The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head Division (NSWC-IH) and the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) are closing in on a decade of trailblazing economic development cooperation. They continue to collaborate today on one of the longest running and most successful economic development partnerships.

The partnership began when Dr. J. Scott Deiter of the NSWC-IH Office of Research and Technology Applications (ORTA) was looking for a way to facilitate the marketing of laboratory technologies available for commercial licensing. TEDCO had just sponsored its first technology showcase with a federal laboratory at nearby Aberdeen Proving Ground. The TEDCO showcase concept was just what Dr. Deiter was looking for, and TEDCO was eager to work with more federal research laboratories.

The lab’s role in the economic development partnership is that of intellectual property and technical resource. TEDCO’s role in the partnership is that of relationship and resource matchmaker. The first step in the NSWC-IH/TEDCO relationship was a technology showcase held on July 24, 2001. The event title, “An Explosion of Technology,” paid homage to the lab’s expertise in energetic materials technologies. Lab researchers presented overviews of their technologies to the audience, and lab tours were conducted. The showcase was deemed a success, and subsequent NSWC-IH/TEDCO events were held in 2003, 2006, and 2009. The showcases have generated approximately $1 million in funding for the lab, a patent license agreement, and a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA). The 2009 showcase also featured the signing of a license between the lab and NexGen Containers, LLC. This partially exclusive license covered the Joint Modular Intermodal Container technology developed at Indian Head.

The technology showcases are not the only activity in the partnership between TEDCO and NSWC-IH. TEDCO maintains a series of funds to assist companies in technology transfer efforts with federal laboratories in Maryland. Three companies have leveraged TEDCO funding in support of technology transfer with Indian Head, including Baltimore Shipping Technologies, LLC; H-Scientific; and Blue Spots, a flash grenade research and manufacturing company.