232

R&D 100 Awards, 

more than any other

national 

laboratory

240

Invention disclosures 

annually (with 75 

patents issued

per year)

199

Active CRADAs

with industry 

123

Active 

industry-funded 

R&D projects

163

Active licenses for 

ORNL-developed

technologies

ORNL Partnerships: 

Open for Collaboration

“We strengthen ORNL’s scientific and technical 

impact through leadership in technology transfer, 

technology-driven economic development, and 

strategic engagement with industry.”

ORNL, with partners Tennessee Valley Authority and Tennessee 

Department of Economic and Community Development, in 

2022 received our first-ever award from the Federal Laboratory 

Consortium for State and Local Economic Development. Our 

partnership resulted in a record $2.3 billion investment by 

Ultium Cells to build a battery cell manufacturing plant in 

Spring Hill, Tennessee. The partners are supporting development of batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) offering longer 

ranges and faster recharge speeds and made with cleaner, 

more sustainable materials. Since 2017, an estimated $8.2 

billion has been invested in the region for EV companies, 

their suppliers, and battery manufacturing, and more than 

4,000 new EV-related jobs have been created. RevV!, an ORNL 

voucher program funded by the state that connects companies to ORNL scientists, has been key to the partners’ success.

Industry Engagement 

Each year ORNL begins new engagements with more than 100 companies through 

partnering mechanisms that facilitate access to unique lab facilities, expertise, and 

intellectual property, helping these companies meet their R&D needs and making them 

more competitive in the marketplace. 

Economic Development Partnerships

ORNL encourages industry and economic development partnerships through membership 

in consortia, participation in entrepreneurship programs, and active engagement with 

regional economic development partners. More than 20 start-ups have been formed over 

the past 5 years based on ORNL technologies.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) actively seeks and engages in industrial and technology transfer partnerships that increase the Laboratory’s 

economic impact, accelerate deployment of ORNL-developed technologies, and strengthen innovation ecosystems regionally and nationally. 

OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY

Parans Paranthaman, Battelle Distinguished Inventor,

National Academy of Inventors Fellow, and ORNL Corporate Fellow

Source: Ultium Cells and Gresham Smith
Partnering Mechanisms

ORNL engages industry through a variety of partnering mechanisms that are designed to cultivate regional and national innovation, speed ORNLdeveloped technologies to market, and positively impact the economy. 

User Facilities—ORNL operates nine scientific user facilities representing unique US Department of Energy resources serving thousands of 

research users each year, including many from industry. The centers include the Spallation Neutron Source, High Flux Isotope Reactor, Center for 

Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, National Transportation Research Center, Buildings Technology Research 

and Integration Center, Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, Carbon Fiber Technology Facility, and Center for Structural Molecular Biology. 

Cooperative Research and Development Agreements—CRADAs allow companies and academic institutions to collaborate with ORNL 

through jointly sponsored R&D efforts leveraging the unique capabilities of the partners. CRADA partners may negotiate exclusive licenses for the 

resulting inventions.

Strategic Partnership Projects—Industry directly funds R&D in areas where ORNL has unique capabilities. ORNL SPPs provide staff with 

increased awareness of technical challenges in industry and provide industry with access to critical R&D capabilities that would otherwise 

not be available.

Technology Licensing—Each year an average of more than 20 ORNL-developed 

technologies are deployed in the marketplace through royalty-bearing licenses 

with industry. Recently licensed technologies include a method to optimize artificial 

intelligence (AI) neural networks, lithium-ion battery technologies, additive manufacturing 

technologies, systems for grid-scale energy storage, a suite of cybersecurity technologies, 

and a drug delivery system to combat COVID-19. 

Highlights

Technology Innovation Program—ORNL invests a substantial portion of its royalty 

income to mature competitively selected ORNL technologies, bringing them closer to the 

marketplace and bridging research and commercialization.

Techstars—ORNL is supporting industries of the future in this collaboration with the 

University of Tennessee and Tennessee Valley Authority to help aspiring entrepreneurs 

and early-stage innovators scale their businesses. Young innovators get access to funding, 

mentorship, networking opportunities, and membership in the innovation community. 

Partners from start-ups to Fortune 500s are commercializing ORNL technologies, including:

• Biological cell sampling analysis technology offering single-cell resolution at high speeds

• 3D-printing method for safe, cost-competitive nuclear reactors components made from silicon carbide

• AI software for real-time monitoring of additive manufacturing

• Solvent-free battery component production using radiation curing for shorter processing time, lower

costs, and reduced emissions

• Electric vehicle wireless charging technology delivering the world’s highest power levels in the 

smallest package

• Rare-earth element chemical separation technology for clean energy and defense applications

• Electrocatalyst that enables formation of higher-weight hydrocarbons for gasoline, diesel,

and jet fuel

Jianlin Li, Energy Storage and Conversion Manufacturing 

group leader, works on an electrode punching machine 

at ORNL’s Battery Manufacturing Facility. The pattern 

design being implemented enables improved battery 

safety upon impact.

January 2022

CONTACT:

Michael Paulus

Director

Technology Transfer

paulusmj@ornl.gov

865-574-1051

One Bethel Valley Road, 

Oak Ridge, TN 37830

Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT-Battelle LLC for the US Department of Energy

www.ornl.gov/

partnerships