Innovative Partnerships Program Network

The NASA Innovative Partnerships Program is comprised of the National Technology Transfer Center (NTTC) and a network of field center offices located around the country to provide a full range of technology transfer and commercialization services and assistance.

The National Technology Transfer Center is located on the campus of Wheeling Jesuit University, in Wheeling, West Virginia.

The National Technology Transfer Center (NTTC) http://www.nttc.edu was established in 1989 to expedite the commercialization of federally funded research and development. In that role, the NTTC links U.S. industry with Federal laboratories and universities that have the technologies, the facilities, and the world-class researchers that industry needs to maximize product development opportunities. Through these partnerships, the NTTC helps Federal agencies find companies that can commercialize technologies developed in the Federal laboratories and leverage research and development efforts across the public and private sectors to create collaborative research opportunities.  The NTTC has worked with NASA since 1989, providing the services and capabilities needed to meet the changing needs of NASA for managing intellectual property and creating technology partnerships.

The NTTC, having developed as a full-service technology commercialization asset for federal and nonfederal funded technologies is now refocusing its NASA services to align with the Innovative Partnership Program’s (IPP) Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR)/Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program, but will continue to perform traditional technology transfer services as requested by NASA and for other clients.

NASA incubators are included within this network of programs. They are designed to nurture new and emerging businesses with the potential to incorporate technology developed by NASA. They offer a wide variety of business and technical support services to increase the success of participating companies.

BizTech http://www.biztech.org, of Huntsville, Alabama, is a small business incubator, offering participating companies access to services at Marshall Space Flight Center laboratories for feasibility testing, prototype fabrication, and advice on technology usage and transfer. BizTech is sponsored by the Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce.

The Florida/NASA Business Incubation Center (FNBIC) http://www.trda.org/fnbic/ is a joint partnership of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Brevard Community College, and the Technological Research and Development Authority. The mission of the FNBIC is to increase the number of successful technology-based small businesses originating in, developing in, or relocating to Brevard County. The FNBIC offers support facilities and programs to train and nurture new entrepreneurs in the establishment and operation of developing ventures based on NASA technology.

The Mississippi Enterprise for Technology (MsET) http://www.mset.org is sponsored by NASA and the Mississippi University Consortium and Department of Economic and Community Development, as well as the private sector. The mission of the enterprise is to help small businesses utilize the scientific knowledge and technical expertise at the Stennis Space Center. A significant part of this effort is Stennis’ Commercial Remote Sensing program, which was formed to commercialize remote sensing, geographic information systems, and related imaging technologies.

To complement the specialized centers and programs sponsored by the NASA Innovative Partnerships Program, affiliated organizations and services have been formed to strengthen NASA’s commitment to U.S. businesses. Private and public sector enterprises build upon NASA’s experience in technology transfer in order to help with the channeling of NASA technology into the commercial marketplace.

The NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program http://www.sbir.nasa.gov provides seed money to U.S. small businesses for developing innovative concepts that meet NASA mission requirements. Each year, NASA invites small businesses to offer proposals in response to technical topics listed in the annual SBIR program solicitation. The NASA field centers negotiate and award the contracts, as well as monitor the work.
NASA’s SBIR program is implemented in three phases:

• Phase I is the opportunity to establish the feasibility and technical merit of a proposed innovation. Selected competitively, NASA Phase I contracts last 6 months and must remain under specific monetary limits.
  
  
• Phase II is the major research and development effort which continues the most promising of the Phase I projects based on scientific and technical merit, results of Phase I, expected value to NASA, company capability, and commercial potential. Phase II places greater emphasis on the commercial value of the innovation. The contracts are usually in effect for a period of 24 months and again must not exceed specified monetary limits.
  
  
• Phase III is the process of completing the development of a product to make it commercially available. While the financial resources needed must be obtained from sources other than the funding set aside for the SBIR, NASA may fund Phase III activities for follow-on development or for production of an innovation for its own use.
  
  

The SBIR Management Office, located at the Goddard Space Flight Center, provides overall management and direction of the SBIR program.

The NASA Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program http://www.sbir.nasa.gov awards contracts to small businesses for cooperative re-search and development with a research institution through a uniform, three-phase process. The goal of Congress in establishing the STTR program was to transfer technology developed by universities and Federal laboratories to the marketplace through the entrepreneurship of a small business.

