Forty years ago--in July of 1958--a congressional mandate directed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to ensure the widest possible dissemination of information resulting from its R&D efforts.

This gave birth in, 1962, to NASA's Technology Utilization Program. It included three Industrial Assistance Centers, released the first Tech Brief in loose-leaf format, expanded the industrial outreach by increasing the Assistance Centers to ten over a period of years, and started COSMIC, the Computer Software and Management Information Center.

In recent years, the Program has changed its structure, goal, and mission, and has broadened its scope. It is currently known as the NASA Commercial Technology Program, with a wide network of organizations ready to do business in a different, improved, and more appropriate way.

Today, the NASA Commercial Technology Network provides a great number of different publications and services geared to enhance and further the global competitiveness of U.S. industry. The Commercial Technology Division at NASA Headquarters and the Commercial Technology Program offices at the ten field centers serve as gateways to accessing the cutting-edge research and technology available for transfer and commercial use. Each year, NASA Spinoff highlights the activities and successes of one of the agency's field centers. This year, the spotlight will focus on Dryden Flight Research Center.