These awards acknowledge our success in moving NREL technologies to the private sector," said Tom Williams, director of NREL's Technology Transfer Office.

Golden, Colo., Aug. 19, 2004 - The Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC) has recognized the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory with three regional awards for technology transfer activities.

"These awards acknowledge our success in moving NREL technologies to the private sector," said Tom Williams, director of NREL's Technology Transfer Office.

NREL was honored with two "Notable Technology Development" Awards. The first award recognizes the Thermal Comfort project, which developed tools to analyze and improve the efficiency of climate control in vehicles. The tools include the world's most advanced thermal comfort manikin, ADAM (ADvanced Automotive Manikin), which mimics human responses such as sweating and breathing, and computer models that simulate human physical and psychological responses to tell how hot or cold an occupant is and predict how hot or cold the occupant will feel.

Secondly, the Advanced Vehicles and Fuels project was recognized for creating research partnerships with industry to reduce transportation-related petrochemical use and emissions. The Advanced Vehicles and Fuels work brings innovation and technical value through partnerships with light, medium, and heavy vehicle manufacturers, equipment suppliers, fuel providers, and others through technology research, state-of -the-art transportation focused laboratories and patented/recorded technologies that are available for licensing.

Both projects are managed by the Laboratory's Center for Transportation Technologies and Systems.

Lawrence "Marty" Murphy, manager of NREL's Enterprise Development Programs, received the Distinguished Service Award for his leadership over the past nine years in building and promoting NREL's Enterprise Development Program and Industry Growth Venture Forums. The Development Program and Growth Venture Forums benefit and encourage the creation and growth of clean, efficient and renewable energy companies. In the past few years Enterprise Development activities have resulted in at least $5 million in private capital and $5 million in state and local funds for clean energy commercialization, and more than 1,000 jobs created in successful clean energy companies.

The FLC is a nationwide network of federal laboratories that strives to link laboratory-developed technologies and expertise with the private sector. More than 700 major federal laboratories and centers and their parent departments and agencies are FLC members.

NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy's premier laboratory for renewable energy research and development and a leading laboratory for energy efficiency R&D. NREL is operated for DOE by Midwest Research Institute and Battelle.