By Andrew Webb
Of the Journal
After years of trying, Technology Ventures Corp. finally got its wish last month— an agreement between four major national laboratories to bundle intellectual property with the aim of increasing commercialization of lab technology.
Deputy Secretary of Energy Clay Sell and Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., were on hand Aug. 24 as leaders from Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, the Nevada Test Site and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory signed the Intellectual Property Bundling Agreement.
"This agreement provides the market pull we have not yet experienced in the (National Nuclear Security Administration) complex," said TVC president and CEO Sherman McCorkle.
The NNSA is the division of the Department of Energy that oversees the four labs, two of which are in New Mexico.
Cherry Murray, deputy director for science and technology at Lawrence Livermore, said the agreement would increase industry partnering.
"The NNSA labs are outstanding sources of technology like manufacturing, environmental cleanup, water management, energy, sensors and instruments," she said. "Carefully assembled bundles are more valuable to a corporate partner and will certainly make these labs easier to deal with."
Domenici said he hoped the initiative would help improve the country's competitiveness as other countries, such as China and India, make rapid strides in science and technology. "We're not pulling out of our science capacity what we should be to keep pulling ahead," he said. "I hope in five or six years, we'll look back and say 'this worked.' ''
Under the program, the respective labs' technology transfer offices will search for and bundle appropriate technology, and TVC will serve as a clearinghouse for companies looking to license various packaged bundles.
TVC has been trying to organize a technology bundling program since about 2002, formerly through a nonprofit entity called the Technology Research Collaborative. That program was later absorbed by the state Economic Development Department and received about $1 million from the 2005 Legislature; but it has since dropped off the radar.
"Yes, it takes many false starts," McCorkle said of the multiyear effort.
Sell said he hoped such initiatives would be applied across the DOE's complex of 19 national labs, which operate on a $19 billion annual budget.
TESLA FACTORY STILL ON, JUST NOT YET: Tesla Motors, which plans to build $50,000 electric cars at an Albuquerque plant, is still hammering out the details in the middle of a CEO switch.
State officials early this year said the San Carlos, Calif., company would break ground for the 150,000-square-foot plant on Albuquerque's West Side by April. So far, not a shovelful of earth has been turned.
Tesla spokesman Daryl Siry says the company has asked local developers, which will lease the factory to Tesla, for more time as it decides on the final manufacturing details— such as expected production volume and vehicle options— for the high-performance sedan code-named WhiteStar. Siry declined to name a date, or even a year, for a groundbreaking.
"Until we solidify our conceptual design, and know what car we're going to build, we can't finalize the factory we're going to build," he said. "As soon as we finalize what we're doing with the WhiteStar program, it'll be clear when we need to proceed with the factory. Until that time, there's no sense speculating on a time frame."
A roadster, which is being built in England, was supposed to be on the market this month, but Tesla is still completing durability and crash testing of that vehicle, and has asked buyers to be patient.
In August, Tesla announced shareholder and former Flextronics CEO Michael Marks would take over as interim CEO, while co-founder Martin Eberhard will take a more active role in technology development.
The company said it had been searching for a replacement CEO for a year.
Marks, Siry says, is "very actively engaged in the WhiteStar program."
TINY TECHS MAKE UP, DROP SUITS: A legal dustup between two closely related Albuquerque penny-stock companies has apparently ended less than a month after it began.
Beginning in late July, Biomoda and Advanced Optics Electronics, which share an Albuquerque office and several top executives, sued and countersued each other, alleging illegal stock dumping, unpaid debt and other transgressions.
Biomoda, founded in 1990, says it is developing cancer detection technology, and Advanced Optics Electronics, or ADOT, says it is developing large video displays and other products. Neither company has ever sold a product or turned a profit. Both trade on the "over-the-counter" bulletin board.
ADOT CEO Leslie Robins, who was also Biomoda's vice president, sued Biomoda in July, alleging other executives planned to oust him. After a judge denied Robins' motion for a temporary injunction preventing his removal, Biomoda fired him, alleging he issued Biomoda stocks and used company funds without authorization. Days later, Biomoda sued Robins, seeking to freeze his bank accounts and prevent him from acting on Biomoda's behalf.
Meanwhile, ADOT filed its own suit against Biomoda, alleging the firm owes ADOT nearly $3 million in money loaned to keep Biomoda afloat.
However, late last month, Biomoda announced in a news release that it would drop its claims against Robins.
Andrew Webb covers technology for the Journal. You can reach him at 823-3819 or awebb@abqjournal.com.
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