NASA desires corporations to use, create their technologies

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Petra Energy, a portfolio enterprise of Warren-primarily based Brite Energi Innovators, is in all probability a single of the couple of corporations in the area to credit the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for bringing to Ohio.

The enterprise has partnered with NASA’s Glenn Analysis Center in Cleveland to create the agency’s strong oxide fuel cell technologies for industrial use.

“NASA has been really conscious, really focused on commercializing this technologies,” mentioned Aaron Goodman, CEO of Petra Energy.

Goodman, who has a Ph.D. in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Princeton University, mentioned he and co-founder Philip Clift entered a third-celebration contest in collaboration with NASA quite a few years ago.

“We have been fortunate adequate to place with each other a compelling adequate organization and commercialization program to be capable to license our patent,” Goodman mentioned. “From there, I have to give all the credit to NASA for assisting us create that partnership.” NASA and Brite somehow teamed up to bring us to Ohio.

Goodman declined to be particular about the company’s operations. But he mentioned strong oxide cells could play a considerable part as a energy supply for emergency backup stations and as auxiliary energy for ground and air transportation. “I assume the future encompasses the complete power space,” he mentioned.

The partnership is a single of lots of that NASA Glenn hopes to cultivate with the private sector across Northeast Ohio to bring its technologies to market place, mentioned Tom Doehne, NASA Glenn’s Workplace of Technologies Incubation and Innovation.

“Most men and women assume it is really tricky to operate with a government agency,” Doehne mentioned. “We attempt to make it simple for men and women to attain and realize our applications.”

Doehne was the featured speaker at an informational technologies transfer seminar held at America Tends to make on Thursday. APEX Accelerator at Youngstown State University, Brite Power, Youngstown Business enterprise Incubator and America Tends to make hosted the occasion.

“We have a lot of diverse technologies that we want to commercialize,” Doehne mentioned.

Numerous mainstream goods have come out of NASA technologies, space exploration and investigation, Doehne mentioned. These include things like memory foam, firefighting gear, GPS technologies, cell telephone imaging technologies, satellite and space communications, invisible prostheses and wireless technologies, Doehne mentioned.

Even child formula and the Dust Buster vacuum cleaner have their origins in NASA, he added.

The space agency has also pioneered operate on sophisticated supplies and electrical systems that could be employed and applied by companies in a wide variety of industries.

“People today are asking yourself what we’re really developing with NASA technologies,” Doehne mentioned. “There are points you use in your every day life that you in all probability never know come from NASA technologies.”

Doehne mentioned NASA gives funding possibilities via its standard compact organization innovation investigation and compact organization technologies transfer applications. Each initiatives are created to aid corporations take benefit of technologies created by NASA in the private sector.

Little firms – these with fewer than 500 personnel – can participate in the SBIR plan as a stand-alone entity. Nonetheless, to qualify for STTR funding, a organization need to also companion with a non-profit investigation institution.

Doehne mentioned the objective is to use NASA Glenn to increase the economy all through Northeast Ohio. Nonetheless, lots of corporations awarded early funding for their SBIR plan, for instance, do not normally move on to Phase II and Phase III funding.

That led to the adoption of a new plan, SBIR Ignite, which focuses on funding entrepreneurs and start out-up corporations aiming to bring new technologies to complete commercialization via 3 phases, Doehne mentioned.

NASA’s technologies transfer initiatives include things like developing partnerships across the nation with universities and organizations that want to help entrepreneurs and start out-ups that use NASA technologies, Doehne mentioned.

One particular plan, the University of Technologies Transfer, is particularly created to engage students, he mentioned. “We ask them to use our technologies portfolio in their entrepreneurship classes,” he mentioned. Through the course, students would understand about licensing and industrial possibilities with NASA.

If a company’s demands match the mission and technologies created by NASA, they could license the technologies and access the agency’s patent portfolio, Doehne mentioned.

A investigation license, for instance, makes it possible for a enterprise to operate with the technologies and its inventor to additional investigation how it can be integrated into the industrial market place, Doehne mentioned. “It provides you a runway to operate with the technologies and get a true overview of what your solution is,” he mentioned.

The license is absolutely free for start out-ups and universities, but is $two,500 for all other applicants, he mentioned.

The government use license is granted to organizations that do investigation and aid NASA with its mission, Doehne mentioned. This license could not be employed for industrial purposes, only for government use.

The industrial license, on the other hand, makes it possible for a private entity to safe the rights to manufacture and sell goods primarily based on NASA technologies, Doehne mentioned. These licenses are each non-exclusive – that is, open to any enterprise to use in the similar region – and partially exclusive, enabling a enterprise to enter a particular market place, such as metals or transportation.

Jon Loveland, procurement consultant for The APEX Accelerator at ISU, mentioned the objective of Thursday’s occasion is to introduce regional companies and firms to industrial possibilities with NASA.

“We’ve worked with their technologies transfer workplace for quite a few years,” Loveland mentioned. Nonetheless, this is the very first NASA occasion to include things like sources from APEX, Brite, IBI and America Tends to make.

“The complete objective is to get men and women to use our technologies,” Doehne mentioned. “We are not right here to make a lot of revenue on these technologies.” Taxpayer revenue has supported and paid for the investigation, and all we’re attempting to do is get these technologies back out there so business can have an influence.”

Pictured at the major: James O. Wilson of the US Patent and Trademark Workplace Aaron Goodman, CEO of Petra Energy Tom Doehne, a specialist in the technologies transfer workplace at NASA Glenn Analysis Center and Harvey Schabes, NASA Glenn Chief, Workplace of Technologies Transfer.

Copyright 2023 The Business enterprise Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.