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Chanette Armstrong appointed DOE Director of the Office of Technology Transitions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2018

Abstract

Type
Science Policy
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2018 

US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry has announced the appointment of Chanette Armstrong as the Director of the Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) within the Department of Energy (DOE).

“Ms. Armstrong’s engineering background coupled with her extensive private sector experience makes her an outstanding appointment for OTT Director,” Secretary Perry says.

As the Director of OTT, Armstrong’s responsibilities will extend across DOE’s program offices, its 17 national laboratories, and its other research and production facilities across the country. She will also oversee DOE’s Energy Investor Center, the Technology Commercialization Fund, and the coordination of technology transfer activities and best practices across the DOE complex.

In addition to serving as the Director of OTT, Armstrong will also serve as the DOE Technology Transfer Coordinator, an advisor to the Energy Secretary on technology transfer and commercialization activities. Armstrong will oversee and advance the DOE’s efforts to spur innovation and accelerate the commercialization of early-stage technologies from the DOE’s laboratories to the marketplace.

OTT was established in 2015 in order to expand the commercial impact of the DOE R&D portfolio to advance the economic, energy, and national security interests of the country.

Armstrong is a registered patent attorney, holding a BS degree in electrical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, a MBA degree from Long Island University, and a JD (Doctor of Law) from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey Law School.

Last Fall, Perry announced $19.7 million in funding through the OTT’s Technology Commercialization Fund, supporting 54 projects across 12 national laboratories involving more than 30 private-sector partners. DOE’s national laboratories have supported R&D that led to many technologies currently in the marketplace, including the batteries powering electric vehicles, the foundation of Internet servers, and the optical digital recording technology behind DVDs. According to DOE, these selections will further expand the department’s efforts to catalyze the commercial impact of research, development, and demonstration activities to increase return on investment from federally funded work.

The recently funded projects include lithium anodes for electric vehicles (Argonne National Laboratory and alpha-En Corporation, Tarrytown, N.Y.), additive manufacturing of thermoelectric generators (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory), biomaterials from non-woody biomass (National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Sustainable Fiber Technologies, Renton, Wash.), and development of cost-effective quantum key distribution systems for the US power grid (Oak Ridge National Laboratory).

References

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