Background Information: Sandia National Laboratories is implementing a C-4 (Co-locate, Collaborate, Community, & Communicate) Partnering Model to create a strong clean energy commercialization ecosystem for local manufacturing. This model will focus on collaboration and rapid technology development using a novel industry-informed partnering approach for research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D). The C-4 plan will provide an open innovation partnership model to catalyze innovation at all stages of RDD&D to decrease the build time of clean energy technologies and increase production yield. Through a Clean Energy Technology Challenge, cohorts comprised of diverse teams of lab and local innovators will engage with “host” clean energy industry partners to address manufacturing challenges by shadowing manufacturers to understand current workflows, develop alternative pop-up workflows, and demonstrate winning concepts in an open innovation environment. This open innovation environment gives the cohorts access to state-of-the-art advanced manufacturing equipment and intellectual property; expertise from across government, industry, and academia; and access to exceptional capabilities in modeling and simulation, materials synthesis and development, advanced manufacturing capabilities, and testing capabilities. Close national lab and industry engagement along every step of the RDD&D continuum will ensure proposed workflows are optimized for adoption and commercialization. Opportunity Description: Sandia, through the C-4 Partnering model, seeks to incentivize the critical partnership between national laboratories and industry researchers with regional clean energy manufacturers through a series of clean energy manufacturing challenge competitions. This effort will identify large manufacturing sponsors’ (host companies) problems to understand their needs and challenges, and link these to potential solutions that align with the new materials discovery and advanced manufacturing R&D national laboratories are currently developing. In close coordination with NMMEP, C-4 will recruit up to six diverse cohorts of lab and local industry innovators to agree upon a design for manufacturing (DFM) challenge question that they believe can be solved by leveraging C-4's materials synthesis and discovery, additive, and advanced manufacturing capabilities within a six-month period. Agreed upon challenge questions are related to the host’s challenge problem and can be solved and demonstrated in the C-4 space. Lab cohort members will be provided licenses to relevant bundled lab IP at the onset of their participation in the program. As a natural extension of Sandia’s MSWs and Access CRADA programs, C-4 enables quick, seamless access to lab IP and facilitates streamlined matchmaking among all partner labs and industry. Host companies are not committed to partnerships formed with the cohorts, but enduring partnerships will undoubtably form. Licenses, CRADAs, and SPP agreements are anticipated outcomes. Information Sought: A brief description of your company, its products, and current capabilities that could benefit from a collaborative partnership with the C-4 Partnering Model. The following information is being requested. Description of the company, such as location, mission, vision, and size. Description of the company’s current products and capabilities. Description of how the products and/or capabilities impact national clean energy initiatives. Description of company’s current challenges that could be solved with future C-4 resources. Instructions to Responders: Interested parties that meet any of the following requirements are encouraged to apply. Only electronic submissions will be accepted and should be emailed to
[email protected] . Emails should include this postings title and the company name in the subject line (Ex. Sandia National Laboratories: Opportunity for Host Company and Participants in Clean Energy Innovation Challenge). Responses should be submitted electronically no later than 5:00 p.m. MDT on February 28th, 2023. An email notification will be sent acknowledging successful receipt of the response. Evaluation Criteria: Sandia National Laboratories will evaluate all responses and select prospective companies to engage with that best fit the program criteria. Desired Requirements: Company must manufacture in the state of New Mexico or within the U.S. Company must have an internal R&D/Engineering/Research team. Company must be willing to commit to annual meetings, collaboration with C-4 academia and national laboratory partners, and active engagement in the program. Company must produce in line with national clean energy initiatives. Company must have a solvable challenge that can benefit from C-4 Partnering Model. Company must be willing to commit to a 3-year involvement period. Primary Point of Contact: Candice Siebenthal Sandia National Laboratories
[email protected] Keywords: manufacturing, additive manufacturing, subtractive manufacturing, advance manufacturing, clean energy, tech transfer, technology transfer, R&D, RD&D, RDD&D, manufacturing solutions, New Mexico, local manufacturing, national laboratories.