Putting Technology to Work
Because they are challenging and technologically demanding,
NASA programs generate a great wealth of advanced technology.
This bank of technology is a national asset that can be reused
to develop new products and processes, to the benefit of the
U.S. economy in new companies, new jobs, and the resulting contribution
to the Gross Domestic Product.
Nona Minnifield, Commercial Research Manager in Goddard Space
Flight Center's Office of Commercial Programs, displays samples
of innovative, Goddard-developed camera technology that has potential
for commercial applications. The gold-rimmed device in foreground
is a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) Camera that takes electronic
pictures with high resolution; among other applications, it offers
special promise in advanced mammography.
Such "spinoff" applications do not happen automatically.
It takes a well-organized effort to put the technology to work
in new ways and to reap thereby a dividend on the national investment
in aerospace research.
NASA accomplishes that end by means of its Technology Transfer
& Commercialization Program, which employs a variety of mech-anisms
to stimulate the transfer of aerospace technology to other sectors
of the economy. The program is managed by the Commercial Development
and Technology Transfer Division of NASA's Office of Space Access
and Technology. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the division
coordinates the activities of technology transfer organizations
located throughout the United States.
Among the most important mechanisms are the technology transfer
and commercialization offices at NASA's 10 field centers. These
offices differ somewhat from center to center, but generally
their jobs involve promoting transfer and commercialization of
technology that has significant potential for secondary use.
Representative of this type of activity is the work of the Office
of Commercial Programs' Technology Transfer & Commercialization
Office at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC).
Located in Greenbelt, Maryland, GSFC is a facility with personnel
expertise in all phases of space operations, including the design,
construction and test of spacecraft; the ability to operate,
track and communicate with satellites in orbit; and a capability
for analyzing and disseminating satellite data. Operational since
1959, GSFC has managerial responsibility for the NASA Tracking
and Data Relay Satellite System ground stations at White Sands,
New Mexico; the Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York
City; and NASA's Wallops (Virginia) Flight Facility, a special
base for suborbital research with sounding rockets. Additionally,
the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland,
is operated under contract to GSFC.
The camera, its sensors and a wafer of sensor chips are shown
in this close-up.
While building a reputation as one of the world's foremost
space research organizations over more than three decades, GSFC
has also compiled an outstanding record for transferring NASA-developed
technology to industry and other potential users. The center
boasts a lengthy list of successful transfers, among them LIDAR
technology, widely used in the remote sensing industry; microelectronics
technology, which has found many applications, particularly in
biomedical equipment; compliant cable technology, which has benefited
the health care and utilities industries; and a wealth of innovative
software employed in many industries, in particular the automotive
industry.
Continuing this tradition, Goddard's Technology Transfer &
Commercialization Office serves as a point of liaison between
GSFC and those organizations or individuals who might be able
to make advantageous use of NASA technology. The mission of the
Technology Transfer Office is twofold: to develop and implement
effective marketing strategies and to facilitate partnering relationships
with U.S. industry, other government agencies and academia for
transfer/commercialization of GSFC-developed technologies.
The following pages contain a summary of the mechanisms employed
by NASA to promote technology transfer and commercialization,
including the structure of the nationwide network, the types
of assistance provided by the Regional Technology Transfer Centers,
and the technology transfer activities of NASA's field centers;
the summary focuses on activities within GSFC's Office of Commercial
Programs and the Technology Transfer Office as representative
of today's technology transfer work performed by the field centers
and other groups within the NASA network.
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