April 28, 2016 –
CRANE, Ind. – Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC Crane) in partnership with the Indiana Office of Defense Development (IODD), Purdue University, the University of Southern Indiana and Indiana University has been awarded a 2016 Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) for Technology Transfer (T2) State and Local Economic Development Award for their efforts with the Rural Indiana Technology Commercialization Initiative (RITCI).
The award recognizes successful initiatives that involve partnerships between state or local economic development groups and federal laboratories and was presented to NSWC Crane’s ORTA/T2 Program Manager Brooke Pyne during the 2016 FLC National Meeting in Chicago on April 27.
"The FLC is a nationwide network of over 250 federal labs. It is truly an honor to be recognized by a national group made up of other T2 professionals. The opportunity that T2 provides to NSWC Crane and the impact the program has on state economics amazes me daily and I am proud to be a part of it," Pyne explained.
Rural Indiana Technology Commercialization Initiative (RITCI) is a partnership with NSWC, Crane Division, IODD, University of Southern Indiana, Purdue University and Indiana University. It was launched in 2014 under the premise that most of the segments needed to support Technology-Based Economic Development (TBED) existed in rural Indiana and were mostly funded, but had yet to be connected. RITCI set out to network these segments with a goal of affecting economic impact and further leveraging the national investment made at NSWC Crane.
Over the past eight years, NSWC Crane has significantly increased its technology transfer and commercialization program. NSWC Crane has produced more than 400 pieces of Intellectual Property (IP) and has the goal of achieving 1,000 pieces by the year 2020. Additionally, its model for cultivating intellectual property assets along with its innovative culture is recognized across the Department of Defense (DoD).
Under RITCI, Indiana programs were connected and networked into a ‘value stream’ that highlighted each program’s strength and related their contributions in context to each other. A goal of RITCI was accomplished by guiding local startup companies using NSWC Crane innovations through the ‘value stream’. Direct results of this networking included the following: The creation of new startup companies; inventions; product movement toward the market; new patent licensing on NSWC Crane inventions; new cooperative research and development partnerships between NSWC Crane and area companies; new NSWC Crane marketing materials; and blueprints to continue the initiative.
FLC is the nationwide network of federal laboratories that provides the forum to develop strategies and opportunities for linking laboratory mission technologies and expertise with the marketplace.
Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane (NSWC Crane) is a naval laboratory and a field activity of Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA). The warfare center is responsible for multi-domain, multi-spectral and full life cycle support of technologies and systems enhancing capability to today’s warfighter.