Sandia and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories co-hosted Hydrogen Partnership Day at the Livermore Valley Open Campus, gathering world-renowned scientists and business partners to discuss collaborations to drive U.S. industry forward.
The spring event was at the Conference Annex Building on Lawrence Livermore’s side of the campus and featured research scientists from both labs and dozens of local industry leaders, including representatives from PG&E, Verne and Pacific Hydrogen. Both labs showcased their physical capabilities — including existing intellectual property, lab space and computational power for modeling — and renewed their commitment to helping established utilities and startups succeed.
“We [national laboratories] like to work on hard problems,” hydrogen and material scientist Lennie Klebanoff told the crowd of about 50. “When you know how a technology is used out in the field, it influences how you look at the fundamental science of it.”
Representatives from each hydrogen industry leader participated in panels and not only detailed how their companies benefitted from working with the labs, but how the DOE network of national laboratories is ideally set up to help U.S. industry innovate.
Hydrogen program manager Kristin Hertz said Sandia’s business partners actively add to the research performed by Sandia and Lawrence Livermore.
“National laboratories have a unique role to play in advancing new technologies as research and development centers,” she said. “We apply our expertise and laboratory capabilities to areas of impact identified by industry.”
Matthew Garrett, director of Lawrence Livermore’s Intellectual Property Office, agreed.
“Being located so close to Silicon Valley means we’re able to offer cutting-edge scientific expertise and facilities to leading technology companies — big and small — to help them de-risk their go-to-market strategies and bolster U.S. innovation through licensing and collaboration,” Garrett said.
Business Development Specialist Matt Meyer helped organize the Hydrogen Partnership Day and said events like this are vital to demonstrating how Sandia’s capabilities and intellectual property can benefit the country.
“Sandia values the collaborative spirit that thrives both locally and nationally with our industry partners,” Matt said. “The impact of these efforts is multiplied when Sandia partners with other DOE labs, including Lawrence Livermore. The joint LLNL-Sandia Hydrogen Partnership Day event in Livermore demonstrated Sandia’s and Lawrence Livermore’s commitment to connecting with the local Bay Area hydrogen economy.”
Matt added that events like this help showcase the labs’ capabilities and facilitate the deployment of lab-developed technologies, which enhance U.S. competitiveness and maximize the public good for the nation.
Sandia and Lawrence Livermore plan to continue to host events like this to bring even more business partners to the table and further spread the labs’ impact.