Happy New Year from NASA OSBP

This year will bring unique challenges to the NASA Office of Small Business Programs, including the ongoing administration transition. While we are prepared to carry on serving the NASA small business community and the incoming leadership, I’d like to take a moment to thank former NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. Since 2009, his recognition of the contributions that small businesses make to NASA has allowed us to grow our small business base and achieve critical mission successes. Both the agency and I will miss his steadfast leadership and we wish him nothing but the best moving forward.

We are ready to face the challenges of 2017 head on. It currently appears that NASA surpassed our negotiated FY16 Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) goal; however, we will fall short of achieving the statutory goals for Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone), Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB), Service-Disabled Veteran–Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), and overall Small Business goal. 

In an effort to achieve these goals in the future, NASA developed a Small Business Improvement Plan for fiscal years 2016 and 2017. Moving forward, we will continue to focus on the following initiatives:

1. Advocacy:  Promote small business programs through advocacy and collaborative efforts with internal and external partners/stakeholders.

2. Outreach:  Promote small business awareness and participation, utilizing innovative techniques at non-traditional venues in geographically targeted areas, to enhance all categories of small business.

3. Small Business Sub-Category Improvement:  Improve Agency performance in small business subcategories by identifying, increasing, and promoting small business prime contracting opportunities.

In addition to the above initiatives, we will continue to discover innovative ways of reaching our small business base. A prime example is our ongoing HBCU/MSI Technology Infusion Road Tour with the NASA Office of Education and the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD). The Road Show is designed to assist educational institutions integrate new technology that supports the Agency’s mission while aiding NASA in making and exceeding our 1% goal for Historically Black Colleges and Universities/Minority Serving Institution. I was excited to attend our first successful Road Show stop of the year last week at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

We will look back on 2016 with fond memories and face 2017 with determination. Happy New Year from all of us here at the NASA Office of Small Business Programs. We look forward to working with you.

2nd Annual NASA Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs)/Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) Partnerships Meeting

I am pleased to announce that the Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP) will be holding the 2nd Annual NASA Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs)/Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) Partnerships Meeting.This event is hosted by NASA's Office of Small Business Programs, the Office of Education and the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Small Business Office. This event is crucial for targeting NASA's current and future prime and subcontracting opportunities for HBCUs/MSIs. One of our centerwide goals has always been to target this particular socioeconomic category by providing an event for HBCU/MSI representatives to network. NASA's prime contractors such as Aerojet Rocketdyn, Ch2M Hill, Jacobs, Lockeed Martin, United Launch Alliance, SAIC, Orbital ATK, The Boeing Company, Northrop Gruman, Teledyne Brown Engineering and Wyle will be in attendance. This special opportunity will be hosted by Marshall Space Flight Center on September 16, 2015. Please visit this link for further details and to register.

High-Tech Small Business at Ames Research Center

I had the opportunity to go to Ames Research Center (ARC) where I met with many companies to learn about their current projects coming out of the Research Park. High-Tech Small Businesses with emerging technologies are constantly providing NASA with the resources to reach our goals faster than ever before. Just to name a few, I had the opportunity to meet with a company called skyTran. They are working on transporting high-speed vehicles using magnetic levitation (Maglev) with a patented Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system. I got to see the folks over at Made In Space for the second time this year. Made In Space is the SBIR/STTR Phase II Company that invented the 3-D printer that operates in zero gravity. Rhombus Power, is known for a scaleable platform for detecting sub-atomic particles with their product known as Mercury. Scanadu Technology uses sensor technology to personalize medicine and The Peregrine Falcon Corporation helped design parabolic reflectors for the A1 antenna on the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU-A) flight instrument. It was a pleasure meeting each and every one of these companies and learning about their continued successes at NASA. 

With the folks at skyTran

2015 National Small Business Week

2015 National Small Business Week was a great success! I wanted to highlight a significant experience I had while at Ames Research Center (ARC) for our Small Business Improvement Plan (SBIP) Meeting. I had the opportunity to meet the staff and management of a SBIR Phase II company called Made In Space. Made In Space has a partnership with NASA and is located at ARC. What makes this small business so unique is that they designed and engineered the first ever 3-D printer that operates in zero gravity in space. In 2014, Space X launched the printer out of Cape Canaveral, Florida en route to the International Space Station (ISS). They started with sending specific code to the ISS where they printed the first ever manufactured in space object. This means that they are able to print a real tangible object to use to their benefit at the ISS. Yes, I know what you are thinking, literally out of this world manufacturing!

Talking tech with senior staff at Made In Space

Also during Small Business Week the NASA Administrator had the privilege to meet a Small Business in DC called Compass Coffee. Compass Coffee is owned by Marines that use NASA technology when brewing their coffee. The technology used is called Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) controllers. When roasting the coffee beans, this technology measures time temperature profiles to ensure every cup of coffee tastes the same. Another technology used is near infrared abridged spectrometry (NIRS) which NASA uses to collect data for the Aqua satellite about Earth’s water cycle. Compass Coffee uses the same technology to assure that each cup has the same level of quinic acid. Why? Again, for the same great taste each time a cup is brewed. There is more space in your life than you think! 

View the video for more information here: