Partnership Opportunities with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory

As a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science (SC) National Laboratory, the Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL) participates in the Laboratory Technology Research (LTR) Program. The mission of the LTR Program is to advance science and technology, in support of DOE missions, toward innovative applications through cost-shared partnerships with the private sector. The benefits to industry participants include gaining access to world-class researchers and facilities, while the benefits to the ORNL researchers includes leveraging the declining government-provided funds. Thus, the importance placed upon industry partner satisfaction is large, especially if the LTR Program is to be sustained during episodes of government budget constraints. Realizing the critical nature of partner satisfaction, in 1998 the DOE-SC National Laboratories surveyed industrial partners to assess their satisfaction with the cooperative research projects in which they were involved. This paper will describe the survey methodology including development of the questionnaire and a summary of the responses (particularly those which are germane to the ORNL.) The results of the survey will be categorized as follows: (1) Desire to partner again with ORNL; (2) Benefits obtained by the company from the partnership; and (3) LTR Program ratings assigned in 11 key areas (i.e., quality of work, expertise, protection of intellectual property, value, facilities, understanding company needs, reliability of funding, schedule responsiveness, project management, contract negotiation, and contract administration.)