Dr. Joanne Jones-Meehan, a microbiologist
at the Naval Research Laboratory's (NRL's) Chemistry Division,
received a 2002 Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) Award for
Excellence in Technology Transfer. She was recognized for her
role in transferring a foul-release, silicone coating system
developed at NRL. The award recognizes employees for outstanding
work that has led to the successful transfer of technology developed
at a federal laboratory. The results of the technology transfers
may be commercial products or services or other utilization of
the technology for the public benefit. Dr. Jones-Meehan received
her award at a ceremony held during the annual meeting of the
FLC in Little Rock, Arkansas.
The NRL-developed foul-release
coating system reduces the problem of biofouling (i.e., undesired
growth of barnacles, mussels, tube worms, etc.) without the use
of toxic metals and/or biocides by providing a surface to which
organisms find it difficult to adhere. The coating meets the
pressing need for an environmentally safe method for controlling
biofouling to replace current methods that use metals and other
chemicals that are toxic to aquatic life and are potentially
harmful to the workers who use them, explains Dr. Jones-Meehan.
This important NRL technology
was transferred for commercialization to Smart Surfaces LLC,
a start-up company located in Annapolis, MD. The company was
founded in 2000 expressly for the purpose of commercializing
the NRL duplex coating system. Smart Surfaces has entered into
a partially exclusive license agreement with NRL and plans to
provide, apply and maintain biofouling coatings on commercial,
private, and Government-owned ships and in power plant cooling
water intake systems. Although the technology was invented and
patented by an NRL employee, the late Dr. James Griffith, during
his career in the Chemistry Division, it was through the efforts
of Dr. Jones-Meehan that the coatings were successfully transferred
to Smart Surfaces. She led a team representing academia, industry,
and government that was brought together to demonstrate and validate
the NRL coatings on ship hulls and at power plants. Such validation
was critical to making the technology commercially attractive.
As a part of the technology transfer process, Dr. Jones-Meehan
worked closely with Smart Surfaces to facilitate the transfer
of the necessary expertise in application and maintenance of
the coatings.
Dr. Jones-Meehan earned her B.S.
and M.S. degrees at Illinois State University. She received her
PhD. in Microbiology from Iowa State University and did a Post
Doctoral Research Fellowship at the University of Michigan in
molecular biology. She was a research microbiologist in the Biotechnology
Laboratory at the NSWCDD/White Oak, MD, from 1988 to 1996 and
joined NRL in 1996.
Dr. Jones-Meehan's previous awards
include: Washington Academy of Sciences Award for Outstanding
Achievement in Biological Sciences, 1992; co-recipient of the
NRL Alan Berman Research Publication Award in the Oceanography
Research Division, 1992, 1999 and 2002; and the Federal Laboratory
Consortium (FLC) Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer
with NSWCCD for Shipboard Application of Titanium Piping Systems,
1999.
Dr. Jones-Meehan has authored
86 abstracts, 28 peer-reviewed publications and 10 book chapters
related to microbiology (pathogenic, applied and environmental),
molecular biology and biocorrosion. She is a member of the American
Society of Microbiology (ASM) and the National Association of
Corrosion Engineers (NACE).
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