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TechLink Helps Companies in Northwest Blast Into AeroSpace
Bozeman - March 27, 2001 The TechLink Center at Montana State University helps companies throughout the Northwest to establish productive technology development and commercialization partnerships with NASA, the Department of Defense (DoD), and other federal agencies. TechLink's primary focus is to match the technology-related needs and strengths of industries with those in NASA, DoD, and other federal laboratories. TechLink offers a range of services, free of charge, to client companies. These services include partnering with federal labs for joint technology development, providing access to specialized government research facilities, assisting with licensing technology from the federal government, and assisting with commercializing new technology. TechLink is steadily expanding its presence in the Northwest. In the past three years, the organization has established more than 45 partnerships -- the majority for joint technology development projects with NASA or DoD laboratories. "Partnerships with the federal labs help companies in multiple ways," said Will Swearingen, executive director of TechLink. "Some of the benefits of these partnerships include expedited research and development, open doors to government evaluation of new company technologies, access to world-class experts and facilities, added product visibility, and productive, long-term business relationships." TechLink provides specialized assistance in nine industry areas: advanced materials, aerospace, agricultural technologies, biomedicine and biotechnology, electronics and telecommunications, photonics and sensors, forest and wood products, software and information technologies, and environmental technologies. Sophisticated propulsion technology and high-tech monitoring and control systems are becoming increasingly important in the aerospace industry. TechLink has assisted high-tech companies through-out its region by helping them to form partnerships with federal labs and research facilities to evaluate innovative fuels, rocket components, sensors, and even planetary substances. For example, TechLink helped to broker a Space Act Agreement, signed in June 2000, between NASA Johnson Space Center and MSE Technology Applications of Butte, Mont., for development of advanced rocket technology. MSE's innovative propulsion technology has the potential to cut in half the time required to reach Mars or other planets. TechLink forged a partnership between Wickman Spacecraft & Propulsion Company of Casper, Wyo., and NASA Ames Research Center to test both a prototype rocket and a new vehicle that could someday replace the aging fleet of space shuttles. John Wickman, owner of Wickman Spacecraft & Propulsion, is building a low cost launcher and launch facility using "off the shelf" components. From Casper, Wickman will launch a sounding rocket carrying a model sharp leading-edge spacecraft. TechLink helped Killdeer Mountain Manufacturing (KMM) of Killdeer, ND to license and commercialize technology developed by the U.S. Air Force to detect damaged wiring in aircraft before it creates a public safety hazard. There are miles of electrical wiring inside aircraft that can become worn and frayed with age, causing short-circuits in electrical systems or sparking fires. KMM is developing a wire chafing detector - an early warning system - that is poised to vastly improve commercial and military aircraft safety. TechLink helped to form a cooperative partnership under a Space Act Agreement between the Sho-Ban School on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in Idaho, NASA Johnson Space Center, and J.R. Simplot Co. of Boise, to conduct an experiment in planetary agriculture. The Sho-Ban students have designed an experiment with agronomists and researchers from Simplot to cultivate plants in a combination of simulated Martian soil, zeolite, and synthetic urine. The students will fly their crops on the Space Shuttle to study how crops will grow in space, and on other worlds. TechLink is strongly positioned to assist its clients in moving their technologies to market. For more information about TechLink visit the website for an overview of its aerospace initiatives. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links TechLink SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express The latest information about the Commercial Satellite Industry
Squeezing Ukraine In Space
Moscow (UPI) Dec 18, 2005Despite political differences, Russia and Ukraine used to play on the same "space" field in pre-"Orange Revolution" times. Today the situation is radically altered and the Ukrainian space industry risks stagnating and losing its positions as the space component of the national economy. |
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