Congressman Dan Lipinski (IL-3) is announcing that Argonne National Lab in Lemont is one of three national laboratories that will receive nearly $1.2 million to advance collaborative research and development focused on improving manufacturing processes to make American businesses more competitive.  This is part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Technologist in Residence (TIR) Program, which is designed to streamline engagement and increase collaborative research and development between national laboratories and private-sector companies.  The program partners a senior technologist from a national laboratory with an industry professional from a clean energy manufacturing company or consortium of companies.

“As one of the few members of Congress trained as an engineer, I'm extremely interested in supporting advanced technical research with the potential to yield lasting benefits for all Americans,” Rep. Lipinski said.  “I will continue to push for more funding for research and development at Argonne, which will not only lead to new technologies for our nation but also lead to new companies and jobs.  This funding will focus on the development of advanced semiconductor devices for use in advanced power electronics, optoelectronics, solid-state lighting, and photovoltaics.” 

The TIR program increases industry engagement by capitalizing on the Department of Energy’s 17 national laboratories’ rich history of industry partnerships and commercial impact, and helps to bridge the gap between the private sector and the national laboratories.  Through this initiative, industry partners can better understand and tackle their most important problems, and discover the lab capabilities that can best solve them.

This announcement follows the successful launch of TIR in December of 2015, when seven industry-lab pairs – including national companies like Proctor & Gamble, Hewlett Packard, and Cummins – were selected to undertake advanced research in clean energy manufacturing and establish mechanisms that will help interested companies more easily leverage the national lab network in the future.

Applications for the TIR Program are accepted and evaluated on a rolling basis to give lab and industry pairs the opportunity to apply according to their business schedule.