The Department of Energy (DOE) has selected 20 researchers to take part in two-year entrepreneurship programs to support the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
DOE said Monday the selected participants will work with the department’s national laboratories to support early-stage research and development efforts focused on energy efficiency, storage and productivity.
Under the Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Programs, six teams will work with the Argonne National Laboratory while seven and four teams will work with the Lawrence Berkeley and Oak Ridge laboratories, respectively.
Argonne will focus on materials engineering, cybersecurity and smart manufacturing as part of the “Chain Reaction” program while Lawrence Berkeley will work on additive manufacturing, building efficiency and electrification for the “Cyclotron Road” project.
Oak Ridge’s work under the “Innovation Crossroads” program will involve topics such as smart manufacturing, computing and cybersecurity.
According to DOE, the entrepreneurship effort is meant to drive investments and promote opportunities to launch manufacturing and energy-related businesses.
“By helping entrepreneurs bring their concepts to market, the Department is investing in new energy and industrial technologies that bolster our nation’s energy and manufacturing competitiveness,” said Alex Fitzsimmons, deputy assistant secretary for energy efficiency.
The programs have awarded over $32 million to support 65 projects and 89 fellows since 2015.
