DECEMBER 2020

INTRODUCING HYDROPASSAGE COMMERCIALIZATION MANAGER SARA HUNT

When the hydropower industry looks to license HydroPASSAGE tools, they connect with the project’s commercialization manager Sara Hunt.

Sara guides stakeholders through the licensing and technology transfer process so the toolsets can be applied to turbine design and evaluation. She is passionate about the project’s multidisciplinary team that collaboratively develops and provides next-generation tools and information to advance hydropower for fish and industry.

Sara first learned about the HydroPASSAGE tools when she was working as a contractor supporting the U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office, helping technology-to-market activities for renewable energy and energy efficiency programs. She joined Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s (PNNL’s) commercialization team in 2016 and now leads licensing for the Biological Performance Assessment (BioPA) Toolset, Hydropower Biological Evaluation Toolset (HBET), and Sensor Fish.

Sara is responsible for identifying promising technologies, overseeing technology development and demonstration, securing intellectual property assets, marketing novel technologies, and negotiating business terms to transfer the technology out of PNNL and into commercial products and services. 

“I love working at the intersection of science, business, and law,” Sara says. “Nothing is more exciting than seeing something that starts out as an idea get developed into a prototype, and then eventually handed off to industry to be developed into a commercial service/product that addresses complex problems, such as sustainable hydropower.”

In helping industry and academia license the HydroPASSAGE toolsets, Sara has a great understanding of market-related needs and barriers.

“This information is incredibly helpful in focusing research and development efforts on high-impact areas that can directly address industry challenges. We can also help amplify the important work of licensees in sustainable energy development and deployment through technology transfer awards and communicating successes and impact,” Sara explains.

For more information about licensing HydroPASSAGE tools, contact Sara.

LICENSING HYDROPASSAGE TOOLSETS

HydroPASSAGE is focused on providing information and tools to increase fish survival through turbines and other hydropower structures across the United States and around the world.

The HydroPASSAGE team takes a collaborative approach to technology development and commercialization by making technical staff available to answer questions from stakeholders and potential users of the toolsets. The team can help identify what tools would be best suited for the needs of stakeholders based on the turbine type and size.

The HydroPASSAGE toolsets are available to industry, academia, and other stakeholders through a variety of flexible licensing terms, ranging from no-cost trial agreements to commercial use licenses. Licensees and other end users can leverage federally funded technologies to meet their sustainable hydropower goals.

Licensing HydroPASSAGE toolsets gives stakeholders access to the team’s technical expertise as well as data collected at other hydropower facilities to use in evaluating their own hydropower structures. More information on licensing is available here.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT LICENSING

WHO CURRENTLY USES THE HYDROPASSAGE TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES?

Currently, licenses for the HydroPASSAGE tools are held by several companies representing turbine original equipment manufacturers, hydropower owners and operators, other researchers, and consultants. 

HOW DO BIOPA, SENSOR FISH, AND HBET ALL FIT TOGETHER?

BioPA and HBET integrate hydraulic conditions collected via computational models (BioPA) and lab- or field-based data collection (HBET) with known fish impact information to compare the biological performance of hydropower turbines and/or operating conditions. Sensor Fish are autonomous devices that can be deployed into turbine units to collect hydraulic condition response information that can be integrated into HBET.

CAN I PURCHASE SENSOR FISH?

The Sensor Fish technology is currently licensed and available commercially through Advanced Telemetry Systems. Many research studies have deployed Sensor Fish to learn more about hydraulic conditions at hydropower facilities. 

For more frequently asked questions, visit HydroPASSAGE.org

The HydroPASSAGE project is a research and development collaboration between engineers and biologists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest and Oak Ridge National Laboratories that is finding solutions to improve downstream fish passage conditions through turbines and other hydropower structures. Learn more at hydropassage.org.