Although modeled after the SBIR program, STTR is a separate activity and is separately funded. The STTR program differs from the SBIR program in that the funding and technical scope is limited and participants must be teams of small businesses and research institutions that will conduct joint research.

NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs are a three-phased approach for the small business concern to develop a technology in response to a specific set of NASA mission-driven needs, as presented in the NASA SBIR/STTR Annual Solicitation.

The Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) for Technology Transfer http://www.federallabs.org was organized in 1974 to promote and strengthen technology transfer nationwide. More than 600 major Federal laboratories and centers, including NASA, are currently members. The mission of the FLC is twofold:

• To promote and facilitate the rapid movement of Federal laboratory research results and technologies into the mainstream of the U.S. economy.
  
  
• To use a coordinated program that meets the technology transfer support needs of FLC member laboratories, agencies, and their potential partners in the transfer process.
  

The National Robotics Engineering Consortium (NREC) http://www.rec.ri.cmu.edu is a cooperative venture among NASA, the City of Pittsburgh, the State of Pennsylvania, and Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute. Its mission is to move NASA-funded robotics technology to industry. Industrial partners join the NREC with the goal of using technology to gain a greater market share, develop new niche markets, or create entirely new markets within their area of expertise.

Other IPP affiliated organizations devoted to the transfer of NASA technology are the Research Triangle Institute (RTI) and the MSU TechLink Center.

The RTI http://www.rti.org, located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, provides a range of technology management services to NASA. RTI performs technology assessments to determine applications and commercial potential of NASA technology, as well as market analysis, and commercialization and partnership development. RTI works closely with all of NASA’s Technology Transfer Offices.

The MSU TechLink Center http://techlinkcenter.org located at Montana State University-Bozeman, was established in 1997 to match the technology needs of client companies with resources throughout NASA and the Federal laboratory system. TechLink focuses on a five-state region that includes Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Working closely with public, private, and university programs, TechLink provides ongoing support in the process of adapting, integrating, and commercializing NASA technology.

The road to technology commercialization begins with the basic and applied research results from the work of scientists, engineers, and other technical and management personnel. The NASA Scientific and Technical Information (STI) program http://www.sti.nasa.gov provides the widest appropriate dissemination of NASA’s research results. The STI program acquires, processes, archives, announces, and disseminates NASA’s internal—as well as worldwide—STI.

The NASA STI program offers users Internet access to its database of over 3.9 million citations, as well as many in full text; online ordering of documents; and the NASA STI Help Desk (help@sti.nasa.gov) for assistance in accessing STI resources and information. Free registration with the program is available through the NASA Center for AeroSpace Information.

NASA TechTracS http://technology.nasa.gov provides access to NASA’s technology inventory and numerous examples of the successful transfer of NASA-sponsored technology for commercialization. TechFinder, the main feature of the Internet site, allows users to search technologies and success stories, as well as submit requests for additional information. All NASA field centers submit information to the TechTracS database as a means of tracking technologies that have potential for commercial development.

Technology Innovation is one of NASA’s magazines for business and technology, published by the Innovative Partnerships Program. The latest issue highlights Kennedy Space Center recognition for NASA invention for the year.

For more than 3 decades, reporting to industry on any new, commercially significant technologies developed in the course of NASA research and development efforts has been accomplished through the publication of NASA Tech Briefs http://www.nasatech.com.

The monthly magazine features innovations from NASA, industry partners, and contractors that can be applied to develop new or improved products and solve engineering or manufacturing problems. Authored by the engineers or scientists who performed the original work, the briefs cover a variety of disciplines, including computer software, mechanics, and life sciences. Most briefs offer a free supplemental technical support package, which explains the technology in greater detail and provides contact points for questions or licensing discussions.

Technology Innovation http://www.ipp.nasa.gov/innovation is published quarterly by the NASA Office of Exploration Systems. Regular features include current news and oppor­tunities in technology transfer and commercialization, and innovative research and development.

NASA Spinoff http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto is an annual print and online publication featuring successful commercial and industrial applications of NASA technology, current research and development efforts, and the latest developments from the NASA Innovative Partnerships Program.