National Aeronautics and Space Administration

By: U.S Department of Education

Open Prize Competitions

• The main challenges of interest that are live right now are
• NASA TechRise Student Challenge 2022-23
• NASA Earth Science in Action Comic Strip Contest
• Ultralight Starshade
• Spacecraft Docking Adapter with a Flexible but Load-Bearing Floor
• Mars Spectrometry: Detect Evidence for Past Life
  • Note also that we also have a crowd search (not a challenge) currently going on with Yet2.com that is: NASA Inclusive and Equitable Hybrid Work Environment that is identifying tools, techniques, methods, ideas, concepts, and platforms for hybrid/remote work, focusing on solutions that can recreate spontaneous interactions in an inclusive way.
  • Finally, one thing I wanted to mention during our discussion was something novel we are doing internally at NASA to engage HBU’s – all of our task orders for crowdsourcing challenges include the following outreach requirements language:
  • “Provide marketing and outreach that promotes the participation of underserved and/or minority communities and educational institutions.”

Technology Licensing

• We manage the JSC intellectual property portfolio to facilitate the commercialization of NASA-sponsored research and technology and provide strong assistance to entrepreneurs, companies, and investors to bring NASA technologies to the marketplace.
• NASA develops all sorts of technology to solve the tough challenges of exploring space, advancing the understanding of our home planet, and improving air transportation.
• Often, those same inventions have other untapped applications.
• Through patent licensing, those technologies can be transformed into commercial products and solutions that can give a startup or new business that competitive edge.

Tech Transfer University

• NASA’s T2U program connects universities with NASA-developed technology to give students the opportunity to work with federal government research and technology.

SBIR/STTR

• SBIR is Small Business Innovation Research, STTR is Small Business Technology Transfer.
• STRGs and EPSCOR for academia (students and faculty) 
• This program provides early stage funding and experience working directly with NASA experts on missions, a way to hone business skills while de-risking your technology as it develops, and a community of like-minded people.