Battelle Memorial Institute
Encyclopedia
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
. Battelle is a charitable trust organized as a nonprofit corporation under the laws of the State of Ohio and is exempt from taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code because it is organized for charitable, scientific and education purposes. The institute opened in 1929 but traces its origins to the 1923 will
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
of Ohio industrialist Gordon Battelle
Gordon Battelle
Gordon Battelle was the founder of Battelle Memorial Institute, a non-profit independent research and development organization.-Birth, death and family:...
which provided for its creation. Originally focusing on contract research and development work in the areas of metals and material science, Battelle is now an international science and technology enterprise that explores emerging areas of science, develops and commercializes technology, and manages laboratories for customers.
Business
Battelle has three business divisions:- National Security – Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive (CBRNE) technologies, Aerospace, Maritime and Ground Systems, Environmental Systems and Energetic Systems.
- Energy, Environment and Material Sciences – Battelle provides solutions for challenges in multiple markets, including Oil, Gas and Coal Mining; Industrial and Consumer Products; Alternative Energy; Government and Regulatory; and Utilities. It is strongly involved in facilitating the re-emergence of nuclear power.
- Health and Life Sciences – Safety and efficacy in the advancement of therapeutics, diagnostics, vaccines, technology enhancement and crop science; Public Health and Environmental Health Research and Evaluation and medical device solutions.
Battelle contributes to education initiatives in Ohio and elsewhere in the United States, especially in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Contributions range from a million dollar donation to the National Society of Black Engineers to building Metro High School in conjunction with The Ohio State University.
In addition to its Columbus (Ohio) headquarters, Battelle has offices in Aberdeen (Maryland), West Jefferson (Ohio), Dublin (Ohio), Sequim (Washington), Arlington (Virginia), Duxbury (Massachusetts), Charlottesville (Virginia) and Egg Harbor Township (New Jersey).
National laboratory management
In addition to operating three of its own research facilities, as of 2010, Battelle manages or co-manages on behalf of the United States Department of EnergyUnited States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
the following national laboratories
United States Department of Energy National Laboratories
The United States Department of Energy National Laboratories and Technology Centers are a system of facilities and laboratories overseen by the United States Department of Energy for the purpose of advancing science and helping promote the economic and defensive national interests of the United...
:
- Brookhaven National LaboratoryBrookhaven National LaboratoryBrookhaven National Laboratory , is a United States national laboratory located in Upton, New York on Long Island, and was formally established in 1947 at the site of Camp Upton, a former U.S. Army base...
(through Brookhaven Science Associates, LLC – a collaboration between Battelle and Stony Brook University) - Idaho National LaboratoryIdaho National LaboratoryIdaho National Laboratory is an complex located in the high desert of eastern Idaho, between the town of Arco to the west and the cities of Idaho Falls and Blackfoot to the east. It lies within Butte, Bingham, Bonneville and Jefferson counties...
(through the Battelle Energy Alliance – a collaboration between Battelle, BWX Technologies, Inc., Washington Group International, Electric Power Research InstituteElectric Power Research InstituteThe Electric Power Research Institute conducts research on issues related to the electric power industry in USA. EPRI is a nonprofit organization funded by the electric utility industry. EPRI is primarily a US based organization, receives international participation...
and an alliance of universities) - National Renewable Energy LaboratoryNational Renewable Energy LaboratoryThe National Renewable Energy Laboratory , located in Golden, Colorado, is the United States' primary laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory is a government-owned, contractor-operated facility; it is funded through...
(in partnership with MRIGlobal) - Oak Ridge National LaboratoryOak Ridge National LaboratoryOak Ridge National Laboratory is a multiprogram science and technology national laboratory managed for the United States Department of Energy by UT-Battelle. ORNL is the DOE's largest science and energy laboratory. ORNL is located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, near Knoxville...
(through UT-Battelle, LLCUT-BattelleUT-Battelle, LLC is a limited liability partnership between the University of Tennessee and Battelle Memorial Institute that manages the Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy ....
– a collaboration between Battelle and the University of TennesseeUniversity of TennesseeThe University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...
) - Pacific Northwest National LaboratoryPacific Northwest National LaboratoryPacific Northwest National Laboratory is one of the United States Department of Energy National Laboratories, managed by the Department of Energy's Office of Science. The main campus of the laboratory is in Richland, Washington....
- Lawrence Livermore National LaboratoryLawrence Livermore National LaboratoryThe Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , just outside Livermore, California, is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center founded by the University of California in 1952...
