Volume 8, Number 2     March/April 2000

Technology Transfer

NASA Announces Materials Sector Initiative

In line with its increased focus on creating partnerships with industry to develop and commercialize technology, NASA will promote an aggressive new initiative targeted at the materials sector at Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE) 2000, May 21 to 25, in Long Beach, California. The goal of this effort is to establish partnerships among industry entities much earlier in the technology development process.

NASA will lay out its strategic technology needs in the development of advanced materials for future aerospace missions and initiate a dialogue to gauge where the agency’s needs overlap with those of companies in the materials sector. NASA’s objective is to create high-impact partnerships to achieve its technology goals by sharing the costs of technology development with industry. Industry will achieve the same benefits while also creating new products and markets to benefit the nation’s economy.

NASA’s increased presence at SAMPE 2000 is a sign of the agency’s commitment to a more focused involvement with the advanced materials industry. NASA’s continued success depends on new, aggressive, cutting-edge advanced technology development. Now, more than ever, NASA views partnering with the commercial sector as a way to achieve that goal.

NASA is changing the way it does business and the way it selects its missions. Historically, missions were selected based on the desirability of a particular scientific objective. Now however, the agency faces growing budget pressures. Instead of "technology driven by missions," NASA now makes technology investments for very challenging missions far in advance. Specific missions are only approved for development when the enabling technologies have matured. NASA refers to this as "missions enabled by technologies." This new paradigm reduces the schedule and cost uncertainties associated with advanced technology development.

NASA’s approach to technology development has changed in a number of other ways, as outlined below.

Technology Management. Formerly, technology management for NASA was the responsibility of a central organization. Now NASA’s four principal "product organizations," or Strategic Enterprises, ensure that technology objectives meet mission needs. Technology goals will be more closely linked to scientific challenges, and transition plans have been established to ensure the timely insertion of mature technologies into mission opportunities.

Working With Industry. The technology advances needed to support future NASA missions are formidable, but in many cases, industry shares the same technology challenges. NASA is studying the "roadmaps" of industries with technology needs similar to its own. In addition, by better communicating to industry the goals and objectives of future NASA missions, the agency hopes to identify areas where capabilities may already exist or where common interests could lead to collaborative efforts. Three such approaches are already addressing NASA’s technology needs.

Commercial Off-the-Shelf. NASA can take advantage of services, including technology and investments, provided by commercial industry. In accordance with the National Space Policy, NASA must acquire systems and services from industry when those services are commercially available, such as commercial launch services. In the future, this may include a broader use of commercial communications services and the use of commercial remote-sensing systems to acquire scientific data.

Joint Development. When the commercial demand for products or services does not exist or is not sufficiently mature to support independent industry investments, NASA may identify opportunities for partnerships and joint investments with industry that could lead to future growth. Also, some missions will rely on technology advances in non-aerospace industry sectors. Here, NASA hopes to capitalize on industry investments and establish partnerships with industry to explore advances that could also benefit aerospace applications.

Research Investment. When technology demands are unique to NASA mission needs, NASA will invest in technology development and advanced concepts to enable future aerospace missions. These technology activities are accomplished by supporting technology development within industry, academia and NASA through competitively selected contracts and grants, unsolicited contracts or grants and in-house efforts.

NASA characterizes its approach to investment decisions as "buy when feasible, build when necessary." This investment approach establishes partnerships with industry, other government agencies and academia that will provide technologies for the future at lower cost, while supporting national economic goals. For more details on the numerous NASA-sponsored events at SAMPE 2000, please see the "Events" section on the back cover.

For more information, contact Charles Taylor at the Mid-Atlantic Technology Applications Center. 412/383-2590, ctaylor@mtac.pitt.edu Please mention you read about it in Innovation.