The next generation of young entrepreneurs explored NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, on Oct. 26 as part of the Institute for Local Innovation (ILI) Technology Implementation Market Engine (T.I.M.E.) Challenge. Following the tour, the student finalists presented their innovative business ideas to a panel of judges and participated in an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 27.
Goddard’s Technology Transfer Office signed a five-year Space Act Agreement with ILI in 2017, allowing ILI to promote NASA technologies and capabilities to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and Minority Serving Institutions (MSI). The partnership seeks to encourage economic growth in certain U.S. regions.
ILI’s T.I.M.E. Challenge champions entrepreneurship by asking HBCU students to select NASA patented technologies and develop marketing strategies for commercialization. This year’s participating students were selected from:
- Alabama A&M University, Huntsville, Alabama
- Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta
- Florida Memorial University, Miami Gardens
- Hampton University, Hampton, Virginia
- Howard University, Washington, D.C.
- Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte, North Carolina
- Morehouse College, Atlanta
- Spelman College, Atlanta
- Tennessee State University
- Troy University, Arlington, Virginia
- Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Alabama
- University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
- Vaughn College of Aeronautics & Technology, New York
- Xavier University of Louisiana, New Orleans
The students researched a variety of patented NASA technologies, including “FlashPose: range and intensity image-based terrain and vehicle relative pose estimation algorithm” from Goddard and “Particle Contamination Mitigation Methods” from NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Students whose projects featured those technologies won second and third place in the challenge, respectively.
As part of the T.I.M.E. Challenge on Oct. 26, students toured the Goddard campus, meeting with innovators and viewing technologies that have a high probability of commercialization and will shape science exploration for years to come. On Oct. 27, student finalists gave presentations to a panel of judges and explained how they would bring their chosen NASA technologies to the marketplace.
The winner of the competition, Daryl Cunningham Jr., is a student in his third year of an MBA program at Hampton University. His project, called “Invisible Wall,” is a child safety mechanism to keep balls from reaching the street while children play in the driveway. It uses a non-contact position sensor and a levitated interaction element to create a magnetic field.
In his acceptance speech, Cunningham thanked NASA for the opportunity, saying it was a life-changing experience for him.
“I am looking forward to working with the students to help their innovative ideas come to fruition,” said Dennis Small, project manager of the T.I.M.E. Challenge and a technology manager with Goddard’s Strategic Partnerships Office.
Through partnerships and initiatives such as the T.I.M.E. Challenge, the Goddard Technology Transfer Office aims to inspire future entrepreneurs by connecting them with promising NASA innovations.
“Initiatives such as the ILI T.I.M.E. Challenge introduce young people to technology transfer and allow them to develop their entrepreneurial skills,” said Nona Cheeks, chief of the Strategic Partnerships Office. “We would like to see their experiences manifest into potential licensing agreements involving NASA technologies.”
For more information on NASA Goddard’s Strategic Partnerships Office, visit: https://partnerships.gsfc.nasa.gov
For more information on the Institute for Local Innovations, Inc., and its programs, visit: https://www.ili360.org
Erin Majerowicz
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
erin.m.majerowicz@nasa.gov
301-286-9860