Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. - On Thursday May 21st, 55 individuals representing 9 Federal Labs, 3 Universities and several consulting firms, converged at the Join Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in NJ, for what was the inaugural Innovation Discovery Event for the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) at Lakehurst.

The event, the largest of its kind held by the Navy, was coordinated by Gaetan Mangano of the NAWCAD Lakehurst Technology Transfer Office and sponsored by the Office of Naval Research’s (ONR) Technology Transfer Program.  “The event was designed to be a “think outside the box” commercial exploration of several technologies developed in our labs by our engineers and scientists”, according to event host Gaetan Mangano.

A hand-selected panel of 6 professionals from industry, academia and consulting firms were presented three technologies by Lakehurst engineers - what ensued was a “brainstorming” of commercial alternatives, applications and “other uses” for the technology.

The panel then down-selected their ideas into a short list of the most promising and commercially feasible.  The technologies presented were:  an Electro-Magnetic Fire Suppression Design (Marco Tedeschi, Bill Leach, Glenn Shevach, Robert Lee-Own, George Lehaf and Chris Thajudeen), a Pin-Less Connector System (Dr. Russell Shannon, Glenn Shevach, Ivan Touevski and Andy Hernandez) and an Adjustable Liquid Atomization Nozzle (Joe Wolfe, US Patent 7,523,876 B2, April 28, 2009).

“While most Discovery Events are typically much smaller in terms of attendance, so as not to distract the brainstorming panel, this was the largest event our Navy’s Technology Transfer Program Office has sponsored - invitations were extended to as many of the surrounding area Federal Lab Technology Transfer Offices and academic institutions, so they could take home the “know-how” and host their own similar Event”, said Dottie Vincent, the Navy’s Program Manager for Technology Transfer and co-host of the event.  “We are very excited to see these events continue to multiply across not only the Navy Labs, but all the Federal Labs and Academia.”

Representatives from Princeton University, Rowan University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, the Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Homeland Security, Naval Surface Warfare Centers, Naval Air Warfare Centers, the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab, Engility Corporation, Techlink Partnership Intermediary, S. H. Smith Associates and Innovative Business Partners, were among the participants at this inaugural gathering.

“With the productive brainstorming and overwhelmingly positive feedback from panel members, inventors and observers, we look forward to continuing this free-flow of ideas on a recurring basis, as our engineers and scientist develop new technologies that serve our unique and highly specialized mission in the design, development, acquisition and operational support of Naval Aviation Support Equipment and Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment”, according to Mangano.

“I can’t thank enough the team effort in making this event a success, especially the support and participation from our NAWCAD Lakehurst leadership; the ONR sponsorship; the facilitation and moderation from the licensing professionals at Techlink in Bozeman Montana; and my colleagues down at NAWCAD Patuxent River Technology Transfer Office, who held their first Event in 2013, which taught us the value of this collaborative endeavor.  Our next step is taking these great ideas to task and finding commercial opportunities and partnerships,” added Mangano.

Questions about the event and technology transfer opportunities can be directed to Gaetan Mangano at (732) 323-2899 or [email protected].