The U.S. clean energy economy is poised for strong long-term growth: renewable power is approaching direct cost parity and energy efficient buildings, advanced vehicles, and advanced manufacturing processes are increasingly in demand.

After shedding jobs for a decade, U.S. manufacturers have added more than 700,000 jobs since February 2010, presenting an important opportunity for the United States to become the global leader in clean energy manufacturing industries and job creation. However, clean energy manufacturers still face significant barriers on the path to commercializing and manufacturing their cutting-edge new technologies.

That’s why two years ago, I launched the Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative (CEMI), now an Energy Department-wide effort, with the goal of seizing this once in a generation opportunity for U.S. manufacturers. CEMI aims to enhance U.S. competitiveness in the manufacturing of clean energy technologies and significantly increase the energy productivity of U.S. manufacturers across the board.

Today, CEMI is taking another strong step forward with the launch of an exciting new Technologist in Residence (TIR) pilot program in partnership with the Department’s National Labs. At its core, the new TIR program aims to strengthen National Lab and industry relationships to support industry needs and leverage the National Lab network for strategic, long-term, collaborative R&D.

CEMI recently released a competitive solicitation for the TIR program soliciting industry and the National Labs to apply as senior “technologist pairs”. Each applicant-technologist pair will consist of a senior technical staff member from a National Lab and a counterpart senior technical staff member from a manufacturing company or consortium of companies.

The approximately five competitively selected “technologist pairs” will  focus on building strong new R&D relationships between the respective companies and National Labs, with an anticipated focus on “in-residence” activities at the National Lab and industry sites. These partnerships will focus on advancing clean energy technologies into the marketplace by:

1.      Identifying the scientific, technological, and business challenges of interest, and applicable resources and capabilities within the national labs;

2.      Proposing science-based, collaborative R&D solutions to the challenges identified;

3.      Developing an umbrella agreement and scope of work to take place outside of the TIR pilot that would collaboratively address one or more of these identified challenges.

As a result of the TIR program, the Department will synthesize the feedback learned from each of the pairs to develop a more streamlined set of best practices to help companies establish long-term, strategic relationships with the National Labs and better leverage the Labs’ resources and capabilities moving forward.

The TIR call for proposals and submission instructions can be found at EERE’s solicitation portal. Submissions will be made by National Lab partners for each Lab-Industry applicant-pair. Interested industry partners are encouraged to engage with the National Labs directly through their key Lab TIR Points of Contact and by participating in the TIR Webinar to be held on April 29th at 1:00pm ET. The application deadline is June 21.

When we work together, we’re greater than the sum of our parts, and collaborative Lab-industry partnerships will bring us one step closer to realizing the full potential to capture the enormous clean energy manufacturing and jobs opportunity that stands before us as a nation.