NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

By: Chris Rink and Matt Coffey

A multi-use foam that insulates for sound, heat and cold with aerospace and down to Earth applications was invented by Roberto Cano, Brian Jensen and Erik Weiser from NASA Langley, and Miguel Vazquez of Polyumac Techno Core Inc. in Hialeah, Fla.

For their research, the group was named NASA 2007 inventors of the year. They will be honored at a ceremony at the NASA Project Management Challenge Conference 2009, February 24-25, in Daytona Beach, Fla.

The extended time involved in giving out this award is an indicator of the intense scrutiny involved. The review period for the 2007 NASA invention candidates ended on December 31, 2007. Submissions are made before the January 2008 deadline; the inventions are reviewed in a lengthy process, selected and the winners are announced later in the year.

"It's modeled to match up to the Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation Inventor of the Year competition, which reviews what an invention has actually accomplished in a four-year period of performance for an invention," said Jesse Midget, the NASA Inventions and Contributions Board Chief Technologist, based at NASA Langley.

From left to right: Erik Weiser, Roberto Cano and Brian Jensen with samples of the polyimide foam that won the 2007 NASA Commercial Invention of the Year. Credit: NASA

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The polyimide foam is a lightweight and fire-resistant insulation material that can be formed into a variety of shapes. The foam is the second generation of a material originally developed as a thermal insulator for reusable launch vehicles.

Weiser, an engineer in the Advanced Systems and Processing Branch at Langley, worked side by side with engineers at Polyumac to develop the second generation of the foam. The engineers worked to keep the density and weight of the material low while improving temperature and sound insulation, along with improving its flame-resistance.

The foam serves as an effective insulator in temperatures as low as minus-400 degrees Fahrenheit and as high as plus-400 degrees. But what makes the foam even more promising as a commercial product is its resistance to fire. Weiser believes that the polyimide foam insulation could help in containing and slowing the spread of flames.

The Navy and Coast Guard have expressed interest in the foam as a shipboard interior wall insulation material. Weiser said that the Navy and Coast Guard could demand millions of board feet -- with each board foot equal to one square foot -- of the material every year.

Though the foam is just beginning to enter the market, Weiser sees residential applications as a possibility in the future. The cost of the foam is higher then that of traditional housing insulation materials, but costs are expected to go down as production increases.

The many applications and the ability to control the foam’s density and flexibility drew NASA to selecting it for the award. The foam is the latest of many inventions developed at Langley to be selected as the Commercial Invention of the Year. “It was an honor to receive the commercial invention of the year award,” said Weiser. “There is a lot of competition for it.”

NASA's general counsel selects the Invention of the Year Award with technical assistance from NASA's Inventions and Contributions Board. For more information about NASA's Inventions and Contributions Board, visit http://icb.nasa.gov

NASA Langley nominations for the 2008 NASA Invention of the Year Competition are due to the Langley Research Center Awards Liaison Officer, Sebrenna Young at 864-9474 or by fax at 864-8314, by January 18.


 
NASA Langley Research Center
Managing Editor: Jim Hodges
Executive Editor and Responsible NASA Official: H. Keith Henry
Editor and Curator: Denise Lineberry