WH T’S UP.
THE LATEST FROM CASIS
INSIDE:
REFINING OUTREACH. INTRODUCING YOUTH TO THE NAT LAB. MISSION PATCH UNVEILED. and much more!
Images Courtesy of NASA
THE OFFICIAL CASIS NEWSLETTER JUNE2013
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BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
REFINING O U T R E A C H: Targeting Innovation Ecosystems BY CYNTHIA BOUTHOT
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
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eyond functioning as an enabler of revolutionary scientific advancement, CASIS serves as a key facilitator of vital new partnerships and growth in the emerging and dynamic U.S. space economies. In the first months of 2013, CASIS entered a new phase in this business development, focusing on raising awareness of the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory in three select U.S. innovation hubs. To generate an increased user base for the National Lab, CASIS must first raise awareness about the capabilities and practicality of space-based research. Until recently, use of the space station was reserved primarily for NASA interests amid a significant construction effort, but new opportunities for use by commercial, academic and nonNASA government entities are now available. A significant responsibility of CASIS, established as manager of the National Lab in 2011, is reaching out to this broader research community, many of whom are unaware of the benefits of space science—let alone the availability of the National Lab research platform.
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CASIS hit the ground running in its business development efforts: pounding the pavement across the country, holding thought-leadership sessions and meetings with key opinion leaders in non-space sectors, and presenting at scientific conferences. The goal: interface with and educate potential new users of the National Lab while determining the best outreach strategy moving forward. The result: CASIS leadership determined that it is not enough just to advertise that the greatest engineering achievement of all time is now open for business, providing a platform for unique and groundbreaking research. Researchers and investors also need to see tangible, compelling reasons to engage in such research, and this includes a critical element: validation through participation of others within their community. The path of CASIS development thus became clear. CASIS must infiltrate existing respected research communities, integrating our messaging and opportunities into their infrastructure and building a reputation that will jumpstart participation by academics, businesses, philanthropists and others. The initial targeted communities have two critical characteristics: (1) Their research interests align with the capabilities of the National Lab platform, and (2) They are R&D “ecosystems,” innovation hubs that include the types of organizations whose participation could provide much needed validation to the global research community. The three areas chosen to build our initial foundations are Boston/Cambridge, Houston and the greater Silicon
Valley area (including research communities in areas such as San Jose, San Diego and Phoenix).
Why Boston?
In addition to housing over 100 universities and over 300 biotech companies, the Boston/Cambridge area has more than 30 technology transfer offices that support commercialization of research for the public good. This fits well with the CASIS mission of translating space science into knowledge and products that will benefit humankind. Additionally, Boston has the world’s highest concentration of governmentsponsored research and contains R&D facilities for most of the top pharmaceutical companies. This bioscience ecosystem has great potential to benefit from the capabilities of the National Lab: The effects of microgravity on living organisms are substantial. Such effects include the ability to grow cells in 3D, which better represents the human body, and changes in gene expression that can increase the infectiousness of bacteria and that influence the function of proteins involved in diseases. The space environment also induces health effects that mimic disease and aging on Earth. Still other aspects of the space environment allow improved research capabilities in drug development and drug-delivery systems. Thus, the opportunities for bioscience research on the National Lab are wide ranging and should attract Boston scientists and funding sources. CON TINUED ON NEXT PAGE
BOSTON/ CAMBRIDGE SILICON VALLEY
HOUSTON
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BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
REFINING OUTREACH: CON TINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE
To infiltrate the Boston ecosystem, CASIS has established an office in the Cambridge Innovation Center, which houses over 450 companies and is the largest flexible office facility for growing technology and life sciences companies in the Greater Boston area. This presence in the heart of Boston’s research ecosystem has already led to valuable discussions with organizations including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (an association of more than 600 biotechnology companies, universities, academic institutions and others dedicated to advancing cutting edge research), the preeminent business accelerator MassChallenge and the Museum of Science. Continued networking within this community, especially with these types of non-traditional outreach channels, will build a strong CASIS presence in the Boston area.
Why Houston?
