The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and Argonne National Laboratory have announced a new innovation accelerator program for science and energy entrepreneurs called Chain Reaction Innovations (CRI).
Led by physicist Andreas Roelofs (ACCESS), CRI will provide access to Argonne’s deep network of 1,400 multidisciplinary researchers and engineers as well as unique tools, including the Mira supercomputer and the nation’s highest-energy X-ray source, the Advanced Photon Source. Through a partnership with mentor organizations, CRI participants will also receive assistance with developing business strategies, conducting market research and finding long-term financing and commercial partners.
Launching CRI at Argonne enables startups to leverage the unique collection of manufacturing hubs, Fortune 500 companies, research universities and innovation incubators and accelerators found in Chicago and the surrounding states.
“Argonne and Chicago sit at the heart of one of our nation’s greatest concentrations of research institutions, an industrial base that is driving clean tech and advanced manufacturing and a population that embraces innovation,” said Argonne Laboratory Director Peter Littlewood. “This is a fertile ecosystem in which to grow the nation’s next game-changing energy or material-based technology.”
Selected innovators will benefit from up to a two-year engagement, including a fellowship, seed funding for technical collaboration with the laboratory, access to space at Argonne, guidance in using the R&D tools and expertise housed there and connections to the Midwest’s rich network of business mentors and investors.
Interested innovators can sign up at the Chain Reaction Innovations web page to be notified when the application process opens later this summer.
Photo captions
- Ribbon cutting, left to right: David Danielson, DOE Assistant Secretary for EERE; Peter Littlewood, Director of Argonne National Laboratory; Mark Johnson, Director of the EERE Advanced Manufacturing Office; and Andreas Roelofs, Director of Chain Reaction Innovations
- Andreas Roelofs, Director of Chain Reaction Innovations
- Peter Littlewood, Director of Argonne National Laboratory, and David Danielson, DOE Assistant Secretary for EERE
- Peter Littlewood, Director of Argonne National Laboratory; David Danielson, DOE Assistant Secretary for EERE; Johanna Wolfson, EERE Director of Technology-to-Market program; Andreas Roelofs, Director of Chain Reaction Innovations; and Mark Johnson, Director of the EERE Advanced Manufacturing Office