I nd u s t r i a l R e s earch Of f i ce News l etter
Spring 2009
Thomas D. Larson Pennsylvania Transportation Institute at Penn State. Page 7 NASA TecFusion™ Program. 2
New to Innovation Park, Immersion, Ltd. Offers Crisis Response Communications. 3
Upcoming Events. 4
Penn State BioEnergy Bridge™ initiative is launched at RETECH. 5
Penn State Builds Biodiesel Refinery. 6
Penn State Licensable Technologies on the iBridge Network. 8
Novel Adhesive WorkHolding Technology for Machining Applications. 8
TecFusion Program ™
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hanks to the NASA TecFusion™ program, small companies and entrepreneurs are given an opportunity to present, license, and sell their technologies to large corporations. The successful program spurs economic development by spinning innovative technologies into the market, potentially leading to new jobs. The TecFusion program works to identify areas of technology interest in major corporations, according to Garry Miller, a senior technical specialist with PennTAP and coordinator for TecFusion events. Once that’s done, the TecFusion team conducts a search of Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) technologies that might be of interest to the corporation. A typical search yields 100-150 technologies. “The corporation then selects organizations they’d like to invite to an event,” Miller explains, “and we help facilitate a technology summit at the corporate site.” The event is like a mini-trade show, where the companies provide information about themselves, give a presentation, and have networking opportunities. The corporation then decides to which companies they will extend partnerships. “The relationships we see come out of the program include licensing, the sale of technology, joint development programs, and possibly acquisitions,” Miller says. “We’ve done nineteen summits now, and it’s proved to be an effective way to transfer technology.” Penn State and NASA joined forces on this program largely due to Miller. “I was the Pennsylvania affiliate for the NASA regional technology program, where NASA was looking to spin technologies out of the agency,” he says. “They wanted to spin technologies that were meant for space missions into the private sector. When that program came to a conclusion in 2005, I was asked if I wanted to participate in this new technology infusion program.” A recent event with Audiovox, a major supplier of wireless and communication products, is a testimony to the success of this program. Having first participated in a 2006 TecFusion event through a former employer, Lou Lenzi, senior vice president of product management at Audiovox, introduced the event to his company.
“I felt Audiovox could benefit from this program, so I contacted Garry Miller to express my interest,” Lenzi says. Lenzi identified several technical areas of interest to Audiovox: power, RF reception, and acoustics. From an initial 150 SBIR matches, Lenzi cut the list to 20 projects. Those companies were then invited to participate in the day-long event. “From there we sifted down to four companies, which we have further engaged,” Lenzi says. “We took those companies to our industry’s annual trade show in Las Vegas and presented future technologies based on their work.” Lenzi said Audiovox has found a lot of value in the TecFusion program and plans to do another in the near future. “It’s a great example of using government-funded research to commercialize new technologies and help these SBIR companies,” he says. “It furthers their business, furthers my business, and better leverages taxpayer dollars that are funding that research.” In the end, the NASA TecFusion program is a win-win for everyone, says Don Mothersbaugh, who represented the Penn State Industrial Research Office at the Audiovox event. “In only a day or two, the host company accomplishes a year’s worth of prospecting for new technologies and partners. The small SBIR Phase II companies involved get an audience of executives from a large corporation that they otherwise may not have been able to access,” Mothersbaugh says. “NASA wins because they are able to move these technologies into the mainstream, allowing industry to help develop them to the point where they become useful and affordable to use in future missions and projects. And finally, Penn State wins because we are able to build rapport with both the small SBIR II companies and host companies which can lead to collaborative research or the licensing of Penn State intellectual property.” Miller deems the program a success. “We have several companies that are planning their second or third event, so it must be working.”
Garry Miller, sgmiller@psu.edu, 570.722.5854
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www.ir o.psu . e d u / t h e i r o n
New to Innovation Park, Immersion Offers Crisis Response Communications
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mmersion, Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of NPC, Inc., recently opened a new office in Innovation Park at Penn State. Located in Claysburg, Pennsylvania, NPC has been providing a broad range of products and services in the print and communications industry for over 50 years. NPC’s extensive print and mail capabilities can do everything from electronic document tagging and volume offset printing to variable digital printing, fulfillment and distribution. NPC is privately owned, employs approximately 460 people, and includes numerous federal government agencies as customers. In December 2008, NPC was named the second largest print supplier for the federal government. According to Tom Schwartz, President of Immersion, “Immersion’s decision to locate in Innovation Park was a conscious choice to surround our company with the world-class talent and tremendous knowledge that exists in the Park. Our goal is to create a business that is both unique within the Park and that will replicate the many success stories that already exist here.”
