Issuu

FA L L 2 026 W W W. R DWO R L D O N L I N E .CO M

2026

R&D

Winners by category Analytical/Test P.1 4 IT/Electrical P. 2 0 Mechanical/Materials P. 2 6 Process/Prototyping P. 3 1 Software/Services P. 4 2

100 AWARDS

SPOC

technology combines activemixing direct ink write deposition methods with in-situ characterization to enable highthroughput screening and optimization of polymer formulas, greatly accelerating materials discovery.

PROTECT

is a bonded optical capping technology that prevents contamination-driven damage in high-power laser optics. 2026

TAOS

is a powerful, easy-touse computing tool for designing and optimizing alloy formulations.

This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344. LLNL-MI-2023812 TID-092659

llnl.gov

FlowVAM

2026

achieves highproduction levels for tomographic volumetric additive manufacturing by incorporating print material ﬂow and eliminating time-consuming, manual replacement of material vials after each print.

Congratulations to LLNL’s Winners & Finalist RadSim

is an open-source gamma-ray detector simulation platform that generates realistic spectra and gross counts from source to detector.

Pele Suite

simulates the complex physics of turbulent reacting ﬂows.

Co-developers: National Laboratory of the Rockies (lead); Sandia National Laboratories; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Argonne National Laboratory; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Persistent DynAMICS

is an intelligent sensing architecture that safeguards high-value assets.

Co-developers: Los Alamos National Laboratory (lead); Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Nevada National Security Site; Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Paciﬁc Northwest National Laboratory; Sandia National Laboratories.

INSIDE R&D WORLD FALL 2026

Letter from the Editor

2026 R&D Leader of the Year: Dow’s Kumar Sanketh

10 14

2026 R&D Technician of the Year: Cody Somers (Kennametal, Inc.) 2026 R&D Researcher of the Year: Parans Paranthaman (Oak Ridge National Laboratory) 2026 R&D 100 Finalists Analytical/Test Winners

IT/Electrical Winners

Mechanical/Materials Winners

Process/Prototyping Winners

Software/Services Winners

Special Recognition Awards

•

EDITORIAL SVP, Editorial Strategy Tim Mullaney tmullaney@arrowfly.com VP, Engineering Editorial Director Paul J. Heney pheney@arrowfly.com Editor-in-Chief Brian Buntz bbuntz@arrowfly.com Associate Editor Julia Rock-Torcivia jrocktorcivia@arrowfly.com Senior Editor Rachael Pasini rpasini@arrowfly.com

•

vol 7 no 1

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2014 - 2016

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R&D WORLD | FALL 2026

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CONNECTING THE DOTS:

LINKING VISION AND REALITY, GENERATIONS OF RESEARCHERS, AND THE PARTNERS WHO CARRY THEIR WORK FORWARD

his year’s Nobel Prize in Physics went to Francis Halzen for his work on IceCube, the neutrino observatory buried in Antarctic ice. Proposed in the 1990s, it began construction in 2004 and operations in 2011; its first findings on highenergy astrophysical neutrinos followed two years later. Behind that discovery were years of work by engineers, instrument builders and field crews who made the experiment possible and kept it running. That sustained effort also runs through the R&D 100 Awards. Reading this year’s winners alongside the stories of our three professional honorees, I kept pondering the sum total of the work required to make an invention usable. It is hard to measure the amount of time or even mental energy that precedes a breakthrough announcement, and the dedication required, especially when complex teams and partnerships are involved. M. Parans Paranthaman, a Corporate Fellow in the Chemical Sciences Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), is the 2026 R&D 100 Researcher of the Year and holds ten of the awards. Asked which one stood out, he said translation is the real prize. And achieving it often requires tenacity and rests on the inspiration of mentors. As he tells his mentees, “If you don’t hit a home run, or complete the run, or assist someone else to complete the run, it doesn’t matter that you can say, ‘I am the hard hitter.’ If you don’t get a home run, if you don’t assist anyone, it’s zero runs.” His tenth award came this year, for PASTREE, a process that recovers rare earths and other useful materials from phosphate-industry byproducts. ORNL developed it with the Florida Industrial and Phosphate Research Institute. Researchers already knew those streams contained valuable elements, but according to ORNL, the expense and complexity of recovering them had frustrated earlier approaches. PASTREE combines processing steps to reduce those costs. Building a domestic mineral supply can depend on making such an unglamorous operation economical. Kumar Sanketh, the 2026 R&D 100 Leader of the Year, has had to persuade an industry to change materials. When his Dow team took on solar encapsulants in 2010, ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) dominated the market, and polyolefin alternatives had only a limited presence. The leader he reported to at the time, who later wrote one of his nomination letters, pressed the questions a customer would ask about switching. “‘Why should I buy it? Why

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should I change? What are you giving me?’” Sanketh recalled him asking. Module makers, banks and insurers needed evidence that a new material would protect panels for decades. “The value is in selling power, not simply in the wattage installed,” he said. Accelerated testing and modeling indicated that modules using the material could meet a 30-year service-life target, beyond the 20- to 25year benchmarks of the time. Dow first made encapsulant film on its own lines, but serving a growing market meant repeated capital investment, so the business changed course: it supplied resin pellets and helped established film manufacturers adapt their EVA lines to the new material. Dow’s ENGAGE PV resins would win an R&D 100 Award in 2018. Sanketh credits mentors with pushing him to make changes before a role became comfortable, and he has done the same for others, reshaping assignments so emerging leaders could gain strategy experience. The trick with R&D workflows is being able to make such innovation a repeatable process. Cody Somers, this year’s R&D 100 Technician of the Year, brings a concern for repeatability to Kennametal’s printers and sintering furnaces. He entered the additive-manufacturing group with carbide-processing experience but no additive background, according to his former manager. He learned the equipment so thoroughly that, according to a colleague’s letter supporting his nomination, the printer manufacturer began contacting him for help with complex problems. That is the kind of dedication and expertise I hope readers remember alongside this year’s awards. The profiles that follow show what that commitment looks like in a laboratory, in a customer’s business and beside a machine that someone has to make work. After the profiles come all 100 winners, grouped by category from Analytical/Test to Software/Services, with the Special Recognition medals at the end.

BRIAN BUNTZ Editor, R&D World

R&D WORLD | FALL 2026

100

2026

2026 R&D LEADER OF THE YEAR:

Kumar Sanketh reflects on turning polymer science into products

round 2000, Kumar Sanketh was building polymer light-emitting diodes and phototransistors in a Bengaluru laboratory. More than two decades later, after helping commercialize photovoltaic materials and leading a global R&D organization, he is again working at the intersection of polymers and light. As a Dow Inc. R&D director and the 2026 R&D 100 Leader of the Year, Sanketh has built a career by moving between scientific disciplines, businesses and stages of commercialization. “Connecting the dots” is how he describes that pattern: understanding a device, identifying the material limitation and assembling the technical and commercial case needed to move an idea beyond the laboratory.

From polymer electronics to industrial R&D

Sanketh’s interest in engineering began with childhood curiosity. “I was always curious and tinkering with things,” he said. “I was deeply interested in electronics and anything engineering-related.” That interest led him to conductive and semiconducting polymers, then an emerging field in India, and to K.S. Narayan’s polymerelectronics laboratory at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research. Chemists synthesized molecules; Sanketh built devices to test how those materials performed. The work placed him within the broader rise of organic electronics, as researchers explored polymer-based light-emitting diodes, phototransistors and other devices that could offer new form factors and potentially simpler processing than conventional silicon-based manufacturing.

R&D WORLD | FALL 2026

Kumar Sanketh

A subsequent role at GE’s John F. Welch Technology Centre added experience in polymer testing, compounding and industrial-scale problem-solving. A funded position at the University of Akron brought Sanketh to Ohio shortly before Sept. 11, 2001. After earning a master’s degree in polymer engineering and a doctorate in polymer science, he joined Dow in 2007 as a senior research specialist in the coatings business.

Making the case for longer-lasting solar modules

By 2010, Sanketh was working on a problem that again joined materials science and electronics: how to protect photovoltaic cells through decades of outdoor service. Ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) dominated solar encapsulation, while polyolefin-based alternatives had only a limited market presence. Convincing module manufacturers to change required more than showing a favorable property on a data sheet. The team had to demonstrate a meaningful advantage across the life of the installation. “When you consider the value chain for grid-tied solar, the value is in selling power, not simply in the wattage installed, but in how much power you can supply and for how long with the same capital investment,” he said. Project developers, banks, insurers and asset owners therefore needed evidence that a new encapsulant could protect module performance over time. Sanketh’s team combined materials testing, device knowledge and modeling to answer those concerns. Accelerated testing and performance modeling indicated that modules using the material could meet a 30-year service-life target, beyond the 20- to 25-year benchmarks

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The solar program reinforced a lesson Sanketh carried into leadership: technical evidence alone does not move a market. commonly discussed at the time. His earlier work in polymer devices helped him frame the problem at the application level. “It helped me understand what the application needed,” he said. Dow initially produced encapsulant film on its own lines, but adding enough converting capacity to serve the growing solar market required repeated capital investment. When market conditions shifted, the business changed its model: rather than expanding downstream film production, Dow supplied resin pellets and helped established film manufacturers adapt their EVA lines to process the polyolefin material. Polyolefin elastomers have since become an important highperformance encapsulant option, particularly for module designs that demand greater resistance to moisture and potential-induced degradation. ENGAGE PV Polyolefin Resins received an R&D 100 Award in 2018.

