What companies really want from the federal labs

Journal Article · Mon Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1993 · CHEMTECH; (United States)

OSTI ID:5659517

Roessner, J D ^[1]

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1. Georgia Inst. of Tech., Atlanta, GA (United States)

The time clearly has come to do something with the federal labs. But mere technology transfer is not enough. First of all, technology transfer is only one-way. It is not joint R D, not a partnership. Second, it is much too limited a task for a collection of facilities that, in FY 1992, spent $25 billion of the total federal R D budget of $70 billion and employed approximately 100,000 scientists and engineers. Furthermore, world events have rendered obsolete -- or at least limited -- many of the labs' middions, from the giant weapons labs whose names we all know to tiny stations with a dozen employees. The point is that a large segment of the US scientific and technological capability is potentially available to serve different goals. The federal laboratories constitute an enormous scientific and technological resource. But if they are to serve industry and accomplish revised national missions, they need new direction. The paper discusses the possible new directions under the following headings: abolish or redirect; industry's view; changing the interaction with labs; more payoff when industry leads; there have been results; capitalizing on strengths; close personal interaction; and measuring success.

• OSTI ID: 5659517
• Journal Information: CHEMTECH; (United States), Journal Name: CHEMTECH; (United States) Vol. 23:11; ISSN CHTEDD; ISSN 0009-2703
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290500* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Research
Development
Demonstration
& Commercialization
ANIMALS
COOPERATION
ENGINEERS
INDUSTRY
JOINT VENTURES
LABORATORIES
MAMMALS
MAN
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
PERSONNEL
PRIMATES
PROFESSIONAL PERSONNEL
SCIENTIFIC PERSONNEL
TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
US DOE
US ORGANIZATIONS
VERTEBRATES