For Release: June 15, 1995

June Malone
Office of Media Services
(205) 544-0034
june.malone@msfc.nasa.gov

RELEASE: 95-39

NASA AND ALABAMA RENEW TECHNOLOGY AGREEMENT WHICH HAS BOOSTED STATE ECONOMY BY $90 MILLION

A cooperative agreement between NASA and the State of Alabama that has resulted in new jobs and new products worth $90 million to Alabama's economy over the past 30 months was renewed today in Montgomery.

Alabama Governor Fob James Jr., NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin, and Porter Bridwell, director of the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., met at the state capitol to reaffirm a memorandum of understanding which facilitates the transfer of space technologies to businesses, academic institutions and individuals in the state.

"The State of Alabama has had a long and productive association with NASA," Governor James said. "Renewal of this agreement extends that relationship to further benefit the people of Alabama."

The technology transfer agreement was established with the state in 1989 and has been renewed four times by succeeding state administrations.

"NASA looks forward to continuing to work with Alabama to explore ways space technology can be used in commercial and academic applications," said Goldin. "Ultimately, it is the American people who reap the benefits from what is accomplished by America's space program.

"NASA is much more than satellites and Space Shuttles," Goldin emphasized. "Each of its field centers conducts research activities the fruits of which are being transferred to American business, education centers and individuals to help ensure our nation remains on the cutting edge of technology in the global marketplace."

"Our purpose in signing this agreement," said Bridwell, "is to reaffirm the very successful working relationship we have developed with the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs. We intend to continue to develop innovative processes that will enhance Alabama's competitiveness at home and in the global economy."

Under the terms of the memorandum of understanding, NASA, through the Marshall Center, will continue to work economic development activities with the State of Alabama to promote transfer of aerospace technologies and innovations developed by NASA and NASA contractors to schools, businesses and individuals for whom the technology may be of benefit. Through the agreement the technology assets of the 752-member federal laboratory system may be accessed as well.

Alabama has benefited greatly from past technology transfers, according to Harry Craft, manager of the Technology Transfer Office at the Marshall Center. "An analysis shows that some 1,700 jobs have been created or saved here, and nearly 80 new products have been introduced just during the past two-and-a-half-years," said Craft. "The value of this effort to the state during that time exceeds $90 million."

While the transfer of technologies has included many major industries and universities, those benefiting most have been small businesses with $1 million to $5 million in annual sales, 50 or fewer employees, and which have been in business 10 years or less -- essentially firms which have not yet reached the level of having their own research and development branches but are looking to improve or expand their product line.

There are many examples of NASA technology at work in Alabama, according to Craft. An Anniston, Ala., tool company is bringing its products to market more quickly and at a reduced cost thanks to rapid prototyping technologies pioneered for the space program by the Marshall Center. Rapid prototyping is the process of quickly developing one-of-a-kind models or prototypes for testing and evaluation.

A Birmingham company is identifying eye diseases in children as young as six months of age, thanks to a Marshall-developed Photo Refractor Ocular Screening System. The system derived from space program technologies can identify more than a dozen different eye diseases, some of which can lead to blindness if left untreated. During the last school year more than 170,000 Alabama children in kindergarten through second grade were tested, with about 10 percent of the students being identified as needing professional medical care.

A Birmingham prosthetics company is using a high-temperature tooling foam, developed from NASA's Space Shuttle External Tank program. The foam is lighter, more durable, easily machined, and requires less curing time than plaster of paris which has traditionally been used in making master molds from which prostheses for amputees are cast.