Battelle Memorial Institute


Battelle Memorial Institute is an American private nonprofit applied science and technology development company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.

History

The institute was founded in 1929 by Gordon Battelle. Originally focusing on contract research and development work in the areas of metals and material science, Battelle is now an international science and technology enterprise that explores emerging areas of science, develops and commercializes technology, and manages laboratories for customers. It has 3,200 employees, and manages another 29,500 in ten United States Department of Energy National Laboratories.
From 1969 to 1975, the institute was involved in a lawsuit over whether it was "neglecting its philanthropic promises" as a nonprofit organization. It reached an $80 million settlement in 1975, used to demolish Union Station, build Battelle Hall at the Columbus Convention Center, refurbish the Ohio Theatre and create Battelle-Darby Creek Metro Park. The institute lost its nonprofit status in the 1990s, though regained it by 2001.

Operations

Contract research business

Battelle serves the following:
  • Agribusiness: cannabis research, encapsulation, formulation, environmental fate, spray drift and droplet characterization
  • Ecology and environment: scientific data packages for researchers, air, water and soil analysis, assessment and remediation
  • Health: genomics, life sciences research, medical device development, neurotechnology, public health studies
  • Materials science: analytical chemistry, characterization, coatings, compounds and structures, corrosion studies, nanoparticles and materials
  • National security: aviation and aerospace technologies, chemical and biological defense systems, cyber innovations, ground tactical systems, maritime technologies
  • Research infrastructure: Biosafety Laboratory 3 operations, chemical demilitarization facilities, National Ecological Observatory Network, national laboratory management
  • STEM education: BattelleEd, STEMX, Battelle Arts Grant, STEM Learning Networks
In addition to its Columbus, Ohio headquarters, Battelle has offices in Aberdeen, Maryland; West Jefferson, Ohio; Seattle, Washington; Arlington, Virginia; Norwell, Massachusetts; Charlottesville, Virginia; Baltimore, Maryland; Boulder, Colorado; and Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey.

Federal government project management

National laboratories

In addition to operating its own research facilities, as of 2022, Battelle managed or co-managed on behalf of the United States Department of Energy the following national laboratories:
On behalf of the Department of Homeland Security:
Battelle provides funds for a public policy research center at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs of Ohio State University to focus on scholarly questions associated with science and technology policy. The Battelle Center for Science and Technology Policy at Ohio State in July 2011.

International collaboration

Batelle is an active member of the University of the Arctic. UArctic is an international cooperative network based in the Circumpolar Arctic region, consisting of more than 200 universities, colleges, and other organizations with an interest in promoting education and research in the Arctic region.

Notable projects

Notable Battelle projects include:
  • Armor plating for tanks in World War II.
  • Correction fluid - Snopake, the first correction fluid, developed in 1955;
  • COVID rapid test - In April 2020, Battelle Memorial Institute partnered with Ohio State University to distribute rapid tests for COVID-19, with results in less than 5 hours.
  • Cruise control – for automobiles in 1970;
  • Digital voting – Battelle was the contractor for a computer system on which the Voter News Service relied for tallying exit polling data in the November 2002 U.S. Congressional and Senate elections; the system failed and results were not reported until ten months after the election. The failure led to the disbanding of the VNS and the formation of its replacement, the National Election Pool.
  • Dry copying – In the 1940s, Battelle's vice-president of engineering, John Crout made it possible for Battelle researchers, including William Bixby and Paul Andrus, to develop Chester Carlson's concept of dry copying. Carlson had been turned down for funding by more than a dozen agencies including the U.S. Navy. Work led to the first commercial xerographic equipment, and the formation of Xerox corporation.
  • Fiber optics – In 1987 PIRI, a fiber optics venture with Mitsubishi and NTT, was launched, which resulted in a $1.8 billion market.
  • Medical advances – Including a 1972 breakthrough development of special tubing to prevent blood clots during surgical procedures, and more recently, the development of reusable insulin injection pen, including dose memory, with Eli Lilly and Company
  • "No-melt" chocolate – In conjunction with Kevin M. Amula, Battelle Geneva developed "No-melt" chocolate in 1988.
  • Nuclear fuel rod – Battelle developed the first nuclear fuel rods for nuclear reactors, including the first nuclear submarine, the USS Nautilus, as well as numerous advances in metallurgy that helped advance the United States space program
  • Optical digital recorder – Algorithms and coatings that led to the first optical digital recorder developed by James Russell, which paved the way for the first compact disc, and the first generation jet engines using titanium alloys.
  • N95 respirator decontamination – On March 29, 2020, Battelle announced that it had received an Emergency Use Authorization to deploy a system to decontaminate N95 respirators for healthcare providers. Battelle received a $400 million contract from the Defense Logistics Agency for the project, known as the Critical Care Decontamination System. Following the conclusion of the program in May 2021, Battelle invoiced $155 million, with 5 million masks decontaminated and an average cost of $31 per mask.
  • Photovoltaic cell – the first all-sputtered photovoltaic cell for solar energy in 1974.
  • Universal Product Code – Development of the Universal Product Code in 1965;