There are many benefits to being a Park tenant,” Schwartz continued. “We get access to many of Penn State’s departments and programs such as the Industrial Research Office and Ben Franklin Technology Partners, and we’ll have a close connection Immersion’s new office located in to the Penn State community Innovation Park at Penn State. and the vibrant environment of success created by the Park’s tenants and administration.” Immersion was established for two reasons: to create a visibility in the State College and Penn State communities that would allow NPC to connect with local, regional and national businesses to promote and sell its core products and services; and to brand and sell InfoLaunch™ which is Immersion’s Crisis Response Communication Service. The mission of InfoLaunch™ is to prepare a business, in advance, to respond quickly and effectively in a crisis situation, such as a data or security breach, a sudden loss of sensitive personal information, a company-wide policy change or tragedy, or a national or man-made disaster. InfoLaunch prints and mails pertinent information to the organization’s audience, allowing the business to focus on the emergency.
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Larissa Crum, Executive Vice President of Immersion, is promoting and recommending the InfoLaunch service. “Organizations that maintain personal, confidential and/or health-related information of customers or employees really need to engage InfoLaunch’s Crisis Response Communication Service for numerous reasons,” explained Crum. Those reasons include, meeting state and federal notification requirements if confidential information is breached or released into the wrong hands, being prepared to transmit by mail the required written notifications to those adversely affected, providing a call center for affected individuals following a breach and, should a breach occur, creating “peace of mind” for an organization that all systems are in place. In a crisis situation, InfoLaunch will help to maintain that organization’s brand and reputation with customers and employees. InfoLaunch prints and mails the notifications, provides a call center (phone and web), and other “hands-on” services to assist companies in the midst of a data breach crisis. Immersion and the Penn State Industrial Research Office have also been discussing potential research partnerships. “There is definite potential for research projects with Penn State, particularly with Immersion’s parent company, NPC,” said Schwartz. NPC has collaborated with several companies and licensed patented technology in an effort to provide authentication and verification of secured documents. Schwartz continued, “These document security advances could be of great interest to Penn State. In turn, the University, with its world-class research capabilities, can assist in making these technologies even more robust and effective. At Immersion, we are already working on projects with several of the individual colleges and intend to actively seek out many more collaborative opportunities within the University.”
www.npcweb.com
The Immersion, Ltd. team from left to right: Carolyn Schwartz, Office Administrator; Tom Schwartz, President; Larissa Crum, Executive Vice President; and Ashley Kranich, General Counsel and Vice President.
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events
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New Innovation Park Web Site, Launched on March 20, 2009
s the flowers bloom and the weather warms, we are happy to welcome the spring of 2009 and a new Web site for Innovation Park at Penn State. The new site will provide more details on the space, amenities, benefits, and people in Innovation Park. One of the new additions to the site is the coolBLUE Community. Created for the tenants and employees in Innovation Park, this section will provide information on upcoming events and a space to socialize. This launch is just the beginning. The new site will continue to expand and evolve. Please browse through the site and let us know your thoughts and suggestions. What would you like to see?
www.innovationpark.psu.edu
Hybrid and Hydrogen Vehicle Workshop and the 21st Century Automotive Challenge Penn State University Park • LTI Bus Test and Research Center • April 17-19, 2009
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n Friday, April 17, the Penn State Hybrid and Hydrogen Vehicle Research Laboratory (HHVRL) will host its second annual workshop where industry stakeholders in advanced alternative fuel vehicle technology will gather to share information, network with Penn State students and faculty, and display or demonstrate their companies’ products and abilities in this year’s featured exposition at Penn State’s LTI Bus Test and Research Center. Following the workshop, the HHVRL will host the 21st Century Automotive Challenge from April 17-19. Partnering with the Penn State Center for Sustainability (CfS), the HHVRL plans to integrate vehicle to grid (V2G) elements into the competition utilizing the CfS MorningStar solar home. This competition format will demonstrate the reality of car and home interconnectivity, especially pertinent with the emergence of production pluggable electric and hybrid cars in the American consumer marketplace.
