NASA Tech Needs

The growing scarcity of resources to produce increasingly demanded ingredients, such as soybean meal and animal protein meals, has doubled feed costs in the recent years. Thus, alternative protein sources, including insects, are urgently needed. Insects must be introduced in the feed chain, and...

Nematodes are among the most damaging crop pests. Very few available chemical nematicides can affect control, and some options are restricted by the Environmental Protection Agency and similar bodies. Nematodes damage plant roots, and reduce the plant’s ability to take up water and nutrients. The need is great to...

A client’s application joins cellulose and a resin binder. A combination of the binding agent and fibers sticks to the surface of the steel. The organization therefore seeks novel foams, coatings, and gels to act as a physical buffer between the fibers and the steel. The physical buffer must function...

Personal cleansing after using the bathroom is a worldwide necessity, and various cultures solve that need differently. New devices must facilitate this type of cleaning and deliver soothing formulations onto the skin. The technology will serve as an alternative to Western dry toilet paper, European bidets, and...

Long-term care facilities are subject to outbreaks of Clostridium difficile (C. diff) bacteria that form a hard shell, enter a vegetative spore state, and are thus able to withstand conventional cleaning. An active ingredient or mechanical/ electronic means must minimize the threat of C. diff and its...

A client seeks an insulating coating for a ceramic substrate and a method of applying it. Electrical leakage from one side of the substrate to the other causes damage. A thin coating is preferred for the application, but the critical specification is the relative permittivity of the coating, which...

A company has a process stream made up of a variety of gases and molecules. They seek effective industrial-scale technologies that separate methane from other hydrocarbons in the stream, as well as from lighter and heavier molecules. The large-scale gas streams must be separated into their constituent molecules at...

The manufacturing of consumer products, foods, and pharmaceuticals requires the implementation of stringent cleaning requirements of all batch, semi-continuous, and continuous processes equipment. High standards of hygienic quality must be maintained, and the cleaning process must ensure that there is no cross-contamination of...

A client uses sodium and potassium stearates to build body and viscosity in a polymer dispersion intended as an adhesive. The stearates adversely affect shear strength after the dispersion cures. Non-stearate thickeners, or different stearates, are needed. By varying the nature of the fillers and...

New sensations for saline sprays and washes must moisturize dry nasal passages and relieve a stuffy nose. Additives such as eucalyptus or sesame oil, for example, produce coolness or warmth. The desired effects must calm, soften, and relieve symptoms. An antibacterial effect and a physical rinse are of...

To enhance transportability and shelf life, many drugs and pharmaceuticals are distributed as freeze-dried formulations. The formulations must be dissolved before they can be injected. A client therefore seeks a new device or container that helps lyophilized preparations dissolve rapidly and completely with diluents such as...

Because of their weight and the weight they bear, most grab-bars must be installed permanently in a home, usually by drilling through the wall material and into a wall stud. In the case of grab-bars installed in a tub enclosure or shower, a permanent hole may need to be drilled through ceramic tile, thus making a...

A company produces and stacks sheet goods that have a naturally viscous and sticky surface material. The sticky material is applied at about 480 °F. During application, the coating has a specific gravity of 1.03 to 1.70, and a viscosity of >5000 cps. A release material needs to be applied to the substrate...

Without producing clumps, a professional adhesive must be poured in a consistent and smooth way. A company seeks a dispenser/ applicator that can handle a thick, gelatinous, preformed, professional-quality adhesive. Currently, a polymer dispersion of polyvinyl pyrrolidone is used. While the stearates thicken the...

A company must deliver a measured amount of antiseptic/ antimicrobial formulation to a specific surface area (between 1 to 3 square feet) and be able to verify visually that the area has been adequately covered and treated. Currently, the antimicrobial formulation is a liquid with a viscosity...

Beverages, when served cold, quickly heat up during consumption. A client seeks material and process technologies that will insulate against heat gain or actively reduce temperature of liquids contained in glass bottles or metal cans. Processes that enable the printing, coating, and...

As fresh produce undergoes a number of processes from point of harvest to final products like yogurt, ice cream, pasta sauces, and frozen meals, its natural characteristics are altered. To ensure a fresh taste and texture, a company seeks technology, ingredients, or processes that preserve the natural...

A client seeks innovative ways to control the kinetic energy of moving products through high-speed manufacturing and filling processes. The company requires aluminum and tinplated food and beverage cans to be conveyed and transported during production without damage. Products are small...

Because manned spaceflight still imposes unknown stresses on the human body, NASA is seeking non-invasive technological approaches for intra-cranial pressure measurement. A baseline must be established on the ground, and then periodic measurements will be taken during flight — possibly over...

Foam is a key indicator of efficacy and performance for a range of consumer pharmaceutical and food products. A company seeks cost-effective physical and mechanical technologies for enhanced foam generation and stability. Devices that are able to generate a high volume of foam from low-concentration, surfactant-based...

A company seeks technology options for printing on a moving Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) film web before or during the production of liquitabs and other unit dose products. The technology must be able to print on PVA film either on-line (preferred), at line, or offline. The film production method, which will require a...

An organization is looking for technologies that can stabilize and deliver fragile RNA strands to plants and animals outside of a laboratory-controlled environment. The RNA strands may include dsRNA (double-stranded RNA) and shRNA (short hairpin RNA). A proposed solution must provide a method to...

A customer seeks a range of technologies that will allow controlled delivery of liquid products over a wide viscosity range. Proposed technologies must work for liquids with low viscosity (such as floor cleaners) and/or very high viscosity (such as thick bleaches and body washes). Technologies will be evaluated...

Current spray designs coat the exposed surface of the top layer of fibers, while fibers in the interior do not get treated. Fibers also move around when transported during processing, leading to exposure of untreated surfaces. An organization seeks novel technologies that can apply a spray coating to the entire surface area...

Currently, cellulose-based fibers can only be recycled 6-8 times, after which the fiber length and properties are too significantly impacted for any further reuse. Technologies are therefore required to enhance the fibers’ recycling potential. The technologies must not add virgin fibers at each recycling stage....

The incorporation of probiotic bacteria into liquid food or food with high water activity is still a challenge for the functional food industry. The metabolic activity of the lyophilized bacteria, however, is extremely sensitive to the presence of water and oxygen, and a solution must protect...

A new food-grade heat-seal adhesive is needed for roll-coated film lids. New chemistries must be formulated into a waterbased matrix to seal transparent film onto plastic trays containing food or medical materials. The organization deals primarily with polyester films (APET/CPET) and trays, and containers made from polystyrene...

An organization wants to use less corrugate in its shipping operations. Unique designs or processes must reduce the amount of corrugate material required, while maintaining the same level of protection for the products being shipped. Replacing corrugate with another material may be considered, but the replacement material...

An organization seeks one or more bonding agents that can be dispersed into water. When the bonding agents are coated onto a PET film and dried, the coated film should adhere to and seal items made from rigid PE (polyethylene), PP (polypropylene), PS (polystyrene), PVC (polyvinylchloride), and PET...