Technology transfer is not only of benefit to private industry and consumers, but to inventors. In December, Director Charles Shank handed out royalty checks to 13 Berkeley Lab inventors whose work has been licensed to private industry.
Technology Transfer Department Head Cheryl Fragiadakis said the dividends from technology transfer continue to grow.
"This year, the Laboratory is distributing more than double the dollars to almost twice as many inventors as last year," she said. "Licensing of Berkeley Lab technologies, whether as patents, copyrights or biological materials, continues to be a critical component in making sure scientific discoveries get into commercial use.
"I would like to offer my hearty congratulations to the inventors as well as to the divisions encouraging their work, and to the hard-working licensing staff that negotiated each of these one-of-a-kind business arrangements."
Gisella Clemons, a retired Life Sciences Division researcher who was the first inventor to receive royalties based on an invention licensed by the Lab, received her fourth annual royalty check. Clemons invented a method of producing an anti-serum that can be used to measure erythropoietin, a hormone produced by the kidneys that controls the production of red blood cells. The technology has been licensed to Diagnostics Systems Laboratories.
LSD researcher Eddy Rubin received a royalty check for the transgenic mice he has developed which express human apoB-100, a blood lipoprotein. The mice have been licensed to Eli Lilly and Company.
Judy Campisi and Goberdhan Dimri, also of LSD, are receiving royalties for the development of a biomarker for cellular senescence, a technique for identifying cells within living organisms that have reached old age. The technology has been licensed to the Geron Corp.
Energy and Environment Division researcher Greg Ward received a royalty check for his development of RADIANCE, lighting simulation software that has been licensed to the Genlyte Group, Inc.
E&E researcher Ted Chang and visiting scholars QuiQuan Yu and Yun Jin received royalty checks for their development of a sulfur dioxide catalytic reduction process. The technology has been licensed by The Ralph M. Parsons Co.
Earth Sciences Division researchers Chin-Fu Tsang and Frank Hale received royalty checks for their part in the development of a high-resolution instrument/software package for characterizing groundwater contamination. Their software has been licensed to COLOG.
Materials Sciences Division researchers Peter Schultz and Xiao-dong Xiang received royalties for their invention of a method for combinatorial synthesis. The process for making and testing many complex metallic materials in parallel has been licensed to Symyx Technologies.
Diane LaMacchia, formerly of the Public Information Department, received royalties for her production of two videos--"The Bevatron" and "The Search for Heavy Elements." These videos have been licensed to Pyramid Films and UC CMIL.
CAPTION: Among the 13 Lab employees who received a share of 1995 royalties for their patentable inventions are (left to right) Chin-Fu Tsang, QiQuan Yu, Ted Chang, Frank Hale, Xiao-Dong Xiang, Greg Ward, Goberdhan Dimri, and (far right) retiree Gisela Clemons. With them are E&E Division Director Elton Cairns, Deputy Director Pier Oddone, and Director Charles Shank.
More than 400 children die every hour in the developing world from waterborne diseases such as cholera, typhoid, and dysentery. Scientists in the Energy and Environment Division have developed a simple water disinfection device that has the potential to stop these needless deaths.
"The technology itself is well understood," says physicist Ashok Gadgil, who is developing the device. "The potential impact is enormous."
In September, Gadgil and his colleagues shipped two of the devices to the Virgin Islands for disaster relief in the wake of devastating hurricanes that left much of St. Thomas and neighboring islands without safe drinking water.
The system uses ultraviolet (UV) light to kill germs, viruses, and molds. Compared to boiling water over a stove--a practice widely used in villages in China, for example--the UV disinfection system uses 20,000 times less energy. It is also much less expensive, capable of disinfecting water for only a penny a ton.
The method involves pumping contaminated water into a stainless steel disinfection chamber, where it flows beneath a UV lamp. The ultraviolet light inactivates the DNA of the bacteria and viruses exposed to it and renders them harmless.
The UV system is being field tested in India, where cholera has killed thousands in the past few years and where heavy monsoon rains add to water impurity by washing raw sewage into wells and surface water. Already, the fabrication shop in Bombay has given feedback resulting in a second generation of the device--one that is lighter weight and much more compact than the early prototype.
