From the University of Chicago, Jan. 19, 2021: The Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation recently launched the Compass – a first-of-its-kind deep tech accelerator program for early-stage startups and technologies. The Polsky Center will select the most promising startups and technologies out of the University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory, and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and provide robust resources to help those companies get launched and be investor-ready in six months.
technology transfer
From Tech Briefs, Oct. 1, 2020: Fermilab has developed a high-power, high-energy, superconducting radio-frequency electron gun for advanced metal additive manufacturing applications. The novel design is based on a technique that eliminates liquid helium entirely and dramatically reduces the complexity of the system.
From The Innovation Platform, July 10, 2020: In this Q&A, Mauricio Suarez, Illinois Accelerator Research Center head and Fermilab deputy head of technology development and industry engagements, discusses the development of compact particle accelerators, using accelerators for the environment and in medicine, and commercializing technologies developed for high-energy physics.
From DOE, June 4, 2020: The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Technology Transitions has announced new resources for innovators to combat COVID-19 through its Lab Partnering Service and the COVID-19 Technical Assistance Program. These initiatives will allow America’s innovators to readily access vital resources and connect and partner with experts at DOE’s 17 national laboratories in the fight against the virus.
Mauricio Suarez has been with Fermilab for only a few months, yet he has already taken full command promoting a key aspect of the lab’s mission: to develop new technologies for science that support U.S. industrial competitiveness. As the person in charge of connecting Fermilab with industry partners, Suarez is leading the way for the lab to foster innovation and advance technologies for the benefit of society.
What began as an experiment in a nine-ounce cup of water has been developed into a full-scale technology that recently became a finalist for a 2019 R&D 100 Award. Achieving the honor was E-MOP™ — electromagnetic oil spill remediation technology — developed from patents owned by Fermilab. The technology uses materials that are environmentally safe, reusable and natural.
Five Fermilab scientists, along with their partners at other national laboratories, universities and in industry, are recognized for advancing accelerator technologies for fundamental science and everyday applications.
Look out, oil spills. The concept of using floating magnets for cleaning up oil spills, which started as a demonstration in a 9-ounce cup, is now a full-scale prototype — thanks to an agreement between Fermilab’s Office of Partnerships and Technology Transfer and Natural Science LLC.
For the first time, a team at Fermilab has cooled and operated a superconducting radio-frequency cavity — a crucial component of superconducting particle accelerators — using cryogenic refrigerators, breaking the tradition of cooling cavities by immersing them in a bath of liquid helium. The demonstration is a major breakthrough in the effort to develop lean, compact accelerators for medicine, the environment and industry.
Engineers at Fermilab have shown that sometimes, to reshape the metal heart of a particle accelerator, what you need is a balloon. The new, patented technique is a novel solution to a problem that affects an essential component of accelerators: superconducting cavities.