Space technologists help companies fix problems
By Barry Flynn
Orlando Sentinel
Whenever a space shuttle would roar off the launch pad at nearby Kennedy Space Center, workers at tiny Majestic Boat Corp. dashed outside to watch.
Advertiser library photo • June 5, 2002
They'd even feel "the ground rumble, the little earthquake" accompanying liftoff, said Roy McDaniel, owner of Majestic, a company that builds small sport-fishing boats in Mims, Fla., about 12 miles from one of NASA's gates.
Always within earshot of shuttle launches till liftoffs were suspended earlier this year, a Florida small business was surprised to hear how it could benefit from the space program's expertise by tapping into SATOP, the Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program.
Despite his company's location, within sight of one of humanity's most elaborate technological endeavors, McDaniel never thought he would benefit from the enormous engineering skills used to hurl astronauts into space.
But he has. Like hundreds of small-business owners around the United States, McDaniel tapped into the expertise at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the vast complex of companies and universities that work with the space agency.
In McDaniel's case, the problem and the solution were low-tech — just a little modification of one of his boat models.
The engines on the craft, which are designed to let fishermen chase their prey into the shallowest of waters possible, were running too hot because not enough water was getting to the outboard cooling system. McDaniel was stumped.
So he took the problem to a special NASA unit — the Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program, or SATOP — which offered the problem to engineers who might help.
Does your business qualify for NASA's help? • You must have a concrete problem that an operating business is facing, not a vague "investor idea." • The problem has to be focused and "appear to be solvable" in 40 hours of engineering work. • The private sector was not able to help you. If those criteria are met, submit your request for help to spacetechsolutions.com.
Richard Wood, an experienced engineer with AJT & Associates, a NASA contractor based in Cape Canaveral, took a shot at it. He suggested a modification to the boat's hull that would funnel more water to the engine intakes.
To qualify:
With a little jiggering, the simple fix worked. And McDaniel was grateful. "It's not a miracle," he said. "It's just that his suggestion helped solve the problem."
The difference the change made in his sales was "night and day," McDaniel said. He's on track to building 200 boats a year.
About 1,200 small businesses have requested help from SATOP since it started in 1995, said Paul Secor, a spokesman for the Titusville, Fla.ibased group. About two-thirds of those companies have been able to solve their problems.
Like McDaniel's hang-up, many of the problems are decidedly not high-tech but still need the eye of an experienced engineer.
Take the Meyers Dance Studio in Schenectady, N.Y. The company's quarters on the third floor of an old building with concrete walls had horrible acoustics, said Alice Manzi, a volunteer with the school's nonprofit ballet company.
An engineer whom Manzi met by e-mail through SATOP explained that covering the walls with pile carpeting would kill only the sounds in a narrow frequency, resulting in an odd, muffled sound. He designed a custom insulation with fibers of varying length, which dampened the sound more evenly, providing a more natural effect.
In another case, a glass maker in Pinellas Park, Fla., needed better insulation on his kiln to save electricity.
A NASA engineer offered information on the shuttle's ceramic insulation tiles, but those materials turned out to be too expensive, said Edmund Kozlowski, owner of Buddha Belly Glass Studio. So Kozlowski settled for some other, cheaper materials that the engineer recommended. Now he is saving at least $200 a month on his electricity bill, Kozlowski said.
The space agency, ever publicity-conscious, started SATOP at least in part to convince the public of the benefits of space-program science.
Two years ago, the program was extended to three other cities, said Secor, the SATOP spokesman. They are: Houston, near the Johnson Space Center; Syracuse, N.Y., near Syracuse University, which does space-program work; and Santa Fe, N.M., near two major national science facilities.
The program invites inquiries from U.S. businesses anywhere, according to Secor. To qualify, a question must involve a concrete problem that an operating business is facing, not a vague "investor idea," he said.
The problem has to be focused and "appear to be solvable" in 40 hours of engineering work, he said. Also, businesses seeking help have to have tried unsuccessfully to find a solution in the private sector.
SATOP's Web site is spacetechsolutions.com.
