UT Resource Center, 1201 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak Ridge, or view online via Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89570616041?pwd=BWCpaVxAgStgtP2wVQ4PBsTbLq4O6o.1

Doors open at 11:15 a.m. for socializing and eating lunch (light lunch will be available for a donation). Scroll down for details of the location, lunch, and Zoom.

Abstract

Innovation Crossroads is a two-year fellowship program that focuses on energy and advanced manufacturing technologies. Through an annual national call and competitive stage-gate process, top entrepreneurial-minded fellows are selected to join the program. Selected innovators receive a fellowship that includes a personal living stipend, a health insurance stipend, a travel allowance, a substantial grant to use on collaborative R&D with researchers at ORNL, and comprehensive mentoring assistance to help the new entrepreneurs build a sustainable business model. Below are examples of two new technologies that are being commercialized as emerging companies.  

Applied 2D Materials

Applied 2D Materials develops barrier protective coatings using a licensable innovation from ORNL to synthesize hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) for direct deposit onto target substrates in an economical, scalable, and environmentally benign manner. The technology uses safe and abundant solid precursors instead of hazardous liquids or gases, enabling the manufacture of cost-effective, high-quality coatings.  The technology is targeted toward energy, industrial, aerospace, and defense applications that operate in extreme environments such as steam, molten salts, hydrogen, and corrosive acids.

Lumios Materials

Lumios Materials has developed an aqueous photoiniferter (aqPI) polymerization process for synthesizing polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based precursors of carbon fiber. The technology serves the carbon-fiber manufacturing industry, including sectors such as aerospace, construction, automotive parts, sports equipment, and medical devices. It addresses the critical need for sustainable production of high-performance precursors, offering both environmental and economic benefits over traditional solvent-based methods.

Biographical sketches

Dan Miller serves as the director for Innovation Crossroads at ORNL, where he coordinates the review and selection process for new cohorts, leads efforts to help innovators develop and execute Cooperative Research and Development Agreements with ORNL, and leads the effort to connect innovators with potential customers and investors throughout the region. Prior to Innovation Crossroads, Dan started and led several public-private partnerships focused on commercializing ORNL technologies. Previously, Dan was a licensing associate at Rice University and a mechanical design engineer at Wright Industries.  He has a master of business administration (M.B.A) degree from the University of Tennessee and worked in technology transfer at Rice University before joining ORNL in 2010.

Alec Readel, founder and chief executive officer of Applied 2D Materials, brings a versatile background in manufacturing, engineering, and advanced materials synthesis. His career began in manufacturing, where he developed expertise in mechanical engineering design and fabrication. He then joined a graphene start-up as its first employee, where he developed industrial graphene synthesis techniques and leveraged his manufacturing background to collaborate with scientists and scale their lab processes to commercial volumes. Subsequently, Alec worked in industrial automation, assisting companies in automating their processes. As founder of Applied 2D Materials, he focuses on commercializing industry-viable 2D material applications.

Evan Stacy, founder and chief executive officer of Lumios Materials, was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. He graduated from Hanover College, where he majored in chemistry with minors in biology and business. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of Southern Mississippi’s School of Polymer Science and Engineering. There, under the guidance of Professor Tristan Clemons, Evan’s research focused on the development of photo-initiated, controlled, radical polymerization methods and materials needed for the production of enhanced carbon-fiber precursors. As founder of Lumios Materials, Evan is commercializing this technology.

Event Details

The UT Resource Center is at 1201 Oak Ridge Turnpike between Dairy Queen and Applebee's Grill. Use the entrance at the southwest (back) corner of the building. 

A light lunch (half sandwich, chips, cookie, and a drink) will be available for a $10 donation (cash, check or IOU) starting about 11:15 a.m. on a first-come, first-served basis.   Attendees may also bring food to eat.

Meeting Agenda
 

11:15 a.m.  – Arrive at UT Resource Center to grab a light lunch or chat with colleagues


11:50 a.m.  – Zoom attendees may login online until noon


12:00 p.m. – Talk begins following a few announcements and introduction of the speaker.

Zoom available about 11:50 a.m.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89570616041?pwd=BWCpaVxAgStgtP2wVQ4PBsTbLq4O6o.1

Meeting ID: 895 7061 6041     Passcode: 439769