Industrial use at RID Menno Blaauw

Reactor Institute Delft– Facts and Figures The Reactor Institute Delft is a 2.3 MW research reactor that produces neutrons and positrons for academic research. Services are offered to industry when there is surplus beam time. We have no user program We do have 200 reactor days per year. SANS, SESANS, Reflectometer, NDP, Diffractometer, Depolarisation analyzer, Imaging, isotope production, INAA, Mossbauer spectrometry. Cold neutron source is in the making. We do not count experiments, the number of papers per year is to increase. Information of Industrial Usage i.e. proprietary or via public access Approx. 2000 € per day per instrument, 200 € on average per INAA sample, 100 € per hour for prolonged technical irradiations, overhead charges In total, we make some 300 k€ per year, ramping up to 1 M€ per year, primarily through technical irradiations. Practical information: M. Blaauw, RID, Mekelweg 15, Delft, 2629 JB Delft, The Netherlands. To apply, send an email to m.blaauw@tudelft.nl ot call +31-15-2783528

Industrial Use – What is offered ? Present principal Use Cases: Better Li-ion batteries, better food, better EUV sources, better solar cells, magneto-caloric materials, better medical isotopes All our methods and instruments as mentioned are offered. Often, a sample prep lab at the institute is required. Also often, the user needs help in interpreting the data. Prerequisites for Industrial Users There is no public access scheme at RID. We have our own research programs and we accommodate outside users the same way, academic or industrial. We have no required kinds of reporting or publication. If co-authored publications are likely to result, we charge less then if the user wants to keep all IP to himself. The scientists tend to prefer to do publishable research, that adds to their academic status, over money-making research. Synergy only when the topics concide. WHAT do we offer for industry ? The need for individual methods with their required performance shall be discussed but also how industry or non-facility partners (mediators, networks, universities)  could be involved to establish or improve the methodological offer. What are the criteria to make a method attractive to industry and what is the adequate access scheme? Beyond a single method, packaging several methods and ensuring standardisation / accreditation could be relevant to establish a (new) analytical tool. Is there a need to report the results or the experience e.g. enable targeted method development? How can such developments be done with minimum interruption of (public) user time. 

Industrial Use – How is it offered ? Motivation and goals for industrial use: Industrial use is not encouraged as part of public access, since we don’t have public access. We intend to give the instrument scientist the feeling that he is running his own business with his own money, to consolidate potentially competing usage. Industrial use is tracked only by counting the money. Academic use is tracked by counting scientific publications. Administrative aspects We offer to perform experiments and interpret the data. Contracts are put together using the legal department and a specialized “project bureau”. NDAs are normal, as are agreements on IP acquired during the research. HOW do we offer it to industry and WHAT is to be achieved ? This working group is intended to discuss rather administrative than technical / methodological aspects: How do we encourage industrial use as part public access (proposal system) and are their specific selection criteria in place (technological innovation , scientific excellence). How do we set-up contracts incl. fees and IP for proprietary research. How to consolidate these potentially competing usage of (the same) beam time. Can we establish success criteria to measure the impact of industrial usage e.g. improving the innovation potential. 

Industrial Use – Availability and Marketing Knowledge about the Offer We rarely provide training activities. We try to communicate what answers a method can provide, not how it works. Marketing The relevant partners are industry, universities, networks like SINE2020 and other facilities We have 0.2 fte ILO. The projected instrument scientists (some 8 of them) are expected to do their own marketing as they see fit. HOW do we sell it or make it available ? To realise leverage, to target it to specific use cases and to integrate neutrons as part of a tool kit both networks and mediator companies come into play. Should facility actions aim for strengthening these stakeholders with (i) training activities for industry / mediators / networks / universities / hubs (topical, regional) / other facilities and (ii) special commercial offers or ways of access.

Industrial Use – Project Execution Additional Resources Money is used as incentive – the instrument scientist can use 2/3 of the throughput for purposes of his own choice. We have no external partners. Sometimes we notice that a customer company is acting as mediator. Sustainability Project lead times and durations can range from days to years. Frequencies of visits and sustainability of industrial use by different partners show no trends and seem unpredictable. HOW to execute an industrial project at the facility?   What are the incentives for the  scientists involved. Are additional resources required / available and in which area. How is specific equipment been provided and available for further usage?