Volume 11, Number 3 • Fall 2003 • Technology Transfer

Commercial Firm To Enhance Software

(L–R) Kamaran Nouri, ITEM Software President; Dr. Ali Mosleh, University of Maryland; Kamyar Nouri, ITEM Software Executive Vice President; Dr. Frank Groen, University of Maryland; Dr. Michael Stamatelatos, NASA Headquarters; and Dr. Akash Gupta, ITEM Software. NASA Headquarters.

The University of Maryland (UMD) announced in early July 2003 the exclusive licensing of the NASA-sponsored Quantitative Risk Assessment System (QRAS) to Item Software, Inc., of Anaheim, CA. The license agreement enables the commercial enhancement of this innovative Probabilistic Risk Assessment software system for a worldwide market, as well as NASA mission programs.

NASA’s Office of Safety and Mission Assurance began the development of QRAS in 1996. Jointly developed with researchers at the UMD, QRAS software automatically expands the reliability logic models of systems to evaluate the probability of highly detrimental outcomes occurring in complex systems that are subject to potential accident scenarios. The software is designed for managers and design engineers with minimal, specialized training. Following the delivery of the latest version of the QRAS software in January 2003, the UMD and NASA continued their collaboration by working to license QRAS for commercial development and sale.

Item Software (http://www.itemsoft.com), established in 1986, offers software solutions, along with consulting and training services, for reliability, availability, maintainability, safety, quality assurance and risk assessment to government and commercial customers in aerospace and other industries. The company plans to build on the state-of-the-art features of QRAS, preparing the software for commercial sale as part of its suite of software and associated services. Item Software will handle distribution, support and training for the software.

In addition to bolstering the technological capabilities of Item Software and transitioning QRAS for commercial use, the company’s market-driven enhancement of the QRAS software is expected to improve its utility for NASA mission programs. *

For more information, contact contact Kamran Nouri, CEO of Item Software, Inc., 714/935-2900, itemusa@itemsoft.com, or Jonathan Root at jonathan.root@nasa.gov at NASA Headquarters. Please mention you read about it in Innovation.

NASA Official: Jonathan Root • Web Design: Printing & Design Office, NASA Headquarters • Credits