Tri-Cities Tech Business Update

June 2009 Issue

Tech News and Notes

Wind energy project to receive funding

Energy Northwest, based in Richland, Wash., is one of 53 organizations selected to receive funding from the U.S. Department of Energy for wind energy projects. The organization will receive $100,000 for its project "20% Wind by 2030: Overcoming the Challenges." The funding is part of $8.5 million that will be awarded to address challenges identified in the 2008 report 20% Wind by 2030. Contact Rochelle Olson at 509-377-4728.

AREVA earns long-term license renewal

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued a 40-year operating license renewal to AREVA's fuel fabrication facility located in Richland, Wash. This is the first time a renewal of this duration has been granted following the Commission's decision in 2006 to extend the maximum license term from 20 years up to 40. The license includes safety programs for special nuclear materials handling processes, including criticality safety, fire protection and emergency preparedness. The Richland facility fabricates uranium fuel for pressurized and boiling water reactors and creates new fuel designs. Contact Judith Thomas at 509-375-8451.

AMIC appoints new board member

Advanced Medical Isotope Corporation of Kennewick, Wash. has appointed Dr. Michael Korenko to its board of directors. Korenko co-invented a patent-pending process for converting nuclear waste into medical isotopes with the company's chief science officer Dr. Robert Schenter. Korenko once served as a vice-president at Westinghouse, overseeing Hanford's 300 and 400 areas-including the Fast Flux Test Facility-as well as the engineering, safety analysis, and projects for the site. AMIC produces and distributes medical isotopes and medical isotope in vivo delivery systems for advanced diagnostic and non-surgical therapeutic applications. Contact Jim Katzaroff at 509-736-4000.

Energy Northwest welcomes new member, re-appoints Morrison

Energy Northwest, based in Richland, Wash., now has 25 member utilities. The agency's board of directors approved a membership application from the Jefferson County Public Utility District in April. The new member raises the agency's membership to the highest number in its 51-year history. Energy Northwest was formed as a Washington State Joint Operating Agency in 1957 to provide low-cost power for its publicly owned utility members by aggregating needs and building power generation facilities to meet those needs. The agency produces power "at-cost" for its members and owns and operates Columbia Generating Station, Packwood Lake Hydroelectric Project, White Bluffs Solar Station and Nine Canyon Wind Project. Additionally, Energy Northwest's Executive Board re-appointed former U.S. Representative Sid Morrison to a third term on the five-member panel. The new term will run for four years.

Contact Rochelle Olson at 509-377-4728.

Dade Moeller receives accreditation for radiation safety course

The Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Education Programs has reviewed and accredited Richland, Wash.-based Dade Moeller & Associate's Medical Radiation Safety Officer Course. Qualified medical physicists participating in this course will earn 40 Medical Physics Continuing Education Credits. The course focuses on safe use of radiation and radioactive materials and also teaches certified medical physicists serving as Radiation Safety Officers how to manage successful radiation safety programs at their facilities. The company also recently became an affiliate of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, a professional organization dedicated to advancing the practice of physics in medicine and biology. Dade Moeller is a consulting firm that specializes in radiological and nuclear safety, public and environmental health protection, occupational safety and health, and radiation and safety training. Contact Paula Tumlinson at 509-946-0410, ext. 283.

PocketiNet launching new technology in Tri-Cities

PocketiNet Communications, Inc., based in Walla Walla, Wash., plans to launch its WiMAX Technology in the Tri-Cities. WiMAX stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, and is the next generation standard of wireless telecommunications technology that enhances outdoor wireless data access. The company will provide Fixed WiMAX-designed for high-speed data for business and high-end residential users-rather than a mobile broadband. Contact Todd Brandenburg at 509-526-5026.

