Oak Ridge National Laboratory is a Department of Energy national laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, managed by UT-Battelle for the Office of Science. Its commercialization path runs through energy, manufacturing, computing, and national security, with a partnerships office that licenses lab inventions to industry.
The laboratory has more than 7,000 scientists, engineers, technicians, and support staff. The 2025 Innovation Report credits the Partnerships Office with nearly 300 inventions disclosed, more than 200 elected for patenting, 27 licensed technologies, and 73 patents granted. Those efforts produced 20 R&D 100 Awards, extending Oak Ridge’s record as the all-time leader, and six Federal Laboratory Consortium awards.
Commercialization runs through the Technology Transfer Office inside the Partnerships Office, alongside Strategic Partnerships, Innovation Crossroads, economic development, and research security.
- Innovation Crossroads
A Lab Embedded Entrepreneurship program that places startup founders at the laboratory. A 2026 Federal Laboratory Consortium award recognized a partnership that paired those founders with marketing students from the University of Tennessee’s Haslam College of Business. - Maturation funding
In 2025 the Department of Energy Technology Commercialization Fund awarded more than $5 million for Oak Ridge projects in grid security, artificial intelligence, nuclear energy, and advanced manufacturing. - Manufacturing Demonstration Facility
Industry partnerships out of the facility have been credited with an estimated $5.5 billion in follow-on funding for partners.
Investors and founders can reach Shaun Gleason, director of the Partnerships Office, through the laboratory.
Learn more about Partnerships at Oak Ridge
Learn more about Oak Ridge National Laboratory
