Starting a company around a new energy or manufacturing technology is difficult. Entrepreneurs often need years of research, specialized equipment and substantial investment before their ideas are ready for the marketplace.
Innovation Crossroads helps aspiring hard-tech entrepreneurs overcome those barriers. Now welcoming its tenth cohort, this Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program node embeds technical founders at the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) where they can access world-class scientists, facilities, mentors and industry networks to help move promising technologies from research and development toward commercialization.
Nine Innovation Crossroads companies pitched their technologies during ORNL’s Materials and Manufacturing Innovation Days (M2IND) Aug. 19–20. The event brought together leaders from industry, government, academia and the national laboratory system for demonstrations, facility tours, discussions and partnership announcements.
M2IND highlighted ORNL’s work in AI-enabled manufacturing, nuclear infrastructure, accelerated qualification, critical materials and industrial-scale energy systems. The following companies are developing technologies that could strengthen U.S. competitiveness, energy security and domestic supply chains.
1. Ascend Manufacturing expands the possibilities of 3D printing
Conventional manufacturing methods can generate substantial scrap, while many powder-based 3D-printing systems face limits in size, speed and material selection. Ascend Manufacturing’s patented Large Area Projection Sintering technology projects and controls heat to fuse powders across a large area, including materials previously considered difficult to sinter.
2. Endeavor Composites gives discarded carbon fiber another use
Carbon fiber requires considerable energy and expense to manufacture, so even the scraps can have value. Endeavor Composites’ technology turns scrap fibers, formerly discarded as waste, into nonwoven fabrics while preserving fiber length and improving control over fiber orientation. This keeps the fibers strong and functional, while providing the automotive industry and other advanced-manufacturing sectors with lightweight, durable materials that reduce waste without sacrificing performance.
3. Ateios Systems accelerates battery-electrode production
Producing electrodes is one of the slowest and most capital-intensive parts of battery manufacturing, and conventional methods can require energy-intensive equipment and potentially harmful processing materials. Ateios Systems’ RaiCure platform, based on technology licensed from ORNL, uses a high-speed electron beam to cure electrode materials in seconds rather than minutes. Faster, less energy- and equipment-intensive production could lower battery costs while strengthening the domestic component supply for electronics, defense systems, AI, robotics and drones.
4. Perseus Materials rethinks how oversized composite structures are made
Large fiber-reinforced polymer structures can be slow and expensive to manufacture and difficult to transport or install. Perseus Materials is developing new resin chemistries and production methods to allow oversized composite parts to be made faster, more affordably and even at their installation sites. This could eventually apply to other infrastructure applications, including bridges, storage tanks and marine vessels that traditionally rely on steel or aluminum.
5. Skuld combines 3D printing with metal casting
Traditional metal casting often requires expensive molds and tooling, making it less practical for prototypes, replacement components and small production runs. Skuld’s additive manufacturing evaporative casting process combines polymer 3D printing with lost-foam investment casting to eliminate conventional tooling and produce complex metal parts in as little as 12 hours. The process uses the design and supply-chain flexibility of additive manufacturing, while supporting larger parts, precision tolerances and familiar metal structures, which can make it easier to verify that parts meet required standards.
6. AtomQ manipulates materials atom by atom
Semiconductor and quantum-technology developers need precise control over individual atoms but manipulating atoms in solid materials consistently remains difficult. AtomQ is developing methods that use high-powered electron microscopes to move and control atoms in a scalable way. The capability could support the creation of quantum bits and other precisely engineered structures needed for quantum computing, sensing, communications, semiconductors and advanced materials.
7. Fibarcode embeds lasting identification in textile fibers
Textile recyclers frequently cannot determine what a garment contains, particularly when labels are missing or fabrics combine several natural and synthetic materials. Fibarcode integrates an engineered photonic “barcode” into a fiber that can be read with a handheld spectroscope and remain with the material throughout its life. Reliable information about a textile’s composition and origin strengthens supply-chain transparency and supports emerging digital product-passport requirements.
8. Applied 2D Materials protects steel in extreme environments
Even high-quality steel can corrode, oxidize or lose performance when exposed to harsh chemicals, marine conditions or high temperatures. Applied 2D Materials is licensing ORNL-developed technology that deposits a thin coating of hexagonal boron nitride directly on steel and stainless-steel components. The heat-resistant, corrosion-resistant and low-friction coating could extend the operating life of tooling, heat exchangers, engines and equipment used by the energy, industrial, defense and aerospace sectors.
9. Lumios Materials uses light to improve carbon-fiber production
Carbon fiber offers high strength at a low weight, but its high manufacturing cost has limited its adoption by industry. Lumios Materials is addressing an early production bottleneck by using LED light to speed the conversion of liquid polymers into the solid materials that are used to make the precursor material for carbon fiber. Making this first production stage faster and less expensive could expand the availability of carbon fiber for aerospace, automotive and other industries seeking lightweight, high-performance materials.
From the laboratory to the marketplace
Together, these companies demonstrate the range of challenges Innovation Crossroads entrepreneurs are working to solve — from controlling the position of individual atoms to producing massive wind turbine blades. Their technologies could accelerate production, extend the useful life of industrial equipment and strengthen domestic energy and manufacturing supply chains.
As Innovation Crossroads enters its next decade, the program is seeking researchers ready to turn technically ambitious ideas into viable businesses. Fellows receive scientific resources, entrepreneurial training and industry connections to develop their technologies and reach customers, partners and investors.
Applications for the next Innovation Crossroads cohort open Sept. 15 and close Oct. 30. Learn more about eligibility and apply for Innovation Crossroads.
The 2026 Innovation Crossroads cohort is supported by the Office of Technology Commercialization and the Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation, as well as the Tennessee Valley Authority.
UT-Batelle manages ORNL for DOE’s Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. DOE’s Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit energy.gov/science. – Neil Gillette