From access to the legendary Oak Ridge National Laboratory to the connectability of Digital Crossing to a skilled talent pool and some of the finest high-tech R&D minds in the nation, Oak Ridge offers resources rivaling Silicon Valley and the Research Triangle.

Advantages

The Oak Ridge area is home to a rare combination of technology assets. Its advanced telecommunications infrastructure and high-profile public institutions give the area the capacity to support an expanding private technology base.

• The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the only national laboratory in the Southeast, is managed by a partnership of The University of Tennessee and the Battelle Memorial Institute (UT-Battelle), which has a mandate to commercialize research through licensing ORNL technology. Agreements are possible with both new and existing companies.
  
  
• ORNL is second only to General Electric for winning R&D 100 Awards.
  
  
• ORNL conducts basic and applied research and development to improve the nation's energy sources, environmental quality and scientific knowledge, while contributing to educational foundations and industrial competitiveness.
  
  

"NucSafe has benefited from many of Oak Ridge's technology resources during its start up and early production phases. In addition, the local community is rich in technology related businesses for mechanical and electronic component outsourcing."

Rick Seymour
President and CEO
NucSafe

• ORNL's core research areas:
  
  
  • Nanotechnology and the Materials Sciences
    
    • Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) – $1.4 billion facility, which will provide the most intense pulsed neutron beams in the world.
      
      
    • Center for Nanophase Materials Science – a collaborative nanoscience user research facility for the synthesis, characterization, theory, modeling, simulation and design of nanoscale materials.
      
      
    • Recently upgraded High Flux Isotope Reactor.
      
      
  • Computational Sciences
    
    
    • Center for Computational Sciences – currently leading a partnership to build the world's most powerful supercomputer.
      
      
  • Life Sciences
    
    
    • Mouse Genetics Research Facility – the $14 million, 36,000 square-foot research facility houses 60,000 mutated mice that are used to study radiation biology and mammalian genetics.
      
      
  • Energy & Environment
    
    
  • Homeland Security
    
    
    • DOE, the Y-12 National Security Complex and multiple national research centers – incorporating new homeland security, national defense and GWOT solutions into their research and development missions.
      
      
    • Exceptionally strong U.S. congressional delegation serving in key leadership and appropriations committee positions in addition to supportive local governments.
      
      
    • Best-in-class infrastructure for all classified/unclassified needs of homeland security and national defense organizations with available and secure proving grounds for most R&D applications and solutions.
      

Opportunities

The technology assets found in Oak Ridge provide a unique opportunity for established companies looking for a new location or start-up companies just getting off the ground.

• ORNL technologies provide opportunities for nanotech, biotech, instrumentation and homeland security companies among others.
  
  
• UT-Battelle has a mandate to commercialize research through licensing ORNL technology. Agreements are possible with both new and existing companies.
  
  
• Technology 2020 is a public/private partnership that works closely with UT-Battelle to provide capital, expertise and facilities to help technology companies start and grow in Oak Ridge.
  
  
• When the Spallation Neutron Source, Center for Nanophase Materials Science and the Center for Computational Sciences come online together, Oak Ridge will be one of the only places in the world that will allow private users to characterize, simulate, design and fabricate nanoscale materials.
  
  
• Y-12 National Security Complex expertise, initially developed for highly specialized national security purposes, now represents a formidable resource available to agencies and businesses beyond the confines of Y-12. Through a variety of contractual mechanisms such as Work for Others and Cooperative Research and Development Agreements, Y-12 is doing business with an exciting diversity of partners.
  
  
  • Under the National Competitiveness Technology Transfer Act of 1989, Y-12 is authorized to enter into technology transfer agreements with industry; much of the unclassified technology created at Y-12 is available for commercial product development through patent and copyright licensing.
    
    
• The Tennessee Biotechnology Association (TBA) is a statewide organization of leading scientists, researchers, legislators and business professionals working to foster, develop and support the life sciences in Tennessee by enhancing access to capital for existing biotechnology companies, as well as supporting business recruitment to Tennessee.
  

Talent

Oak Ridge has earned an international reputation for excellence in the research, development and application of next-generation technologies. The region hosts one of the greatest concentrations of per capita high technology expertise in the world.

• The Oak Ridge Department of Energy Complex employs over 10,000 scientists, professionals and technical workers.
  
  
• The flagship campus of The University of Tennessee has 27,000 students with highly rated engineering and business schools.
  
  
• A total of 75,000 students attend The University of Tennessee and numerous other area colleges and universities.
  
  
• Over 1,000 technology based companies employ more than 45,000 technical professionals.
  
  
• Home to over 3,500 Ph.D.'s