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OCTOBER 17 - 23, 2011
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NASA: Manufacturers show interest continued from PAGE 1
The technologies are far ranging and include things like a special copper alloy that NASA developed for rocket nozzles. Those nozzles have to withstand tremendous temperatures and other harsh environmental conditions. As it turns out, they also make great welding electrodes that can be used on robotic welders — electrodes that last far longer than those available using other metals, NASA says. “If you have a bunch of welding robots, and you don’t have to stop everything to change electrodes as often as before, that’s a big deal,” Dr. Bartolotta said. “That’s one of the things that’s going to be introduced at the show.”
What color’s your technology? Also set to be unveiled is the material NASA developed to keep jet engine blades from penetrating the bodies of jet engines and plane fuselages. The material, a type of foam sandwiched between special layers of something similar to carbon fiber, is super tough, but it’s also light. It might even serve as a new, lighter skin for NASA’s next rocket, though it could be useful in making lighter and stronger car bodies, Dr. Bartolotta said. Other technologies include sensors and controls that could help hybrid or electric cars become more efficient; solid oxide fuel cells to power vehicles; new materials that can be used to contain pressurized natural gas; and green polymers that put out only water and not noxious gases when they are used. It’s not as though NASA or even NASA Glenn in Cleveland has avoided commercializing technology in the past. But Dr. Bartolotta said much of the agency’s past attempts at commercialization have involved working with the aerospace industry. Now, he said, the
agency is branching out to help a broader swath of U.S. manufacturing — and potentially help NASA pay for itself via licensing agreements, development partnerships or other projects where industry pays to use or even further develop NASA’s inventions. “NASA is open for business. We’re opening our safe, so to speak,” Dr. Bartolotta said. In its last fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2011, NASA Glenn brought in $41.8 million in new business from its technology transfer efforts, said agency spokeswoman Katherine Martin. About $17 million of that involved letting companies use NASA’s labs and facilities, for things like wind-tunnel testing of wind-energy equipment; and the remaining $24.8 million came from licensing and collaborative research efforts with industry, like what it hopes to conduct with automakers, she said. Dr. Bartolotta said NASA is trying to be easier to work with than before, and described the current effort as a “product pull,” rather than a technology push. What’s the difference? “A technology push is when I say, ‘I have this new material for you,’ and then you say, ‘I like it, but I need it in green.’ Then I say, ‘I have it in yellow, here, take it’ — that’s the way technology has been pushed in the past,” Dr. Bartolotta said. Now, he said, NASA is seeking not only to introduce its technologies, but to work with industry to advance and amend them to suit business needs. In other words, he said, if you need it in green, NASA will try to make it that color.
Eager to launch The manufacturing sector seems interested too, and the Oct. 27 event is being co-sponsored by the Center for Automotive Research at Ohio State University and the Clevelandbased manufacturing advocacy and
consulting group Magnet. “I think it’s going to be very good — NASA’s got a lot of great technology to share,” said Ed Nolan, vice president of product development and engineering at Magnet and a member of the focus groups that helped select the technologies NASA will present. Mr. Nolan said today’s auto industry faces many of the same challenges confronted by aerospace companies — how to make vehicles lighter, more efficient, more powerful and easier or less costly to manufacture. It makes sense to turn to NASA for ideas on how to do that, he said, and he’s glad to see NASA embrace the opportunity. “I think it’s a different NASA than we’ve seen in the past — more open and wanting to share their technologies with the industrial community,” Mr. Nolan said. Even some in the automotive sector who had not yet heard of the event said they thought it was a good idea that sparked their interest. “I hadn’t received an invite for this event yet, (but it) sounds pretty interesting,” said Bill Adler, president of Cleveland-based Stripmatic Products, a maker of tubular products used in suspension systems and other automotive components. U.S. companies in the automotive supply chain constantly are looking for ways to be more competitive, including by looking out for new technologies and materials, Mr. Adler said. The show is not open to everyone, though. NASA, Magnet and other show sponsors invited 600 companies from around the nation; about 110 already have signed up, Mr. Nolan said. Others can attend, by contacting Magnet, he said, but only if they are representatives of manufacturers in the auto industry. ■
Boost: Operator eyes 20 more continued from PAGE 3
process is a nice validation of the work we’re doing. Those are critical dollars that enable us to replicate the successful school model and expand the Breakthrough network.” Breakthrough was pitted against applications from 34 other charter groups around the country. Breakthrough’s leaders attribute its academic results as the key factor in securing the funding. U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement that grantees serve “a student population that is majority low-income and virtually all exceed the average academic performance for all students in their state.” Breakthrough Schools doesn’t receive any funding from local governments for its efforts, but it does receive state and federal dollars, though significantly less than the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. Still, the group’s leaders maintain its students outperform students in Ohio’s urban and suburban schools. According to data from Breakthrough, its students, who are 95% African American and 80% from low-income families, outperformed other Ohio students on every test at every grade level last year. “We’re gaining some notoriety
and publicity, but it’s because of what’s happening in the schools — the job the teachers are doing and our kids work hard to get good academic results,” Mr. Rosskamm said. Breakthrough’s goal is to have 20 operational charter schools in its network by 2020, serving more than 7,000 students in the area, according to John Zitzner, president of Friends of Breakthrough, the fundraising and advocacy arm of the charter school network. The network now serves about 1,300 children. Mr. Zitzner said Breakthrough plans to raise as much as $4 million over its next fiscal year, which ends in June, to support the organization’s rapid growth strategy. Last year, the organization brought in more than $2 million with the help of major gifts from the Cleveland-based iron ore producer Cliffs Natural Resources and the Wickliffe-based specialty chemicals company Lubrizol Corp. Mr. Zitzner said the organization continues to talk with area companies, foundations and individuals about financially backing its efforts. “It’s a very significant grant that we deserve, and it’ll help us toward that $4 million, but by no means does it take us where we need to go,” he said. “It just puts us in right direction.” ■
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