Technology Readiness Level - General Information

The Technology Readiness Level (TRL) scale is a simple way to measure how mature a technology is, starting from a basic idea to a fully functional product.

Academia and Government laboratories/grants generally cover 1-5, as equipment and systems are setup around discovery and testing. Infact, government funding and grants often use the TRL scale to decide on funding. Commitments to Sparking innovation resides in the earlier levels and increasing manufacturing in the later levels.

Smaller industries can adopt the technology from 6+, which then manufacture the product from 8+.

From my experience, start-ups can thrive if they champion the technology from 3-5, then working with a large client who will use the technology for 6-7. Further, establishing relationships with manufacturers and setting up a product line for 8+

However, not every idea has legs and many fail. The TRL scale has a few “valley of deaths” which I’ve tried to show in the image above by providing breakers in the line.

Valleys of Death

TRL3 - The proof-of-concept occurred once and can’t be repeated. The product is no longer funded.

TRL5 - The product works but the industry does not wish to use it, therefore a partner client is not found and the product is no longer funded.

TRL7 - The product can not be scaled cost-effectively and therefore it is no longer funded.

Project Managers in innovation must consider each of these valleys. TRL3 is difficult but having an experimental matrix to control confounding variables helps. TRL5 success can be improved by discussions with industry leaders, would a 5% improvement really be worth the $1000s-1,000,000 investment? Can you secure LOIs before embarking on the TRL path? TRL7 can be improved by considering the manufacturing aspects, can you use a cheaper material or substrate? Does it have 5 reliable parts or 5000 unreliable parts?