Turning a commercialization lesson into a leadership model

The solar program reinforced a lesson Sanketh carried into leadership: technical evidence alone does not move a market. Researchers also have to understand customer risk, capital constraints, manufacturing capability and the wider value chain. The same systems view shaped how he later led R&D teams. From May 2022 through the summer of 2026, Sanketh led a product R&D organization of more than 110 people across six sites in the Americas, Europe and China. One of the clearest differences among teams, he found, was their tolerance for ambiguity. Some researchers began experimenting as soon as an idea surfaced; others preferred to discuss it first or define requirements in writing. “It’s about how much gray space people can tolerate,” he said. Leading through others also required him to stay connected without micromanaging. He encouraged researchers to bring problems directly to him and tried to “lower the temperature” of the relationship between employee and boss. When a project fell behind, his approach was to go after the problem rather than the person. “There’s a reason,” he said. “Nobody leaves something undone just because they weren’t interested in working.” He also created room for ideas outside formal project plans through an initiative to expand into new areas. Researchers were encouraged to devote a portion of their capacity beyond immediate deliverables to proposing and testing unconventional concepts. Ideas could be screened for technical feasibility and business value later. According to his nomination materials, the effort launched two programs and advanced four additional concepts into development. Sanketh credits mentors with encouraging him to make changes before a role became comfortable. He has tried to do the same for others, including reshaping assignments so emerging leaders could gain strategy experience. The aim, he said, is to create enough trust for people to take a chance and enough discipline to turn that chance into a learning cycle.

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Getting light closer to the chip

In the summer of 2026, Sanketh made another cross-business move, leaving plastics after 12 years to join Dow’s silicones business in a technical service and development role. Working with strategic marketing, he now helps identify where the business should place its next technology bets, including materials that could enable artificial intelligence and data-center infrastructure. As data rates rise, moving optics closer to computing can shorten high-speed electrical paths and reduce power loss while increasing bandwidth. That proximity creates demanding packaging problems: optical components must be attached and protected, micron-scale alignment must remain stable across temperature changes, and heat must be managed without compromising optical performance. For Sanketh, the next opportunity is not a departure from his earlier career but another iteration of the same method: understand the application, identify the material limitation and build the technical and commercial coalition required to move an idea off the bench. “We’ve been talking about photonics using polymeric materials for a couple of decades,” he said. The question now is how to bring that knowledge forward, and once again connect the dots.

The problemsolver: Cody Somers wins R&D Technician of the Year

Cody Somers

Cody Somers, lead technician at Kennametal, Inc., is the 2026 R&D 100 Technician of the Year. Having worked at the industrial technology and manufacturing company Kennametal since 2015, Somers has more than a decade of hands-on experience with tungsten carbide manufacturing processes. At Kennametal, Somers serves as a lead operator for multiple industrial-scale additive-manufacturing systems. He supports at least three binder jet printers and three high-temperature furnaces and works across the full production sequence, from build preparation through curing, depowdering and sintering. He has also supported the development of KAF82, a cemented carbide material. Somers also helped move new additive materials and processes from development into practical use. His broader technical experience includes ball milling, pressing, sintering, extrusion, injection molding, binder jet additive manufacturing and quality control.

R&D WORLD | FALL 2026

Parans Paranthaman

2026 R&D RESEARCHER OF THE YEAR: Parans Paranthaman on superconducting tape, oilfield lithium and getting discoveries into production

arans Paranthaman, Ph.D., a Corporate Fellow and UT-Battelle Distinguished Inventor in the Chemical Sciences Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), has built a career around carrying research to a working technology. Since joining ORNL in 1993, he has helped develop superconducting wire technologies, battery materials and methods for recovering lithium from oilfield wastewater. The R&D 100 Researcher of the Year has more than 500 peer-reviewed papers, 65 issued U.S. patents and more than 110 inventions, and 14 companies have licensed technologies he helped develop. His h-index, which reflects both how much a researcher publishes and how often that work is cited, is 84. Physicist Jorge Hirsch, who proposed the metric in 2005, wrote that an h-index of 40 after 20 years marks an “outstanding” scientist. A clear rule connects Paranthaman’s achievements. “You have to focus, because if you lose focus, you can’t deliver,” he said. “I don’t go by regular hours and days. I focus on the technology.” He emphasizes completion with a baseball analogy he uses with his mentees: “It doesn’t matter that 8

R&D WORLD | FALL 2026

you can say, ‘I am the hard hitter.’ If you don’t get a home run, if you don’t assist anyone, it’s zero runs. That’s why you have to complete. Deliverables and completion are very, very important.” Paranthaman credits his high school teachers, who introduced him to chemistry, physics and math, for inspiring him. “My inspiration mainly came from my high school teachers,” he said. After earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry from Madurai Kamaraj University, he pursued a doctorate in materials science and solid-state chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, where “I was inspired by so many visitors, colleagues and professors.” Postdoctoral work at the University of Texas at Austin brought him to John B. Goodenough, Ph.D., who later shared the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the lithiumion battery at 97, “the oldest person to win a Nobel Prize,” Paranthaman noted. Working with Goodenough meant bringing him results. “You wait outside his office with the data. He will be very busy. You have to show him. Then he gets excited and explains the mechanism.” Paranthaman has since paid that inspiration forward,

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mentoring or co-advising more than 180 people, including doctoral and master’s students, postdoctoral researchers, undergraduates, college teachers and some 70 high school teachers. Many of those mentees are undergraduate interns who arrive unsure what to specialize in or whether to pursue an advanced degree. “I make sure to tell them undergraduate is not enough; go to graduate school,” he said. He says he has a high success rate turning interns into graduate students, and he gives them “freedom to think.” Even during short stints, they’re excited to come up with new ideas, working “toward a patent and in many cases publications.” Mentoring high school teachers is a priority for Paranthaman as well. “We work especially with a lot of high school teachers in the Appalachian region,” he said. Few of those schools have proper science labs. “When they come here, we expose them to research and teach them, so they can go and start science labs in their high school curriculum,” he said. “So many of those high school teachers are still in touch with me.”

From superconducting tape to oilfield lithium

One of Paranthaman’s signature contributions sits between a strip of nickel and a superconducting film. In the 1990s, Oak Ridge researchers were developing RABiTS, short for rolling-assisted biaxially textured substrates, a way to manufacture long lengths of superconducting tape. Rolling and heating nickel aligned its crystal grains, creating a template for the superconductor. Growing the film, however, could oxidize the nickel and destroy that alignment. Paranthaman developed the buffer-layer architecture that protected the metal and transferred its crystal orientation to the superconducting film, helping enable kilometer-length tapes. Decades later, he still works with SuperPower, a New York wire maker owned by Japan’s Furukawa Electric that licensed ORNL technology in the 1990s and 2000s. The company now supplies superconducting wire for fusion magnets, including several hundred kilometers of tape for Tokamak Energy’s ST80-HTS prototype. “So it’s all coming back again,” he said. A more recent payoff took him to Midland, Texas. There, Element3, a Fort Worth company founded in 2021, built a plant that recovers lithium from produced water, the salty wastewater that comes up alongside oil and gas. Oil fields generate a lot of it: about four barrels of water for every barrel of oil. The plant draws on water from the Permian Basin, the vast oil field spanning West Texas and southeastern New Mexico. In 2024, Element3 licensed seven ORNL lithium-recovery technologies that Paranthaman and his ORNL colleagues developed, including membrane extraction techniques and new separation methods. In February, Paranthaman attended the ribbon cutting for the plant, which Texas Gov. Greg Abbott billed as the first in the U.S. to make lithium carbonate from oilfield waste. “That was really fulfilling, to see a very recent technology go from the lab into the commercial space,” Paranthaman said. The superconductor playbook still applies. “What I learned from superconductivity, how we did it, I use the same strategy even now: how to do research at the lab level and then take it to commercialization.”

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“Brines to batteries, mines to magnets”

Paranthaman sums up his current focus in two phrases: “brines to batteries” and “mines to magnets.” Element3 covers the first. For the second, ORNL is negotiating to license rare-earth recovery technology to Momentum Technologies, a Dallas company that already recycles batteries and magnets and plans to recover rare earths, lithium and other elements from them. Next on the list are gallium and germanium, which semiconductor and optical technologies depend on. China began requiring export licenses for both in 2023 and banned their export to the U.S. in December 2024. It suspended that ban in November 2025 through Nov. 27, 2026, but the license requirements remain. Paranthaman expects the Momentum work to move quickly because the company has “already done battery and magnet recycling, so they have all the infrastructure to work on this new material with us and take it forward.” That kind of head start is part of why he thinks the timeline has changed. “In the ’90s, any technology took 10 to 15 years to commercialize,” he said. “With the advancements we have now, you can do it in two to three years.” Asked what made the difference, he named funding, facilities and a workforce, and then the step where lab technologies often stall: scale-up. Through DOE projects, Oak Ridge can carry a technology to pre-pilot scale before a company takes it over. “We help companies with the pre-pilotscale demonstration at a national lab,” he said. “Then it’s easy for them, because we have already done the groundwork.” Even from a national lab, Paranthaman keeps a close read on industry through his partners, a relationship he describes as a loop: “You tell them your ideas, they test them and give feedback back and forth.” That exchange, along with visits to sites such as the lithium plant Rio Tinto built at its Boron, Calif., operation, shows him what companies are actually ramping up, and right now the pace is fast. “Like 90% are coming from China, so everything is blocked,” he said of rare earths. The U.S. has gone from having no rare-earth magnet manufacturers to at least 10 to 15 companies working on them, he estimates, and MP Materials is already producing magnets. Asked how countries and companies can improve the odds that their R&D spending turns into technology people actually use, Paranthaman pointed to a problem bigger than any single partner. “One thing that is lacking here is long-term commitment,” he said. “Japan and other countries commit for the longer term. Here we have to go through different governments and administrations, and things change.” The U.S. has the plans, he said, “but we cannot execute them.” His career has tracked those changes, from superconductors to photovoltaics to batteries and now the domestic supply chain. “Since we work for the Department of Energy, we go by what the government wants us to do,” he said. “So we have to be ready.” His enthusiasm has outlasted those shifts. “I still get excited to come to work, even after 33 years,” he said. “People ask me when I’m going to retire. I say my boss, John Goodenough, was almost 40 years older than me, and he was still working.”