Houston’s rich space legacy aside, it is home to the largest medical complex in the world and a booming energy industry. The Texas Medical Center is an internationally recognized community of 54 member institutions, all not-for-profit, dedicated to patient care, research and education. These include 15 renowned hospitals and two specialty institutions, three medical schools, six nursing schools and schools of dentistry, public health, pharmacy and various other health-related careers. Similar to Boston,
this research ecosystem is tightly localized: 280 buildings over 1300 acres, including a central area with one of the highest densities of clinical facilities for patient care, basic science and translational research in the world. In addition to its strong biomedical research community, who could benefit from the vast array of space-research benefits described above, Houston’s energy industry is also recognized worldwide. The industry, which has traditionally focused on oil and gas, is constantly seeking improved formulations, refining approaches and combustion processes. Space-based research in combustion and complex fluids affords this industry the opportunity to aggressively examine how fuels behave and combust in a highly controlled environment where fluid motion is more easily observed. In addition, materials science and technology demonstration onboard the National Lab also provide this industry with opportunities to develop equipment that has improved strength and flexibility: better to withstand varied environments and mechanical strain. Finally, National Lab research in biofuels, solar energy and other renewable resources may also enable development of alternative energies, which have come to the forefront of the public eye in recent years. CASIS has maintained an office in Houston since its inception, and strong ties within the space community (NASA, the National Space Biomedical Research Institute, Space Alliance, Boeing and others) have been complemented by growing relationships with MD Anderson Cancer Center, Rice University, the Houston Economic Development Council, the University of Houston, Baylor College of Medicine, the Methodist Hospital Research Institute and many more organizations, particularly within the Texas Medical Center. The first CASIS research pathways were in the biosciences—hence the focus on integrating into these groups—but as CASIS expands its efforts more rigorously into other disciplines, the energy industry will be an additional priority target.
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Why Silicon Valley?
Silicon Valley in California is arguably the world’s epicenter for entrepreneurship and start-up activity, capturing the highest level of venture capital investment and deal flow in the world. Silicon Valley/ San Francisco has the greatest numbers of high-tech jobs in the U.S., with the highest concentration of these jobs in any metropolitan area. Additionally, the space economy in California has already laid a foundation advantageous to the CASIS mission: innovative transfer of space-based initiatives into non-space sectors. Along with life sciences and materials science—areas noted above as having great potential to benefit from the National Lab research platform—Silicon Valley also has a strong industry presence in remote sensing and optics. In particular, hundreds of small companies provide engineering, information technology and other support services for the satellite industry—influencing navigation, communications and Earth/space imaging industries, among others. The National Lab’s unique altitude and orbital path (compared to most satellites) provides it a valuable vantage point for observations of Earth and space. Moreover, technology development and materials science opportunities are particularly suited for satellite technology design and testing. CASIS outreach in this ecosystem is in the early stages, but current efforts have already led to relationships with industry-association groups, such as Xconomy; academic research institutions including Stanford, Berkley and UCSF; and organizations with major space interests, such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Aerospace Corp and various NASA organizations. Outreach efforts will continue to ramp up in the coming months now that the “ecosystem” business development strategy has been formally embraced by CASIS leadership and the Board of Directors. This will include more extensive outreach in not only Silicon Valley proper (in particular, San Jose) but also, for example, in the biotechnology organizations of San Diego, the health centers of Phoenix and various organizations in other western U.S. innovation hubs. Through integration into these three research ecosystems, CASIS hope to build a marketplace for researchers, financiers and others to use in finding funding, projects of interest and partners, with
facilitation from CASIS. This marketplace not only will enable the matching of exceptional research and education proposals with sponsorship; it will serve as a pipeline of intellectual capital and a forum for collective problem solving. By nucleating the marketplace in three respected and diverse innovation ecosystems, CASIS hopes to establish a gateway to multidisciplinary partnerships and interactions among basic and applied scientists, providing through this marketplace a novel and powerful tool for organizations to fortify and expand their market domain with more robust ideas and achievements.
