Argonne Joins Crowdsourcing Effort
Newswise — The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory will join an ongoing crowdsourcing effort established by DOE to develop energy-efficient building technologies, drawing on the creativity of the American public and the technical expertise of the national laboratories.
Argonne has partnered with the Chicago-based Clean Energy Trust to help selected innovators create improved humidity sensors to boost indoor air quality and overall energy efficiency of buildings.
Winners will be sponsored to participate in a “mini-accelerator” program designed to help prepare the teams for participation in the Clean Energy Trust Challenge, an annual investment showcase where startups compete for $1 million in early-stage funding.
“This program will put participants in direct contact with DOE and the national laboratories, along with regional business incubators and corporate sponsors,” said Hyekyung Clarisse Kim, postdoctoral fellow at Argonne’s Center for Energy, Environmental, and Economic Systems Analysis and point of contact for the Argonne JUMP challenge.
“It’s really an incredible and unique opportunity to receive business development support from the innovation community, draw on the technical expertise of national laboratories and get connected to DOE funding opportunities,” she said.
The crowdsourcing community, called JUMP (Join in the discussion, Unveil innovation, Motivate transformation and Promote technology-to-market), will broaden the pool of people from which DOE seeks ideas and bring those ideas to the marketplace faster. JUMP also will ask participants to vote on the best proposals, information that will help DOE and its partners gauge the market’s interest in the topic and potential solutions.
The program is funded by DOE’s Building Technologies Office, within the Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy.
Argonne joins Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the endeavor. Each laboratory is charged with developing a challenge based on the interest of industry partners, moderating the campaign, helping innovators improve or refine their submissions and providing technical assistance to innovators, if needed.
The laboratories will help set up a judging panel to recommend a winner for each challenge based on the proposal’s potential for significant energy savings and novelty, as well as technical, market and economic feasibility.
“We then do some follow up with the winners, and possibly other participants that we found particularly promising,” said Argonne building scientist Ralph T. Muehleisen, who leads the Argonne JUMP challenge. “This could include helping them get connected with DOE funding opportunities like the Small Business Innovation Research or Small Business Voucher programs.”
In addition to Clean Energy Trust, industry partners include A.O. Smith, Building Robotics, CLEAResult, Callida Energy, Emerson Climate Technologies, General Electric, Honeywell, IntelliChoice Energy and United Technologies Research Center.
Innovators are encouraged to visit the website to view the JUMP technology challenges and submit ideas. Industry stakeholders interested in crowdsourcing a pressing technology challenge are invited to contact the JUMP team to get involved.
A webinar about the JUMP calls for innovation will be held from 2-3 p.m. EST on May 19, 2016. Registration for the webinar is available here.
Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation’s first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance America’s scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.The U.S. Department of Energy’s 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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