R&D WORLD | FALL 2026

2026 R&D 100 FINALISTS FINALISTS

ANALYTICAL/TEST ECDaim Brain Perfusion Image Analysis System, National Atomic Research Institute, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang Bing Show Chwan Memorial Hospital, Shuang-Ho Hospital, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, National Cheng Kung University Hospital (Taiwan)

Biocide‑Free Bacteria‑Repellent Nanofiber Breathing System Filters, Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute, Well Lead Medical Co., Ltd. BirdSmart® Bird Safe Glass, Vitro Architectural Glass DOWSIL™ EG-4175 Silicone Gel, Dow Performance Silicones

Megasonics (MEGA-NAV), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), New Mexico Tech

DuoDefend: Affordable, Nontoxic, and Versatile Flame Retardants, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Omni Magnetic-Stimulation Neuromodulation System, Metal Industries Research & Development Centre (MIRDC), National Health Research Institutes

FilmTec™ Fortilife™ XC220 Membrane, DuPont Water Solutions

PLus-Spot Solar Panel Tester, BrightSpot Automation, National Laboratory of the Rockies Sensor Fish Suite + Hydropower Biological Evaluation Toolset (HBET): Field-Proven Bio-Inspired Measurement and Analytics for Sustainable Water Infrastructure, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory TALOS, Nirrin Technologies Thermo Scientific™ Orbitrap™ Excedion™ Pro mass spectrometer, Thermo Fisher Scientific VaporID, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, BaySpec, Inc. VitoCheck, E-SENSE Innovation & Technology

IT/ELECTRICAL AiBP, AI Broadcasting Platform for Accessible Public Information, Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Public Television Service Electro-Thermo-Chemical Random Access Memory (ETCRAM), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), University of Michigan Multispectral Imaging for Advanced Surveillance Operations, Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute PipeX: A Versatile Crawling Robot for Multimodal Inspection of Pipeline, Hong Kong Productivity Council, Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (HKSAR Government), Shenzhen Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics for Society

MECHANICAL/MATERIALS AR™ 300E Series EUV Underlayer, Qnity Electronics, Inc. BatterUP, Sandia National Laboratories

R&D WORLD | FALL 2026

HP certified closed-loop recycled copper, Mint Innovation, HP Inc HyperFlux Ferrite Nanocomposite, University of Pittsburgh, CorePower Magnetics, National Magnetics Selective and Optimized Low-regen sorbent for Industrial and Direct air capture (SOLID), Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) Smart Care CureAssure, Asian Paints Limited VFT heat exchanger for City Multi, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Mitsubishi Electric Engineering Company, Limited Voltatex®4440 Gelcoat, Axalta Coating Systems

PROCESS/PROTOTYPING 100% Closed-loop Recycled Plastic Sheets, Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute, Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (HACTL) COMet Technology for Ventilation Air Methane Abatement from Underground Coal Mines, Johnson Matthey, Core Natural Resources, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Electroslag Additive Manufacturing (ESAM): High Productivity, Low Cost Metal Additive Manufacturing, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ARC Specialties, Inc. Gibco™ CTS™ Compleo™ Fill and Finish System, Thermo Fisher Scientific MAGMA: Magnetically Aligned Gap Magnet with Applied Fields, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Ames National Laboratory Critical Materials Innovation Hub, Orbis Electric Single-Wafer High-Temperature SPM Tool, ACM Research Water Tank Cleaning Robot, Hong Kong Productivity Council, VersaTech Energy Innovation Limited

SOFTWARE/SERVICES ARCADE, Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) ArtIMis: Artificial Intelligence for Mission, Los Alamos National Laboratory, University of Michigan, Georgia Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Texas at Austin, Ohio State University, NumFOCUS Deliberate Motion Analytics (DMA): A Deterministic Sensor Fusion Platform that Enhances Intrusion Detection, Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Management Sciences Inc. (MSI) Eco-VTrac: A Real-Time Energy Optimization System for Vehicles and Traffic Signals, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, National Laboratory of the Rockies (formerly National Renewable Energy Laboratory) and Toyota Motor North America FARM: Feasible Actuator Range Modifier, Argonne National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory Hardware Assisted Kernel Compartmentalization (HAKC), MIT Lincoln Laboratory Igloo Embedded Linux Rehosting Platform, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Northeastern University Marine Artificial Intelligent Identification Navigation Assistance System, Ship and Ocean Industries R&D Center (SOIC), Merit Lilin Ent. Co., Ltd. Matlantis, Matlantis MENTOR-RL: A Foundation Model for Mechanism-Based Drug Discovery and Translational Biology, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, University of Tennessee MetalAdapt Low-Carbon Decision System, Institute for Information Industry NERIS: National Emergency Response Information System, UL Research Institutes’ Fire Safety Research Institute, U.S. Fire Administration (USFA); Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T) NeuroFEM, Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) Reconductoring Economic and Financial Analysis (REFA) Tool, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory TAOS, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

OTHER Non-Invasive Cloning from Blood, Colossal Biosciences

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NARI NARI

https://www.nari.org.tw/english/ https://www.nari.org.tw/english/ Nuclear Safety Nuclear and safety Nuclearand Backend nuclear backend

NationalNational Atomic Atomic Research and Radiation Development applications in Radiation for people’s Application livelihood Research Research InstituteInstituteNew Energy New andenergy Systemand Integration system integration The advertising budget comes from the National Science and Technology Council(NSTC),

Institute of Nuclear Institute Energy of Nuclear Research Energy was transformed Research wasand transformed reorganized andinto reorganized the administrative into the Independent corporationAdministrative "National Atomic Institution Research "National Institute" Atomicstarting Research fromInstitute" September starting 27, from 2023.September 27, 2023.

AI-Assisted Decision Support System for Atherosclerotic Lesion Localization and Grading • The world’s first integrated hardware-software platform for intelligent coronary artery diagnostic support The Atherosclerotic PET Diagnosis (APD) radiopharmaceutical and AI-Assisted Decision Support System for Atherosclerotic Lesion Localization and Grading was developed by the National Atomic Research Institute (NARI), integrating expertise across three domains: radiopharmaceutical technology, artificial intelligence, and 3D digital visualization. It combines a radiopharmaceutical (68Ga-APD), AI-based automated recognition (nnU-Net v2), and 3D mixed reality (MR). • Core technologies Core technologies include AI-based medical image recognition, automated generation of diagnostic support reports, and MR-based clinical decision support. The platform automatically detects sites of vascular inflammation, precisely localizes lesions and grades their severity, effectively overcoming the limitation of conventional imaging in identifying unstable plaques at an early stage, while improving the efficiency of preoperative planning and the quality of physician-patient communication. • Patent portfolios Patent portfolios have been established in Taiwan, the United States, Japan, and Europe, and a medical device manufacturer license has been obtained in Taiwan, with TFDA registration to follow, demonstrating strong clinical application potential and international competitiveness.

AI-based lesion recognition and grading

Stereoscopic lesion review in mixed reality

Ga-APD Imaging and international patents

An Intelligent Monitoring and Diagnostic System for Power Transformers • An AI-Powered Intelligent Monitoring and Diagnostic System for Power Transformers NARI has developed an intelligent monitoring and diagnostic system for power transformers that integrates artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analytics. The system complements conventional Dissolved Gas Analysis (DGA) by analyzing variations in CO/CO2 ratios derived from routine DGA test results. While conventional DGA primarily identifies fault types based on dissolved gas concentration patterns, such as overheating and electrical discharge, this solution further enhances diagnostic capabilities by enabling more precise fault localization and risk assessment. • Key Features The solution requires no additional hardware or sensors and performs automated diagnostics using existing DGA data. By providing more accurate assessments of transformer conditions, it supports informed maintenance decisions, helps avoid unnecessary shutdowns and inspections, and reduces potential operational losses. • Proven Success The system has been successfully deployed at a Taiwan Power Company (TPC) substation, where it demonstrated its effectiveness in responding to a sudden increase in dissolved gas concentrations. By enabling timely condition assessment and supporting appropriate maintenance decisions, the system helped prevent unnecessary operational An Intelligent Monitoring and Diagnostic System disruptions and generated cost savings estimated at several million for Power Transformers New Taiwan dollars (NTD).

Development of Proton Irradiation Technology for Electronic Devices The NARI established Taiwan’s only atmospheric proton testing facility below 30 MeV to qualify domestic satellite components. By optimizing irradiation techniques, flux uniformity and efficiency were significantly improved. Extended to a 70 MeV cyclotron and integrated with medical proton centers, the facility provides a 3–200 MeV testing range to advance Taiwan’s space component self-reliance. • Establishment of a Proton Testing Platform Taiwan’s sole atmospheric proton testing facility below 30 MeV, filling a crucial gap in domestic radiation testing infrastructure for space electronics. • Support for Satellite Component Qualification Enabled proton radiation verification for power amplifiers, optoelectronics, and sensors from industrial, academic, and research sectors, fostering space technology autonomy. • Enhanced Irradiation Performance and Expanded Energy Coverage Improved flux uniformity, simplified systems, and expanded the beam field to 30 cm. Combining 30 MeV and 70 MeV cyclotrons with medical platforms creates a 3–200 MeV range for diverse space component testing.