(through Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC – a collaboration between Battelle, BWX TechnologiesBWX TechnologiesBabcock & Wilcox Technical Services Group, Inc., formerly known as BWX Technologies, Inc. , is the group that operates the Y-12 National Security Complex, and a member of the Los Alamos National Security, LLC. The group also holds the contract to manage the Pantex plant in Texas, alongside...
, Inc., Washington Group InternationalWashington Group InternationalWashington Group International was an American corporation which provided integrated engineering, construction and management services to businesses and governments around the world. Based in Boise, Idaho, it had approximately 25,000 employees working in over 40 states and more than 30 countries...
, the University of CaliforniaUniversity of CaliforniaThe University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
, Bechtel National, and The Texas A&M University SystemTexas A&M University SystemThe Texas A&M University System is one of the largest systems of higher education in the United States. Through a statewide network of eleven universities, eight state agencies and a comprehensive health science center, the Texas A&M System educates over 100,000 students, conducts more than $600...
)
Additionally, on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security:
- National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures CenterNational Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures CenterThe National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center is a government biodefense research laboratory created by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and located at the sprawling biodefense campus at Fort Detrick in Frederick, MD, USA. Created quietly a few months after the 2001 anthrax...
Technological and medical advances
In the 1940s, Battelle's Vice-President of Engineering, John CroutJohn Crout
John Shaw Crout was the Director of Engineering at Battelle Memorial Institute when, in 1944, Battelle was visited by Chester Carlson, in order to obtain support for his idea about a xerographic process....
made it possible for Battelle researchers, including William Bixby and Paul Andrus, to develop Chester Carlson
Chester Carlson
Chester Floyd Carlson was an American physicist, inventor, and patent attorney born in Seattle, Washington....
's concept of dry copying. Carlson had been turned down for funding by more than a dozen agencies including the U.S. Navy. Work led to the first commercial xerographic equipment, and to the formation of Xerox
Xerox
Xerox Corporation is an American multinational document management corporation that produced and sells a range of color and black-and-white printers, multifunction systems, photo copiers, digital production printing presses, and related consulting services and supplies...
corporation.
Battelle also developed the first nuclear fuel rods for nuclear reactors, numerous advances in metallurgy that helped advance the United States space program, algorithms and coatings that led to the first optical digital recorder developed by James Russell
James Russell
James T. Russell is an American inventor. He earned a BA in physics from Reed College in Portland in 1953. He joined General Electric's nearby labs in Richland, Washington, where he initiated many types of experimental instrumentation...
, which paved the way for the first compact disc, and the first generation jet engines using titanium alloys.
Other advances included the armor plating for tanks in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Snopake, the first correction fluid, developed in 1955; the fuel for the first nuclear submarine, the Nautilus; development of the Universal Product Code
Universal Product Code
The Universal Product Code is a barcode symbology , that is widely used in North America, and in countries including the UK, Australia, and New Zealand for tracking trade items in stores. Its most common form, the UPC-A, consists of 12 numerical digits, which are uniquely assigned to each trade item...
in 1965, cruise control for automobiles in 1970, and the first all-sputtered photovatic cell for solar energy in 1974. In 1987, PIRI, a fiber-optics venture with Mitsubishi and NTT, was launched, which resulted in a $1.8 billion market. A fun note, in conjunction with Kevin M. Amula, Battelle Geneva developed "No-melt" chocolate in 1988.
Battelle has made numerous medical advances, including a reusable insulin injection pen developed with Eli Lilly and Co. recently, and in 1972 had a breakthrough with the development of special tubing to prevent blood clots during surgical procedures.
Battelle provides funds for a public policy research center at Ohio State University to focus on scholarly questions associated with science and technology policy. The Battelle Center for Science and Technology Policy began official operation in July 2011.
See also
- Chester CarlsonChester CarlsonChester Floyd Carlson was an American physicist, inventor, and patent attorney born in Seattle, Washington....
- John CroutJohn CroutJohn Shaw Crout was the Director of Engineering at Battelle Memorial Institute when, in 1944, Battelle was visited by Chester Carlson, in order to obtain support for his idea about a xerographic process....
- Raymond Davis, Jr.
- Top 100 US Federal ContractorsTop 100 US Federal ContractorsThe Top 100 Contractors Report is a list developed annually by the U.S. General Services Administration as part of its tracking of U.S. federal government procurement....
- Future Attribute Screening TechnologyFuture Attribute Screening TechnologyFuture Attribute Screening Technology is a program created by the Department of Homeland Security. It was originally titled Project Hostile Intent...
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