After several years starting a company to produce a unique solvent-free battery component for manufacturing, Rajan Kumar joined Innovation Crossroads at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory to build his entrepreneurial skills.

Kumar, an engineer and the chief executive officer of Ateios Systems, is a Cohort 2022 fellow in Innovation Crossroads, or IC, a two-year DOE Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program node that helps innovators in energy and advanced manufacturing technologies take their ideas from research to the marketplace. The program affords invaluable assistance with financial resources, access to state-of-the-art research facilities and guidance from leading experts in business, engineering and science, Kumar said.

“This experience allows us to pursue key pilot projects that help validate the technology and the guidance needed to secure critical business requirements, such as contracts and partnerships, to help us get the technology to the next level,” he said.

Through Innovation Crossroads, fellows are connected to experts, mentors and networks in technology-related fields and are provided access to ORNL’s unique scientific resources and capabilities.

The postdoctoral fellowship includes stipends for two years, including travel and health benefits as well as R&D funding for collaboration with ORNL researchers, all of which are extremely important for an early stage entrepreneur trying to scale up a technology, Kumar said.

“Moving technology into the marketplace is key to the lab’s mission,” said Jennifer Caldwell, director of technology transfer at ORNL. “By partnering with entrepreneurs, the lab can transfer knowledge to businesses, ultimately providing economic benefits across the United States.”