www.vss.psu.edu/HHVRL
NSTI Nanotech/CTSI Clean Technology 2009 Houston, TX • George R. Brown Convention Center • May 3-7, 2009
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or the 4th consecutive year, the Industrial Research Office (IRO) will be exhibiting at the NSTI Nanotech and CTSI Clean Technology Conferences. Joining the IRO will be the Penn State Materials Research Institute to demonstrate their research and expertise in nanotechnology and materials, and the Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment to promote the clean and green energy research on campus. The Nanotech and Cleantech Conferences will be held concurrently in Houston from May 3-7, 2009. Now in its 12th year, over 5,000 attendees and 250 exhibitors are expected. Nanotech program tracks include fabrication, characterization, and tools; advanced materials; electronics and microsystems; and medical and biotech. Cleantech tracks include traditional energy, renewable energy, infrastructure, and industry and efficiency. Among the events taking place is the TechConnect Summit, a showcase of prescreened, advanced technologies and early stage companies with a mission of matching innovative technologies to real world business challenges. At the Penn State exhibit, the IRO will also present a list of nanotechnologies available for licensing from the Intellectual Property Office.
www.iro.psu.edu/nano • www.iro.psu.edu/energy
Solar Energy: Awareness, Challenges, and Opportunities Penn State University Park • The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel • May 6-7, 2009
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he focus topics of Solar Energy: Awareness, Challenges, and Opportunities are: 1) new economic incentives that have improved the viability and business case of solar power in the Northeast, 2) new business opportunities and the potential workforce development challenges we face in rebuilding our regional and national economy, and 3) impacts of new technologies on the extensive deployment of residential- and commercial-scale solar photovoltaic systems. Builders, developers, code officials, government offices, financial institutions, economic development professionals, and community organizations are encouraged to attend. Visit our Web site for more information and an agenda.
www.SolarEnergyPA.org/09
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www.ir o.psu . e d u / t h e i r o n
BioEnergy Bridge™ Initiative Launched at RETECH 2009
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he Renewable Energy and Technology Conference (RETECH) was held from February 25-27, 2009 in Las Vegas. The Industrial Research Office exhibited at the event with support from the Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment and the Applied Research Lab. At the event, we discussed Penn State research expertise and capabilities in our core strength areas: high performance building, biomass and alternative fuels, wind, solar, and smart grid technologies. The Penn State Biomass Energy Center also hosted a Side Event at RETECH to launch a new initiative to address the critical need for integrated research and technology development in the area of biofuels research. This BioEnergy Bridge™ initiative will serve as a bridge between the laboratory bench and industrial implementation in the areas of technical feasibility, process and system economics, product quality and yield. The BioEnergy Bridge will address the full spectrum of challenges to our national priority of reducing dependence on foreign sources of oil by increasing production of biofuels. By conducting integrated research into every stage of the biofuels process – from plant transformation to production, harvest, and storage; and from biomass pretreatment to fuel formulation and engine testing – Penn State is working with companies to optimize whole system performance while minimizing environmental impact and reducing fuel costs.
Interested in Participating? Summer 2009 Meeting.
Stay tuned for the first BioEnergy Bridge meeting to be held at Penn State during the summer of 2009. Come to learn more information, discuss critical needs and how Penn State can help, and tour University facilities, farms, and labs. Contact Bob Wallace, director of the BioEnergy Bridge, for more information at (412) 241-9322 or rtw103@psu.edu.
www.iro.psu.edu/energy • www.BioEnergyBridge.psu.edu
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Photo: Pat Little/College of Agricultural Sciences
Penn State is seeking industrial participation across the entire bioenergy spectrum. All organizations participating in the BioEnergy Bridge will work together to attract significant federal, state, and foundation funding streams to leverage the partners’ commitments.
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Penn State Builds Biodiesel Refinery By Andy Andrews, Reprinted with permission from PA Farm News
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ooking oil from six dining halls at Penn State will soon be collected and processed into biodiesel fuel to help defray energy costs at the University.
At a cost of $120,000, a new biodiesel refinery within an existing beef barn on the Penn State property will soon be operational, according to Glen R. Cauffman, manager of farm operations and services at the Farm Services Building at Penn State.
