Finding a technology need you can fill

Ready to get started partnering with Marshall? If you think you have a technology, a well-developed area of expertise, or other resource (such as a facility) that could be adapted or leveraged to meet the needs of a Marshall mission or program, we want to talk to you.

First, take a look at our current technology needs. If you see a technology need that you think your organization can fill, follow the contact information on that specific technology need page.

Initiating discussions

If a Marshall mission or program needs your technology, expertise, or resource, a representative from Marshall’s Technology Transfer Office will contact you for an initial meeting, or ask you to provide more information about your technology.

If you do choose to partner with Marshall, Marshall’s technology transfer team will serve as your communications facilitator, arranging webinars, conference calls, face-to-face meetings, and more—continually evaluating the level and form of discussion needed to best suit your relationship with Marshall.

Identifying a partnering mechanism

Choosing the appropriate agreement or funding arrangement is critical to a successful technology infusion. Marshall’s technology transfer team is skilled at guiding you to the arrangement that best suits your needs as well as Marshall’s mission or program goals. Most agreements are formalized in a Space Act Agreement.

Negotiating the agreement terms

As your organization and the key players at Marshall move toward selecting the type of agreement best suited to everyone’s needs, negotiating the terms of the agreement will be facilitated by technology transfer personnel who are highly skilled at bringing together the agreement stakeholders. These stakeholders include business and technical representatives as well as any intellectual property attorneys or lawyers to ensure that all parties are satisfied with the agreement terms moving forward. A key part of any agreement is the Statement of Work, which defines roles and responsibilities as well as development milestones.

Meeting with Marshall technical personnel

The Marshall technology transfer team facilitates, to the degree requested or practical, meetings between your organization and technical personnel at Marshall. Involvement is tailored to the needs of the relationship.

Collaboration and interaction with Marshall personnel may involve your organization placing employees on site at Marshall and/or remote meetings and conference calls. The administrative details of such meetings can be handled by the technology transfer team so that your organization and the Marshall personnel involved can focus on the technology and innovation.

Developing, testing, and/or validating the technology

As you begin active work under the infusion partnership, your organization will be intimately involved in the continued development of your technology (or leveraging of your expertise or resources) including validating and testing at your site or using one of many state-of-the-art facilities at Marshall.

Depending on the partnering mechanism selected and the type of technology involved, you may need to provide prototypes and/or software code, any existing documentation, any existing testing or validation results, and examples of previous use(s) for the technology. Marshall personnel will also be involved as negotiated in your partnership agreement, providing facilities access and expertise for a truly collaborative agreement.

Attending status update meetings

As part of any agreement, regular status update meetings will be scheduled to check progress towards milestones and identify any potential obstacles or challenges. This is an ideal opportunity to strategize ways to mitigate any foreseen risks and help ensure the success of your infusion partnership.

Realizing the outcome: infusion and/or market readiness

As your work progresses, a successful technology infusion outcome becomes the focus. Successful infusion efforts can have any of several possible outcomes. The ideal outcome is to infuse the technology directly into a Marshall mission or program. In other cases, a technology may be further developed or validated, enabling it to enter the trade space where it can be marketed and sold for new uses and remain in consideration for future NASA missions.

Maintaining your relationship

Even as your current infusion partnership comes to a conclusion, the Marshall technology transfer team and your technical contacts at Marshall stay engaged with your organization to maintain the relationship. As new opportunities for infusion agreements or other technology transfer partnerships are identified, Marshall’s technology transfer professionals can help find new sources of funding or partnership arrangements that can lead to further collaboration between your organization and Marshall. If your technology has been infused, this may lead to a contract relationship or other agreement.