Battelle Memorial Institute (more widely known as simply Battelle) is a private nonprofit applied science and technology development company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Battelle is a charitable trust organized as a nonprofit corporation under the laws of the State of Ohio and is exempt from taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code because it is organized for charitable, scientific and education purposes. The institute opened in 1929 but traces its origins to the 1923 will of Ohio industrialist

Gordon Battelle Gordon Battelle (10 August 1883 – 21 September 1923) was the founder of Battelle Memorial Institute, a non-profit independent research and development organization. Birth, death and family Gordon Battelle was born in Covington, Kentucky, to Oh ...

which provided for its creation and his mother Annie Maude Norton Battelle who left the bulk of the family fortune to the institute after her death in 1925. 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.

Contract research business

Battelle serves the following: * Agribusiness: cannabis research, encapsulation, formulation, environmental fate, spray drift and droplet characterization * Ecology & 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 (BSL3) 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 Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

(Maryland), West Jefferson (Ohio),

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

(Washington), Arlington (Virginia), Norwell (Massachusetts),

Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Ch ...

(Virginia),

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

(Maryland), Boulder (Colorado) and

Egg Harbor Township Egg Harbor Township is a township in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The U.S. Census Bureau in the 2020 census reported the population as 47,842, an increase of 4,519 over the 43,323 counted in the previous decade in the 201 ...

(New Jersey).

National laboratory management

In addition to operating its own research facilities, as of 2022, Battelle manages or co-manages on behalf of the

United States Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United Stat ...

the following national laboratories: *

Brookhaven National Laboratory Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory located in Upton, Long Island, and was formally established in 1947 at the site of Camp Upton, a former U.S. Army base and Japanese internment c ...

(through Brookhaven Science Associates, LLC – a collaboration between Battelle and Stony Brook University) * Idaho National Laboratory (through the Battelle Energy Alliance – a collaboration between Battelle, BWX Technologies, Inc., Washington Group International,

Electric Power Research Institute EPRI, is an American independent, nonprofit organization that conducts research and development related to the generation, delivery, and use of electricity to help address challenges in the energy industry, including reliability, efficiency, affo ...

and an alliance of universities) * Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (through Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC – a collaboration between Battelle,

BWX Technologies BWX Technologies, Inc. (), headquartered in Lynchburg, Virginia is a supplier of nuclear components and fuel to the U.S. On July 1, 2015, BWX Technologies Inc. began trading separately from its former subsidiary Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises Inc ...

, Inc.,

Washington Group International Washington Group International was an American corporation which provided integrated engineering, construction, and management services to businesses and governments around the world. Based in Boise, Idaho, WGI had approximately 25,000 employees ...

, the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...

, Bechtel National, and The

Texas A&M University System The Texas A&M University System is a state university system in Texas and is one of the state's six independent university systems. The Texas A&M University System is one of the largest systems of higher education in the United States, with a bu ...

) *

Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), located a short distance northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, ...

(through Triad National Security, LLC – a collaboration between Battelle, the

, and The

) *

National Renewable Energy Laboratory The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in the US specializes in the research and development of renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy systems integration, and sustainable transportation. NREL is a federally funded research an ...

(in partnership with

MRIGlobal MRIGlobal is an American independent, not-for-profit, contract research organization based in Kansas City, Missouri, with regional offices in Virginia and Maryland. In addition to its own research laboratories, MRIGlobal operates research faciliti ...

as part of the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC) *

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a U.S. multiprogram science and technology national laboratory sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and administered, managed, and operated by UT–Battelle as a federally funded research an ...

(through UT-Battelle, LLC – a collaboration between Battelle and the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

) * Pacific Northwest National Laboratory *

Savannah River National Laboratory The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) is a multi-program national laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Environmental Management. SRNL is located at the Savannah River Site (SRS) near Jackson, South Carolina. It ...

(through the Battelle Savannah River Alliance) Additionally, on behalf of the

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...

: *

National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center The National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC) is a government biodefense research laboratory created by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and located at the sprawling biodefense campus at Fort Detrick in Fred ...

National Science Foundation projects: * In March 2016, Battelle was selected to manage the completion of the

National Ecological Observatory Network National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) is a large facility program operated by Battelle Memorial Institute and funded by the National Science Foundation. In full operation since 2019, NEON gathers and provides long-term, standardized da ...

(NEON) for the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

Notable projects

In the 1940s, Battelle's Vice-President of Engineering,

John Crout John Shaw Crout (July 5, 1899 - October 31, 1987) was the Director of Engineering at Battelle Memorial Institute when, in 1944, Battelle was visited by Chester Carlson, in order to obtain support for his idea about a xerographic process. One o ...

made it possible for Battelle researchers, including William Bixby and Paul Andrus, to develop

Chester Carlson Chester Floyd Carlson (February 8, 1906 – September 19, 1968) was an American physicist, inventor, and patent attorney born in Seattle, Washington. Carlson invented electrophotography, the process used by millions of photocopiers worldwide. Ca ...