Glen Cauffman, manager of farm operations and services at the Farm Services Building at Penn State
Cauffman, together with Paul S. Trella, director of product marketing, ag and consumer tractors and attachments with New Holland Agriculture, recently spoke to more than three dozen producers and agri-industry representatives in Lancaster.
The focus of the monthly Ag Issues Forum was on the new facility as well as ways in which New Holland Agriculture is helping Penn State to more effectively use renewable resources – some of which run New Holland tractors at Penn State. In 2006, according to Cauffman, “the entire University switched to 20 percent biodiesel – B20 – to success,” he said. The University has put tractors from New Holland, including those running B20 as well as B100 biodiesel, to use. And in an effort to be more fuel-sufficient, Cauffman noted that the refinery is being built at the edge of the campus, near
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the beef facilities, to utilize the used cooking oil from the six campus dining halls. Cauffman said Penn State is collecting the oil now so that by late spring or early summer, the refinery will be turning out biodiesel. By the fall of 2009, the refinery expects to be handling an average of 20,000 gallons of product per year, mostly canola oil. Eventually, much of the farm equipment may be able to run the pure product – B100. But for now, a B20 to B100 blend will be produced for many vehicles. “Right now, ambulances and emergency vehicles on campus do not use biodiesel in the wintertime, for fears of potential cold weather problems,” Cauffman explains. Eventually, noted the farm manager, the University will be able to grow sunflower and canola itself and extract the oil for its own energy use throughout the University. Penn State has four biodiesel tractors from New Holland, of which two can run on B100. The vision, Cauffman said, is to ensure Penn State will have its own self-sustaining energy program. According to Trella, the goal is to provide more tractors to Penn State and continue to develop solutions in which the University, and all of agriculture, can be more energyindependent. Paul Trella, director of product marketing, ag and consumer tractors and attachments with New Holland Agriculture
www.pafarmnews.com
www.ir o.psu . e d u / t h e i r o n
Thomas D. Larson Pennsylvania Transportation Institute
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he Pennsylvania Transportation Institute at Penn State celebrated its 40th anniversary last year with an event to introduce its new name, Thomas D. Larson Pennsylvania Transportation Institute, which honors the Institute’s founder. “Larson was the brain behind the Institute,” says interim director Martin Pietrucha. “We had transportation research going on here at the University, and there were times when they needed to form multi-disciplinary teams. It’s harder to do that than one might think.” Larson also made contributions to the transportation industry outside of Penn State, serving as Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Transportation under Governor Richard Thornburgh and later becoming head of the Federal Highway Administration under President George H.W. Bush. He returned to Penn State and was instrumental in the University’s efforts to develop a research park. After Larson’s death, there was a push to do something in his honor, and the Thomas D. Larson Fund for Excellence in Transportation was created. “The Board of Trustees approved a motion to rename the Institute,” Pietrucha says. “But Thomas D. Larson Pennsylvania Transportation Institute is a mouthful to say, so we now either call it the Larson Institute or LTI.” There are three main research areas within LTI: transportation infrastructure, vehicle systems and safety, and transportation operations. “We’ve done quite a bit of work recently with industry in areas like security barriers and crash integrities of those barriers,” Pietrucha says. “We have a full-scale crash testing facility on our test track.” The one mile test track provides the needed place for a wide range of transportation research including fuel economy, vehicle handling, and vehicle life testing. Within the vehicle systems and safety area of research at LTI is the Hybrid and Hydrogen Vehicle Research Laboratory (HHVRL). “When I was a student, I was involved in the development of hybrid vehicles for a DOE competition,” explains Joel Anstrom, director of the HHVRL. “We saw the need for an actual lab that did research in that area.” Essentially, the mission of the lab was to move technology forward by research and demonstration. “A large hydrogen station demonstration was our first project,” Anstrom says.
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The GM EV1 electric vehicle is a platform for testing and demonstrating advances in fuel cell and hydrogen storage.
