by Mary L. Sylvia
Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport
Reaching out to the technical community is always an exciting experience, but this seems especially true when engaging those from other nations. At COPENMIND 2008, Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport had such an opportunity. Dr. Theresa Baus, Office of Research and Technology Applications (ORTA) Representative and head of Division Newport's Technology Partnership Enterprise Office (TPEO), and Thomas Ramotowski, a chemist from Division Newport's Devices, Sensors, and Materials Research and Development Branch in the Sensors and SONAR Systems Department, were our laboratory's representatives. I conducted an interview with Dr. Baus upon her return from COPENMIND and captured her thoughts on the event.
MS: How was your experience at COPENMMIND?
Dr. B.: Overall, the experience was positive. It was interesting to see how many Division Newport projects were of interest to universities from all over the world. For example, our anti-fouling research that seeks environmentally friendly ways to protect structures from the harsh underwater environment had applications to work being done by a university in South America that is exploring ways to help the salmon farming industry. The cages used to contain the salmon get damaged with biological matter adhering to them (a.k.a, "gunked up"), so they are also exploring ways to mitigate that problem while not affecting the salmon population.
The breadth of "outreach" of the COPENMIND was interesting, since there was such a wide range of organizations and nations represented. We had on one side of our booth the Tokyo University of Science and on the other the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. VTT folks were interested in situational awareness, which is similar to our Navy laboratory's combat systems work (both commercial and military use). Many folks who stopped by our booth were curious as to why we were there. Press covering the event also asked "why?" This gave us a great opportunity to explain not only how organizations work with a Navy lab, but to explain the mere fact that they can.
MS: What value-added was there for DIVNPT's tech transfer program?
Dr. B.: There was definitely value in attending. Not only did we promote Division Newport work and technologies, but as FLC representatives we promoted Navy, DOD, and all government labs. We emphasized that research partners did not have to be a U.S. company or U.S. university to enter into a CRADA (Cooperative Research and Development Agreement). Many of our conversations included all aspects of tech transfer - above and beyond the clean technologies [the event theme] - to include medical devices (e.g., our "non-contact" blood pulse waveform monitor) and other technologies our laboratory is exploring for transfer into the commercial sector. People visiting the booth were quite willing to share contact information and provide various leads for potential partnership connections.
MS: In keeping with the "Clean Tech" theme of this year's event, what laboratory technologies did you and Mr. Ramotowski showcase?
Dr. B.: Our anti-fouling work [mentioned above] had a great deal of interest. We also showcased our environmentally friendly chromate-free corrosion protection systems for aluminum and steel and the accelerated life-cycle test vessel, used to test efficacy in days instead of years. We provided visitors with handouts of these capabilities and research. Some are patented inventions and in some cases we discussed our research using a commercially available compound to minimize the adverse affects of the harsh marine environment on materials that get exposed.
We promoted the tech transfer of a number of our dual use capabilities such as unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs) for use in monitoring the marine environment as well as for situational awareness, and our survival test facility that is available to industry and academia to assess the environment's impact, such as fog, salt spray and mildew, on marine objects and instrumentation. We also promoted a suite of material test fixtures and apparatus that we have patented that may be used to test composite as well as biological materials for manufacturing and during design/product development purposes.
MS: Would it be worth the laboratory's time and resources to attend the next COPENMIND, why or why not?
Dr. B.: Yes. The next COPENMIND will have an energy focus. Division Newport does a great deal of research in this area especially in power for undersea vehicles. We have expertise in fuel cell development, battery management systems, lithium-ion batteries, etc. It will be a great opportunity to promote much more of our work, and we very much look forward to it.
Dr. Theresa Baus of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Newport Division discusses the efforts of American technology transfer with an attendee at COPENMIND in Copenhagen, Denmark, September 2, 2008. Dr. Baus also serves as the FLC Northeast Regional Coordinator. (Click image to enlarge)
