Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Hypersonic Composites Resist Extreme Heat and Stress

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

On October 14, 1947, Captain Charles “Chuck” Yeager made history when he became the first pilot in an officially documented flight...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

‘NASA Invention of the Year’ Controls Noise and Vibration

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Developed at NASA’s Langley Research Center, the Macro-Fiber Composite (MFC) is an innovative, low-cost piezoelectric...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Thermoelectric Devices Advance Thermal Management

When NASA programs need the ultimate reliability to power deep space probes, they repeatedly select thermoelectric (TE) devices as a system component. TE devices heat, cool, and generate...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Computational Modeling Develops Ultra-Hard Steel

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Glenn Research Center’s Mechanical Components Branch routinely conducts research on transmissions and gearing for advanced gas turbines,...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Thin, Light, Flexible Heaters Save Time and Energy

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Ice accumulation is a serious safety hazard for aircraft. The presence of ice on airplane surfaces prevents the even flow of air, which...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Novel Nanotube Manufacturing Streamlines Production

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Nanotubes are sheets of graphite, one atom thick, rolled into seamless cylinders, with an exterior diameter in the range of nanometers....

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Material Analysis And Identification

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

KeyMaster Technologies, Inc., develops and markets specialized, hand-held X-ray fluorescence (XRF) instruments and unique tagging technology used to...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Reading Through Paint

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Two-dimensional data matrix symbols, which contain encoded letters and numbers, are permanently etched on items for identification. They can store up to 100 times...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Fluid Flow Technology That Measures Up

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

From 1994 to 1996, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center conducted a Center Director's Discretionary Fund research effort to apply artificial...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Providing A Turn For The Better

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Engineers are tasked with designing new systems every day to meet changing or unexpected technical requirements. After the tragic explosion of the Space...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

The Space Laser Business Model

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Creating long-duration, high-powered lasers, for satellites, that can withstand the type of optical misalignment and damage dished out by the unforgiving...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Low-Pressure Generator Makes Cleanrooms Cleaner

Originating Technology/ NASA Contribution

Scientists at NASA's Kennedy Space Center work in cleanrooms: laboratories with high degrees of cleanliness provided by strict control of...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Big Results From a Smaller Gearbox

Originating Technology/ NASA Contribution

Many people will be sad to see the Hubble Space Telescope go, as it was the first instrument of its kind to provide us with such a wealth of imagery...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Advanced Joining Technology: Simple, Strong, and Secure

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

The space-age materials that NASA employs in its spacecraft and satellites have different attributes than the building materials...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Going End to End to Deliver High-Speed Data

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

By the end of the 1990s, the optical fiber backbone of the telecommunication and data-communication networks had evolved from...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

NASA's Radio Frequency Bolt Monitor: A Lifetime of Spinoffs

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

This story begins in the 1970s, when Dr. Joseph Heyman, a young scientist at NASA's Langley Research Center, was asked to...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Cost-Cutting Powdered Lubricant

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Scientists at NASA's Glenn Research Center developed a high-temperature, solid lubricant coating material that is saving the manufacturing industry...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Making a Reliable Actuator Faster and More Affordable

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Before any rocket is allowed to fly and be used for a manned mission, it is first test-fired on a static test stand to verify its...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Miniature Wireless Sensors Size Up to Big Applications

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Like the environment of space, the undersea world is a hostile, alien place for humans to live. But far beneath the waves near Key...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Spatial Phase Imaging

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

In 1928, Alexander Fleming, a young Scottish scientist with a side practice of discretely treating the syphilis infections of prominent Londoners, was researching...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Electrical Conductivity in Textiles

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Copper is the most widely used electrical conductor. Like most metals, though, it has several drawbacks: it is heavy, expensive, and can break. Fibers...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Laser Mapping for Visual Inspection and Measurement

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Each space shuttle orbiter has 38 Primary Reaction Control System (PRCS) thrusters to help power and position the vehicle for maneuvers...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Nano Goes Magnetic to Attract Big Business

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Glenn Research Center has combined state-of-the-art electrical designs with complex, computer-aided analyses to develop some of today’s most...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

The Cutting Edge of High-Temperature Composites

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

NASA’s Ultra-Efficient Engine Technology (UEET) program was formed in 1999 at Glenn Research Center to manage an important national...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Robust, Thin Optical Films for Extreme Environments

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

The environment of space presents scientists and engineers with the challenges of a harsh, unforgiving laboratory in which to conduct...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Temperature Sensing for Oil, Gas, and Structural Analysis

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

With retirement of the space shuttle imminent, and the commercial space industry burgeoning, NASA is searching for safe and...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Cryogenic Cooling for Myriad Applications—A STAR Is Born!

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Cryogenics, the science of generating extremely low temperatures, has wide applicability throughout NASA. The Agency employs...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

New Sensor Gaining Interest on Industry Radar Screen

While radar is typically used to track large objects that are relatively far away, an Atlanta, Georgia-based start-up company is using the technology in a counter-intuitive way to...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Processing at the Speed of Light

Spatial Light Modulators (SLMs) are critical elements in optical processing systems used for imaging, displaying, data storage, communications, and other applications. By taking advantage of the...

Spinoff: Industrial Productivity & Manufacturing Technology

Going Places No Infrared Temperature Devices Have Gone Before

A leading manufacturer of noninvasive, infrared temperature sensors, Exergen Corporation  prides itself on delivering a highly accurate and reliable product to...