“We work in the area of advanced fuels and hybrid and hybrid electric vehicles. Our emphasis is energy storage in the vehicle.” The HHVRL uses hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) capability to test energy storage components for hybrid electric and fuel cell vehicles. HIL links real-time vehicle models with physical components between Penn State and industry laboratories. HIL is intended to speed the development of components and control strategies for advanced vehicles and their subsystems. “The best way to describe our work is we do vehicle systems,” Anstrom says. “We aren’t doing fundamental battery research, fuel research, or combustion research, but we look at it in an optimized system. We focus on computer modeling, but we do build a lot of vehicle hardware for demonstrations.” The latest project within the HHVRL is to help a Pennsylvania company build a hydrogen production module for on-board a vehicle. It will make hydrogen from aluminum powder and water. Anstrom says the emphasis of his lab right now is to work with regional companies. “And it isn’t just passenger cars we’re working with,” he is quick to point out. “It might be heavy vehicles or fuel systems for specialty vehicles.”
Hybrid & Hydrogen Vehicle Workshop/21st Century Auto Challenge
A hybrid and hydrogen vehicle workshop and exposition, and April 17-19, 2009 the 21st Century Automotive Penn State University Park Challenge are scheduled for April See page 4 17-19, 2009 at Penn State. “The two events will overlap so industry participants can see the electric vehicles coming in,” Anstrom explains. “The industries can even enter their own electric vehicles or they can be judges. We’re trying to create a culture where we’re working on the future advancement of this technology.” www.pti.psu.edu
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Licensable Technologies Penn State Inventions on the iBridge Network
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he Penn State Intellectual Property Office (IPO) is now posting technologies available for licensing on the iBridge Network at www.ibridgenetwork.org/PSU. The iBridge Network is the destination and vibrant online community for sharing ideas, research and knowledge. It is a centralized online source for research and innovations. The IPO will continue to expand its library of technologies on iBridge. Currently, over 100 Penn State invention disclosures are posted. You can also select to receive an alert when new technologies are posted by Penn State. www.ibridgenetwork.org/PSU
Non-Exclusive License Available Industrial Research Office Newsletter Subscribe to the e-Edition of The IRON at www.iro.psu.edu/theiron. Look for our Summer 2009 issue in July. Contact Us: Industrial Research Office The Pennsylvania State University 119 Technology Center University Park, PA 16802 814-865-9519 iro@psu.edu www.iro.psu.edu
Send comments or suggestions for The IRON to: Gregory Angle, gregangle@psu.edu Marketing Associate This publication is available in alternative media on request. The Pennsylvania State University is committed to the policy that all persons shall have equal access to programs, facilities, admission, and employment without regard to personal characteristics not related to ability, performance, or qualifications as determined by University policy or by state or federal authorities. It is the policy of the University to maintain an academic and work environment free of discrimination, including harassment. The Pennsylvania State University prohibits discrimination and harassment against any person because of age, ancestry, color, disability or handicap, national origin, race, religious creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or veteran status. Discrimination or harassment against faculty, staff or students will not be tolerated at The Pennsylvania State University. Direct all inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policy to the Affirmative Action Director, The Pennsylvania State University, 328 Boucke Building, University Park, PA 16802-2801, Tel (814) 865-4700/V, (814) 863-1150/TTY. U.Ed. RES 09-35.
Novel Adhesive Work-Holding Technology for Machining Applications
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he novel adhesive work-holding technology for machining applications is a patented technology developed at Penn State for fixturing work-pieces for manufacturing processes. A fixture holds a workpiece with a system of adhesive joints. The fixture incorporates load-bearing light guides called gripper pins, contained within fixture elements called grippers. The work-piece is adhered to the gripper pins using a structural adhesive. The adhesive is photocured via UV light delivered by a spot lamp and light guide. After the machining process, the work-piece is de-bonded from the fixture by either counter-rotating each gripper, which minimizes stress on the work-piece, or by prying the work-piece with an ejector, which minimizes de-bonding time. This work-holding technology is for applications where the workpiece is difficult to hold due to geometric complexity, geometric variability, compliance, softness, or required machining access. The benefits of the technology include minimal distortion of workpieces and extremely small adhesive shrinkage stresses. Grippers can be placed nearly anywhere to grasp the work-piece with joints that are strong and stiff, and that dampen vibration. And, there are no moving fixture components. The adhesive absorbs unwanted vibration and can cure through gaps the size of 0.12 inches or larger. The benefits lead to reduced cycle time, reduced cost, and improved quality. For more information, visit our Web site. www.ipo.psu.edu/workholding