Technology Transfer & Commercialization
Activities
An important element among NASA mechanisms for promoting technology
transfer is the Technology Transfer Office, or TTO. TTOs are
technology transfer experts based at each of NASA's 10 field
centers and one specialized facility who serve as regional managers
of the Technology Transfer & Commercialization Program.
At Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), the Technology Transfer
& Commercialization Office is part of a larger office known
as the Office of Commercial Programs (OCP). This office embraces
three branches, one dedicated to coordinating the center's Small
Business Innovation Research program, another concerned with
the center's activities relative to commercial use of space,
and the Technology Transfer & Commercialization Office. Dr.
George Alcorn heads the broader OCP and is the center's chief
TTO; Nona Minnifield, formally titled Commercial Research Manager,
heads the Technology Transfer Office. They are backed by commercial
technology engineers Evette Conwell and Carmon Parkinson; patent
counsel Dennis Marchant; patent attorney Keith Dixon; legal technician
Tammie Howcott; and secretary Michelle Wallace.
The chief of Goddard's Office of Commercial Programs, Dr.
George Alcorn, oversees the center's technology transfer efforts,
such as the Earth Alert project.
The duties of the TTOs vary somewhat among NASA centers and
other units of the agency, but the organization and activities
at GSFC are representative of the "new way of doing business"
in recent years, in which NASA is broadening the scope of its
technology transfer efforts and placing greater emphasis than
in prior years on commercialization of NASA technologies. The
TTO's main responsibility is to stay abreast of research and
development activities at his center that have significant potential
for generating transferrable knowledge. He assures that the center's
professional people identify, document and report new technology
developed in the center's laboratories and, together with other
center personnel, he monitors the center's contracts to see that
NASA contractors similarly document and report new technology,
as required by law. This technology, whether developed in-house
or by contractors, becomes part of the NASA bank of technology
available for transfer.
Technology transfer activities at GSFC embrace three areas
of effort: inreach, outreach and marketing. The Inreach Program
is key to heightening the awareness and stimulating the participation
of center personnel in technology transfer and commercialization.
It also involves center-wide technology training courses; ongoing
consultation with GSFC scientific and technical personnel; annual
new technology recognition programs; center-sponsored colloquia;
and directorate-sponsored employee development programs.
The Outreach Program is structured to identify and increase
awareness of GSFC technological resources to businesses, universities
and other public entities within the U.S. This is accomplished
through professional and trade conferences and meetings; on-site
and regional commercialization workshops; and technology demonstrations,
facility tours and consultation with industry groups. The TTO
also works to communicate GSFC's resources within the state and
local government complex, through involvement with economic development
offices, chambers of commerce, high tech councils, educational
institutions, and scientific and technical organizations.
In the marketing function, the Technology Transfer & Commercialization
Office works with an internal and external network to disseminate
GSFC technology to the widest possible audience. This effort,
framed around the Inreach and Outreach programs, employs electronic
and print media to communicate the development and availability
of new technologies with potential commercial applications. Such
media include database systems, the Internet, videos, advertisements
and brochures. GSFC's Technology Transfer & Commercialization
Office also publishes information on its technological developments
in several professional and trade publications.
One mechanism for announcing developments with commercial
potential is the "Technology Opportunity Announcement,"
usually a brief flyer that describes a technology originally
developed for NASA use by the center but available for transfer.
A recent example: GSFC developed a Holographic Optical Element
(HOE), a receiver telescope and scanning mirror to measure clouds
and aerosols from a ground-based platform. GSFC's Technology
Opportunity announcement described the technology, listed a number
of potential commercial applications (laser probes/scanners,
optical communications, robot vision systems, promotional attractions)
and invited interested firms to submit proposals for transfer
and commercialization of the technology.
The GSFC Technology Transfer & Commercialization Office
also initiates partnerships with industry, other government agencies,
or academic institutions to apply NASA-developed technologies
to industrial and national needs. One aspect of partnering is
facilities utilization, where specific GSFC facilities are made
available for use, on a non-interference basis, by any of the
partnering entities for R&D, analyses, and performance testing
of products. The Technology Transfer & Commercialization
Office coordinates and participates in both industry-led and
government-led cost-sharing development programs.
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