NASA TecFusion™ Program

Thanks to the NASA TecFusion™ program, small companies and entrepreneurs are given an opportunity to present, license, and sell their technologies to large corporations. The successful program spurs economic development by spinning innovative technologies into the market, potentially leading to new jobs.

The TecFusion program works to identify areas of technology interest in major corporations, according to Garry Miller, a senior technical specialist with PennTAP and coordinator for TecFusion events. Once that’s done, the TecFusion team conducts a search of Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) technologies that might be of interest to the corporation. A typical search yields 100-150 technologies.

“The corporation then selects organizations they’d like to invite to an event,” Miller explains, “and we help facilitate a technology summit at the corporate site.” The event is like a mini-trade show, where the companies provide information about themselves, give a presentation, and have networking opportunities. The corporation then decides to which companies they will extend partnerships.

“The relationships we see come out of the program include licensing, the sale of technology, joint development programs, and possibly acquisitions,” Miller says. “We’ve done nineteen summits now, and it’s proved to be an effective way to transfer technology.”

Penn State and NASA joined forces on this program largely due to Miller. “I was the Pennsylvania affiliate for the NASA regional technology program, where NASA was looking to spin technologies out of the agency,” he says. “They wanted to spin technologies that were meant for space missions into the private sector. When that program came to a conclusion in 2005, I was asked if I wanted to participate in this new technology infusion program.”

A recent event with Audiovox, a major supplier of wireless and communication products, is a testimony to the success of this program. Having first participated in a 2006 TecFusion event through a former employer, Lou Lenzi, senior vice president of product management at Audiovox, introduced the event to his company.

“I felt Audiovox could benefit from this program, so I contacted Garry Miller to express my interest,” Lenzi says.

Lenzi identified several technical areas of interest to Audiovox: power, RF reception, and acoustics. From an initial 150 SBIR matches, Lenzi cut the list to 20 projects. Those companies were then invited to participate in the day-long event.

“From there we sifted down to four companies, which we have further engaged,” Lenzi says. “We took those companies to our industry’s annual trade show in Las Vegas and presented future technologies based on their work.”

Lenzi said Audiovox has found a lot of value in the TecFusion program and plans to do another in the near future.

“It’s a great example of using government-funded research to commercialize new technologies and help these SBIR companies,” he says. “It furthers their business, furthers my business, and better leverages taxpayer dollars that are funding that research.”

In the end, the NASA TecFusion program is a win-win for everyone, says Don Mothersbaugh, who represented the Penn State Industrial Research Office at the Audiovox event.

“In only a day or two, the host company accomplishes a year’s worth of prospecting for new technologies and partners. The small SBIR Phase II companies involved get an audience of executives from a large corporation that they otherwise may not have been able to access,” Mothersbaugh says. “NASA wins because they are able to move these technologies into the mainstream, allowing industry to help develop them to the point where they become useful and affordable to use in future missions and projects. And finally, Penn State wins because we are able to build rapport with both the small SBIR II companies and host companies which can lead to collaborative research or the licensing of Penn State intellectual property.”

Miller deems the program a success. “We have several companies that are planning their second or third event, so it must be working.”

For more information:
Garry Miller, sgmiller@psu.edu, 570.722.5854