WBBA forms partnership with Sirti

The Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association and Sirti have formed a partnership to stimulate the growth of the life science industry in eastern Washington. As part of the collaboration, the WBBA will open a satellite office in the Sirti building in Spokane, Wash. The partnership is designed to provide a central location to facilitate the translation of innovative technology into new life science products and start-ups, support member organizations and produce WBBA's popular business development events. The WBBA is a not-for-profit association of more than 450 life sciences companies, universities, academic institutions, and others working together with the mission of providing better health to people everywhere. Sirti is an agency of the State of Washington and is a collaboration of business, higher education, and government to accelerate the development and growth of technology and biomedical companies in the Inland Northwest, especially in Eastern Washington. Contact Tim Yeadon at 206-732-6711 or Linda Hemingway at 509-358-2031.

Tech Opportunities and Resources

Pacific Northwest life sciences showcase

The Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati will hold the first ever Northwest Emerging Company Investor Forum on June 16 in Seattle. This forum will showcase select early-stage, fundable companies based in the Pacific Northwest and will feature SR One Limited, the corporate venture fund of GlaxoSmithKline. SR One is a leading venture capital firm that invests in emerging life science companies that are pursuing innovative science and technologies that will significantly impact medical care. To be considered for participation, submit a one-page executive summary including sector, total equity raised, existing investors, expected date of next financing, 1-2 paragraph summary of technology and opportunity, and executive management team information to Effie Toshav no later than June 1.

New DOE agency accepting proposals for grants

The Department of Energy is inviting proposals for grants that will be given out under the new Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy. The program will help distribute Recovery Act funds for the development of energy technologies to enhance economic and energy security of the U.S, and to ensure the U.S. maintains a technological lead in developing and deploying advanced energy technologies. Up to $20 million is available for awards and eligibility is unrestricted domestically. Proposals are due June 2. Download the funding opportunity announcement.

Technology commercialization grant funding

The Life Sciences Discovery Fund is accepting pre-proposals for its 2009 Summer Commercialization Grant Competition. The program focuses on providing funding to projects aimed at moving promising, early-stage technologies toward commercialization. Grants will fund research and development of new technologies to reduce the risk associated with their commercialization. Grants will be up to $150,000 for work to be completed within one year. Two-page proposals are due July 15 and full proposals will be due September 9. Grant awards will be announced in December. More information.

Exhibit at SmartMap Expo

The Tri-City Development Council will begin accepting applications for vendors at its annual SmartMap Expo on June 1. The Expo will be sponsored by Gesa Credit Union and will be held on October 1 at the Trade, Recreation, and Agricultural Center in Pasco, Wash. Booth space is available for $400 for a 10' x 10' space. Register online beginning June 1. Contact Gary White at 509-735-1000.

Resources online

1) The presentation "Your waste-my gold: conversion of waste into clean fuels" is now available. The presentation was given by Jeff Surma, president and chief executive officer of InEnTec, at the Three Rivers Entrepreneur Network meeting in May. The presentation discusses the technologies behind converting waste into clean fuels. 2) The Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association has launched a blog as part of the organization's strategy to create a better public understanding of life sciences in Washington State. The WBBA blog is part of the Seattle PI newspaper website.

Tech Dates and Deadlines

Focusing on the Future economic development conference

JUNE 4-5. The Washington Economic Development Association will hold its 2009 Summer Conference June 4-5 in Chelan, Wash. The conference "Focusing on the Future" will include information on stimulus funding at the county, state, and federal level, as well as updates on Innovation Partnership Zones, and information on workforce training. More information.

Building a green bio-economy in Washington

JUNE 4. The Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association is hosting a Breakfast for Success event on June 4 in Seattle focused on the opportunities and challenges in developing Washington's green bio-economy. Discussion topics will include the state's expertise in agriculture, genetic engineering, and applied ecology, which provide the positioning necessary to participate in the rapidly growing biomanufacturing sector and production of biofuels and chemicals. Registration is $35 for members and $60 for non-members. The event will be held from 7 - 9 am at the Fenwick & West building located at 1191 2^nd Ave. #10 in Seattle, Wash. Register online.

ASQ to tour wind farm

JUNE 6. The Columbia Basin Chapter of the American Society for Quality's June meeting will be a tour of Ellensburg's Wild Horse Wind Farm. The group will explore the engineering and management quality of the project and learn how wind energy contributes to the electric grid, here in Washington and throughout the Pacific Northwest. Space is limited to 50 participants. Contact Alvin Langstaff at (509) 371-2221 with your name, phone number, and company affiliation to register.

