PNNL

Three Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) researchers—Glenn Grant, Matthew O’Hara, and Scott Whalen—were named Distinguished Inventors of Battelle, an honor recognizing full-time researchers who have received 14 or more U.S. patents. Though each was individually recognized during PNNL’s Pathway to Excellence event in June, all three emphasized the critical role of collaboration, something that permeates PNNL’s research enterprise.

“Innovation at the Lab is fundamentally a team effort, and the award represents not only my own contributions, but also the creativity, enthusiasm, and persistence of the many colleagues I have worked alongside over the years,” Grant said. “This feels more like a team award than an individual award.”

Grant, a materials scientist, has worked across the Transportation Materials, Nuclear Materials, and Critical Materials sectors. He helped pioneer friction stir welding, a joining technique that does not melt the material, but rather deforms it and “stirs” it together. A rotating tool creates friction between the tool and the metal, resulting in localized heating and softening that can join a variety of materials.

“This technology has evolved greatly over the last 20 years, and we have played a role in delivering it to market,” said Grant. “What made the research especially exciting was discovering new ways to create high-performance metal structures and solve manufacturing challenges in ways that had not been tried before.”

Over time, his groundbreaking work expanded into a variety of applications, including automotive, nuclear, and power-generation materials. He holds 20 granted and 13 pending U.S. patents and won two R&D 100 Awards.

“It’s really satisfying when you’re walking down the street and a pickup truck goes by, and you can say to yourself, ‘Oh, I had a little tiny part in the making of that one,’” said Grant.

O’Hara, a senior research scientist in the Nuclear Chemistry and Engineering technical group, has more than 25 years of experience in the radiochemical sciences. His work focuses on developing radiochemical or radioanalytical techniques that integrate into automated fluidic systems for routinized or remote handling applications. 

Throughout his career, O’Hara has helped create automated chemical separation and analytical systems addressing a wide range of isotope-related challenges. Most recently, he and his team devised a medical isotope generator production line capable of performing remote radiochemical and packaging operations. This process has facilitated lowered preparation costs, reduced radiological dose to staff, and increased throughput. These generators are made available to end users through the Department of Energy Office of Isotope R&D and Production.

“Inventing is something I enjoy thoroughly and find it thrilling to get ideas and new concepts into the application space,” O’Hara said. “I enjoy pulling out simple ideas that are right in front of everyone’s faces, but they don’t recognize they’re there.”

O’Hara’s first patent application came while he was still a Department of Energy undergraduate intern in the mid-1990s. The experience of developing an idea in the lab, testing it successfully, and filing an invention report sparked a lifelong passion for applied research and inventorship.

“You have to strike the balance between being independently minded and being able to work well with teams,” said O’Hara. “For those that are interested in continual learning and exploration, this is a fantastic area to be in.”

He added that successful inventorship requires recognizing when laboratory discoveries have value beyond scientific publications and outreach, combining curiosity, adaptability, and teamwork to move ideas into practical use. He has 14 U.S. patents/awards and 8 patent applications in the pipeline.

Whalen, chief scientist in the Applied Materials and Manufacturing group, also emphasized the collaborative nature of PNNL workflow that enables innovation.

“There are many brilliant staff members who are on these patents, and I am grateful for their contributions,” Whalen said. “This collaborative work has helped create a growing pipeline of inventors and patent holders within the organization.”

After arriving at PNNL with no patent experience, Whalen became inspired by previous Distinguished Inventors and focused on connecting research programs with industry applications. Since 2019, he has expanded his patent portfolio from zero to 23 granted and 12 pending patents, a PNNL Inventor of the Year award in 2023, and R&D 100 Awards in 2017 and 2020. He credits PNNL’s Office of Collaboration and Commercialization, particularly Sara Hunt, for leading the effort to protect the team’s technologies.

Whalen has been a key leader in advancing and broadening the application of Shear Assisted Processing and Extrusion (ShAPE™), a manufacturing process that uses extreme deformation to improve metal properties such as strength, corrosion resistance, electrical conductivity, and energy absorption. Under Whalen’s leadership, the team has explored more than 100 alloys, including aluminum, magnesium, titanium, steel, nickel-based alloys, and even semiconductors. The process is also being used to upcycle beverage cans, shredded automobiles, and demolished buildings into high-performance automotive components.

Beyond the technical advances, Whalen said mentorship remains one of his central motivations.

“On my desk, I have three questions I ask myself every morning: Would I hire me? Would I work for me? Who can I help?” said Whalen.

The questions reflect a shared commitment among all three researchers to accountability, collaboration, and supporting early-career staff. While their patents represent decades of technical achievement, they say the true impact comes from teams working together to move ideas from the laboratory into real-world applications.