Better Plants is helping industry boost their productivity through adoption of energy technology researched and developed at the 17 National U.S. Laboratories. The 2017 inaugural Technology Day aimed to demonstrate how industry can boost their productivity through adoption of emerging technologies researched and developed at the 17 National U.S. Laboratories. The Technology Day aims to demonstrate the various early-stage technologies best positioned to enable American industrial competitiveness and innovation. Additionally, the workshop highlights the lab facilities and expertise that companies can leverage to tackle challenging industry problems. Over both days, partners hear from experts from the Labs, network with other partners, and listen to talks from industry leaders.
At Tech Day 2017, partners gathered at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to hear from industrial R&D experts about the cutting edge technologies being worked on at the lab such as as ultrasonic driers, advanced sensors and 3D-immersion software platforms. Additionally, partners were able to tour several innovative facilities in the Lab such as:
- Manufacturing Demonstration Facility
- National Transportation Research Center
- Building Technologies Research and Integration Center
- Bio-derived Materials and Advanced Materials and Coatings
- Advanced Sensor and Drone Laboratory
- Visualization Laboratory
- High-Performing Super-computing
In addition to hands-on technology experiences, Better Plants partners and industry leaders shared their experiences partnering with the Oak Ridge National Lab and how they were able to leverage research and technologies to benefit their companies. During a presentation a represenatitive of Cummins co-led a panel discussion offering his perspective on lab-industry partnerships:
“Working directly with our National Labs has sparked innovation that allows us to compete with companies around the globe" said Roger England, Director of Materials Engineering and Technology at Cummins Inc. “There are a lot of really smart people at [Oak Ridge], and when you hang around smart people you only get smarter.”
From top left to bottom right: Partners receive a tour of the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF); Scott Schweiger, and Chris Stoneburg of Owens Corning; Partners see the inside of the 3D printed house; Bill Peter, Director of the MDF, Partners are shown the 3D printed car; Timothy Wagner of United Technologies Research Center and Roger England of Cummins explaining the benefits of working with the National Lab system.
In the top Banner from left to right: Research at Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL); Jasper Clarkson of Eastman; Tom Wenning of ORNL and Raj Kirshnaswamy of Braskem; Bill Trapp of Eastman; Eli Levine, Better Plants Program Director.