Save the date: SmartMap Expo

OCTOBER 1. The Tri-Cities Development Council will hold its annual SmartMap Expo, on October 1 at the Trade, Recreation, and Agricultural Center in Pasco, Wash. There is no cost to attend the expo. TRIDEC will also hold a manufacturing luncheon at noon, which costs $35 for members and $40 for non-members. Registration opens June 1. Register online or call 509-735-1000.

PNNL This Month

PNNL Campus Master Plan online

The updated master plan for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory campus is available online. The revised version, approved by the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest Site Office, incorporates construction of the Capability Replacement Laboratory and describes and illustrates a 20-year and beyond site development and improvement strategy for growth. This strategy includes PNNL's exit from the 300 Area of the Hanford Site, consolidation of PNNL's Richland facilities and space, continued expansion of the campus area north of Horn Rapids Road, and increased development in the campus area south of Horn Rapids Road. These revisions result in establishing a PNNL Core Campus Area bounded by George Washington Way and Stevens Drive on the east and west and the DOE-Office of Science land boundary and Battelle Boulevard on the north and south.  Within this Core Campus Area, PNNL has designated Horn Rapids Road as the eventual PNNL primary campus entry or campus "heart." Additionally, the plan includes information about coordinating core campus development with surrounding areas within the Tri-Cities Research District. Download the plan.

Business accelerator launched for technology commercialization

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is one of eight research institutions partnering with The University Funds, a new venture development firm based in Bellevue, Wash., to develop collaborative programs to drive the identification, assessment and subsequent commercialization of high potential innovations. The University Funds has started a unique company that will help commercialize intellectual property by combining the entrepreneurial leadership and management capabilities of a startup business accelerator with a planned venture capital fund to drive commercialization of intellectual property developed at research institutions. Other research organizations partnering with company include Washington State University and the University of Washington, as well as other universities from Oregon, Idaho, Arizona, and Utah. Contact Jim Torina at 949-697-4483.

Technology to convert trash into energy

Technology that originated at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and its partner, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will be used to turn waste into energy. A joint venture called S4 Energy solutions is a partnership between Waste Management and InEnTec to use plasma gasification technology to build distributed energy systems using separated industrial waste as a "feedstock" because it will be cleaner than incinerators. The gasification technology was originally developed in the 1990s at PNNL with MIT. The company has numerous applications for the technology planned, including designing systems that can turn medical waste into electricity at hospitals.

Plastic that grows on trees

Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory developed a one-step process aimed at using plants to create a renewable, nonpolluting replacement for crude oil. The work builds on earlier work by PNNL researchers where scientists converted simple sugars derived from cellulose into a building block for plastics and fuels. In this new research, chemists have bypassed the sugar-forming step and successfully converted cellulose-the most common plant carbohydrate -directly into a chemical called HMF in a single step. HMF, also known as 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, can be used as a building block for plastics and "biofuels" such as gasoline and diesel, essentially the same fuels processed from crude oil. This simple process generates a high yield of HMF and allows the use of raw cellulose as feed material. The research will be featured in an upcoming issue of the publication Applied Catalysis A. Contact Mary Beckman at 509-375-3688.

Got News?

We invite your contributions! We will consider items that fit the mission of this publication, including your tech-related news, awards, and notices of upcoming events. Please send text and photos to Andrea McMakin or call (509) 372-6013.

Tri-Cities Tech Business Update is published by the Economic Development Office at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Each month, we send you an e-mail message, giving you the link of news, tips, awards, upcoming events, and other information about local technology-based businesses and organizations that support them. With business and community partners, our goal is to build and diversify the Tri-Cities economy—adding skilled jobs in primary-sector industries that bring in outside dollars. Currently, more than 1,100 tech-related businesses, investors, and economic development stakeholders subscribe to the newsletter, mostly in the Mid-Columbia area and the rest of the Pacific Northwest. This newsletter (RL-P00-009) supports DOE-Richland's vision for the future of the Hanford Site and surrounding area through the creation of research opportunities, new industries, and new business clusters