Streamlined technology transfer programs continue to encourage private companies to commercialize technology coming out of the nation's military research centers. JR Thomas International Inc., of Ventura, CA, took advantage of the system to license a firefighting equipment test system developed at the nearby Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center (NFESC).
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| Naval engineers Rance Kudo and Ray Cappillino (back row from left), with Tony Thomas and Capt. Neil Gamble (front row) |
The NoFoam Unit allows firefighters to test their equipment without using the firefighting foam that is so effective in quelling blazes, but which is also harsh on the environment and requires extensive cleanup efforts after every test.
"Aircraft are very expensive. We do not want a $20 million to $30 million resource going up in flames," said Kurt Buehler, Regional Coordinator of the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer. That makes the oxygen-hungry foam, developed by the Navy in the 1960's, a blessing to aircraft rescue and firefighting units.
However, the foam is not easily biodegradable, it has a toxic component and its high oxygen requirement has been known to interfere with beneficial bacteria in sewage treatment plants if allowed to drain naturally. A 30-second test can generate 850 gallons to 2,600 gallons of extremely foamy wastewater. The required quarterly equipment testing and the associated cleanup costs behooved environmental technologists to find an alternative.
Rance Kudo, Jesse McNolty, and Ray Cappillino did just that. As members of NFESC's Environmental Quality Division, they developed the NoFoam Unit, which attaches to fire trucks to replace the foam fluid with a brightly colored surrogate for testing. The green fluid provides visual reassurance and, more importantly, the system monitors the flow rate of the fluid to ensure the correct foam-to-water ratio.
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| Tony Thomas and Capt. Neil Gamble formalize the licensing agreement |
The solar-powered unit, which can work with any aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle, mitigates cleanup costs and the
cost of foam liquid used in testing. It also builds firefighters' confidence by assuring them the system is working and allowing frequent practice with the equipment, Kudo said.
Tony Thomas, founder of JR Thomas, produces the trailers and the fittings that connect the trucks to the NoFoam test system. Primarily a manufacturing representative in the ocean industry, Thomas had worked many times with NFESC and immediately saw the commercial applications for NoFoam.
"The neat thing about this is airports like LAX use the same foam," Buehler said, adding that some airports have spent millions of dollars on test cleanup facilities. Thomas will manufacture the units and begin marketing to U.S. and Canadian commercial airports.
"A lot of the product's moving forward on the government side has been by word-of-mouth, because it works," Thomas said. "It is very simple, as most of the good ideas are."
By mid-February, when Thomas and Capt. Neil Gamble of NFESC signed the joint patent agreement, NoFoam Units had tested about 75 firefighting vehicles in different branches of the military.
According to the licensing agreement, Thomas paid $2,000 at the outset and will pay per-unit royalties, which go back to the inventors and the Engineering Service Center.
Buehler, who is the Far West Regional Coordinator with the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer, admits, "Every time you deal with government, there will be some bureaucracy involved."
However, the consortium continues to strive for more streamlined ways to promote the movement of federal lab research and technology into the private sector as it has done for nearly 30 years. New laws and programs simplify the process further; for example, standardized collaboration agreement documents cut legal review to a minimum. "We exist to help private industry be successful," Buehler said.
The technology transfer law applies not only to classic laboratories like Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, but every Navy base, including Port Hueneme's Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center, which provides specialized facilities engineering support to the Navy.
With a reorganization of some departments at Naval Base Ventura County a few years ago, the Engineering Service Center shifted away from more theoretical research and development to more practical problem-solving, making its work more commercial-ready.
"There's a lot of potential here," Buehler said. "Our job is demonstration and validation, where the rubber hits the road, so there is more opportunity than in labs working on technology for 10 years out."
The NFESC focuses on specialized facilities engineering in five primary areas: ocean facilities, shore facilities, environmental engineering, energy and utilities, and amphibious and expeditionary, for construction, maintenance and war-damaged restoration of bases.
It also offers unusual testing facilities, such as pressure chambers simulating deep-ocean conditions. Including the largest pressure vessel west of the Mississippi, the deep ocean laboratory is open for government and private sector use.
Contact: Kurt Buehler
Phone: 805-982-4897
Article from Pacific Coast Business Times
Laura Polland, Technology Editor