NARI’s BECCU Technology: Capturing Carbon Resources and Advancing the Circular Economy from Bagasse-Based Bioenergy to Cleaning Products Through the carbon capture and carbonation technologies developed by NARI, agricultural residues and biogenic CO 2 are transformed into valuable resources. The technology has undergone preliminary validation at three sugar mills in Taiwan. By integrating Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Utilization (BECCU), it connects bagasse-based cogeneration, CO 2 recovery, and the development of cleaning products, creating a sustainable pathway for carbon utilization. • Stable CO 2 Capture Performance Under Fluctuating Inlet Concentrations Across the demonstration sites, the pilot-scale system processes 2,000 liters of flue gas per hour, while the overall CO2 capture efficiency consistently NARI’s BECCU: From biogenic CO2 to cleaning products remains above 95% despite fluctuations in the inlet CO2 concentration ranging from 1.2 to 10.4 vol% , thereby demonstrating a stable and reliable carbon capture performance. • Versatile Conversion of Captured CO 2 into Multiple Value-Added Products This highly versatile system can be configured to produce sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, potassium carbonate, and potassium bicarbonate. • Transforming Captured CO 2 into Everyday Products Through Industrial Collaboration Through collaboration with partners in the sugar and cleaning products industries, recovered materials have been incorporated into initial prototypes of cleaning soap, laundry detergent, and cleansing mousse. NARI extends the value of resources through a tangible Carbon-to-Product value chain, demonstrating the practical application of carbon capture and utilization in the circular economy.

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A N A LY T I C A L & T E S T Anaerobic Microbial Phenotyping Platform (AMP2) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Co-developers: Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. (Ginkgo) The Anaerobic Microbial Phenotyping Platform (AMP2), developed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) with Ginkgo Bioworks, is an automated platform that speeds the study of anaerobic microbes, which are essential to renewable fuels and industrial bioprocesses. AMP2 turns a slow, manual process into a scalable, data-driven capability that supports Earth system modeling and the U.S. bioeconomy.

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CybeRay Pro OUR United Corporation Co-developers: The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, The First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Beijing Tiantan Hospital of Capital Medical University CybeRay Pro is a non-invasive radiosurgery platform that integrates real-time intrafraction image guidance, dynamic non-coplanar arc delivery and a streamlined workflow to deliver sub-millimeter-precision ablative radiation to lesions anywhere in the body. OUR United says it gives patients a more precise, safer and more accessible treatment option.

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Determining the Percentage of Recycled Plastic Content in a Plastic Product University at Buffalo, State University of New York University at Buffalo researchers developed a multimodal sensing technique that combines several sensing modalities with AI and machine learning to quantify the percentage of recycled content in plastic products. The method fills a measurement gap and offers a path to regulatory compliance for recycled plastics.

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Globe Scan: A Non-Contact Laser Dimensional Scanning Probe Hitachi, Ltd. Co-developers: Hitachi High-Tech Corporation, Nagano Automation Co., Ltd. Globe Scan is a non-contact laser probe that captures both sidewall and depth profiles of bores from 6 to 100 mm in diameter with ±5 µm accuracy. A single probe covers the full range and holds its performance as factory temperatures fluctuate between 10 and 35 °C, supporting high-speed in-line inspection at 10,000 points per second.

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A N A LY T I C A L & T E S T Photonic BMS University of Pittsburgh Co-developers: Sensible Photonics

InFocus κ FDTR: Thermal Property Microscope ScienceEdge Inc. Co-developers: Prof. Jun Hirotani, Kyoto University InFocus κ FDTR combines diffraction-limited optical microscopy with frequencydomain thermoreflectance for submicron laser heating and microscale mapping of thermal properties, while staying sensitive to nanoscale-thick films and deep-interface thermal boundary conductance. Localized heating induces three-dimensional heat flow, enabling measurement of in-plane thermal conductivity, aided by aberration-corrected, normal-incidence beam scanning.

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OsteoSEE Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory Tibial stress fractures are among the most common overuse injuries in athletes and military personnel, yet they are difficult to diagnose. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) developed OsteoSEE, an ultrasound-based platform that uses surface acoustic waves to detect early-stage stress fractures noninvasively and without ionizing radiation.

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Photonic BMS is designed to keep energy storage safe and enable rapid load management for AI data centers. Acting as a "photonic nervous system" for a utility battery stack, it uses multiphotonic sensor nodes and state-of-safety (SOS) algorithms to fuse multimodal data for preemptive diagnostics that, the University of Pittsburgh says, go beyond current battery management systems (BMS).

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RADXtract Argonne National Laboratory Co-developers: Kyma Technologies RADXtract is a failure analysis technology for next-generation semiconductors in harsh radiation environments. It combines a neutron irradiation test workflow, integrated particle simulations and electrical device modeling, and AI-driven predictive failure modeling to deliver spatially and temporally resolved failure data, validating device reliability across multiple levels of detail.

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SPEAR UltraDetect™ BD-pTau 217 Assay Spear Bio Inc. The SPEAR UltraDetect BD-pTau 217 Assay measures brain-derived pTau 217 in plasma with high sensitivity and precision. It delivers 100% quantifiability across healthy and Alzheimer's disease samples using just 1 µL of diluted plasma, supporting research on early detection, patient stratification and longitudinal analysis of this ultra-low-abundance biomarker.

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A N A LY T I C A L & T E S T Thermostable Serine Recombinase Assisted Genome Engineering (tSAGE): 90% Faster Foreign DNA Insertion for Thermophilic Microbes Oak Ridge National Laboratory tSAGE is a genetic engineering method that speeds insertion of DNA into thermophilic bacteria. It replaces a cumbersome four-week, 10-step manual process with a single-step, automatable workflow, cutting engineering time for heat-loving microbes by 90% and opening high-throughput approaches to R&D for fuels and bioproducts.

Waters Xevo™ CDMS Waters Corporation Co-developers: Indiana University; Megadalton Solutions The Waters Xevo CDMS, which Waters says is the first market-ready charge detection mass spectrometer (CDMS), directly and accurately measures the mass of very large biomolecules up to more than 150 MDa, including viral vectors, mRNA and protein complexes. Built on electrostatic linear ion trap (ELIT) technology, it delivers results in under 10 minutes, distinguishes capsid populations and cuts sample needs by up to 100-fold.

2026 ITRI RD100 Half Page 7.5”×4.875” Final.pdf 1 2026/10/15 上午 09:55:27

CMY

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IT/ELECTRICAL 20

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I T/ E L E C T R I C A L ICONS: Integrated Composite Optical Neutron Sensor Los Alamos National Laboratory ICONS is a neutron detection technology that accurately measures neutrons in both low- and high-flux environments, even in the presence of strong gamma radiation. It responds quickly enough for real-time measurement of short neutron bursts and high-rate neutron sources. ICONS avoids supply-chain constraints by using naturally abundant, commercially available lithium-6 rather than scarce helium-3.

Architector Los Alamos National Laboratory Architector is software that automatically generates 3D metal-containing molecules from simple chemical blueprints across the entire periodic table. It supports high-throughput screening and conformational sampling of atomic arrangements around metal centers, including first and second coordination shells, with speed and chemical accuracy that Los Alamos says are unprecedented, through an accessible interface.

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Hitachi Energy’s Optimization product offering Hitachi America, Ltd. Co-developers: Hitachi Energy Hitachi Energy's Optimization product, also known as GLOW, is a transmission planning solution for fast, high-fidelity reliability and economic assessments of new generation and load interconnections. It combines physics-based modeling with advanced computational techniques to accelerate grid simulations, delivering scalable insights for planning and operational decisions.

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Microgrid Orchestrator: A Distributed Controller for Networked Microgrids Oak Ridge National Laboratory Co-developers: New Sun Road, P.B.C.; Casa Pueblo Networked microgrids are clusters of colocated, electrically connected microgrids that improve reliability, resilience and economics by sharing resources under coordinated control. The Microgrid Orchestrator delivers these benefits by applying decentralized optimization to coordinate power and energy transfers among microgrids, supported by protocols for stability, synchronization and fault handling.

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I T/ E L E C T R I C A L Persistent DynAMICS Los Alamos National Laboratory Co-developers: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Nevada National Security Site, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories Persistent DynAMICS is an intelligent sensing architecture that protects highvalue assets while balancing cost and continuity in large-scale monitoring. Rather than collecting data continuously and exhaustively, it adds a decisionmaking layer on top of existing sensing systems, delivering real-time activity tracking, better detection sensitivity and fewer false alarms.

ORNL & BMW 22kW Polyphase Wireless Power Transfer System with Rotating Magnetic Fields Oak Ridge National Laboratory Co-developers: BMW Group (Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft) This 22 kW polyphase wireless charging system, developed by ORNL and BMW, delivers twice the power of the SAE J2954 WPT3 reference design in a 61% smaller footprint. It achieves 2.4 times greater mutual inductance, reduces ferrite, copper and aluminum use by more than 55%, lowers field emissions by 50% and reaches about 95% efficiency at about 200 mm of ground clearance.

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Parallelogram Synchronized Truss Assembly (PaSTA) Southwest Research Institute PaSTA is a foldable, deployable truss structure that increases the stiffness of satellite solar arrays and booms. It replaces simple hinges with a preloaded truss, raising the first natural frequency from below 0.3 Hz to above 1.5 Hz. A built-in synchronization system allows passive, kinematically determinate deployment controlled by a single damper.

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PExT: Polylingual Experimental Terminal Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory Co-developers: NASA Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Program APL engineers, with support from NASA's Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program, developed a wideband polylingual terminal that lets satellites communicate across diverse commercial and government networks and frequencies, supporting missions from low Earth orbit to cislunar space. APL calls it the first of its kind.

