Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer

NSWC Crane EnGAGEs in Cooperative Technology Transfer
NSWC Crane partnered with Growth Alliance for Greater Evansville (GAGE) to build better relations between the government and the private sector. The Partnership Intermediary Agreement (PIA) is a technology transfer agreement that will enable southern Indiana businesses to benefit from NSWC Crane's science and technology expertise, as well as allow utilization of facilities and equipment. NSWC Crane has 1,800 scientists, engineers and technicians who are working on solving technical problems for the nation's warfighters. Through this agreement, NSWC Crane will make more than 70 patents available to businesses, and provide research assistance and access to personnel and resources. The PIA with GAGE will provide an opportunity for local businesses in 28 counties and 3 states to develop technology and create new jobs. In the Evansville region, GAGE will serve as the manager for NSWC Crane's patent portfolio, and work to create additional cooperative research and testing agreements with businesses utilizing NSWC Crane's patents and resources. GAGE will also connect businesses with specific patents and technology to find ways to apply military research for non-military use. By NSWC Crane providing access to advanced technology and skilled personnel, the goal is to increase the possibility that companies can develop new products to grow their businesses.

NSWC Crane Partners for R&D of Energy Storage and Power Management
Purdue University and NSWC Crane partnered to conduct research and development in the area of energy storage and power management. Under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement, Purdue and NSWC Crane will work on a broad range of projects designed to provide state-of-the-art energy storage and power management technologies for U.S. combat forces. Among the planned research areas are battery efficiency and safety; high-fidelity sensors for energy storage systems; mitigation of lithium battery fires; hydrogen storage research; bio material growth, harvesting and processing for power; and fuel cell advancements. Purdue's tasks will include conducting activities that explore the basic sciences related to the research areas; developing modeling capabilities for the Department of Defense; providing access to high-end analytical instrumentation; and providing research and development studies or reports of interest to the Navy. Through its Strategic Missions Center, NSWC Crane will develop test and evaluation data related to energy storage and power management; provide access to power and energy assets, test equipment and other components for collaborative research; and document responses to completed evaluations and tests.

Advanced Technology Targeted for Homeland Security and Neutron Research
A licensing agreement has been signed between the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and PartTec, a south-central Indiana-based provider of radiation detection equipment, to allow PartTec to manufacture and market an innovative neutron detector system. Uses for this groundbreaking detector range from neutron research to advanced security applications such as monitoring for the presence of illicit radioactive material at our borders. Neutron detectors are specialized scientific instruments used in areas such as nuclear reactors to identify radiation hazards; neutron research facilities developing research in energy and manufacturing; and security agencies monitoring for illicit radioactive material. PartTec will focus on marketing its product for security applications and neutron research. For the past five years, PartTec has partnered with ORNL to provide neutron detection technology in the DOE lab's one-of-a-kind facility. PartTec reengineered the DOE's scintillator detector system as a better alternative to current systems that use helium-3 technology. Recently, it became apparent that the global inventory of helium-3 was nearly gone and new sources are inadequate to fill the large demand for neutron detectors. This supply constraint, along with an increasing demand from the Dept. of Homeland Security and other security agencies, fueled the need for new neutron detector technology.

PartTec also has a CRADA with NSWC Crane to further develop the FPGA software. The purpose of this CRADA is to move the technology from the laboratory environment to the field.

NSWC Crane Partners to Commercialize Surveillance Technology
Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC Crane) partnered with Next Wave Systems, LLC, to facilitate the commercial sale of surveillance systems developed at NSWC Crane. The successful sale of these systems to a variety of customers, including NATO military forces deployed to Afghanistan, was possible as a result of this partnership. NSWC Crane and the Navy have benefited from receiving system improvements developed with private funds at no additional cost to the U.S. government. NSWC Crane will also receive a percentage of Next Wave's sales as patent license royalty payments--the ultimate in pay-for-performance-rewards. Due to the success of this effort, Next Wave and NSWC Crane have begun working on a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to further improve the system.

Military to Medical
Taking patented military technologies and creating products for commercial use is the goal of a partnership between NSWC Crane and Ball State University's Entrepreneurship Center. The military needed an updated, realistic method to accurately test the impact of nonlethal munitions on human skin. NSWC Crane scientist Dennis Jones developed a skin-and-tissue simulant to mimic human skin. The simulant was patented in 2007 and is currently used in ballistics testing. Expanding on the initial concept of the patent, two Ball State students recognized the potential of the stimulant to provide more realistic models for medical personnel to practice surgical techniques. The product, "Sim Skin," will come in various shades and thicknesses to represent human aging and can be molded around artificial limbs to create numerous body parts. The students have created a model leg and are working with an industry partner to develop a better prototype of the leg, as well as other body parts.