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Kennedy Space Center ranks highest in innovation award money

By Anne Straub
Brevard Technical Journal

For the third year in a row, Kennedy Space Center has come in on top in innovation award money among NASA centers.

KSC applicants garnered $190,850 in Space Act Award money for its most recent year, a dramatic leap from the $12,000 awarded 10 years earlier. The amount was the highest among the 10 competing NASA centers. That excludes the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the University of California, which operates under different standards and so isn't included in the ranking.

Space Act Awards are a NASA program designed to reward and stimulate inventions and other scientific contributions that help achieve the agency's goals. Prizes include automatic awards for contributions such as innovations reported in NASA Tech Briefs or patent applications, board action awards that are chosen by NASA headquarters, and annual awards for software and invention of the year. Awards range from $350 to $100,000.

KSC's performance has improved so much in part because the center is emphasizing the program and submitting more contributions for consideration, said Pam Bookman, Space Act liaison awards officer for the space center. The center's function as an operations, rather than research, center also contributes to the proliferation of practical technical advances.

"Our inventions work in support of real-time problems on the shuttle and station and that's what makes them very, very profitable to companies who are dealing with problems," Bookman said.

Some of the inventions aren't space related, but fall under the program because of the originator's relationship with the agency. That's the case for Adam Kissiah Jr., who recently received $21,000 for his contributions to today's cochlear implant.

Kissiah was an electronics instrumentation engineer for NASA in the 1970s. He also had developed a hearing problem, and he applied some of his technical know-how to understanding the ear and devising a solution. Kissiah had access to KSC's technical library, so he worked on the problem during lunch breaks and evenings over a two- to three-year period.

"When you have a problem like that, you will direct your attention to it," he said. The result was the principles for electronically stimulating nerves of the inner ear, the basis for the implant. Kissiah submitted his ideas as "a way of doing it," he said. "It turned out it was the correct way."

Kissiah sold the rights to develop the technology to a company that went bankrupt before it was able to pay him any money. But he has the satisfaction of knowing countless people's lives have been improved because of his efforts.

"That's been the reward, really," said Kissiah, whose own hearing problem was addressed through surgeries and hearing aids.

Bookman submitted him for the award after discovering he had done the research while working at KSC. "I'm so glad he's getting this recognition. It's long overdue," she said.

Other Space Act Award recipients have less public recognition, but plenty of useful application nonetheless:

NOx scrubber: The control system and process converts hypergolic oxidizer waste to fertilizer. The system could be used at several NASA locations, as well as in any industry where oxides of nitrogen are released, such as metal finishing operations. The advancement eliminates KSC's second largest waste stream and replaces some of the fertilizer the center otherwise would have to buy, for a savings of about $80,000 a year. It also adds safety and environmental benefits.

The system's commercial potential is limited by its cost, but that will change as environmental regulations evolve, said Dr. Maria Pozo de Fernandez, associate professor of chemical engineering for Florida Institute of Technology. "Sooner or later there will be more stringent regulations," said de Fernandez, who worked on the project for three summers. "Definitely these will be more economically attractive."

The advancement was made by NASA and engineering support contractor Dynacs Engineering. Co.

Liquefied natural gas tank gauging system: This solution was presented to NASA to provide accurate real-time readings of remaining fuel during the Apollo program. The measuring system improved accuracy in filling rocket tanks, providing fuel consumption data during ground testing and indicating impending fuel depletion during space flight. In commercial use, it has allowed the liquefied natural gas shipping industry to thrive because of its improved accuracy. The system was developed by Trans-Sonics Inc.

The increased awards reflect Kennedy Space Center's focus on technologies needed to make the center the leader in spaceport and range development, said Edward Ellegood, director of policy and program development for the Florida Space Research Institute. The institute works to increase university involvement in space research to breed more creativity in making advances.

"Solving problems for the spaceport is solving problems for other industries," he said.