On Feb. 25, we honored employees for their technological innovations in a celebration of inventors, creators and entrepreneurs at Fermilab’s annual Inventor Recognition Awards Ceremony. As part of a celebration, which was dedicated to Fermilab pioneer Alvin Tollestrup, we recognized nine Fermilab inventors who earned patents in 2020, 25 who submitted disclosures, and several unsung heroes.
Please join us on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2-3 p.m. for a brief online ceremony celebrating innovation at Fermilab and honoring more than 30 individuals who received patents or filed Records of Invention during calendar year 2020. The event is open to all interested employees. Please mark the day and time on your calendar. Zoom meeting information will be emailed to all registered participants prior to the event. Register for the ceremony.
IARC at Fermilab’s “Five Buckets” represent the five major activities that make up the IARC mission and strategy. Some of these buckets are an extension or continuation of the team’s work over the last five years. Others are new efforts and initiatives. All will increase the lab’s already great impact on the world.
Derek Plant, a Fermilab technical specialist, invented a portable device to quickly mimic the presence of a train on the tracks. OPTT filed the patent application in 2017, and the patent was granted earlier this year.
Join the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation on Friday, July 24, to learn about the wide range of programs and resources available to support scientists and researchers. During this online event, we will discuss: The technology commercialization process Programs to build entrepreneurial skill sets and explore commercialization Access to Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, who have experience in science and technology start-ups Polsky Center staff focused on supporting scientists Additional ways to engage with Polsky programming The Polsky Center bridges the gap between knowledge and practice, idea and action, and…
Calling all Fermilab innovators! Last chance to enroll in cohort 2 of the Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Practicum! For this eight-week short course, the Office of Partnerships and Technology Transfer has organized a program of instructors with experience in intellectual property and innovation at Fermilab as well as with the Energy I-Corps program through DOE. The eight-week short course begins on July 9 and concludes on August 27. In the final module, students will learn about the resources available…
The Office of Partnerships and Technology Transfer begins cohort 2 of the Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Practicum on July 9, and it will help new scientist-entrepreneurs think critically about what dynamic barriers exist to market entry, how they can adjust their customer hypotheses, and how their innovation can get a piece of the industry pie. Inventors typically think their invention can capture 90% of the total market, available everywhere and without competition. The inventor’s instinct is, “everyone should want this!” In…
Curtis Baffes disclosed his whiffletree flange sealing idea to the Office of Partnerships and Technology Transfer in 2017. A whiffletree is a mechanism that distributes force evenly through a system of linkages. Baffes has used whiffletrees to support large telescope optics that would otherwise warp under their own weight.
Anna Pla-Dalmau is a prolific inventor at Fermilab, with several patents to her name. These patents relate to extruded plastic scintillator, which is used in particle detectors. She has explored the extrusion of polystyrene pellets with dopants to yield high-quality scintillator. The extrusion line built at Fermilab continues to produce the material for research institutions around the world.
Congratulations! You have invented a new technology that would benefit the world! …Now what? Among your list of tasks will be questions like: Who are your most important customers? How will you get your product to the customer? How costly are your customer relationships? These questions factor into the Business Model Canvas, a valuable template and the standard tool in forming new venture business models. Each section of the Canvas contains its own questions, and the sections have an interlocking…