Two technologies developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the areas of energy and semiconductor research are among the winners of the 2007 Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Awards.
In the energy category, the LANL winner is a team led by Gregory Swift that has developed a method to liquefy natural gas through a thermoacoustic process that cools the gas with sound waves. The process differs from traditional methods because it produces smaller quantities but with much higher reliability and at lower cost. The technology has been licensed to Swift LNG Inc., of Houston.
In the semiconductor category, Los Alamos researcher Kris Kwiatkowski won for developing a superfast camera on a chip, able to capture images of very fast events, like an explosive shock wave. The camera, developed alongside researchers from Teledyne Technologies, combines a chip for capturing light and another for storage and processing of the resulting image.
The camera on a chip previously earned a 2007 R&D 100 Award, given annually by R&D magazine.
The Technology Innovation Awards selection process begins with a screening of applicants by Wall Street Journal editors. Then a panel of distinguished international judges from business, research, and academia make the final selections.
The Journal's criteria for winners stipulate that the technologies represent a true breakthrough from traditional methods, not just an incremental improvement.
Other categories of winners include environment, materials, medical devices, computing and computer software.
Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company, and the Washington Division of URS for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.