FLC Awards Recognize Federal Lab Success Bringing Technologies to the Public
(WASHINGTON, DC — March 10, 2025) - The Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC) is honoring 27 FLC Award winners and two honorable mentions from eight federal agencies for their contributions to technology transfer, which turns cutting-edge research into impactful products and services.
The FLC represents more than 300 federal laboratories, agencies, and research centers nationwide. Through education, promotion, and the facilitation of relationships and partnerships, the FLC supports this tech transfer community to shepherd technologies out of government labs and into the marketplace, where they improve the economy, society, and national security.
This year’s winners represent government-led projects focused on a range of technologies, from emission reduction to therapeutic medicine. Award recipients will be honored at the 2025 FLC Awards Ceremony on May 14, 2025, held during the FLC National Meeting, at The Westin Seattle in Seattle, Washington. The media are welcome to attend.
“This year’s FLC Award winners are the best of the best in technology transfer and were chosen from the biggest pool of nominations we have ever had,” said Paul Zielinski, Executive Director of the FLC. “Their work boosts the U.S. economy, generates innovation, and improves lives. We are honored to recognize a select group of technology transfer stars at our annual Awards Ceremony for their contributions to the industry and the nation.”
The 2025 FLC Award winners are listed below by award category:
EXCELLENCE IN TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER AWARD: Honors outstanding work by federal labs in collaborating with industry, academia, or other labs to bring technologies from the lab to the marketplace.
Department of Defense
Department of Energy
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Technology Transfer of Detect-and-AvoID Alerting Logic for Unmanned Systems (DAIDALUS), Langley Research Center
IMPACT AWARD: Honors FLC member labs whose technology transfer efforts have made a tangible lasting impact on the populace or marketplace ranging from a local to a global scale.
Department of Commerce
RaDAR Program, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Department of Defense
FIRO: Agile Reservoir Management Saves Millions Through Smart Forecasting, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center
Department of Energy
Department of Health and Human Services
Pozelimab: First FDA-Approved Drug for an NIH-Identified Ultra-Rare Genetic Disease, National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Department of the Interior
United States Wind Turbine Database, U.S. Geological Survey, collaborating with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Department of Energy)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Traffic Aware Planner Saves Costs and Reduces Emissions, Langley Research Center
INTERAGENCY TRANS-DISCIPLINARY PARTNERSHIP AWARD: Recognizes agency and/or laboratory employees from at least two different agencies who have collaboratively accomplished outstanding work in transferring a technology.
Department of Energy and Department of Health and Human Services
ATOM (Accelerating Therapeutics for Opportunities in Medicine), Argonne National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Frederick National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory
STATE AND LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AWARD: Recognizes successful initiatives that involve partnerships between state or local level economic development groups and federal laboratories for economic benefit that have occurred during the past five fiscal years.
Department of Energy
Fossil Fuels to Fusion Energy: Charting a Carbon-Neutral Course, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER INNOVATION AWARD: Recognizes the successful use of innovative or unconventional approaches, such as in-house competitions, to significantly increase the lab’s technology transfer partnerships and results.
Department of Defense
ARISE: Uncovering the Wealth in Different Perspectives, National Security Agency Office of Research & Technology Applications
Department of Energy
OUTSTANDING RESEARCHER/SMALL RESEARCH TEAM AWARD: Recognizes outstanding individual researchers or small research teams involved in technology transfer activities who have provided leadership and noteworthy support to the technology transfer process, furthering their agency’s mission and, thus, that of the FLC.
Department of Energy
OUTSTANDING TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER PROFESSIONAL AWARD: Recognizes the efforts of an FLC laboratory technology transfer professional who has demonstrated outstanding work in transferring a technology in a manner significantly over and above what was called for in the normal course of their work.
Department of Defense
Eric Rosenberg, U.S. Cyber Command Laboratory
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD: Recognizes the efforts of an individual FLC laboratory technology transfer professional who has demonstrated outstanding work in the field of technology transfer and new to technology transfer, with three years (or less) experience in a federal technology transfer position.
Department of Defense
Melissa Keen, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center
Honorable Mentions:
HAROLD METCALF SERVICE AWARD: Recognizes an FLC member laboratory employee who has provided sustained significant service to the FLC as an organization.
Department of Defense
Linda Burger, National Security Agency
LABORATORY DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR AWARD: The FLC National Advisory Council honors Laboratory Directors who have provided exemplary leadership in promoting, supporting, and executing the technology transfer mission of their organization. The Award’s intent is to recognize the critical importance of top-down leadership and support to the overall success of a laboratory’s technology transfer mission while the nominee has led this laboratory.
Department of Defense
Dr. Angela Lewis, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division
REGIONAL AWARDS: The FLC has six regions across the country. The Regional Technology Transfer Award recognizes FLC member labs who have performed outstanding regional technology transfer activities in a specific region (i.e., region where the lab is located or where the tech transfer efforts impacted a specific region).
About the FLC
The Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC) is a formally chartered, nationwide network of more than 300 federal laboratories, agencies, and research centers that foster commercialization best practice strategies and opportunities for accelerating federal technologies from out of the labs and into the marketplace. To learn more, visit www.federallabs.org.
Media contact:
Andrea Nelson
FLC Marketing and Communications Director
202-926-2923
[email protected]