A
new creative initiative was proposed to me not too long ago by one of my
Project Managers’, Ms. Tabisa Kalisa, on how we can better increase our
partnerships and engagement with Historically Black Colleges and
Universities/Minority Serving Institutions (HBCUs/MSIs). The event would be
hosted by the Office of Small Business Programs, the Office of Education and
the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD). The initiative would test out
a pilot program called the NASA Historically Black Colleges and Universities/Minority
Serving Institutions (HBCUs/MSIs) Technology Infusion Road Tour. At the 2nd
Annual HBCU/MSI Partnerships Meeting at Marshall Space Flight Center there was
great interest expressed from colleges and universities that wanted to participate in the pilot
program including North Carolina Central University, The University of Texas at El
Paso and Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University whom were among those selected to
participate in FY16.
This
initiative is two-fold as it is designed to help assist educational institutions
integrate new technology that supports the Agency’s mission and it also aids
NASA in making and exceeding our 1% goal for HBCUs/MSIs. We are also the only
Agency in the government with this goal to date.
Our
first event for the NASA HBCU/MSI Technology Infusion Road Tour was held at
North Carolina Central University on March 22-24, 2016. I was able to attend
the first two days of the event and I have to say I was quite impressed with
all the enthusiasm and participation among the attendees. There were about 50
HBCU/MSI attendees and a good amount of NASA prime contractors including Boeing
and SAIC that participated in the open forum Q&A. This was a good
opportunity to ask questions about the Mentor Protégé Program, STMD’s Small
Business Innovative Research/Small Business Technical Transfer opportunities and
the Office of Education’s grant and cooperative agreement opportunities. I felt
like the event was extremely productive and we took away many lessons learned
to make our next event even more beneficial.
The
next NASA HBCU/MSI Technology Infusion Road Tour will be on April 19-21, 2016
at The University of Texas at El Paso. Based off our first event, I have no doubt
that I will be just as impressed with this one if not
more. Our Eventbrite link is open where you can register and find out more
details on this upcoming Road Tour.
I
wish everyone a happy and safe spring and thank you for reading my latest post!