"Our goal," says Gadgil, "is something that is very low maintenance, low cost, and can be built in the developing world." The Lab's Technology Transfer Department has applied for a patent on the device--which has already been written up in Business Week--and plans to license it worldwide.
Ideally, the device will become part of a village's normal water source, incorporated into the daily water collection.
"The idea is that this device becomes part of the spout of a hand pump," says Gadgil. "The pump lifts water into the device, which means there is a single point for collecting disinfected water." The device can disinfect four gallons of water per minute; by comparison, water flows from a typical American bathtub at three gallons per minute.
Electricity to power the lamp is not a problem, since 80 per cent of Indian villages have electricity. In one field-test site that does not have electricity, the villagers are using a car battery that they exchange for a charged one in the next town; their UV disinfection unit has been running steadily for almost a year.
The plan for using the device includes a technician who installs the device, then returns to the village or city every six months to provide regular maintenance, replacing the lamp every other visit. Hand pumps in India are already serviced regularly by such a network of technicians.
The UV system will benefit women who now spend hours and even days at a time gathering cooking fuel, because they will not have the added burden of getting enough fuel to boil water. In addition, there will be less pressure on the forests, already largely depleted in India.
Alternatives to the UV disinfection system have drawbacks. If the water is not treated at all, people get sick. Boiling water is energy intensive. Some people add chlorine to water, which affects its taste and requires a trained person at the site to make sure that levels do not get too high. A regular supply of chlorine is required; the spread of cholera has been traced to interruptions in the supply of chlorine. Chlorine treatment or appropriate filtering is still needed in places where giardia are present; UV light does not kill giardia.
Gadgil and his colleagues, including mechanical engineer Derek Yegian, engineering graduate student Todd Reynolds, visiting physicist Edas Kazakevicius of Lithuania, and post doc Marc Fischer, have worked closely with health and community leaders in India. A number of other researchers have worked on the project as well.
CAPTION: Researcher Ashok Gadgil and colleagues have developed a simple, but life-saving, water disinfection system.
Copy machine users throughout the Lab were unsuspecting targets in a recent paper use study conducted by the Energy Analysis Program. The study, funded by the EH&S Waste Minimization Program, focused on determining the frequency with which employees double-side their copies, and on increasing two-sided copying at the Lab.
E&E's Bruce Nordman monitored the users of the Canon 6650 II because it is the most common copier at the Lab and has a very reliable and efficient duplexing feature. He found that employees already double-side their copies much more often than the national average.
Nordman enlisted the help of high school summer student Ericka Mosley to find out if a reminder and posting of guidelines would motivate employees to double-side their copies even more often. First the two labeled the Canon 6650 copiers with simple reminders to use the duplexing feature. Later, they replaced the labels with a one-page "How to Copy More Efficiently" guide.
The first labeling, the simple reminder, resulted in an increase of 8 percent in the duplexing rate to 40 percent, more than double the national rate for that class of machine.
When the more detailed duplexing guide was posted, the rate of double-siding copies remained at about 40 percent. Nordman said, however, that it might still help to maintain the higher duplexing rate.
Even the small increase in duplexing is significant, Nordman says, because the paper saved amounts to 1.7 tons and $1,700 in paper purchase costs just for the 6650 models.
Nordman says there are even more savings involved when you consider other costs of using paper, such as transporting and storing it, mailing it, and disposal or recycling. Each step adds costs, estimated from the study at 10 times the purchase price of the paper. For the Laboratory, which spends about $200,000 a year on office paper, this amounts to more than $2 million annually.
"The completely paperless office may be a silly idea, but we can cut down significantly if we invest resources in doing so," Nordman says. He recommends using less paper in general, and double-sided copying whenever possible.
For more information on the paper use reduction study, or for copies of the duplexing guides and reminders to post by your copy machine, contact Nordman at X7089 or B_Nordman@lbl.gov.
CAPTION: E&E's Bruce Nordman monitored Lab copying practices to find ways to decrease paper use.
Wildensten worked at the Lab from 1971 until 1979 as a technical writer and editor in the Technical Information Department. As managing editor of Research/Accelerators, she received a national award from the Society for Technical Communications in 1979.
