ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The Department of Energy today announced a five-year, $66 million cooperative research and development agreement between five DOE laboratories and a small California company.
The partnership with SciBus Analytical Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif., is designed to commercialize a robotic system housed within a mobile laboratory that automatically analyzes soil and other materials for contaminants. The partnership is part of DOE’s Chemical Analysis Automation (CAA) program. The sole purpose of SciBus Analytical is to commercialize the CAA technology.
DOE laboratories involved in the partnership are Sandia National Laboratories, Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Sandia was instrumental in the development of the CAA technology’s computer software, and the other laboratories helped develop hardware and tasking controls.
DOE Under Secretary Thomas P. Grumbly made the announcement during the opening of the DOE Forum on Robotics for Environmental Remediation, July 23-25, in Albuquerque.
This is the first joint licensing agreement implemented through the DOE’s Environmental Management program. The agreement gives SciBus Analytical exclusive rights to the CAA technology, and stipulates the five national laboratories will share a common royalty payment structure, versus each laboratory negotiating separately with SciBus Analytical.
The seventh annual DOE Forum on Robotics for Environmental Remediation is expected to draw about 300 people, divided among university professors, students and administrators, industry, and employees of the national laboratories.