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I T/ E L E C T R I C A L Radioactive airborne particulate monitor

UNR, Ubiquitous Network-Native Radar Platform

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation

Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI)

Co-developers: Mitsubishi Electric Plant Engineering Corporation; Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories; Nagoya University; Japan Atomic Energy Agency.

The Ubiquitous Network-Native Radar Platform (UNR) enables pre-6G sensing over existing 5G and Wi-Fi networks, using software-defined and AI technologies to turn communication infrastructure into sensing systems. Because it needs no dedicated sensing hardware or additional sites, UNR reduces deployment cost and complexity while supporting scalable sensing across industrial environments.

This radioactive airborne particulate monitor rapidly and accurately distinguishes and quantifies both naturally occurring and artificial radionuclides, helping prevent unintended internal exposure among nuclear and resource industry workers. Compared with conventional methods, Mitsubishi Electric says it improves the detection limit by more than 100 times and cuts measurement time to less than one-sixth.

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Smart Power Hub® (SPH) Toyota Central R&D Labs., Inc. Co-developers: Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd. Smart Power Hub (SPH) is a compact three-port microgrid converter that integrates renewables, batteries and AC loads in a single unit. In field tests, the systems showed 47% to 56% lower grid imports and conversion losses, about 80% smaller system size and kilohertz-order response using built-in energy management.

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MECHANICAL/ MATERIALS 26

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M E C H A N I CA L / M AT E R I A L S CryoCharge-100™ Purdue University, Indiana, USA

Affordable Efficient Thermoelectric Dishwasher with Enhanced Drying Oak Ridge National Laboratory Co-developers: Samsung Electronics America Scientists and engineers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), working with Samsung Electronics America, developed a dishwasher that uses thermoelectric modules to recover waste heat and pump heat efficiently. It cuts energy use by up to 30% and improves drying performance by 30% to 40% through simultaneous dehumidification and reheating.

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Algae composite

Purdue University's CryoCharge-100 lithium-ion battery platform, which set a Guinness World Record, pairs a pseudocapacitive niobium–tungsten oxide electrode with a low-freezing cyclopentyl methyl ether electrolyte for heater-free operation from −100 °C to +80 °C. Integrated with photovoltaics, it provides resilient energy storage on Earth and in deep space for polar, aerospace, defense and grid applications.

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DuPont™ Liveo™ Pharma TPE Ultra-Low Temperature Tubing DuPont DuPont Liveo Pharma TPE Ultra-Low Temperature Tubing is single-use bioprocessing tubing engineered to stay flexible, intact and pure at temperatures down to −86 °C. It supports cold-chain handling of sensitive biologics while preserving weldability, pumpability and low extractables.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

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Co-developers: California Institute of Technology

DyeMate-SC

This low-cost composite, 63% less expensive than commercially available medium-density fiberboard, converts wastewater algae and agricultural residues into high-performance structural products. A bio-based binding mechanism improves interfacial adhesion, yielding greater strength than conventional wood- and petroleum-based composites while cutting production time from days to seconds, according to ORNL.

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Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Supercritical CO₂ dyeing works for synthetic fibers, but natural fibers have been incompatible with it. DyeMateSC removes that barrier, enabling waterless supercritical CO₂ dyeing of natural fibers with results that the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) says match conventional water dyeing, while saving water and reducing environmental impact amid water scarcity and microplastic regulations.

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M E C H A N I CA L / M AT E R I A L S EcoFlux Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Co-developers: Graphex Innovation and Technology Limited EcoFlux Anode reworks spherical natural graphite with hard carbon infilling and a fast-ion coating applied through an aqueous process. According to ASTRI, it delivers less than 5% anode swelling, charging in under 20 minutes, higher reversible capacity and nearly double the cycle life, for long-life and highenergy battery applications.

Engineered Cermets for Advanced Reactor Waste Disposal Savannah River National Laboratory Co-developers: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey; Washington State University; Alfred University; University of South Carolina; Missouri University of Science and Technology; Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

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These engineered cermets are high-density, extremely tough ceramic-metal composites for immobilizing, managing and storing nuclear waste. Compared with current technologies, they offer smaller storage footprints, operational flexibility, less complexity and cost savings. Savannah River National Laboratory says the cermets and their manufacturing process will help speed deployment of next-generation nuclear power plants.

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High Power Density Embedded-die PCB– based Automotive Traction Inverter Economic Long-Duration Energy Storage by Using Low-Cost Particle-Based Thermal Energy Storage (ENDURING)

Toyota Research Institute of North America

National Laboratory of the Rockies

Co-developers: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech); MIRISE Technologies Corporation

ENDURING is a low-cost, long-duration thermal energy storage technology that uses heated sand to supply hours to days of energy for power or heating, reducing energy costs and improving grid resilience. The National Laboratory of the Rockies credits its versatile design, cost-effective scaling and system configuration for its edge over competing approaches.

This embedded-die PCB silicon carbide (SiC) traction inverter converts 800 V DC power into AC for EV motors. Using six embedded 1 kV SiC MOSFET dies with 1 nH commutation-loop inductance, it integrates the PCB busbar, current and junction-temperature sensing, DC-link capacitors and cooling to deliver 173 kW at 97% efficiency with power density in the 300 kW/L class.

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M E C H A N I CA L / M AT E R I A L S N₂O CAT: Low Temperature NOx Free N₂O Abatement System Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) The N₂O CAT system is an integrated abatement solution for semiconductor exhaust treatment. It combines thermal oxidation, high-temperature filtration and low-temperature catalytic decomposition (at or below 500 °C) in sequence to remove nitrous oxide and flammable gases with more than 99% efficiency, while limiting secondary pollutants, energy use and retrofit complexity.

Mesoporous optically clear heat insulators (MOCHI) University of Colorado Boulder Mesoporous optically clear heat insulators (MOCHIs) act as "frozen air," delivering more than 99.5% visible-light transmission, higher than glass at 92%, and thermal conductivity of about 10 mW/m·K, lower than the aerogels used on Mars rovers. Square-meter-size, inch-thick MOCHIs can be used for insulated windows and skylights, glazing retrofits, unconcentrated solar thermal energy harvesting and condensation-free insulated vehicle windshields.

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NORYL™ V0150TW / V0150IR2 Resins

Perforated Membranes for the Efficient Conversion of Carbon Dioxide and Carbon Monoxide to Organic Compounds

SABIC SABIC's NORYL V0150TW and V0150IR2 resins are laser-weldable grades engineered for the solar market, which SABIC says are the first of their kind. They combine thin-wall flame retardancy, improved weatherability and strong sealing performance, enabling faster, cleaner manufacturing of photovoltaic microinverters while improving their reliability and outdoor stability.

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National Laboratory of the Rockies The perforated bipolar membrane electrochemical conversion system uses electricity to turn waste CO₂ into high-value chemicals. The National Laboratory of the Rockies says it is the only electrochemical CO₂ conversion technology to reach commercial viability. Industries can use it to cut energy consumption and costs and to turn waste into products for multibilliondollar chemical markets.

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M E C H A N I CA L / M AT E R I A L S Pintura Autoenfriante Pinturas Berel S.A. de C.V. Pintura Autoenfriante is a water-based paint formulated with nanotechnology that reflects most solar radiation and efficiently radiates thermal energy toward the cold of space, giving it a high solar reflectance index (SRI). Pinturas Berel says it can reduce indoor temperatures by up to 5 °C compared with ambient conditions, lowering energy consumption and carbon emissions.

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REFLEX™ University of Pittsburgh Co-developers: Idaho National Laboratory; National Energy Technology Laboratory REFLEX (Real-time Embedded Feedback and Layered Excitation) turns passive electrochemical interconnects into sensor-enabled components that provide real-time monitoring, active thermal control and digital-twin capabilities for next-generation fuel cells, electrolyzers and hydrogen energy systems.

R&D WORLD | FALL 2026

UniSteel 1900 ChainDieForm General Motors Co-developers: (1) Shanghai Jiaotong University (2) Sairolf Metal Forming Co., Ltd. (3) Nanjing Steel Co., Ltd. GM's UniSteel can be produced from 100% scrap in an electric arc furnace. Combined with chain-die forming, it yields what GM calls the world's first cold-formed 1.9 GPa door beam with a varying cross section, offering mass efficiency at lower cost and a smaller carbon footprint than a hot-stamped boron steel door beam.

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PROCESS/PROTOTYPING Automated Single-station Manufacturing Process for Seamless, Ultra-Lightweight Footwear Taiwan Textile Research Institute (TTRI) Co-developers: Mizuno Corp. The Automated Single-station Manufacturing Process (ASMP) makes footwear using 3D spinning, six-axis robotics and a monomaterial design. Replacing an intricate eight-step 3D knitting process, it reduces production to two stages, seamless upper formation and thermal fusion, cutting cost and environmental impact while forming a closure-free upper with a lightweight, adaptive fit.

Argonne Rare Earth Magnet Electrorefining Process Argonne National Laboratory The Argonne Rare Earth Magnet Electrorefining Process recovers rare earth metal directly from scrap neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets and magnet swarf (manufacturing shavings) using molten salt electrorefining. The single-step process bypasses hydrometallurgical separation and conventional electrowinning, offering a lower-carbon, domestic pathway to recycle rare earth materials for new magnets.

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Autonomous Ion Mass Spectrometer Sentry (AIMSS) Los Alamos National Laboratory

Automated Craftsmanship General Motors LLC Automated Craftsmanship is a robotic system that cuts custom metal vehicle panel work from hours of costly manual labor to minutes of automated processing. Using a five-degree-of-freedom power hammer, flexible robots, adaptive tooling and AI-assisted control, it produces precise, affordable custom designs. GM first piloted it on 2025 Cadillac V-Series Blackwing editions.

