About the TTPO
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Plum Brook Station recently hosted the TTPO staff on a tour through its major facilities, including the newly rededicated Space Power Facility. |
The Technology Transfer and Partnership Office (TTPO) exists to promote leveraged partnerships. We facilitate and catalyze efforts to ensure that NASA’s technology and capability portfolio is supplemented through partnerships with commercial, academic, and other external sectors to gain access to a wider variety of technologies than the Agency could develop in-house.
We enable leveraged partnerships through the wide variety of mechanisms that are illustrated in this report and summarized below.
- NASA’s Innovative Partnerships Program (IPP): The IPP promotes leveraged technology partnerships aimed at both technology infusion and transfer. Technology infusion is accomplished through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs as well as IPP Seed Fund (link) collaborations. More traditional technology transfer activities include new technology reporting and licensing.
- Business practices that support and document partnership formation: The TTPO negotiates Space Act Agreements—NASA’s unique method of documenting collaborative activities—as well as prepares GRC’s annual R&T Report , which documents the most illustrious research achievements of the Center.
- Awards: Recognition is achieved with the Inventions and Contributions Board Space Act awards for significant contributions to NASA’s activities from GRC’s engineering and scientific community and through commercial recognition such as the R&D 100 Awards.
Capabilities at NASA GRC
Work at NASA’s GRC focuses on technological advances in space flight systems, aeropropulsion, power systems, nuclear systems, communications, and technology to enable human health in space.
Current examples of major GRC projects include:
- Development of the Orion Service Module
- Modification of the Space Power Facility for future NASA testing
- Design, construction, and delivery of the Ares 1 Upper Stage Simulator
- Delivery of the Traveling Wave Tube Assembly for the Advanced Capabilities Program’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
- Completion of integration testing of the NASA Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) ion propulsion system
- Continuing development of advanced tools and technologies for the next generation of aircraft engines
