Exhibit Provides Favorable Conditions
he Small Business
Innovation Research (SBIR) Technology Exhibit, the first of its kind,
was held recently at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland,
to showcase SBIR contractors doing business with Goddard, while providing
a favorable atmosphere for building business contacts. The day-long exhibit
was held in conjunction with Goddard's Twenty-Fifth Annual Small and Small
Disadvantaged Business Conference to give small businesses a forum for
pursuing additional opportunities with Goddard, other government agencies
and private industry to commercially market their technologies.
Research and development achievements were displayed by a variety of small businesses from all over the country, including Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Florida and California. Companies' technical representatives shared information on technologies and innovations developed with funding from the NASA SBIR program. Eighteen SBIR companies exhibited 20 NASA/Goddard-developed SBIR technologies, and approximately 200 participants attended the informative, cutting-edge displays and demonstrations and picked up company literature.
Several of these SBIR companies have converted NASA-developed technologies into commercial products. This includes a Florida company that developed a unique, low-cost additive that increases the performance of air conditioners, heat pumps, refrigerators and freezers (see page 18).
The entire NASA SBIR and Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) proposal solicitation and evaluation processes are supported by the work of an SBIR contractor. REI Systems, Inc., McLean, Virginia, has developed a web-based electronic handbook system to manage complex, distributed, information-intensive processes in an integrated and intuitive environment.
Two NASA/Goddard SBIR companies (Composite Optics, Inc., of San Diego, California, and Illgen Simulation Technologies, Inc.) were selected as presenters at the 1998 Semi-Annual Science Forum. Each high-tech small company presented its technical capabilities to key NASA personnel, including management, scientists, engineers, procurement specialists and major prime contractors. This forum provided these small firms with a significant marketing opportunity.
Paul Mexcur, the NASA SBIR and STTR Program Manager, presented an overview of the NASA SBIR program. Dr. E. James Chern, SBIR/STTR Program Manager at Goddard, presented information on NASA/Goddard programs. The event, sponsored by Goddard's Technology Commercialization Office, brought forth positive interaction about the technologies on display and their potential relevance to planned and current projects.
The NASA SBIR/STTR program is now available on the World Wide Web at http://sbir.nasa.gov. The site provides comprehensive information on program solicitations, participation guidelines and the NASA Small Business Innovation Center, a growing resource for locating technologies and partners.
For more information, contact E. James Chern at Goddard Space Flight
Center. Call (301) 286-5836, E-mail: engmin.j.chern.1@gsfc.nasa.gov
.
Or contact Nancy A. MacLennan, SBIR program, at Goddard. Call (301) 286-6705,
E-mail: nancy.a.maclennan.1@gsfc.nasa.gov
Please mention you read about it in Innovation.