She freelanced for a short time as a technical editor and writer before becoming head of technical communications for Cyclotron Corporation of Berkeley in the early 1980s. She later accepted a similar position at Imatron of South San Francisco.
Upon retirement, Wildensten became a contributing writer and editor for the Sierra Club's monthly, The Yodeler. She was a past board member of Bay area Community Services, where remembrances may be sent in her name (Attn: Susan Garbuio, Bay Area Community Services, 7901 Oakport St., Suite 2400, Oakland, CA 94621).
Wildensten is survived by one brother, David Vaughan of Bozeman, Mont.; sons Craig and Roger; and two granddaughters.
LOTO is the OSHA and DOE-mandated procedure for de-energizing and securing energy systems to allow servicing, maintenance or modifications. The ALS is one of the Laboratory's most concentrated LOTO use areas; it is estimated that the ALS performs more than 1,100 LOTO operations each year, resulting in a considerable allocation of resources.
Recognizing that the existing system was inefficient, ALS Electrical Engineering group leader Henry Lancaster asked Electronics Coordination supervisor Art Ritchie to create a Process Improvement Team. Ritchie appointed Ken Baptiste, Jim Gregor, Rita Jones, and Bob Mueller from the ALS, and Keith Gershon from EH&S to the PIT. After only two meetings, the team had completely restructured ALS LOTO into a centralized system that is easier to use and 50 percent more efficient than the old system.
"The first thing we found was that the physical layout of the ALS was responsible for a lot of wasted time," Ritchie says. "Technicians spent an inordinate amount of time traversing the storage ring because the work site is usually nowhere near the LOTO equipment and logbooks."
Ritchie immediately started work on a custom LOTO center located inside the ring, where most of the LOTOs occur. All locks, tags, logbooks, and accessories are now found in one convenient location near the work sites.
"This is a substantial safety improvement," says Gershon. "Whenever the individual worker perceives that his time is being wasted, he is less likely to implement safety procedures. A common cause of workplace injuries is time pressure. The ALS has always been very serious about LOTO, and with this new system the ALS shows that safety and efficiency can be compatible."
Anyone who would like to duplicate the LOTO center may obtain the drawings from Ritchie at X4785.
CAPTION: A Process Improvement Team consisting of (top row) Keith Gershon, Ken Baptiste, Bob Mueller and (bottom row) Jim Gregor, Rita Jones, and Art Ritchie developed a new and improved lockout/tag-out system for the Advanced Light Source.
The Berkeley Lab Calendar is published biweekly here on the World Wide Web and in Currents by the Public Information Department. Employees can list a meeting, class, or event in the Calendar by using this submission form. The deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. on Monday in the week that Currents is published.In addition to the events listed below, Berkeley Lab's Washington, D.C. Projects office is hosting a Science and Technology Seminars series.
Scientific Conferences
"Cell Cycle, Cell Death and p21" will be presented by Arun Fotedar of the LaJolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology at 4 p.m. in Bldg. 66-316.
General meeting at noon in the lower cafeteria.
SURFACE SCIENCE AND CATALYSIS SCIENCE SEMINARS
"The Atomic Structure of Hexagonal SiC Surfaces" will presented by Uli Starke of the University of Erlangen, Germany, at 1:30 p.m. in the Bldg. 66 Auditorum.
7:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., near Bldg. 77.
AFRICAN AMERICAN EMPLOYEE ASSOCIATION
General meeting at noon in Bldg. 90-1099.
CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL
BIOTECHNOLOGY SEMINAR
"Mélange of Below-Ground Research in Arid and Semi-Arid Systems" will be presented by Carole Klopatek of the Arizona State University at noon in the Bldg. 50 Auditorium.
SURFACE SCIENCE AND CATALYSIS SCIENCE SEMINARS
"Nanomaterials: A Membrane-Based Synthetic Approach" will presented by Charles Martin of the Colorado State University at 1:30 p.m. in the Bldg. 66 Auditorum.
"Experimental Study Of The Interaction Of High Energy (10-200 Gev) Electrons, Positrons, And Photons With Crystals" will be presented by Ali Belkacem of LBL at 10:30 a.m. in the Bldg. 71 Conference Room.
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. -- HOLIDAY
12:10-1 p.m., Bldg. 2-100.
