NASA Selects First Innovation Ambassadors

August 04, 2009

Sonja Alexander
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1761

MEDIA ADVISORY: 09-182

NASA SELECTS FIRST INNOVATION AMBASSADORS

WASHINGTON -- NASA's Innovative Partnerships Program, in coordination
with the agency's Office of the Chief Engineer and Office of Human
Capital Management, has announced the selection of the 2009
Innovation Ambassadors.

The Innovation Ambassador program allows some of NASA's most talented
scientists and engineers to work at several of America's leading
innovative external research and development organizations.

NASA's inaugural group of ambassadors is initiating the planned
annual
program targeting opportunities to create NASA partnerships and new
innovation sources outside of the traditional aerospace field. During
assignments of up to one year, the NASA ambassadors will share their
own expertise while learning about innovative products, processes and
business models. After returning to NASA, the ambassador may share
new ideas with co-workers and implement innovations within their
organizations.

The program provides a unique training experience for the employee,
an
opportunity for infusion of new ideas into NASA, and a chance for
external organizations to learn more about the agency and potentially
create new partnerships.

The ambassadors and their assignments a

- Robert McCann from NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field,
Calif., will work with the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center in Palo
Alto, Calif., and look at how artificial intelligence can be applied
to systems health management and human/machine teaming.

- Eric Darcy from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston will work
with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo., to
develop mathematical models for lithium-ion battery performance.

- Lawrence Hilliard from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in
Greenbelt, Md., will work with Primary Simulation, Inc. of Silver
Spring, Md., on a project to apply their "laser ball" technology to
interactive educational tools.

- Kelly Snook, also from Goddard, already has begun her ambassador
assignment with a sponsorship by NASA's Science Mission Directorate.
She is working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab
in Cambridge, Mass., on the use of sound as a means of visualizing
and analyzing scientific data.

For more information on the Innovation Ambassadors program, visit:

http://ipp.nasa.gov

For information about NASA and other agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

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