July 16, 2004

R&D MAGAZINE BESTOWS 13 INNOVATION AWARDS TO BATTELLE AND THE NATIONAL LABORATORIES IT MANAGES OR CO-MANAGES

Columbus, Ohio-Battelle and the national laboratories it manages or co-manages for the U.S. Department of Energy won 13 awards in R&D Magazine's prestigious annual R&D 100 Awards competition. The awards recognize the most significant scientific and technological innovations of 2003.

Battelle and the labs it manages or co-manages have received 130 of these awards since 1969. The 2004 winners will be recognized in an October ceremony in Chicago, where R&D Magazine is based.

"We're proud of the significant innovations and thrilled to have earned this recognition from R&D Magazine," said Battelle President and CEO Carl Kohrt. "Our focus is on science and technology that solves great national and global problems, has societal impact, and is commercially viable. This mirrors the intent of the R&D 100 Awards, so earning these awards is one of the finest honors we could receive."

In the past, the R&D 100 Awards have recognized products from throughout the U.S. and the world that later became household names, including the flashcube (1965), the automated teller machine (1973), the fax machine (1975), the liquid crystal display (1980), the Nicoderm antismoking patch (1991) and HDTV (1998).

BATTELLE COLUMBUS

Novel Low-Cost, High-Temperature Polymer Membranes (Battellion) for Use in Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cells (joint entry with Virginia Tech University)

This fuel cell technology combines low-cost and high-performance and has potential applications in power sources for cars and trucks, mobile small electronic devices like cell phones and laptops, and in auxiliary power units for transportation and stationary applications.

Fiber Center 7500 (joint entry with Schleuniger AG)

The Fiber Center 7500 is the first fully automated system for attaching connectors to fiber optic cables. The system produces high optical quality finished cables, and replaces a tedious, manual process.

D3: Degradable by Design DeicerTM

Jointly developed by Battelle and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the D3: Degradable by Design DeicerTM is a family of non-toxic, biodegradable fluids used to remove and prevent the formation of ice on military and commercial aircrafts, military and commercial runways, and roadways or pavement. It has less environmental impact, is much less corrosive, and is less toxic than existing fluid and solid deicers.

ThinPrep® Imaging System (joint entry with Cytyc Corporation),

Cytyc Corporation enlisted the aide of Battelle to develop Cytyc's ThinPrep Imaging System. This system is the first automated, interactive image analysis system for cervical cancer screening. The system assists cytotechnologists and pathologists in the primary screening and diagnosis of ThinPrep® Pap Test slides by efficiently and accurately scanning thousands of cell images and presenting diagnostically relevant cells to the cytotechnologist for diagnosis. The ThinPrep Imaging System uniquely combines advanced imaging technology with human interpretive expertise to provide improved diagnostic performance and increased screening productivity.

PACIFIC NORTHWEST NATIONAL LABORATORY

Intellifit System

The Intellifit System body scanner is a first-of-its kind cylindrical holographic imaging technology that can perform a 360-degree whole-body scan in less than 10 seconds. The Intellifit scanner reflects signals off the body that are collected and converted into dozens of precise body measurements to form a high-resolution 3D image of the body. This image allows clothing designers to understand how their customers are sized, shaped, and proportioned and helps manufacturers create garments that fit real people in targeted demographics.

BSP3 Polymer

This novel polymer can be used in chemical detector systems to detect airborne chemical agents such as nerve agents that might be used in a terrorist attack. BSP3 has been licensed to BAE Systems, which is developing a chemical vapor detector system. Compared to its predecessor, BSP3 made sensors four times more sensitive to nerve agents and in some systems enabled faster detection to lower concentrations than previously was possible.

Single-Chain Antibody Library (joint entry with MIT)

The Single-Chain Antibody Library provides researchers with an easy-to-grow library of more than one billion artificial antibodies, creating an inexpensive method for creating and producing antibodies for research. The library provides benefits over similar but older technologies by: allowing researchers to screen and identify needed antibodies in days rather than months; saving research dollars by reducing time and labor cost; enabling the rapid reproduction of selected antibodies; and controlling the expression of antibodies to allow library expansion while maintaining diversity.

OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY

Highly Selective, Regenerable Perchlorate Treatment System

The system uses a unique, highly specific resin to trap perchlorate, destroy it, and regenerate itself so it can be reused. Perchlorate is the primary ingredient of solid rocket propellant and increasingly is being discovered in soil and water. It disrupts function of the thyroid gland, which regulates metabolism in adults and physical development in children. The reaction in the ORNL system that destroys the perchlorate also produces a chemical that regenerates the resin, breaking the perchlorate down into harmless chloride and water. The result is an 80 percent reduction in costs over other procedures and elimination of the problem of secondary waste.

Advanced Heating System for High-Performance Aluminum Forgings

The Advanced Heating System uses an optimized combination of radiant and convection heating for processing materials. When used to heat aluminum billets, the system reduces heating time and energy consumption and produces high-performance forgings with significantly improved tensile and fatigue properties compared to those heated by conventional techniques. High-performance aluminum forged components are lightweight and can serve as a less costly substitute for titanium and other expensive components in automotive and aerospace applications.

Explosives Vapor Sensor (joint entry with others)

Explosives Vapor Sensor is a compact, low-cost explosive vapor sensor for detecting and locating a variety of explosives, including plastic-based explosives. Explosives Vapor Sensor is an improvement over other explosive detection products because of its sub-part-per-trillion sensitivity and high selectivity, direct vapor sensing, low power consumption, less than one-second response time, stability, compact size, and low cost. Explosives Vapor Sensor will have applications in counterterrorism, law enforcement, airport safety, and humanitarian efforts such as landmine removal.

BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY

Overnight Express Induction Kit

The T7 gene expression system is used worldwide by industry and academia to produce foreign proteins within bacterial cells. This new method allows the T7 system to produce many different proteins in parallel conveniently and at high yield. This simplifies production of proteins for biological research or for industrial use as enzymes, diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics.

NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY

Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Biomass Cellulose to Sugars (joint entry with others)

Scientists use plant materials like corn stalks and cobs, sawdust, and cultivated "energy crops" like grasses and fast-growing trees to obtain sugars needed to create fuels, other chemicals, plastics, fibers, detergents, and pharmaceuticals. The enzyme hydrolysis technology is used to break down the plant materials efficiently and inexpensively.

Lightweight, Flexible, Thin-Film CIGS PV Modules (joint entry with Global Solar Energy GSE, Inc.)

The technology enables the manufacture of highly efficient, lightweight, flexible photovoltaic modules using thin-film materials. The patented process produces photovoltaic modules with distinct advantages over modules made with other materials, including the ability to mold to an irregular surface and a compact, foldable design that allows for easy deployment, transport and storage.

Battelle is a global leader in science and technology. It develops and commercializes technology and manages laboratories for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Battelle and the national labs it manages or co-manages have 16,000 staff members and conduct more than $2.7 billion in annual research and development. Battelle innovations include the development of the office copier machine (Xerox), pioneering work on the compact disc, and medical technology advancements.

For more information, visit www.battelle.org or contact Mark Berry, Media Relations Manager, at (614) 424-5544 or berrym@battelle.org.