"Semiconductor Nanocrystals: Opportunities to Create New Materials Through Control of Size" will presented by Paul Alivisatos of LBL/UCB 1:30 p.m. in the Bldg. 66 Auditorum.
BIOSCIENCES DISTINGUISHED LECTURE
"`Gene Titration' in Mice to Study Quantitative Genetic Diseases" will be presented by Oliver Smithies of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill at 4 p.m. in the Bldg. 66 Auditorium.
To arrange for the pickup of unused boxes, contact Martin Dooly at X4371, MKDooly@lbl.gov, or LBL-Tote-Boxes@lbl.gov.
The luncheon will begin at noon at His Lordships Restaurant, Berkeley Marina, with no-host cocktails at 11:30 a.m. The cost is $20. For reservations, contact Barbara Skelly at X4029.
AUTOS/SUPPLIES
'80 VW Rabbit, 4-dr sedan, 140K mi., AM/FM, lthr seats, $1095/b.o. D. Merrill, X5063, 849-2675
'84 MAZDA 626, 4-dr, 5-spd, 100K mi., 1 owner, new clutch, dent in right front fender, exc. running cond., $2K/b.o. 235-3983
'84 VW GTI, black, pullout stereo, 120K mi., $1900. Rich, X5896, 524-8897
'86 CADILLAC Fleetwood Brougham, 1 owner, exc. cond., many options, $6500. Jim, X7093, (415) 855-9697
'86 FORD Mustang, silver gray, 97K mi., loaded, a/t, a/c, new brakes, exc. cond., 1 owner, $4K/b.o. 939-9564
'88 VOLVO turbo wgn, 5-spd, low mi., all records, p/s, p/l, leather int., sunroof, garaged, asking $8750. Judy, 791-5225
'89 HYUNDAI Excel, 4-dr, 80K mi., AM/FM cass., p/s, p/b, new tires, clutch & belts, silver, runs great, $1390. Edas, X7780, 848-6137, 849-1147
'91 FORD Explorer XLT, 28K mi., standard trans., leather, JVC stereo, limited slip, exc. cond., $17,950. John, X6506, 820-1027
MOTORCYCLE, '82 Yamaha Seca 650, exc. cond., $1800. Judy, X6540, 631-6642
MOTORCYCLE, '83 Honda Passport, 1400 mi., exc. cond., incl. car carrier, $500. 656-3011
SPOKE WHEELS for truck, 8 lug, white, $75/b.o. Marek, X5029, 582-5867
CAR/VANPOOL
CAR/VANPOOL wanted from the Tri-Valley area, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. or so. Philip, X6583
CARPOOL from Vacaville/Fairfield area, rider needed, 4-persons, share driving, Mon. - Fri. work hours 7 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. Mark, X4671, (707) 448-7979
WANTED
AIR HEATER for kindergarten class. Gina, X4311
FIREWOOD, will pick up. Matthias, X5751, 595-6845
MISCELLANEOUS
BABY ITEMS, all in very gd cond., high chair, Fisher-Price; infant car seat, EvenFlo; baby carrier chair; infant sleeping bassinet basket; automatic musical infant swing. 741-7732
BICYCLE, boy's, age 9-12, $45. Allan, X4210
BICYCLE for tot, metal frame, pink & purple, trainer wheels, for 3 - 4 year old, $5; futon bed/sofa, queen sz., 6" thick, 100% cotton, rose w/blue & white cover, oak frame, $75/b.o. Dianne, 886-5527
CAMERA, Minolta X-300, auto/manual 35mm SLR Camera w/28-70 f3.5-4.5 zoom, incl. bounce head flash, exc. cond., $150. Don, X4558
CD PLAYER w/stereo, radio, cassette recorder, Magnavox, 4 mo. old, perf. cond., leaving country, pd. $80, asking $50/b.o. Barbara, X4390, 843-0796 (msg.)
CHANGING TABLE, gd cond., $15; stroller w/canopy, pd. $100, $30; playpen, pop-up style, exc. cond., $20; bassinet, great cond., $30. Wayne, X6372
CHEST BED, 6-drwr, can convert to full, queen or king, honey stained pine, exc. cond., $100; mattress, Simmons, full sz., gd cond., $30; stroller, Aprica, hardly used, exc. cond., $75. Janice, X4943, 631-1131 (eve.)
