571 



STATUS OF ONR TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER PROGRAMS 23 



to more than $450 million (John Mansfield, NASA, personal communication, 

 1995). 



OBSERVATIONS REGARDING 

 TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER AT ONR 



The focus of ONR activity is improvement of the defense posture of the 

 nation; therefore, much of the technology transfer effort is in direct support of 

 that mission. The commercialization of ONR-developed technology is conse- 

 quently dominated by defense industry participants. 



There are mechanisms presently in place to facilitate domestic technology 

 transfer. The question remains, however, "How well does the process work?" 

 For a narrow range of industrial needs and a small number of technology areas, 

 the process seems to function well. The connections with the defense industry 

 are well-established and technology transfer occurs seamlessly. One way that 

 ONR research and development is indirectly transferred to the nonmihtary sector 

 is through the adoption of Navy specifications based on ONR-supported activi- 

 ties (e.g., marine vessel design) by engineers outside the Navy. In certain science 

 areas (e.g., signal processing, acoustics, and materials) the results of ONR-spon- 

 sored research are well disseminated through published technical journals, con- 

 ferences, and symposia. There remains, however, a sizable segment of industry 

 that could use ONR technology for nonmihtary purposes but is poorly served by 

 the present technology transfer process. ONR possesses significant technology 

 that warrants commercialization (see Chapter 2), but the process for identifying 

 and exploiting that technology is not effective. 



The burden of transferring technology to the private sector falls heavily on 

 the team leaders of the ONR divisions. These leaders are skilled, technically 

 competent scientists with an excellent understanding of fleet needs. For knowl- 

 edge of the potential industrial market for ONR products in the nonmilitary 

 sector, ONR team leaders must rely on the Industrial Programs Department (ONR 

 36). ONR 36, however, makes insufficient effort to develop an understanding of 

 the needs of nonmilitary users or to market the products of marine technology 

 research. The department has focused more on obtaining technology than mar- 

 keting or transferring ONR technology to the nonmilitary sector. This emphasis 

 on obtaining technology has resulted in a decidedly one-way exchange of infor- 

 mation. This arrangement is of httle benefit in terms of informing the in-house 

 scientists and managers (i.e., the individuals responsible for meeting the require- 

 ments of the various government mandates) about the technology needs of the 

 nonmihtary, industrial sector. 



In ocean science and technology, for example, a large segment of U.S. indus- 

 try that could benefit from ONR-sponsored technology has httle or no interaction 

 with ONR. This segment includes both major corporations (e.g.. Chevron USA 

 and Amoco in the oil and gas industry) and small companies (i.e., companies with 



