Student Abstracts: Science Policy at LBNL

From Berkeley Lab to Marketplace: Technology Transfer Success Stories. SONYA GABRIELIAN (University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94704) CHERYL FRAGIADAKIS (Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory, Berkley, CA 94720) .
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is hailed as "a world of great science". Though the sciences comprise the fundamental core of the lab, they cannot stand alone. To commercialize a laboratory invention, the Technology Transfer Department must construct an effective marketing, patenting, and licensing strategy. Collaborative research can also be facilitated, allowing for increased resources and additional modes of reasoning. Berkeley Lab has met with much success in its relationship with the private sector. To communicate this aspect of the Lab to LBNL scientists and the general public, I have written the "success stories" of five spin-off companies that have evolved from the Lab's licensed technologies: Aeroseal, Inc., Berkeley HeartLab, Inc., Quantum Dot Corporation, Symyx Technologies, Inc., and WaterHealth International, Inc. Since 1990, sixteen startup companies have been launched from LBNL research, creating over 500 new jobs. Though these startups span a broad spectrum of scientific areas, each has an interesting story to tell. In addition, I have constructed a report about The Berkeley Lamp, one of the Lab's most recent technology transfer successes. In a unprecedented coordination effort, Berkeley Lab's Technology Transfer Department partnered with three major California utilities to bring this energy-saving, top quality lighting device to the public.