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Co-developers: United States Air Force Academy; Plasma Controls LLC AIMSS is the first autonomous, spacequalified mass spectrometer operating in orbit, according to Los Alamos, delivering real-time spacecraft contamination monitoring and space plasma characterization. Its high mass resolution detects propellant leaks, thruster impingement and outgassing while also validating space weather models, protecting missions and advancing space situational awareness.

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PROCESS/PROTOTYPING Beyond Mono-Material: One-Step Separation and Decolorization of Footwear's Hardest Waste into Manufacturing-Grade rPET Taiwan Textile Research Institute (TTRI) Co-developers: Jade Long John Enterprise Co., Ltd.; Far Eastern New Century Corporation; Long John Tsung Right Industrial Co., Ltd.; Pro Arch International Development Enterprise Inc. This production-ready one-step separation and decolorization process converts contaminated footwear waste into recycled polyester (rPET) that is at least 99.5% pure (ISO 1833). Deployed commercially through footwear manufacturing supply chains, it overcomes the polyurethane and elastane contamination bottleneck and supports circular footwear, with a 74.6% carbon reduction under an ISO 14067-based assessment.

Cathode Upcycling Through Precipitation Argonne National Laboratory Argonne's cathode upcycling process upgrades directly recycled, low-nickel cathode powder into higher-energy materials that Argonne says can perform on par with modern commercial cathodes. The scalable, manufacturingcompatible approach raises the value of recycled battery materials and gives battery makers flexibility to meet shifting market demands.

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CellNet™: Next-Generation Blood Filters with HighPurity, Water-Free and Solvent-Free Surface Functionalization of Fibers Taiwan Textile Research Institute (TTRI) ___________________________________________________________

Co-developers: Sangtech Lab Inc. Supercritical CO₂ can act as a processing medium like water, but without producing wastewater. By combining supercritical CO₂ with synthetic molecules to functionalize fiber surfaces, the Taiwan Textile Research Institute (TTRI) and Sangtech Lab created CellNet, a high-purity blood filter made without organic solvents or water.

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CarbonTrust Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited Co-developers: Yau Lee Group CarbonTrust is a blockchain-based digital measurement, reporting and verification (dMRV) platform from ASTRI that automates carbon tracing and verification. It uses AI to detect data anomalies and prevent fraud, and large language model (LLM)-driven modules to prevent double-counting. The platform introduces new methodologies for urban and technology-driven mitigation projects in Asia.

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Deimos: Advanced Reactor Testbed Los Alamos National Laboratory Deimos is a reconfigurable system for evaluating novel nuclear reactor designs. Its modular design allows rapid testing of new reactor concepts and fuel materials under safe operating conditions. Los Alamos describes it as the first modern proving ground for new U.S. reactor designs.

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PROCESS/PROTOTYPING Electro-Lith Argonne National Laboratory Co-developers: General Motors LLC

Electrified Plastic Pyrolysis Reactor (EPPR) for Jet Fuel and Diesel Production Yale University Co-developers: Purdue University; University of Maryland; Princeton University; Polymer-X Inc. Yale's electrified plastic pyrolysis reactor (EPPR) converts hard-to-recycle polyolefin plastics into jet fuel and diesel-range chemicals in a continuous, scalable process, with what the team calls record-high yields. Operating without catalysts, it offers durability, high throughput, lower capital and operating costs, and low-emission fuel production from waste plastics.

Electro-Lith is a continuous electrochemical process for the precise prelithiation of silicon-based anode particles, which then serve as a drop-in material for later battery electrode manufacturing. Argonne and General Motors say the method could enable safer, lower-cost, lower-carbon production of tailored electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries.

2026 R&D 100 AWARD FINALIST

Voltatex® 4440 Advanced Protection for EV Motor Applications Engineered for EV motor stators, Voltatex® 4440 delivers efficient automated application, excellent encapsulation, superior penetration into dense windings, and durable performance in demanding operating conditions.

axalta.com

R&D WORLD | FALL 2026

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PROCESS/PROTOTYPING FlowVAM Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory FlowVAM raises the production rate of tomographic volumetric additive manufacturing (tVAM) by adding print-material flow, eliminating the timeconsuming manual replacement of material vials after each print. It carries over the speed, resolution, material flexibility and repeatability of tVAM to make parts for optics, MEMS devices, tissue engineering and other high-value applications.

Electrochemical CO2 Graphitization (ECOG) Oak Ridge National Laboratory Electrochemical CO₂ graphitization (ECOG) converts CO₂ directly into high-value graphitic carbon using molten-salt electrochemistry at what ORNL says are record-low temperatures, about 550 °C. The single-step process produces high-purity crystalline graphite, a key material for energy storage, at low cost, offering a scalable pathway from CO₂ to materials for energy technologies.

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FReTC HTS-Tape High-Current Single-Process FullSize-Cabling Flow-Ore™ Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Flow-Ore injects engineered fluids into low-grade ores and depleted oil and gas reservoirs to dissolve, mobilize and recover critical minerals and materials (CMMs). PNNL says that, applied at scale, Flow-Ore could allow the United States to meet and exceed national demand for CMMs from domestic sources.

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Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Plasma Science and Fusion Center Co-developers: Brookhaven Technology Group Inc. and Tufts University, Mechanical Engineering Department FReTC is a Rutherford-type high-temperature superconducting (HTS) cable for high-current, high-field applications. A full-size FReTC, such as a 60 kA cable, can be fabricated in a single process directly from tape spools. Its flat-core architecture withstands the large electromagnetic forces in fusion reactors and accelerators, helping move HTS cabling from the laboratory to industrial scale.

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PROCESS/PROTOTYPING MS-PolyFuel™ Technology Oak Ridge National Laboratory MS-PolyFuel uses a readily available molten salt system to convert waste polyethylene and other polymers into gasoline- and diesel-like fuels under mild conditions. Inexpensive, recyclable NaCl–AlCl₃ salts serve as both solvent and catalyst, eliminating the need for noble metals, organic solvents or hydrogen and enabling scalable plastic upcycling from abundant waste streams.

Grayscale Lithography via Annealed Resin Engineering (GLARE) Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) Grayscale Lithography via Annealed Resin Engineering (GLARE) is a method for producing what Sandia says are the world's smallest continuously varying grayscale images on transparent substrates, for use as photolithography masks in standard semiconductor processing.

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High-Velocity (HiVe) Joining Pacific Northwest National Laboratory High-Velocity (HiVe) Joining is a manufacturing method for joining difficult materials without welding or fasteners. The high-speed impact process creates a metallurgical bond without melting, producing clean, corrosion-resistant joints in advanced high-strength steel and lightweight multi-material designs.

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IonTwin™ Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) IonTwin is a physics-informed AI digital twin platform for ion implantation that predicts and optimizes processes at production speed, in under 10 seconds. It replaces Monte Carlo-centric workflows with a model-based approach that reduces reliance on repeated test wafers and measurements while supporting physics-consistent process evaluation for advanced semiconductor manufacturing.

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Multiplexing Extrusion System (MExS) Oak Ridge National Laboratory Co-developers: University of Maine, Advanced Structures and Composites Center The Multiplexing Extrusion System (MExS) enables simultaneous multimaterial extrusion within a single printed bead during largescale additive manufacturing. By synchronizing multiple pellet-fed extruders through a proprietary multiplexing nozzle and control algorithms, MExS increases manufacturing throughput by up to two times while producing hybrid composite structures with tailored mechanical and multifunctional properties.

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PROCESS/PROTOTYPING NARI ReAl-Sorb System National Atomic Research Institute Co-developers: DIAN-TANG Resources & Materials Co., Ltd.; SHIANG-YING Refractories Co., Ltd.; Taoyuan District Agricultural Research and Extension Station, MOA The NARI ReAl-Sorb System uses recycled aluminum to build adsorption drying systems for industrial dehumidification. With system integration and lowtemperature regeneration, the systems offer precise control and high energy efficiency. The National Atomic Research Institute aligns the technology with UN Sustainable Development Goals 7, 9 and 12.

Obsidian™ Path Robotics Obsidian is Path Robotics' physical AI model for welding. It turns traditional robots from rigid, repeat-only machines into systems that perceive and make decisions, seeing, understanding and adapting in real time as a human welder would.

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Neutral Extractant Advanced Rare Earth Separation Technology (NEAREST) Oak Ridge National Laboratory NEAREST is an alternative separation process for rare earth elements, critical materials for the economy, national security and clean energy. Using two neutral organic compounds with reverse lanthanide selectivity, it improves separation of adjacent elements and cuts by 50% the number of processing steps needed to isolate individual rare earths.

PASTREE: Phosphoric Acid Sludge Treatment for Rare Earths Extraction Oak Ridge National Laboratory Co-developers: Florida Industrial and Phosphate Research Institute (FIPR) PASTREE recovers rare earths, phosphoric acid, uranium and gypsum from phosphate byproducts. Using a two-step modular membrane solvent-extraction system, coupled with a continuous-flow centrifugal decanter and controlled acid leaching, the intensified process turns industrial waste streams into a profitable domestic source of critical minerals and materials.

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R&D WORLD | FALL 2026

PROCESS/PROTOTYPING Pulsar-Based Timing System: An Alternative Time Reference for Resilient Synchronization The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Co-developers: Oak Ridge National Laboratory The Pulsar-Based Timing System converts naturally occurring pulsar signals into a high-integrity, UTC-traceable timing source for critical infrastructure. As a resilient alternative to GNSS-based timing, it supports synchronization-sensitive applications with demonstrated holdover capability, distributed timing delivery and compatibility with timing-critical networks.

