Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer

ARS Researchers Save Aquaculture Industry Through Vaccinations
Streptococcal meningoencephalitis is a major disease of farm-raised tilapia, hybrid striped bass and numerous other fish species worldwide. The causative bacteria, Streptococcus iniae and Streptococcus agalactiae, are ubiquitous pathogens that infect all sizes of fish, and no effective methods of control are available to aquaculture farmers. These pathogens are reported to cause death rates of 30 to 50% on commercial farms. S. iniae and S. agalactiae infections are a limiting factor to the increased production of fish, creating an urgent need for efficacious streptococcal vaccines. Vaccines would decrease the dependence on ineffective chemotherapeutic treatments for disease mitigation. Researchers Phillip Klesius, Joyce Evans and Craig Shoemaker at the USDA/ARS Mid South Area, Aquatic Animal Health Research Unit, demonstrated exceptional creativity in two inventions and transfers to the private sector of the first U.S. streptococcal vaccines that protect cultured tilapia, hybrid striped bass, and other fish species from streptococcal disease.

Army Tactical Operations Center Technology Drives Alabama and Other State Homeland Security Command, Communication and Control Systems
Prior to the events of September 11, 2001, the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command (USASMDC/ARSTRAT) had developed a next-generation mobile tactical operations center (TOC) that would support military operations related to air and missile defense. When Alabama created its own Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2003, the Alabama DHS asked the U.S. Army for help with communication issues that existed with first responders at all state and local levels. The USASMDC/ARSTRAT entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with Quantum Research International, Inc., to develop a civilian TOC prototype composed of a subset of the military TOC and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technologies, with emphasis on interoperability, deployability, and affordability. After this prototype was created and tested, the Alabama DHS procured nine Alabama Regional Incident Response Units (ARISUs) from Quantum.

NASA Knows Quality: Increasing Standards in Fluid Flow Meters
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) transferred a novel technology to Quality Monitoring and Control (QMC) of Kingwood, Texas. The balanced flow meter is a unique, multi-hole orifice plate that determines the fluid flow rate in piping, channel, and conduit systems. It provides highly accurate flow metering, flow limiting, or flow conditioning in any fluid flow system. The balanced flow meter's design provides ten times the accuracy of standard orifice-based fluid flow meters, resulting in significant cost savings to industries such as gas and oil refineries.

QMC participated in testing and evaluation while under contract to MSFC, often utilizing its Compressed Air Gas Flow Facility. The company developed the commercialization plan, licensed the technology from MSFC, ultimately created A+FlowTek to commercialize the devices, and has marketed and sold the product globally.

Users of the NASA innovation are experiencing tenfold accuracy and dramatic cost savings due to decreased energy consumption. Sales have been made across the U.S., and in countries such as Venezuela, Chile, Saudi Arabia, and China. Using its first-year measured savings, one chemical company has projected a three-year life-cycle cost savings of $5.4 million-all for an initial investment of only $5,000. MSFC has either established new or expanded existing relationships with a wide variety of entities, including the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the U.S. Navy, Texas A&M University, and private companies such as XCOR Aerospace, Aerojet, and Trilogy Pools.