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Starting in Fall 2006, liberal arts, law, and MBA students at the University of Baltimore* will have the opportunity to work directly with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center researchers and technologies through the school’s Lab to Market* program. As part of the program, students will assess Goddard technologies and collaborate with University faculty and Goddard researchers to develop commercialization plans and potential licensing opportunities.

Benefits of Technology Transfer

• The agreement will enhance NASA’s strategic technology objectives, providing Goddard with assessment information about potential applications and licensing opportunities for possible technology transfer efforts.
  
  
• NASA researchers will collaborate with future academic, law, and business leaders who may be well positioned to work on future technology licensing efforts.
  
  
• University of Baltimore students will gain hands-on experience with assessments and market-development plans.
  
  
• University of Baltimore will benefit from the recognition and prestige NASA’s participation in its program may yield.
  
  
• Eventual users of Goddard’s technologies will benefit from new uses assessed through collaboration between University students and Goddard researchers.

About the University of Baltimore Center for Technology Commercialization

The Center for Technology Commercialization (CTC*) at the University of Baltimore’s Merrick School of Business* is part of the school’s Entrepreneurial Opportunities Center, facilitating the commercialization of technologies from federal labs using a cross-disciplinary team approach. The CTC has worked with about 40 federal research and development (R&D) labs, several incubators (including the NASA-affiliated Emerging Technology Centers* in Baltimore), and numerous inventors. The Lab to Market program will be added to this list of collaborative efforts that teach hundreds of students to apply their knowledge and skills to real technologies.

The Transfer Process

The Space Act Agreement (SAA) between Goddard and the University of Baltimore was a natural extension of their 12-year history of collaboration. The University of Baltimore contacted the IPP regarding use of NASA technologies for its Lab to Market Program. The IPP arranged the agreement enabling use of Goddard technologies and collaboration with Goddard researchers.

Looking Ahead

University of Baltimore students will begin working with NASA technologies as part of the Lab to Market program in the fall semester of 2006. A three-year agreement, the SAA enables students and faculty to choose a set of Goddard technologies to work with each semester. Teams of at least four students will analyze an assigned technology using intellectual property (IP) audits, brainstorming, security analyses, economic feasibility, development of return on investment, and other collaboration with researchers. Final reports from the teams will be made available to Goddard and will include arguments for their analyses, technology/market assessments, identification of IP issues, competition, market analyses, potential applications, and other valuable data.

Contact

Innovative Partnerships Program Office
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Phone: (301) 286-2642
E-mail: techtransfer@gsfc.nasa.gov