Programmable Tri-Structural Isotropic (TRISO) Nuclear Fuel Oak Ridge National Laboratory Co-developers: TRISO-X, Arc Impact Programmable tri-structural isotropic (TRISO) nuclear fuel makes TRISO fuel more economical by replacing random particle packing with engineered architectures. Using additive manufacturing and automated particle placement, it increases fuel density, improves performance and enhances safety, supporting scalable, high-performance fuel for inherently safe nuclear reactors.

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PROTECT Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Co-developers: Coastline Optics, Inc. PROTECT is a bonded optical capping technology that prevents contamination-driven damage in high-power laser optics. A transparent protective barrier blocks heat transfer from surface particles, increasing damage resistance by up to 20 times, according to Lawrence Livermore, and improving reliability, uptime and performance in industrial, semiconductor and defense systems.

R&D WORLD | FALL 2026

Quantum Microsystems MIT Lincoln Laboratory Quantum Microsystems combines AI decision-tree-optimized fabrics, a software-defined digital lithographic layer, superconducting flex interconnects and reworkable packaging to create a fully functional wafer-scale computing platform. Ultradense, near-lossless interconnects link hundreds of heterogeneous chiplets for low-latency, ultrahigh-bandwidth chiplet-to-chiplet communication in scalable quantum computing, AI and high-performance computing.

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PROCESS/PROTOTYPING Recycled Composite Oven Oak Ridge National Laboratory Co-developers: Whirlpool Corporation Working with its Manufacturing Demonstration Facility and the Building Technologies Office, ORNL developed a high-strength, high-thermal-stability silicone composite made with fiberglass and recycled fiberglass. The material was used in a full-size prototype residential oven developed with Whirlpool Corporation under a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA).

SATURN: Spectrally Augmented Thermal Understanding Reducing Nonconformance Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory Co-developers: Johns Hopkins University SATURN is a patented multispectral, high-speed sensor system that monitors thermal dynamics during metal additive manufacturing. It provides real-time process insight, defect detection and digital calibration to keep part quality consistent across machines and locations.

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RoboVision Caliper: Generalizable Laser Weld Inspection System General Motors Research and Development RoboVision Caliper is an AI-powered, generalizable 3D vision system for quality inspection. Deployed on Cadillac Escalade EV doors at GM's Factory Zero assembly plant, it uses multimodal AI perception models to inspect six welddefect and two non-weld-defect types at tens-of-microns accuracy, cutting production cycle time by 45%, according to GM.

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Studying-Polymers-On a-Chip (SPOC) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Polymer development requires characterizing and testing many formulations, but viscous polymers are difficult to mix and formulate by hand. SPOC combines active-mixing direct ink write (DIW) deposition with in situ characterization to enable high-throughput screening and optimization of polymer formulations, accelerating materials discovery.

R&D WORLD | FALL 2026

PROCESS/PROTOTYPING Terpenes Conversion to Aviation Fuel Oak Ridge National Laboratory Co-developers: Captis Aire LLC Waste terpenes captured from the wood industry, which would otherwise be released as toxic gases, provide a no- or low-cost source of cyclic hydrocarbons. This process converts them over metal and acid heterogeneous catalysts into the aromatics and cycloalkanes found in aviation fuel, creating an alternative aviation fuel source that supports energy independence.

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Supply Chain Intelligence Platform Hitachi America, Ltd. Hitachi's Supply Chain Intelligence Platform reconstructs a manufacturer's full multi-tier supplier network for a given product, down to raw-material origin, without time-consuming supplier surveys. Built on graph AI, it returns confidence-scored deep-tier intelligence to support supply chain risk, resilience and compliance decisions.

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TeleSENSE™: Agentic AI Manufacturing Platform of Distributed Fiber-Optic Sensing Fibers AiMiLi Inc Co-developers: University of Pittsburgh; Corning Incorporated TeleSENSE is a low-cost distributed fiber-optic sensing platform that converts standard telecommunications fiber into high-performance sensing fiber. AiMiLi scales production through agentic AI-enabled manufacturing, with applications in infrastructure, energy, telecommunications, medical devices and robotics.

Thermophilic One-Pot Bioconversion of PET Waste into Value-Added Aromatics Oak Ridge National Laboratory Co-developers: National Laboratory of the Rockies This thermophilic one-pot biocatalytic platform converts unrecycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic waste into protocatechuic acid (PCA), a value-added aromatic, in a single high-temperature step. PCA has immediate commercial value as an antioxidant ingredient or polymer precursor, supporting circular-economy plastic recycling.

R&D WORLD | FALL 2026

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PROCESS/PROTOTYPING Ultrasonic Acoustic Separation Platform (UltraSep) Los Alamos National Laboratory UltraSep is an ultrasonic technique for separating solids from liquids, with broad applications. The compact, semi-autonomous system has few consumable parts, improving worker safety in industrial and nuclear settings and offering an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional separation technologies.

Shown at right is ViBRANT’s simulated MARVEL reactor core, which uses light to represent reactor phenomena. Above: UltraSep’s hardware and control software during operation. Below: The separation chamber, where ultrasound concentrates particles for removal from liquid. Photos courtesy of Los Alamos National Laboratory.

VIBRANT: Visual Benign Reactor as Analog for Nuclear Testing Idaho National Laboratory VIBRANT is a surrogate nuclear reactor that replaces neutrons with photons to speed advanced reactor development. Using an LED-driven core, photodiodes, thermocouples and high-performance software interfaces, it helps mature advanced reactor instrumentation and control systems, validate models and support system integration before deployment in real reactor prototypes.

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R&D WORLD | FALL 2026

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R&D WORLD | FALL 2026

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SOFTWARE/SERVICES

5G Interference Canceler MIT Lincoln Laboratory The 5G Interference Canceler is a prototype algorithm that exploits features of the 5G New Radio downlink waveform to cancel the interference it causes in co-channel radio frequency systems used by government and commercial operators. MIT Lincoln Laboratory calls it the first of its kind.

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All Hazards Analysis (AHA) Framework Idaho National Laboratory The All Hazards Analysis (AHA) Framework uses machine learning and natural language processing to help analysts identify infrastructure interdependencies. By modeling how failures can propagate, it helps utilities and public entities plan for emergencies and limit disruption to essential services such as power, water and health care during a crisis.

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AI-Rad Companion (AIRC) Prostate MR: AI-Driven Prostate Cancer Detection and Standardized Reporting Siemens Healthineers AG According to Siemens Healthineers, AI-Rad Companion (AIRC) Prostate MR is the first and only prostate MRI AI solution with regulatory approval in the U.S., Europe and China. It automates gland segmentation, lesion detection and structured reporting, improving diagnostic accuracy, consistency and efficiency, and supports high-quality prostate cancer diagnosis across diverse clinical settings.

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ALTRIOS National Laboratory of the Rockies Co-developers: BNSF Railway; Southwest Research Institute; University of Texas at Austin; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign ALTRIOS is a validated, open-source digital twin for the freight rail system, which the National Laboratory of the Rockies says is the first of its kind. Replacing siloed legacy tools, it creates unified simulations of train components, locomotives, fleets, rail networks and freight terminals, along with energy use and costs over decades, to reduce the risk of long-term, capitalintensive deployments.

R&D WORLD | FALL 2026

SOFTWARE/SERVICES AWARE: Multi-Event Grid Intelligence Platform for Wildfire Prevention and Resilience Oak Ridge National Laboratory Co-developers: Southern California Edison The Multi-Event Grid Intelligence Platform for Wildfire Prevention and Resilience (AWARE) detects, classifies and reports multiple power-grid anomalies within a single waveform, including low-current arcing. It gives utilities early warning of hidden faults to help prevent wildfires, reduce outages and improve grid resilience, reliability and operational decisions.

ARCH: Autonomous Robot Control Hierarchy Los Alamos National Laboratory The Autonomous Robot Control Hierarchy (ARCH) is a software framework for programming and controlling autonomous robotic systems. Its modular, objectoriented architecture provides platform-independent tools for perception, planning, navigation and control that integrate with any robot configuration, reducing development time for complex autonomous behaviors.

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ATLAS-Tx Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Co-developers: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Drugs and chemicals affect tissues very differently, and some tissues, such as brain and intestine, are particularly difficult to model. ATLAS-Tx, built on existing in vivo transcriptomics knowledge and data, translates the gene expression profile from one tissue, such as liver, to seven other tissues, including brain and intestine.

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Fenix Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) Co-developers: University of Tennessee’s Innovative Computing Laboratory Fenix is a software fault-tolerance framework designed to improve the performance and efficiency of large-scale computing. It makes use of existing resources and reduces reliance on hardware reliability, addressing the rising energy demands and environmental impacts of the computing power needed for scientific computing and machine learning.

R&D WORLD | FALL 2026

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SOFTWARE/SERVICES GeoWISE (Geothermal heat pump Web-based Integrated Simulation and Economic analysis tool) Oak Ridge National Laboratory Co-developers: Oklahoma State University

LAPIS

GeoWISE is a web-based simulation and techno-economic platform for rapid design and evaluation of ground-source and district geothermal heating and cooling systems. It automatically generates building energy models, sizes geothermal systems, and estimates energy performance and costs using integrated simulation tools and a nationwide building database.

Sandia National Laboratories (SNL)

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LAPIS (Linear Algebra Performance for Intermediate Subprograms) is a compiler that automatically turns a user's high-level program into Kokkos C++ code. LAPIS supports both sparse and dense linear algebra, and the Kokkos code it generates can run on all supercomputer architectures.

IMPACT Argonne National Laboratory Argonne's IMPACT model is a publicly available tool that evaluates the costs and environmental impacts of advanced materials manufacturing and processing technologies and benchmarks them against conventional counterparts to guide research, development and deployment. It has been used to inform work on lithium production and cathode material synthesis.

