In 2004, Los Alamos National Laboratory’s (LANL’s) John Ramsey had a problem. His team had used up its appropriated federal funding to explore the science of a next generation fuel cell stack, but the funding wasn’t there to build a prototype. “DOE and DARPA were looking for more fundamental science and not applied science,” says Ramsey. Building a prototype was not a programmatic goal, so Ramsey could not simply build a prototype using his programmatic funding. A company was already interested in licensing the fuel cell stackif his team could produce a working prototype.

click the image to enlarge Awardees moving toward commercialization, top left: Acoustic Concentrator for Engine and Machine Exhaust; top right: High Power Density Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Stack; bottom left and right: Electrochromic Rearview Mirrors.

That’s when Ramsey turned to LANL’s Technology Maturation (Tech Mat) Fund. The fund is in place to bridge the “Valley of Death” between science and the commercial world. Most LANL technologies with commercial potential reach a point where traditional government funding is no longer available, however these technologies need at least a working prototype or additional maturation to be attractive to potential partners and investors.
LANL’s Technology Transfer Division recognized this problem and set out to solve it. The Laboratory’s prime contract mandates movement of technology from inside the Lab to the private sector, where these new technologies can improve our lives. The Tech Mat Fund, derived from a combination of licensing/royalty revenues and monies earmarked for this purpose under the Lab’s prime contract, awards moderate dollar amounts (up to $50,000) to technologies that are on the cusp of commercialization.
The objective of the Tech Mat Fund is to provide modest amounts of funding for highly focused projects to move early stage technologies along the road to commercialization. Unlike many types of funding within the Laboratory, these awards are not for a specific time period but rather to achieve a specific milestone in a defined development path leading to commercialization.
Tech Mat appeared to be a fit for Ramsey and his team’s fuel cell stack. He applied for $50,000 in funding to build a prototype fuel cell stack and was awarded the money very quickly. “The fact that we had money available to use within a couple of days was really quite amazing,” said Ramsey.
The turn-around time is so quick because the review process is carried out completely in-house. There is a continuous call for proposals, so LANL technical staff members can apply at any time. A panel of tech transfer professionalsbusiness development or licensing executives with diverse technical and business backgroundsfirst considers the market for the technology and the impact the technology will have in the market. If both are significant, then the panel evaluates if the research proposed is appropriate for the funding requested. The panel also considers where the technology is now and if commercial interest has been expressed in the technology. About 50% of the proposals receive funding.
Soon after Ramsey’s team successfully completed its working prototype, the design was transferred to Mesoscopic Devices of Broomfield, CO, under a government-use agreement. According to Ramsey, Mesoscopic’s LANL-based fuel cell stack has the highest power-to-weight ratio on the market. “ It was that number and the clean packaging of that thing that attracted Mesoscopic,” said Ramsey.
Since its inception in December 2002, LANL’s Technology Maturation Fund has awarded 24 proposals for an average amount of $38,000. The entrepreneurial and commercial catalyst of these small funds has been phenomenal. Funded projects have assisted in the development of three start-up companies: ENKI, Advanced Real-time Technologies, and Caldera Pharmaceuticals. In addition, the Lab has entered into six license agreements with commercial companies as a direct result of Technology Maturation funding. Funded technologies include the following:

• Electrochromic (automatically dimming) automobile mirrors
• Nitrate pollution remediation
• Micro X-ray fluorescence, a technology for discovering drug interactions
• Computational image analysis
• Non-thermal plasma processor
• Portable air elemental pollution monitor
• Advances in practical fuel cells
• Cleaner plasma-assisted combustion
• Quantum dot light-emitting diodes

Jeffrey J. Stewart
Los Alamos National Laboratory