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119 Interview Template for Contact with Developers of Most Promising Technology Selections The Transportation Research Board (TRB) has awarded a series of projects under the Hazardous Materials Cooperative Research Program (HMCRP). Our project is HM-04: Emerg- ing Technologies Applicable to the Safe and Secure Transporta- tion of Hazardous Materials. Here is the Scope of Work: http:// 144.171.11.40/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID= 1606 on the TRB Website. The HM-04 research team, led by Battelle, is conducting this interview for this project. We have identified your organization as a developer of a promising emerging technology. We would like to get more information about your technology, its purpose, and your development process. The objectives of HM-04 are to: Develop a list of near-term (less than 5 years) and longer- term (5â10 years) technologies that are candidates for use in enhancing the safety and security of hazardous materials transportation, as applied by shippers, carri- ers, emergency responders, or government regulatory and enforcement agencies Identify emerging technologies that hold the greatest promise of being introduced during these near- and longer-term spans Identify potential impediments to and opportunities for their development, deployment, and maintenance (e.g., technical, economic, legal, and institutional) The technologies being considered may be: Evolutionary: Advances to existing products that will result in future improvements Revolutionary: New technology concepts Non-Typical Applications: Leading-edge technologies that are not being developed for Hazmat safety and security or even transportation per se Your response to the interview will provide important insights and guidance to both industry and government. The interview data will be compiled and included in a public report that highlights emerging transportation technologies as well as opportunities and issues associated with product development, deployment and maintenance. We commit to protect the confidentiality of your new tech- nology by not revealing your name, your organizationâs name, or its location in our report or to any other party, unless you otherwise authorized that. We will characterize your organiza- tion generically, such as âa university engineering departmentâ or a âmid-size automotive technology vendor.â Likewise, we do not intend to use the product name (if any). We are more interested in its functionality. The following questions are to help us better understand the emerging technology we have identified. We have sent it in advance of a scheduled phone interview, and you are encour- aged to fill in the information to save time during the interview. Information source (Battelle fills out how we found out about the technology) ___ Published literature ___ Patent search ___ Personal knowledge ___ Online Search General Information First, some general information about you and your company: 1. Contact information Company name: _______________________________ Web site: _____________________________________ A P P E N D I X F Developer Interview Research Template
Contact person: _______________________________ Title: ________________________________________ Address: _____________________________________ Phone: _______________________________________ E-mail: ______________________________________ 2. What is the size of your organization? ___ Small (less than $10M annual revenue) ___ Medium ($10-$100M annual revenue) ___ Large (over $100M annual revenue) 3. What type of organization are you? ___ Privately held ___ Publicly traded ___ Non-profit research ___ Educational 4. What is the technology product you are developing? ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ 5. Briefly describe what it does. ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ 6. What recent information has been released regarding your technology (last six months)? ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ 7. Who is your primary target market? ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ 8. What benefit(s) could your technology provide in the area of hazardous materials transportation (check all that apply)? ___ Safety ___ Security ___ Efficiency ___ Productivity ___ Regulatory compliance 9. If the technology is expected to provide a safety or secu- rity benefit, in what phase(s) can it be helpful (check all that apply)? ___ Preparedness ___ Prevention ___ Mitigation ___ Response 10. Choose the major application area(s) that the technology will support and enter on the lines why your technology meets needs in that application area. Personnel____________________________________ ____________________________________________ Conveyance__________________________________ ____________________________________________ Cargo_______________________________________ ____________________________________________ Back Office Tracking & Locating________________________ _________________________________________ Security___________________________________ _________________________________________ Logistics & Business Efficiency _________________ _________________________________________ Software Applications & Information Technology__ _________________________________________ Public Sector Emergency/Incident Response_________________ _________________________________________ Regulatory Compliance______________________ _________________________________________ Infrastructure Surface & Air modes_________________________ _________________________________________ Pipeline-specific____________________________ _________________________________________ Any other applications__________________________ ____________________________________________ 11. For what transport mode(s) is the technology targeted (check all that apply)? Or if not targeted at a transport mode, to which mode might it be? ___ Truck ___ Rail ___ Marine ___ Air ___ Pipeline ___ Intermodal transfer 12. For what user(s) is the technology targeted or could be targeted (check all that apply)? ___ Shipper ___ Carrier ___ Emergency responder ___ Government official ___ Other____________________________________ 13. Is this a new technology or a next-generation of an exist- ing technology? ___ New ___ Next Generation 14. Listed in the bulleted section below are characteristics that define readiness on a 1 to 5 scale. What technology readi- ness level on this scale best describes your technology? ___ Level 1 â basic technology principles have been observed ⢠Fundamental scientific principles and assump- tions used in new technology are defined ⢠Basic characterization data exists ___ Level 2 â equipment and process concept formulated ⢠System conceptual design, functional requirements and components identified 120
⢠Individual parts of the technology work ⢠Availability of output devices are known ⢠System performance metrics established ⢠Risk areas and mitigation strategies identified ⢠Manufacturing capability known ⢠Performance predictions made for each component ⢠Experimental design formulated ___ Level 3 â prototype demonstrated in laboratory environment ⢠Relationships between system and components are understood at engineering scale ⢠Operating environment for final system known ⢠Collection of maintainability, reliability and sup- portability data ⢠Verification of component compatibility ⢠Performance baseline (including cost, schedule and scope) established ⢠Operating limits and off-normal operating re- sponses for components determined ⢠Scaling issues that remain are identified and under- stood ⢠Interface control process established ⢠Pre-production hardware available to support sys- tem fabrication ⢠Engineering feasibility fully demonstrated ___ Level 4 â technology product operational in limited real-world environment ⢠Discrete components of the product successfully tested under controlled âreal-worldâ conditions to ensure optimal function ⢠Product successfully demonstrated within the âsys- temâ it is designed to operate (i.e., test with other technologies that the product is anticipated to inter- act with) under controlled âreal-worldâ conditions ⢠Receive feedback regarding recommended changes from beta users ⢠Make product changes based on test results and user feedback ___ Level 5 â technology product fully operational in real-world environment ⢠Product successfully used by customers under a wide range of environmental conditions, thereby ensuring proper robustness and functionality ⢠Training and supportability plans implemented ⢠Active mechanism in place to make product improvements in response to customer suggestions 15. What is the anticipated time for your technology to reach Level 5? ___ Within a year ___ 2-5 years ___ 6-9 years ___ 10-15 years 16. Please share any details you can on the timeline involved in the technology development. ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ 17. What special efforts (if any) are needed to bring the tech- nology to Level 5? ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ 18. Are you aware of likely or potential interactions between your technology and other technologies? If so, would it be positive or negative interaction? ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ 19. Are you aware of any impediments to developing, deploy- ing, and/or maintaining your technology? ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ 20. Can you share (or estimate) your total costs to bring your technology into the market? What have you invested so far and how much more do you need? ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ 21. Roughly how much (as a range or estimate) will it cost the user to acquire and operate your product when it reaches the market? ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ 22. Based on your estimate, what is the average payback time to the customer in years? ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ 23. Did you follow any technology development best prac- tices? If so, what were they? ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ 24. Is there any other information you want to share? ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ If you have any questions about this survey, please call: Bill Tate Battelle 505 King Avenue Columbus, Ohio 43201-2696 614-424-3315 (Eastern time zone) 121