COMPUTER, PC-AT 286, 10 MHz, 640K, 32MB HD, 5.25" floppy, 2400baud modem, amber monochrome EGA monitor, $150/b.o. D. Merrill, X5063, 549-0914
COUCH, full sz., beige w/wood trim, $150/b.o. Gisela, 841-2066
DISHWASHER, GE, built-in, works well on all cycles, $50/b.o.; 13" color video monitor, audio & video in & out, works well w/VCR, $50/b.o. Philip, X6583
FUTON, queen sz., white, 8" thick w/foam core, less than 1 yr. old, frame not incl., $40/b.o. Dan, 883-0935
FUTON, full sz. w/dk blue cover & light oak colored frame, purchased in May, rarely used, moving, must sell, $200 negot. Craig, X4828 (msg.), 548-6027 (eve.)
EXERCISE EQUIPMENT, Nordic Track WalkFit Classic Model (best one), steel, oak frame, all elec., brand new cond., 9 mos. new, cost $600, $250/b.o. X5566
EXERCISE MACHINE, E-Force Healthrider, like new, $175. Bob, 845-3753
GARMENT BAG, Samsonite Ultra-Valet, like new, $50. Peter, X5931
JUICE EXTRACTOR for grass & berry, almost new, w/orig. carton, pd. $150, asking $85. Peter, X7337, 531-7837
LASER WRITER PLUS, Apple, gd cond., less interconnect cable, $125. Ron, X5562, 526-6328
LIFT TICKET VOUCHERS, Alpine Meadows, $38; Squaw Valley, $39; skis, K2 5500, 195, $125; boots, Nordica, sz. 11, $125; mountain bike, Cannondale V700, new over $1400, $860; water filters, NSA, model 50C & 100C. Marek, X5029, 582-5967
PERSIAN RUG, antique, 60 yrs. in the family, perfect cond., hand-knotted Hammedanm 5'x7', predominately red/multi., $800/b.o. 883-1652
PIANO, Sherman Clay, upright, great cond., tiger oak wood, $500/b.o. Ellyn, 548-1974
MATTRESS SET, Sealy Posture Pedic, king, new in orig. carton (won at Sears), $1K-$1200 value, best offer. Joy, X6957, 735-0898
MOVING SALE, dining table, 4 wood chairs, 2 wood coffee tables, dresser, computer desk, 2 expandable couches, rocking chair, misc. kitchenware. Sidnei, X4824, 649-9242 (eve.)
RECLINER, $25/b.o. Julie, X4583, 232-6919
SKI BOOTS, Salomon, fits approx. sz. 8, exc. cond., gd for teenager or intermed. skier, $35. H. Matis, X5031, 540-6718
STEREO, play/record component cass. deck w/Dolby noise reduction, level meters & auto stop, connection cables incl., $23. Peter, 531-7837
TENNIS RACQUET, Wilson ProStaff Orig. Midsize, 18 mo. old, gd cond., strung w/string of your choice. Dan, X7356, 848-2005
VACUUM, Kirby, w/attachments & carpet cleaner, purchased in June '95, barely used, pd. $1650, asking $1400. Lisa, X5314, 906-9786
VOLLEYBALL NET, full set, new, $30. Edas, X7780, 848-6137, 849-1147
HOUSING
ALBANY HILL, Jackson St., 3-bdrm, 2-bth condo, sweeping hill view, $1150/mo. + $1500 dep. 235-3983
BERKELEY, Bancroft/Sacramento, rm in lg. 3-bdrm house, washer/dryer, non-smoker, $500/mo. Chris or Sue, 644-9616, 845-6517
BERKELEY, Sacramento/Derby, studio apt, $410/mo. 524-9848 (10 a.m.-5 p.m., M-F)
BERKELEY, Telegraph & Ashby, furn. 1-bdrm apt, short term, avail. mid-Jan., $650/mo. Lara, 548-4832
BERKELEY HILLS, nr Tilden Park, new, lg. studio, furn., kitchen, bth, avail. mid Jan., $550/mo. incl. utils. Chris, 524-9655
BERKELEY HILLS, Euclid/Cedar Ave., 5 blks from UCB, furn. rm in pvt home, kitchen privs., washer/dryer, deck, bay view, nr trans., shops, tennis cts. & Rose Garden, no smoking, no pets, $450/mo. + util. 548-1287
NO. BERKELEY, furn. 1-bdrm apt in quiet duplex, 5-min. walk to shuttle, $850/mo. 486-0590
KENSINGTON HILLS, furn. rm in 4-bdrm house, frpl, kitchen, living rm, great view, washer/dryer, garage, bus to UCB, $425/mo. 528-6953
LAFAYETTE, rm w/patio in sunny, quiet 2-bedroom apt, prefer female, nonsmoker, nr BART, downtown & reservoir, $350/mo. + util. Gail, 299-0944 (msg.)
