Newswise — OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Sept. 19, 2017 — Entrepreneurs are invited to apply for the second round of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Innovation Crossroads program.

Up to five innovators will receive a two-year post-doctoral entrepreneurial fellowship that includes vouchers worth up to $350,000 for collaborative research and development at ORNL, startup business guidance and mentoring, and health and travel benefits. Entrepreneurs selected during the merit-based process are expected to begin the program by May 2018.

Innovation Crossroads is one of three U.S. Department of Energy Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Programs designed to embed top technical post-doctoral talent within national labs as research fellows with goal of subsequently launching businesses. The program focuses on early-stage research and development along with entrepreneurial guidance to enable innovators to inject new ideas into the national labs and transform their novel ideas into U.S.-based companies.

Innovation Crossroads fellows have access to world-class research facilities and scientific expertise at ORNL, including the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, the National Transportation Research Center, the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, and the Spallation Neutron Source.

Through regional partnerships with entrepreneurial and business accelerator organizations, fellows also receive assistance with developing business strategies, conducting market research, introductions to potential commercial partners, and finding additional sources of funding.

The first cohort of Innovation Crossroads fellows began their terms this summer. These first-time entrepreneurs include Anna Douglas (SkyNano), who is developing a process that uses carbon dioxide as a feedstock to produce low-cost carbon nanotubes; Matthew Ellis and Samuel Shaner (Yellowstone Energy), who are jointly developing an advanced nuclear reactor design; and Mitchell Ishmael (Active Energy Systems), who is developing a system for low level heat recovery and energy storage.

Interested entrepreneurs can learn about Innovation Crossroads and begin the application process at innovationcrossroads.ornl.gov. The application period closes Oct. 30.

Innovation Crossroads is funded by DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO), which supports early-stage applied research and development of new materials, information, and process technologies that improve American manufacturing’s energy efficiency, as well as platform technologies for manufacturing clean energy products.

EERE supports early-stage research and development of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies that make energy more affordable and strengthen the reliability, resilience, and security of the U.S. electric grid.

UT-Battelle manages ORNL for the DOE's Office of Science. The DOE Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit the Office of Science website.

 

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Image: https://www.ornl.gov/sites/default/files/Douglas_IC.jpg

Caption: Anna Douglas, founder of SkyNano, is among the first cohort of Innovation Crossroads fellows at ORNL. Aspiring entrepreneurs are invited to apply for the program’s second round.

Image: https://www.ornl.gov/sites/default/files/Ishmael_IC.jpg

Caption: Mitchell Ishmael of Active Energy Systems is developing a system for low level heat recovery and energy storage as part of ORNL’s Innovation Crossroads program, which is now accepting applications for its second round.

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