Secretary Granholm Visits the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Secretary Granholm Visits the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm visited Department of Energy’s (DOE) Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory on November 22. While visiting the MDF, Secretary Granholm viewed new systems for advanced manufacturing including compression molding for high volume composite manufacturing and MedUSA, a unique system for the scale up of the tool and die industry. Granholm also enjoyed an up-close look at one of the MDF’s internationally known innovations – the 3D printed Shelby Cobra.

As a national user facility funded by AMO, the MDF provides industry with access to state-of-the-art technologies in additive manufacturing, composites, machining, and digital manufacturing. ORNL’s manufacturing research accomplishments were recently recognized with several R&D 100 Awards in the areas of materials development, carbon capture, and machine tooling. Researchers were also awarded the R&D 100 Silver Recognition Award for enabling a domestic supply chain of COVID-19 filter media and face masks.

DOE Seeking Feedback on Stage 2 of the CABLE Prize

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has issued a Request for Information (RFI) on behalf of DOE. This RFI is intended for the Conductivity-enhanced materials for Affordable, Breakthrough Leapfrog Electric and thermal applications (CABLE) community and broader material testing industry to provide feedback on CABLE Prize Stage 2 documentation, testing requirements, and specifications as well as on potential vendors for the testing itself. In Stage 2, the focus will be on quantitative verification of electrical conductivity enhancement (or the equivalent) through testing and detailed documentation of costs and affordability. Responses are due by January 18, 2022. Check out the video to learn more about the CABLE Prize and Stage 1 winners.

Department of Energy Announces $3 Million Funding Opportunity and $2.3 Million for Selected Projects in High Performance Computing Research at National Laboratories

DOE announced up to $3 million in new funding and $2.3 million in eight selected projects for the High Performance Computing for Energy Innovation (HPC4EI) initiative. Teams selected through the program will tap into the U.S. National Laboratories’ high performance computing resources to help manufacturers streamline their processes, increase their productivity, and lower their carbon footprint. Learn more about the open solicitation and view the latest teams selected through the program.

Department of Energy Announces $500,000 for Winners of the Water Resource Recovery Prize

AMO recently announced two grand prize winners of the Water Resource Recovery Prize (WRRP). In this two-phased competition, DOE sought novel, systems-based solutions and technologies that improve efficiency and lower the cost of water treatment, while recovering valuable resources from municipal wastewater. Learn more about the grand prize winning projects and watch a video featuring Prize finalists.

Department of Energy, in Partnership with the REMADE Institute, Awards over $16 Million for 23 Projects that Will Reduce Carbon Emissions Across the Manufacturing Sector

DOE and the REMADE Institute announced more than $16 million in research and development funding for 23 projects that will work to reduce energy use and carbon emissions associated with industrial-scale materials production, processing, and recycling. 

“The transition to a net-zero greenhouse gas economy will require an unprecedented reduction in the embodied energy and carbon emissions associated with foundational industrial materials in every critical sector—from healthcare, to agriculture, to transportation,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Kelly Speakes-Backman. “By investing in technologies that improve our ability to re-use, recycle and remanufacture these materials, DOE is moving America toward a circular economy and reducing carbon emission across the manufacturing sector.”  

Learn more about the 23 projects selected for negotiation here.

DOE Announces Expansion of the Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program

DOE recently launched the latest expansion of its Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program to accelerate the commercialization of clean energy technologies. Hosted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), West Gate will join three existing sites of the Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program to equip scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs with the training, technical resources, and mentorship they need to develop next-generation technologies that will pave the way to a zero-carbon economy. Interested participants should review the West Gate webpage for more information on program offerings, eligibility, and application instructions.

The Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program is primarily funded through the Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO). Since the program's inception in 2015, AMO has awarded more than $48 million to over 115 innovators running 93 start-ups. Program participants have gone on to attract over $520 million in additional federal funding and follow-on private funding.

Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program Site, Chain Reaction Innovations, Recognized by University of Chicago Argonne Board of Governors

The Chain Reaction Innovations’ (CRI) leadership team was recently recognized by the University of Chicago Argonne Board of Governors with a Distinguished Performance Award. As one of four Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program sites, CRI is a two-year fellowship for innovators focused on clean energy and science technologies.

Since its inception in 2016, CRI has admitted 28 fellows with high-impact startups. As a result of CRI’s mentorship and support, the innovators have created 282 jobs to date and raised $170 million in follow-on funding.

ICYMI: AMO’s Energy Awareness Month Webinar Series

October was Energy Awareness Month and to celebrate, AMO hosted a series of free webinars in partnership with the Better Plants program. These webinars offered strategies to master facility energy use, best practices from energy efficiency goal achievers, and the latest tools from AMO for manufacturers across the industrial sector. We invite you to watch the series, download accompanying documents, and learn more about how AMO and the Better Plants team can help you achieve your energy savings goals.

AMO Congratulates Winners of the C3E Awards

Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm recently recognized nine accomplished women for their achievements and leadership in clean energy at the tenth annual Clean Energy Education & Empowerment (C3E) Women in Clean Energy Symposium and Awards.

Marina Badoian-Kriticos, winner of the 2021 Education & Advocacy Award, is a Research Scientist at the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC), where she also serves as Assistant Director of the U.S. Department of Energy Upper-West Combined Heat and Power Technical Assistance Partnership (CHP TAP), an AMO program that promotes and assists in transforming the market for CHP, waste heat to power, and district energy technologies/concepts throughout the U.S.

Kate Anderson, winner of the 2021 Social, Economic, & Policy Innovation Award, is chief of staff for Energy Systems Integration at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Kate worked closely with AMO’s CHP experts on the recently completed project to add CHP modeling capabilities to the Renewable Energy Integration and Optimization (REopt™) Lite web tool.

REGISTER: AMO Virtual Workshop Series on Semiconductor R&D for Energy Efficiency: Advanced Packaging for Energy Efficient Microelectronics

Join AMO for the fourth workshop in a series on semiconductor research and development. The fourth workshop invites AMO stakeholders and partners to discuss emerging technologies and opportunities to overcome key barriers in advanced packaging and improve energy efficiency of 3D microelectronics.  This workshop will be split into two segments: a webinar on January 12 and 13, 2022 and a roundtable on January 19 and 20, 2022. Learn more and register.