Program Overview

Energy I-Corps, formerly known as Lab-Corps, is managed by DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). NREL leads curriculum development and execution, recruits program instructors and industry mentors, and assembles teams from the following national labs: 

Argonne National Laboratory
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Idaho National Laboratory
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Sandia National Laboratory

For each class of Energy I-Corps teams, these national labs recruit researchers working on energy technologies that have shown potential for commercial application. Together, these researchers receive comprehensive training and conduct at least 75 customer discovery interviews with industry. Once they have completed the training, participants have secured the necessary industry connections and insights to ready their energy technologies for the market, and gained an industry engagement framework to apply to future research and share with fellow researchers.

Customized Curriculum

The Energy I-Corps curriculum was initially developed in 2015 in partnership with the National Science Foundation’s (NSF’s) Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program. With the support of the national labs and external industry advisors, NREL and DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE) adapted NSF’s nationally recognized I-Corps training. Adjustments made to the I-Corps curriculum address the specific challenges scientists working within the national lab environment face getting their innovations ready for market, such as navigating the complexities of IP bundling. As more research teams complete the training, NREL and EERE continue improving and enhancing the Energy I-Corps curriculum to best meet participant and industry needs.

Teams from the fourth class analyze market pathways for their early stage technologies. This is just one of many hands-on activities DOE Lab-Corps participants complete with support from industry mentors and instructors from the clean energy sector. Photo credit NREL.

Energy I-Corps Successes

  • Five teams have launched new businesses based on their Energy I-Corps technology, and more are being developed.
  • Because of Energy I-Corps, technologies have reached a point of commercial viability that has attracted nearly $10 million in follow-on funding.
  • Collectively, teams have worked with more than 70 industry mentors to discover the commercial impact of their technologies and conducted more than 4,500 customer discovery interviews with industry.

Every EERE technology office has supported teams through the training. Participation has also expanded to include lab teams supported by DOE’s Fossil Energy, Nuclear Energy, and Environmental Management offices.

About Technology-to-Market

EERE’s Technology-to-Market program strengthens the U.S. innovation ecosystem by eliminating common barriers that prevent market exploration of new energy technologies. Tech-to-Market does not directly fund individual technologies. Instead, the program is re-imagining the pathway to market for competitive clean energy technologies by addressing market readiness and resource access. The Energy I-Corps program is one way Tech-to-Market addresses market readiness.

Energy I-Corps FAQs

Energy I-Corps is a two-month training where national lab researchers learn about industry needs and evaluate potential market applications for their technologies.

63 teams from 10 national labs have participated in the program’s first five training sessions.

Participants benefit from workshops taught by industry experts, as well as the more than 75 customer discovery interviews they conduct over the duration of the program. The training equips national lab researchers with tools to understand the real-world relevance of their technologies, and viable pathways to market. These tools help inform future research at the national labs.

DOE national lab researchers working on eligible technologies can apply. Eligibility requirements may vary by class depending on participating DOE offices, but past areas of interest include a range of renewable and energy efficient technologies, in addition to nuclear, fossil, and environmental management.

Energy I-Corps is also looking for program instructors and industry mentors.

Email [email protected] to learn more about Energy I-Corps and how to get involved. If you are interested in becoming an instructor or mentor, contact Kristin Clary at [email protected].

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