'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 to the formation of

Xerox Xerox Holdings Corporation (; also known simply as Xerox) is an American corporation that sells print and electronic document, digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut (ha ...

corporation. Battelle also developed the first nuclear fuel rods for nuclear reactors, numerous advances in metallurgy that helped advance the United States space program, 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. Other advances included the armor plating for

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engi ...

s in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

; Snopake, the first

correction fluid A correction fluid is an opaque, usually white fluid applied to paper to mask errors in text. Once dried, it can be handwritten or typed upon. It is typically packaged in small bottles, lids attached to brushes (or triangular pieces of foam) th ...

, developed in 1955; the fuel for the first

nuclear submarine A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor, but not necessarily nuclear-armed. Nuclear submarines have considerable performance advantages over "conventional" (typically diesel-electric) submarines. Nuclear propulsion, ...

, the

USS Nautilus (SSN-571) USS ''Nautilus'' (SSN-571) was the world's first operational nuclear-powered submarine and the first submarine to complete a submerged transit of the North Pole on 3 August 1958. Her initial commanding officer was Eugene "Dennis" Wilkinson, a ...

; development of the

Universal Product Code The Universal Product Code (UPC or UPC code) is a barcode symbology that is widely used worldwide for tracking trade items in stores. UPC (technically refers to UPC-A) consists of 12 digits that are uniquely assigned to each trade item. Along wi ...

in 1965;

cruise control Cruise control (also known as speed control, cruise command, autocruise, or tempomat) is a system that automatically controls the speed of a motor vehicle. The system is a servomechanism that takes over the throttle of the car to maintain a s ...

for automobiles in 1970; and the first all- sputtered

photovoltaic cell A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect, which is a physical and chemical phenomenon.

for solar energy in 1974. In 1987, PIRI, a fiber optics venture with Mitsubishi and NTT, was launched, which resulted in a $1.8 billion market. In conjunction with Kevin M. Amula, Battelle Geneva developed "No-melt"

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

in 1988. Battelle has made numerous 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 Co. Eli Lilly and Company is an American pharmaceutical company headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, with offices in 18 countries. Its products are sold in approximately 125 countries. The company was founded in 1876 by, and named after, Colonel ...

Battelle was the contractor for a computer system on which the

Voter News Service The Voter News Service was an exit polling consortium formed in 1990 by six major U.S. news media organizations. Its mission was to provide results for United States presidential elections, so that individual organizations and networks would not h ...

relied for tallying

exit polling An election exit poll is a poll of voters taken immediately after they have exited the polling stations. A similar poll conducted before actual voters have voted is called an entrance poll. Pollsters – usually private companies working for n ...

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. 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. On March 29, 2020, Battelle announced that it had received an

Emergency Use Authorization An Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) in the United States is an authorization granted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under sections of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act as added to and amended by various Acts of Congress, includ ...

to deploy a system to decontaminate

N95 respirator An N95 filtering facepiece respirator, commonly abbreviated N95 respirator, is a particulate-filtering facepiece respirator that meets the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) N95 classification of air filtrati ...

s for healthcare providers. Battelle received a $400 million contract from the

Defense Logistics Agency The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) is a combat support agency in the United States Department of Defense (DoD), with more than 26,000 civilian and military personnel throughout the world. Located in 48 states and 28 countries, DLA provides su ...

for the project, known as the Critical Care Decontamination System (CCDS). 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.

Battelle Center for Science and Technology Policy (OSU/Glenn)

Battelle provides funds for a public policy research center at the

John Glenn College of Public Affairs The John Glenn College of Public Affairs is a public policy and management school at Ohio State University. The Glenn College offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs in public affairs. The Glenn College provides research, training and ...

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

to focus on scholarly questions associated with science and technology policy. The Battelle Center for Science and Technology Policy began official operation in July 2011.

Nonprofit status

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 A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...

, build

Battelle Hall Battelle Hall (originally known as the Ohio Center) is a 6,864 seat multi-purpose exhibit hall located in Columbus, Ohio, part of the Greater Columbus Convention Center. It opened as the Ohio Center on September 10, 1980, and although sometimes c ...

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.

References

External links

*
90 Year History of Battelle website
* * {{authority control Companies based in the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area Historic American Engineering Record in Ohio Research institutes in Ohio Multidisciplinary research institutes Science and technology think tanks 1929 establishments in Ohio University District (Columbus, Ohio)