Volume 1 | September 2021
The Office of Technology Incubation and Innovation at NASA Glenn
The NASA Glenn Research Center has called Northeast Ohio home for 80 years this year. We are proud of the contributions we have provided to our local community and appreciate the support received. As the Director of Glenn’s Office of Technology Incubation and Innovation, I am excited to introduce the first edition of our technology newsletter highlighting the various activities we are embarking on to accelerate the development of aerospace technologies, and to catalyze economic growth by engaging with and transferring technology to the private sector, employing partnerships, and joining forces with our local academic institutions. Stay tuned for our next newsletter with more information about our achievements in Glenn's Office of Technology Incubation and Innovation.
-All the best, Mary J. Lobo
Featured Technology
Glenn's Superelastic Tire is a non-pneumatic design featuring innovative Shape Memory Alloys. These tires were originally designed for lunar and Martian rovers, and are capable of traveling over the harshest planetary terrain without sustaining damage. This technology represents the latest evolution of the Spring Tire which was invented by NASA Glenn and Goodyear, and inspired by the
Apollo lunar tires. This patented technology even has found uses here on Earth as a bike tire.
Agency Highlight
As the Agency’s power systems lead, NASA Glenn has been tasked with managing the Space Technology Mission Directorate’s Watts on the Moon Challenge.

Watts on the Moon is a technology design competition challenge asking U.S. innovators–from garage tinkerers to university researchers and startup entrepreneurs–to imagine a next-generation energy infrastructure on the Moon.

Sixty teams submitted original design concepts aimed at meeting future needs for robust and flexible lunar technologies to power human and robotic outposts. After in-depth evaluation, NASA awarded $500,000 to seven teams for Phase I development during a private ceremony May 20, 2021.
Stay tuned for more information on Watts on the Moon Phase II and other NASA design challenge opportunities.

Learn more about the winning teams here!
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II Update
NASA has a long history of supporting American entrepreneurs as
they develop technologies from ideas to commercial readiness. The agency’s SBIR program is furthering that legacy with 140 new Phase II awards to 127 U.S. small businesses, including six companies based in Ohio, that will help them move their innovations to market. At approximately $21 million, NASA Glenn has oversight of the largest SBIR 2020 Phase II portfolio in the Agency, which includes technologies for potential future use in aeronautics, space technology, science and human exploration.
Meet the Technology Transfer Expansion (T2X) Program
Formerly NASA GRC’s Regional Economic Development (RED) Program
Technology Transfer Expansion (T2X) focuses on working with entrepreneurs and startup companies to license NASA’s technologies and develop commercial products. Within T2X, the Technology Transfer University (T2U) program works to connect university student entrepreneurs with NASA-developed technologies to build case studies and business plans, perform customer discovery and market research, about technology commercialization and licensing opportunities. We are pleased to announce Youngstown State University and Baldwin Wallace University have incorporated and completed the T2U program as part of their 2021 spring semester.

The GRC’s T2X team is seeking additional universities in Ohio and the Great Lakes States to participate in 2021. To learn more about T2U, please click here or contact Tom Doehne at thomas.m.doehne@nasa.gov for additional information.
The Future of Aeronautics: Connecting the
University of Cincinnati, NASA, and Industry in Ohio
In March 2021, NASA Glenn and the University of Cincinnati held a virtual conference to explore collaboration opportunities in support of NASA’s evolving aeronautics goals.

The event featured a variety of speakers, including, Charles Doarn, Director of UC's Space Research Institute; Kristi Nelson, UC’s provost; Steve Jurczyk, former Associate Administrator of NASA; Dr. Marla Pérez-Davis, Director of NASA Glenn; and several elected officials, including Senators Brown and Portman, Congressmen Gonzales; and Ohio's Lt. Governor Jon Husted.
Bob Pearce, NASA’s Associate Administrator for Aeronautics Research, served as keynote, outlined NASA’s priorities in sustainable aviation, advanced air mobility, and future economic growth.

Breakout sessions led by NASA, UC and invited guests covered technology development and sharing opportunities, and set the stage for research and programmatic collaborations.

More info about the event can can be viewed here.
NASA Glenn License Update- NIRVANA Energy Systems
Nirvana Energy Systems of Silicon Valley, California, operates their primary research, development, and manufacturing facility in Strongsville, Ohio. The company previously
licensed NASA Glenn’s Stirling Thermoacoustic Power Converter and Magnetostrictive Alternator and created an efficient microcombined heat and power (m-CHP) system based on the technology. The m-CHP system converts gas into electricity in domestic water and space heating for residential use. From m-CHP system, Nirvana recently developed a cryocooler device called Xtreme Freezer that operates at temperatures from near freezing to below that of liquid nitrogen (approximately -370 degrees F). This efficient freezer may be used in delivering COVID-19 vaccines to rural and hard to reach areas.
Newsworthy:
Dr. Robert Okojie was selected for the NASA Inventors Hall of Fame. Dr. Okojie joined NASA Glenn's silicon carbide research group in 1999. He holds more than 20 patents relating to high-temperature devices, including several licensed for
commercial use that could reduce spacecraft weight, and thereby launch cost and fuel consumption, while leaving additional space for scientific payloads. Additionally, Dr. Okojie has also published more than 50 peer reviewed papers, and his current research focuses on single chip integrated multifunctional sensing for extreme environments. Dr. Okojie is one of the many subject matter experts at NASA Glenn who provide guidance to licensees on the potential utilization of their inventions, and partner with external entities to solve complex problems. Dr. Okojie’s technologies can be licensed through the Technology Transfer website.