There's no denying that the Department of Energy is well represented among the Mid-Continent Regional Award winners. Sandia National Laboratories' five awards underscore the range of Sandia's T2 efforts and contributions to the New Mexico economy, and the groundbreaking 10-year partnership between three other national labs and energy giant ExxonMobil is unquestionably a highlight.
But the collection of Mid-Continent awards also illustrates how technology transfer can create unlikely partnerships in areas not limited to energy. Sandia's partnership with mPower is focused on bringing solar cell technology to the space industry. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) took a technology developed for the space industry and adapted it for COVID-19 patients. And the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service consulted with experts from the National Human Genome Research Institute—best known at the moment for contributions to COVID-19 research involving humans—to make notable genomic advances involving some very different species.
Please join us in congratulating the award winners on their noteworthy tech transfer collaborations—in the energy industry and beyond.