Award honors individuals or groups who have made advancements to the programmatic mission of Los Alamos National Laboratory through their interactions with industry partners.

Mark Wallace of Global Security Programs, Shawn Tornga, Andrew Hoover, David Palmer and Mark Galassi of Space Science and Applications, Larry Schultz of Applied Modern Physics, and Michal Mocko of the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center are the recipients of the Programmatic Impact Award for their efforts in the Stand-Off Radiation Detection System Program. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Domestic Nuclear Detection Office has the goal to develop advanced nuclear detectors that demonstrate the ability to autonomously determine the type and location of radiation sources at much greater distances than current technology in order to help protect the homeland. The LANL team partnering with major defense contractors has successfully demonstrated a new system.

Distinguished Copyright Award

The Distinguished Copyright Award honors the authors of disclosed copyrighted materials that are considered extraordinary creations. 

The Distinguished Copyright Award goes to the “RADIUS™” copyright by Lakshman Prasad of Space and Remote Sensing and Sriram Swaminarayan of Applied Computer Science. RADIUS™ stands for Rapid Automated Decomposition of Images for Ubiquitous Sensing and is a computational framework for structural representation of images using polygons instead of pixels.

Regional Impact Award

The Regional Impact Award honors individuals, organizations, or programs that have made a significant contribution to the Northern New Mexico economy.

The recipients of the Regional Impact Award are Chevron Energy Technology Company and a group of Laboratory retirees that formed Chevron’s Area 52 research facility in Santa Fe. This facility created both new jobs and new products based on Laboratory technology. 

The basis for the formation of Area 52 is the commercialization of the Laboratory’s Inficomm technology for oil and gas applications. This transformational technology allows for wireless transmission down-hole in wells and incorporates innovative proprietary sensor technology that eliminates the need for down-hole power or batteries. The initial benefit of the technology will include real time temperature, pressure and fluid levels reading in wells.