Federal labs focusing on partnerships to boost tech transfer

The Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) held its national meeting this week, and the emphasis of many conversations around the conference site in San Antonio was how labs can implement new partnerships to yield greater tech transfer successes. This topic was core to a new training course at the conference led by Crane's John Dement, and at which SSTI VP Mark Skinner presented, as well as during the meeting’s Industry Day. Partnerships were also a clear factor in several of FLC’s awards, including those for a NASA technology supported by the University of Central Florida, a Sandia Labs partnership with the state of New Jersey on a post-Superstorm Sandy microgrid project, and an individual award to Elizabeth Brooke Pyne that specifically cited her role in developing a Lilly Endowment-funded collaboration between Crane and Indiana universities. SSTI is also currently working with two of the FLC regions to produce reports on opportunities for new lab partnerships to promote innovation and tech transfer.