sunflash-Distributed to mailing list sun/NC/north-carolina sunflash-Send requests, problems to owner-sunflash@suntri.east.sun.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Florida SunFlash SunSolutions and Sandia Announce Technology Partnership SunFLASH Vol 58 #26 October 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 58.26 SunSolutions and Sandia Announce Technology Partnership Sandia National Laboratories, a U.S. Department of Energy multiprogram R&D laboratory, and SunSolutions, the video conferencing and collaboration business of Sun Microsystems, Inc., have entered a technology transfer partnership ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following announcement was made earlier today, October 25, 1993, by SunSolutions. If you have questions regarding this announcement, please contact Kathryn Watson at (415) 336-6851. SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES AND SUNSOLUTIONS ANNOUNCE TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER PARTNERSHIP THAT PRODUCES INNOVATIVE COMMERCIAL SOFTWARE "...Shows How Government and Private-Sector Organizations can Collaborate for the Benefit of the Economy, U.S. Competitiveness and Business." MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - October 25, 1993 - Sandia National Laboratories, a U.S. Department of Energy multiprogram R&D laboratory, and SunSolutions, the video conferencing and collaboration business of Sun Microsystems, Inc., have entered a technology transfer partnership resulting in the commercial introduction of computer software that is helping the U.S. take the lead in the fast-growing desktop video conferencing market. The new ShowMe(TM) software allows people to have computer meetings from their desktops where they simultaneously view and modify documents, designs and applications. "Sandia and SunSolutions have provided a model for how collaboration between the government and private enterprise can rapidly result in a commercial product," said U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico). Bingaman is chairman of the Defense Technology, Acquisition, and Industrial Base Subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a strong proponent of converting defense-related technologies to private-sector applications. "This partnership is an example of technology conversion that we hope can be repeated often in the future." Through the National Competitiveness Technology Transfer Act of 1989 passed by the U.S. Congress, Sandia and SunSolutions have signed a nonexclusive licensing agreement allowing SunSolutions to build on technology developed by Sandia engineers to make their own work more productive and to lower costs. By using Sandia technology as a base, SunSolutions developed commercially available application sharing software years faster than if it had conducted development on its own. The software competes in the desktop video conferencing market, which market researchers say will reach $5 billion by 1997. "Sandia is proud to offer technology to U.S. industry in support of our nation's technology conversion objectives," said Al Narath, president of Sandia National Laboratories. "This partnership advances the goal of more effective collaboration between government and industry, and is a great example of the many technologies available at the national laboratories that can contribute to the nation's economic well being." "Our partnership shows how government and private-sector organizations can collaborate for the benefit of the economy, U.S. competitiveness and business," said Scott McNealy, chairman and CEO of Sun Microsystems, Inc. "Sandia created the technology to increase their productivity internally. Because of the technology transfer legislation, Sun is able to bring application sharing software to our workstation consumers years before we could have done so on our own. The U.S. is now reaping full benefit from its investment." Background: The SunSolutions/Sandia Partnership In the early 1990s, engineers at Sandia began creating software that would enable them to complete projects faster, work together more efficiently, and maintain quality levels while lowering the total cost of product development cycles. They developed the CLERVER conferencing technology to allow workgroups in dispersed geographical areas to collaborate in real time on complex technical drawings and schematics using their desktop workstations. SunSolutions identified a need by its customers for application sharing software, so pursued the technology transfer partnership. As part of the agreement, SunSolutions is providing its commercialized software to Sandia for its internal use to continue increasing productivity and reducing costs. SunSolutions'application sharing software is now part of ShowMe 2.0, a desktop video conferencing product introduced on October 25, 1993 and scheduled to ship by the end of 1993. The ShowMe 2.0 product gives users a full range of video, audio and screen sharing tools allowing them to collaborate interactively, in real time, over SPARC(R) workstations. About SunSolutions SunSolutions, a business of Sun Microsystems, Inc., is dedicated to designing, developing and marketing video conferencing and collaboration products. The business is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., USA with a European office in Bagshot, U.K. About Sandia Sandia National Laboratories is a multiprogram research and development national laboratory operated for the U.S. Department of Energy by Martin Marietta Corporation. Established in 1949, Sandia is dedicated to providing exceptional service in the national int erest through its programs in defense, energy, the environment, arms control, economic competitiveness and other areas of national need. It has 8,500 employees and its major facilities are in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Livermore, California. # # # # Sun Microsystems, Sun, the Sun logo, SunSolutions, the SunSolutions logo and ShowMe are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. All SPARC trademarks, including the SCD Compliant logo, are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based upon an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. All other products or services mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners. ********************************************************************** For information about SunFlash send mail to info-sunflash@Sun.COM. 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