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    NUWC Keyport, PSNS invest in technology transfers for industry use

    NUWC Keyport, PSNS invest in technology transfers for industry use

    Photo By Jake Chappelle | 200109-N-JB957-548 SPOKANE, Wash. (Dec. 10, 2019) - A universal fiber optic clamp is...... read more read more

    KEYPORT, WA, UNITED STATES

    03.16.2021

    Story by Lonnie Collier 

    Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Keyport

    Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Keyport is one of several Navy entities that routinely partners with small businesses and larger industry associates to share technological advances on crucial assets.

    The Navy Technology Transfer program is a means by which Navy inventions are shared within their industry arenas, so private companies can utilize their developments, apply them in support of Navy programs, and possibly commercialize them to grow their businesses.

    “The Navy is leveraging its technical know-how to make solutions to problems a reality,” said Jeanne Suchodolski, NUWC Division Keyport Intellectual Property Counsel. “As technology is developed, we can also share that knowledge with businesses and increase the strength of the industrial base.”

    Let’s use Brandon Rottle’s answer to fiber optic cable damage as an example.

    Fiber optic cables are fragile and often broken during installation. The risk of damage during installation is even greater when the cable is secured to the rock-solid structure of a naval vessel hence, over time, the cable often ends up as a casualty.

    “This was a well-known problem throughout the Navy,” said Rottle, a nuclear general foreman out of Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Bremerton, Washington. “It was very costly to train end-users to handle the cable.”

    Rottle and his team of co-inventors attacked the issue directly and the universal fiber optic clamp was born.

    “We looked at how the problem itself could be solved,” he said. “After two years of development and five iterations of the product, the new fiber optic clamp is easy to use and most importantly, greatly reduces the chance of damaging the cables, which are necessary to run our ships and submarines.”

    Inventions, like the fiber optic clamp, should be approved and a patent submitted by Suchodolski’s office, so they can be shared with industries outside of the Navy.

    Patents and technology transfers aren’t new to the Navy and NUWC Division Keyport. More than 40 patents were filed over the last fiscal year. Under the technology transfer program, those companies working for the government can use the technology royalty free with a license. Licenses for commercial use and sale outside the government are also available.

    Over the last fiscal year, the Technology Transfer Office facilitated execution of eight Cooperative Research and Development Agreements, nine Education Partnership Agreements and one Partnership Intermediary Agreement. These collaborations collectively strengthen the abilities of the Navy and its partners that include industries, academia, and local and state governments.

    But the technology transfer program is only one way the Navy joins forces with other agencies.

    The “Mask on Demand” program is an innovation the Navy is developing to facilitate quick and efficient purchasing of reusable masks necessary in the COVID-19 environment.

    Teaming with industry partners, the masks can be ordered and shipped online to purchasers anywhere in the country.

    According to Thai Tran, NUWC Division Keyport’s Technology Transfer Office director, technology transfers are vital to all involved institutions.

    The objectives are to support cooperative activities between (NUWC Division Keyport), small business firms and educational institutions, to connect “pockets” of excellence across the innovation landscape, and to capture and scale national knowledge and innovation assets, such as industry best practices and methodologies," he said.

    Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Keyport provides advanced technical capabilities for test and evaluation, in-service engineering, maintenance and industrial base support, fleet material readiness, and obsolescence management for undersea warfare to expand America’s undersea dominance.

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 03.16.2021
    Date Posted: 03.16.2021 21:04
    Story ID: 391553
    Location: KEYPORT, WA, US
    Hometown: BREMERTON, WA, US
    Hometown: KEYPORT, WA, US
    Hometown: MILLINGTON, TN, US
    Hometown: WASHINGTON NAVY YARD, DC, US

    Web Views: 268
    Downloads: 2

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