Top 10 iTech Finalists Announced, Will Present to NASA Chief Technologists
NIA Release: 2018-06
October 3, 2018
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Innovators don’t always have space on their mind, but NASA iTech can help. The competition challenges entrepreneurs to consider how their biomedical, software and other technology ideas could be adapted and used for future space exploration missions.
NASA has selected 10 competition finalists to present their ideas at the iTech forum in Hartford, Connecticut, on Oct. 25-26, 2018. Chief technologists from various NASA centers, other federal agencies and industry will listen to presentations and meet with participants. NASA judges will ultimately determine three winners of the 2018 NASA iTech Cycle III competition.
“Our goal is to help entrepreneurs expand their technology pitches beyond the original scope to include off-Earth applications,” said Kira Blackwell the NASA iTech program executive for the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD). “Some of our past competitors have gone a step further after iTech, applying for and receiving a NASA Small Business Innovation Research grant.”
Among the finalists are artificial intelligence, big data, advanced materials and other unique innovations. The top 10 2018 NASA iTech Cycle III finalists (in alphabetical order) are:
- Analytical Space– Cambridge, Massachusetts: A data relay network solution to dramatically expand the utilization of Earth observation technology by providing satellites with more opportunities to downlink data.
- Artimus Robotics– Boulder, Colorado (Winner of the NASA iTech Ignite the Night event in Denver): Robots and machines made with unique artificial muscles to create simple, lightweight and cost-effective electromechanical actuators.
- Danish Aerospace Company North America– Houston (Winner of the NASA iTech Ignite the Night event in Houston): A water purification technology that removes biological and chemical activity using a passive membrane.
- Devali, Inc.– Cedar Park, Texas: Biometric analysis socks with user interfaces to track, monitor and study various body measurements.
- Exostretch– University of Houston – Houston: Flexible and stretchable lithium ion batteries.
- Lazarus 3D– Houston: Soft 3D-printed materials that resemble human tissue.
- Matroid, Inc.– Palo Alto, California: Computer vision software product focused on detecting faces and objects in video and image libraries.
- New Dominion Enterprises, Inc. – San Antonio, Texas: Safer long-lasting lithium ion batteries that resist heat-related power loss.
- One Milo, Inc.– Miami: Compact devices that enable rapid diagnostic testing – using samples of blood, urine or saliva – and wirelessly send results to a smartphone application.
- Spectrabotics LLC– Colorado Springs, Colorado: An artificial intelligence toolset for spectral image processing.
The winning three teams will be selected and recognized during a non-monetary awards ceremony at the culmination of the forum. They will receive continued mentorship to help ensure success in bringing their innovations to market.
Registration for the NASA iTech Cycle III forum is now open. The event will also be livestreamed. Media interested in covering the forum should contact Clare Skelly, at clare.a.skelly@nasa.gov by Oct. 24th, to preregister.
An initiative by STMD, NASA iTech aims to find innovative ideas that have the potential to overcome critical technology hurdles facing future exploration of the Moon and Mars, even though many were originally meant to solve important problems here on Earth.
For information about NASA iTech, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/itech
Clare Skelly
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-4273
clare.a.skelly@nasa.gov
Harla Sherwood
National Institute of Aerospace, Hampton, Va.
757-636-6300
Sherwood@nianet.org