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Release: 00-142

U.S. Space Foundation honors
NASA Marshall program manager

Helen Stinson, of the Technology Transfer Department at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., has been inducted into the U.S. Space Foundation’s Space Technology Hall of Fame.

Stinson, program manager for Marshall’s Small Business Innovation Research program, was honored earlier this month at the 16th Annual Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Eight individuals, including Stinson, were cited for their joint work in developing light-emitting diode (LED) technology for use in medical procedures. Her fellow inductees included research lead Dr. Harry Whelan, pediatric neurologist for the Milwaukee-based Medical College of Wisconsin; Noel Whelan, computer specialist at the Medical College of Wisconsin; Ron and Judy Ignatius of Quantum Devices Inc., in Barneveld, Wis.; Dr. Raymond Bula, retired director for the Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics in Madison, Wis.; and NASA representatives Vita Cevenini and Ray Whitten.

Since 1988, the Hall of Fame recognition has gone to those who have adapted the most innovative, beneficial commercial products from technology initially developed for the space program.

The first successful implementation of the light-emitting diode research uses tiny, pinhead-sized LEDs to illuminate drugs injected into cancerous tissue within the brain. The LEDs destroy the cancer by activating "photosensitizers," light-sensitive, tumor-fighting drugs. Unlike other procedures, cancerous cells are destroyed but surrounding tissues remain virtually untouched.

To date, the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin has successfully performed the procedure five times.

The research was funded by a Small Business Innovation Research contract between the Marshall Center and Quantum Devices, which develops LEDs for commercial plant growth investigations on the Space Shuttle.

Marshall’s Technology Transfer Department and Quantum Devices began the LED project in 1995. They continue to adapt the technology, and are developing wound-healing applications for use in long-term space flight, military operations and civilian medical care.

A 17-year NASA veteran, Stinson’s tenure at Marshall has included engineering roles in the Structural Analysis division of the Structures and Dynamics Laboratory, where she assisted in the development and analysis of the Space Shuttle Main Engine’s alternate turbopump and Spacelab payloads.

Stinson, who holds a materials engineering degree from the University of Alabama in Birmingham, has earned numerous NASA awards, including the Exceptional Service Medal. She serves as executive vice president of the Marshall Engineers and Scientists Association, and as vice president of the Huntsville chapter of the Society of Women Engineers.