An NETL specialist whose work significantly reduced the complexity of transferring the Lab’s technologies to the private sector and increased the number of agreements executed by 27% is being recognized as the “Best in Region” for the Mid-Atlantic region by the Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC).

Chris Bond, a technology transfer agreement specialist with Leidos, a support contractor to NETL, will receive the honor from FLC. In January, Bond received a Rookie of the Year award from FLC for his technology transfer work.

FLC is a prestigious national organization of more than 300 federal laboratories, agencies and research centers dedicated to increasing the impact of technology transfer for the benefit of the U.S. economy, society and national security.

According to NETL officials, “Bond quickly established himself as an innovator, communicator, educator and issue resolver whose skills, ingenuity and critical thinking eliminated technology transfer barriers, corrected process inefficiencies, created new streamlined procedures, and helped elevate and expedite the technology transfer process, moving new innovations to market that help meet the nation’s energy needs and accelerate initiatives for attaining the goal of net-zero carbon emissions.”

NETL noted many of Bond’s technology transfer-related achievements including:

• From October 2019 through August 2022, Bond shepherded 52 agreements and amendments to execution with expected total research expenditures of $22.6 million dollars.
• From the 12-month period prior to implementing Bond’s retooled agreements process, compared to the 12-months following its rollout, total tech transfer agreements executed by NETL increased by 27% and the value of associated “funds-in” to NETL/DOE increased from $790 thousand to $5.6 million.
• Bond’s streamlining of the Lab’s agreement package reduced 36 administrative pages to five pages, an 86% reduction in paperwork.
• His process revisions cut 31 steps to 12.

Bond incorporated his personal interest in databases and programming with his experience in higher education technology to help NETL overhaul its technology transfer tools. The results elevated the commercialization performance of the Laboratory and improved the experiences of its researchers and administrators and helped draw the nation closer to the goal of net-zero carbon emissions.