LEMONT – Congressman Dan Lipinski recently announced that Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont is one of three national laboratories that will receive nearly $1.2 million to advance collaborative research and development aimed at improving manufacturing processes to make American businesses more competitive.

The funding is part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Technologist in Residence Program, which connects national laboratories and private-sector companies. The program partners a senior technologist from a national laboratory with an industry professional from a clean energy manufacturing company or consortium of companies.

Lipinski, who has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in engineering-economic systems, said he was “extremely interested in supporting advanced technical research with the potential to yield lasting benefits for all Americans.”

“I will continue to push for more funding for research and development at Argonne, which will not only lead to new technologies for our nation but also lead to new companies and jobs,” he said.

Angel Yanguas-Gil, principal materials scientist and lead Argonne researcher on the effort, said the collaboration will have a wide-reaching impact.

“It will have a huge impact on energy generation and energy efficiency, particularly for use in power electronics,” Yanguas-Gil said. “Thirty percent of all electricity generated in the U.S. goes through these devices. The goal of the program is to help companies overcome any problems and go to market.”

“It’s been a top priority of mine to do more to connect the national labs, especially Argonne National Labs with private industry because there’s so much good research going on at Argonne,” Lipinski said.

“They have a lot of good relationships with industry and they have equipment that can be of use to help researchers from private industry. They’re working on producing better semiconductors that can go into a lot of products, like light bulbs, electric and hybrid cars and devices that help track packages and inventory in warehouses.

“Those are some of the things they are working on. They can make all of these more efficient and cheaper. There are a couple of companies that have been created around Argonne that have come from research done at Argonne. The more research that is done there and the more companies that are created, I think will help to grow jobs in the area.”