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IntelliGlass™: Multimodal Human-Centered Optimization Platform for Smart Glasses Interaction Institute for Information Industry (III)

LuGo: An Enhanced Quantum Phase Estimation Implementation Oak Ridge National Laboratory LuGo is a quantum computing framework that improves quantum phase estimation (QPE). It uses parallelization to generate circuits independently, eliminating exponential circuit duplication. ORNL says this sharply reduces generation time, gate counts and circuit depth without sacrificing fidelity (solution accuracy).

Co-developers: 1. High Tech Computer Corporation (HTC) 2. National Taitung University IntelliGlass addresses information overload in smart glasses. Using multimodal sensing and AI-driven adaptation, it optimizes visual, audio and interaction experiences in real time, so smart glasses can support the wearer's productivity, safety and quality of life.

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R&D WORLD | FALL 2026

SOFTWARE/SERVICES Pele Suite of Exascale Reacting Flow Codes National Laboratory of the Rockies Co-developers: 1. Sandia National Laboratories 2. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) 3. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Additional inputs from staff at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), and academic partners. The Pele suite of reacting flow codes uses the world's most powerful exascale computers to simulate the complex physics of turbulent reacting flows at very high fidelity. Its open-source architecture lets users modify the code and integrate it with artificial intelligence to advance scientific discovery and reduce technology risk.

Magnetite – Secure-by-Design Real-Time Operating System MIT Lincoln Laboratory AI is accelerating cyber exploitation, and compromised embedded systems can cause missions to fail and put lives at risk. Magnetite is MIT Lincoln Laboratory's secure-by-design, real-time operating system, built in Rust on the formally verified seL4 microkernel. It shrinks the attack surface and limits the impact of a compromise, and in 2025 it transitioned into space and flight integrations.

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POSSUM: Software for Time-of-flight Cascade Gamma-ray Imaging Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

OmniDrive: Intelligent Safety Driving System Automotive Research & Testing Center OmniDrive is an intelligent driving system that integrates 360° perception, AI driver monitoring, Level 3 autonomy, a minimal risk maneuver (MRM) function and secure over-the-air (OTA) updates. Its modular, retrofittable design allows deployment across diverse vehicle platforms, which the Automotive Research & Testing Center says improves road safety, operational efficiency and the scalability of intelligent transportation.

R&D WORLD | FALL 2026

POSSUM is a reconstruction algorithm that implements Berkeley Lab's time-of-flight cascade gammaray imaging (TOF-CGI) technique, enabling imaging and monitoring of radionuclide therapy treatments in clinical PET/CT scanners. Berkeley Lab says it delivers better efficiency, contrast and signal-to-noise ratio than current clinical options in nuclear medicine.

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SOFTWARE/SERVICES Tritium Migration Analysis Program: TMAP8 Idaho National Laboratory Co-developers: Oak Ridge National Laboratory TMAP8 addresses tritium management, a central challenge for fusion energy. Idaho National Laboratory says it is the first open-source tritium modeling platform to meet the Nuclear Quality Assurance Level 1 (NQA-1) standard. The tool combines regulatory rigor, multiscale multiphysics simulation and broad industry access to support safe, commercially viable fusion power.

RadSim Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory RadSim is an open-source gamma-ray detector simulation platform that generates realistic spectra and gross counts from source to detector. Combining radiation transport, detector physics and a machine-learning response model, it lets researchers and industry partners model how gammaray detectors respond to simulated flux from the transport tool of their choice.

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SeQUeNCe: Simulator of QUantum Network Communication Argonne National Laboratory Co-developers: Illinois Institute of Technology; Encore Consulting Services, Inc. The Simulator of QUantum Network Communication (SeQUeNCe) is a modular, open-source discrete-event simulator for detailed, highly customizable simulations of heterogeneous quantum networks. Researchers can use it to weigh the trade-offs of alternative quantum network architectures, optimize quantum hardware and study quantum networking protocols at scale.

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TELEIOS-BATT: Battery Diagnostic and Prognostic Toolset Idaho National Laboratory TELEIOS-BATT, developed by Idaho National Laboratory, is a suite of physicsbased diagnostic and prognostic tools for batteries. It provides fast, accurate monitoring, simulation and prediction of battery health and aging, helping battery-dependent industries improve safety, reliability and cost-efficiency.

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Vision Shepherd Institute for Information Industry (III) Co-developers: Foxconn Interconnect Technology Limited (FIT) Vision Shepherd shifts manufacturing systems from capacity-driven models toward human-centric smart operations. Using AI boxes and embodied robots, it supports frontline workers while capturing their know-how as institutional knowledge. The Institute for Information Industry says Vision Shepherd has helped Foxconn save $22.5 million a year.

R&D WORLD | FALL 2026

SOFTWARE/SERVICES/OTHER Viz Subdural Plus™ Viz.ai Viz Subdural Plus uses AI to automatically identify, label and quantify subdural collections on non-contrast head CT. Objective measurements of total volume, maximum thickness and midline shift, combined with a colorcoded overlay, support faster clinical evaluation and treatment decisions.

Other Winners A prototype of a CarbonLock Blocks production facility is shown here.

CarbonLock Blocks Hong Kong Productivity Council Co-developers: CS Tech Solution Limited CarbonLock Blocks turn concrete into a permanent carbon store. By capturing CO₂ and mineralizing it within calcium-rich material, the concrete can take up about 1% CO₂ by mass. Each kilogram of added biochar delivers about 2 kilograms of carbon reduction, while AI optimization reduces cement use and improves material quality.

R&D WORLD | FALL 2026

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SPECIAL RECOGNITION WWW.RDWORLDONLINE.COM

R&D WORLD | FALL 2026

SPECIAL RECOGNITION GOLD AWARD, CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Perforated Membranes for the Efficient Conversion of Carbon Dioxide and Carbon Monoxide to Organic Compounds National Laboratory of the Rockies The perforated bipolar membrane electrochemical conversion system uses electricity to turn waste CO₂ into high-value chemicals. The National Laboratory of the Rockies says it is the only electrochemical CO₂ conversion technology to reach commercial viability. Industries can use it to cut energy consumption and costs and to turn waste into products for multibillion-dollar chemical markets.

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SILVER AWARD, CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

ALTRIOS National Laboratory of the Rockies Co-developers: BNSF Railway; Southwest Research Institute; University of Texas at Austin; University of Illinois UrbanaChampaign ALTRIOS is a validated, opensource digital twin for the freight rail system, which the National Laboratory of the Rockies says is the first of its kind. Replacing siloed legacy tools, it creates unified simulations of train components, locomotives, fleets, rail networks and freight terminals, along with energy use and costs over decades, to reduce the risk of long-term, capital-intensive deployments.

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BRONZE AWARD, CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Determining the Percentage of Recycled Plastic Content in a Plastic Product

GOLD AWARD, GREEN TECH

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SILVER AWARD, GREEN TECH

CarbonLock Blocks Hong Kong Productivity Council Co-developers: CS Tech Solution Limited CarbonLock Blocks turn concrete into a permanent carbon store. By capturing CO₂ and mineralizing it within calciumrich material, the concrete can take up about 1% CO₂ by mass. Each kilogram of added biochar delivers about 2 kilograms of carbon reduction, while AI optimization reduces cement use and improves material quality. A prototype of a CarbonLock Blocks production facility is shown here.

University at Buffalo, State University of New York University at Buffalo researchers developed a multimodal sensing technique that combines several sensing modalities with AI and machine learning to quantify the percentage of recycled content in plastic products. The method fills a measurement gap and offers a path to regulatory compliance for recycled plastics.

R&D WORLD | FALL 2026

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SPECIAL RECOGNITION BRONZE AWARD, GREEN TECH

Pintura Autoenfriante Pinturas Berel S.A. de C.V. Pintura Autoenfriante is a water-based paint formulated with nanotechnology that reflects most solar radiation and efficiently radiates thermal energy toward the cold of space, giving it a high solar reflectance index (SRI). Pinturas Berel says it can reduce indoor temperatures by up to 5 °C compared with ambient conditions, lowering energy consumption and carbon emissions.

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SILVER AWARD, MARKET DISRUPTOR

Economic Long-Duration Energy Storage by Using Low-Cost Particle-Based Thermal Energy Storage (ENDURING) National Laboratory of the Rockies ENDURING is a low-cost, long-duration thermal energy storage technology that uses heated sand to supply hours to days of energy for power or heating, reducing energy costs and improving grid resilience. The National Laboratory of the Rockies credits its versatile design, cost-effective scaling and system configuration for its edge over competing approaches.

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GOLD AWARD, MARKET DISRUPTOR

ICONS: Integrated Composite Optical Neutron Sensor Los Alamos National Laboratory ICONS is a neutron detection technology that accurately measures neutrons in both low- and high-flux environments, even in the presence of strong gamma radiation. It responds quickly enough for real-time measurement of short neutron bursts and high-rate neutron sources. ICONS avoids supply-chain constraints by using naturally abundant, commercially available lithium-6 rather than scarce helium-3.

BRONZE AWARD, MARKET DISRUPTOR

AWARE: Multi-Event Grid Intelligence Platform for Wildfire Prevention and Resilience Oak Ridge National Laboratory Co-developers: Southern California Edison The Multi-Event Grid Intelligence Platform for Wildfire Prevention and Resilience (AWARE) detects, classifies and reports multiple power-grid anomalies within a single waveform, including low-current arcing. It gives utilities early warning of hidden faults to help prevent wildfires, reduce outages and improve grid resilience, reliability and operational decisions.

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R&D WORLD | FALL 2026

September 20–22 | M Resort Las Vegas Join engineers, technical leaders, and editors for a focused event on AI systems moving from experiment to engineering practice.

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