MONTCLAIR, Colton Blvd., 3-bdrm, 1-bth house, lg. garage, frpl, $1250/mo. 339-6988 (eve./wkend)
WANTED: 2-bdrm (or more) house/apt in Berkeley or nearby ASAP, German MD & wife, here for 1 yr. for a research project at LBL. Duell, X5363, X5343 (FAX), 601-6541
WANTED: 1-bdrm furn. apt/studio, 2/1/96 - 1/31/97, for visiting scientist & wife from Sweden, no children. Jahan, X4905, Jonny Rutqvist, Div. Engr. Geology, Royal Institute of Technology, 100 44 Stockholm, Sweden, +46 8 790 8063, +46 8 790 6810 (FAX), Jonny@ce.kth.se
WANTED: 1-2 bdrm, No. Berkeley/Berkeley Hills for LBL researcher, willing to sign long lease for right house/apt, great refs., $700-$800/mo. range, Erik, X6435
WANTED: 1-or-more bdrm apt/house for visiting physicists, 2/1 - 3/15 (dates not firm). Jeanne, X5074, 848-7827
WANTED: 1-bdrm house, cottage, apt or share, furn./unfurn. for LBL employee. Steven, X6966
WANTED: furn. 1-bdrm apt for visiting professor, prefer No. Berkeley, bay view, starting Jan. or Feb. until end of June or longer. 525-2740
WANTED: 1 bdrm apt in Berkeley for visiting faculty couple, from 1/1 to 8/1. Frank, X5433, X5401 (FAX)
WANTED: 2 visiting scientists need 2 rms or a 2-bdrm apt for the mo. of Feb. W.J. Swiatecki, X5536, 524-0153
WANTED: housing for visiting scientist currently in Munich, German, starting in Feb. for approx. 7 mos., prefer Berkeley. Carsten.Voelkmann@physik.tu-mu
WANTED: rm for German physics student, 23 yr. old, female, non-smoker, starting in Feb. for approx. 7 mos., nr UCB, no more than $700/mo. imke.libon@physik.tu-muenchen.de
WANTED: apt, Jan. - July, visiting scientist from Germany. lreichertz@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de
VACATION
SO. LAKE TAHOE 4-bdrm cabin, exc. loc., 2 mi. from Heavenly Valley, AEK, washer/dryer. Bill, X4822, 283-3094
SO. LAKE TAHOE, Tahoe Keys, 3-bdrm, 2.5 bth house, W/D, views, quiet area but nr everything. Bob, 376-2211
Published once a month by the Communications Department for the employees and retirees of Berkeley Lab.
Reid Edwards, Public Affairs Department head
Ron Kolb, Communications Department headEDITOR
Pamela Patterson, 486-4045, pjpatterson@lbl.gov
Associate editor
Lyn Hunter, 486-4698, lhunter@lbl.govSTAFF WRITERS
Dan Krotz, 486-4019
Paul Preuss, 486-6249
Lynn Yarris, 486-5375CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Ucilia Wang, 495-2402
Allan Chen, 486-4210
David Gilbert, (925) 296-5643DESIGN
Caitlin Youngquist, 486-4020
Creative Services OfficeBerkeley Lab
Communications Department
MS 65, One Cyclotron Road, Berkeley CA 94720
(510) 486-5771
Fax: (510) 486-6641Berkeley Lab is managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy.
Flea Market is now online at www.lbl.gov/fleamarket
