| Source: | Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory |
|---|---|
| Date: | 6/1/95 Record No.: 10108 |
| Contact: | 510-486-4000 |
Overview
Unlike the matrix structure common at other DOE labs, LBL has a straight line management organizational structure, and they've mostly eliminated (except on the administration side) the layer of managment known as "ALDs" or Associate Laboratory Directorates seen at many other labs.
Nine technical divisions report directly to the Laboratory Director, C. V. Shank, and several others report to the ALD for Operations. There are also a number of Research Centers and User Facilities within the various divisions.
LBL is a major multiprogram lab managed by the University of California (as are Livermore and Los Alamos), with more than 3000 employees, a third of which are scientists and engineers. The annual budget is over $250 million. LBL is situated adjacent to the Berkeley campus of the University of California, and there is a great deal of collaboration and overlap between the two organizations. Many of the staff hold dual appointments, and UC graduate students often work in LBL programs (notably reducing the cost of research!) No classified work is done at LBL, so security is light, contributing to a campus-like atmosphere.
Administrative relationships can become quite complex. Projects, programs or "centers" may be either university or lab-based. One particularly noteworthy instance is the California Institute for Energy Efficiency (CIEE), which is actually part of UC's quasi-independent Energy Institute, and until recently was funded by California utilities and state agencies. It is set up as a CRADA between LBL and the California utilities. Its technical resources could become more broadly available as they seek new roles and sources of funding.
Virtually all of the programs in the Energy and Environment Division are relevant to the electric utility industry, as are portions of other divisions (e.g., Materials, Chemical and Earth Sciences, and Information and Computing Sciences). Though the organizational structure is not ideally suited to cross-cutting activities, collaboration and joint efforts are not uncommon.
Within Energy and Environment, areas of interest include building energy efficiency, energy analysis, lighting technology, combustion cleanup, and energy conversion and storage. LBL has very strong programs in these areas; however, the dissemination of results and interaction with industry has been somewhat limited, suggesting a possible underutilization of these resources by utilities which UFTO can help to overcome.
Generally speaking, much of LBL's work in these areas tends to be informational or precompetitive. However there are also a number of specific developments under way with industrial partners, and some that could represent important strategic technology opportunities for utilities.
One other general point: each of the labs annually publishes an "Institutional Plan," organized according to which DOE Program Office supports the work, not the lab's own organizational structure. Thus a "mapping" between the two structures is required to be able to see the work of the groups within a lab. In most instances, divisions and programs also publish annual reports, providing detailed though not always current accounts of the work
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