SPOTLIGHT
One example of a very successful business development activity by CASIS is a collaboration with MassChallenge, a business accelerator that connects entrepreneurs with the resources needed to succeed in today’s economy. MassChallenge is the largestever startup accelerator, and it seeks high-impact, early-stage entrepreneurs, running accelerator programs and startup competitions. This year, CASIS and MassChallenge are partnering to fund and send a company’s research to the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory. MassChallenge will provide mentorship, office space, monetary awards and other resources to assist in bringing innovative ideas to reality, and CASIS will supply the winning researcher up to $100,000 on top of funds received by MassChallenge. For MassChallenge, this partnership allows an expansion in scope: funding startup companies all the way into space. For CASIS, it is a great outreach opportunity to nontraditional space sectors, attracting potential new users and raising awareness about CASIS and the National Lab. Most importantly, for the future of space science, this partnership may produce out-of-the-box ideas for groundbreaking use of the National Lab research platform.
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CA S I S ACA D E M Y
INTRODUCING OUR YOUTH TO NATIONAL LAB BY EMILY WHITE
SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATIONS
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n April, CASIS debuted two outreach tools designed to raise awareness of the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory from the bottom up. Initial CASIS outreach has
heavily focused on scientists and the public, and the CASIS Business Development team continues aggressive messaging to the research community (discussed in another article in this issue). These two newest tools, however, target the broad foundation of tomorrow’s space-science enthusiasts: our nation’s youth. The CASIS Education team has created a rich, interactive website for students and an accompanying webpage with tools for educators, both designed to build a generation of future innovators who understand and value the benefits of the National Lab. The education website for students, CASIS Academy, primarily targets middle school students. The expansive site includes a glossary, explanations of commercial products resulting from space science and other engaging content and online experiences. The standalone site seeks to be distinctive from typical sites that students experience in school, employing multimedia techniques, testimonials from students and an animated robot that describes difficult concepts via video clips. Since the 1980s, children in the U.S. have been falling behind other nations in their understanding of science. For our nation to recapture global leadership in research and development, we must prioritize educating the next generation of Americans in these areas, to prepare a future workforce capable of competing in the international market. Space science has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to inspire interest and excitement among children and adults in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) areas, making the National Lab an ideal platform for promoting and advancing education initiatives. CASIS chose to spearhead STEM education efforts by targeting the middle grades, because it is at this age that students begin to lose interest and confidence in science. Since it is also at this age that students begin to seriously consider career paths, it is a vital moment in a young adult’s life, when a spark of interest might
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ARK1 change their life’s course. Many organizations are working to address STEM education, but the space station is an incredible and unique asset to leverage. Through CASIS Academy, CASIS is capitalizing on assets and credibility that no one else can offer—and altering the future success of our nation by fostering next-generation leaders in science and technology. Moreover, a middle grades approach will also create some appeal for high school and elementary school students; since the content is appealing to people of all ages, it is best to attack the midrange with the level of explanation. The middle grades also tend to have more cross-curricular emphasis than high school, which fits well with the multidisciplinary aspects of space science. Finally, many Corporate Social Responsibility efforts aimed at education concentrate on elementary or high school students and teachers, so CASIS is filling a critical void. To complement CASIS Academy, a webpage for educators housed at www.iss-casis.org/Education includes background on CASIS, lesson plans revolving around National Lab research and various resources that explain space-science benefits. Each lesson plan embeds elements of the student site, providing a primary resource for deeper investigation and interaction. Critically, the lesson plans support common core standards and national education initiatives while complementing traditional classroom curricula. These resources seek to provide options for teachers to either replace or augment current lessons rather than having to add additional content, since finding time for extra course material often is prohibitive in today’s classrooms. CASIS hopes that these tools for educators and students will robustly attack National Lab awareness from a new front. By educating a broad sector of society that will ultimately reap the benefits of space-based research, CASIS is fortifying the path to future successes for the space science community—on the National Lab and beyond.
CLICK THE HAND TO VISIT www.iss-casis.org/Education The CASIS Academy website was designed by Topics Education, a company specializing in strategic communications programs, particularly customized educational products (e.g., e-learning programs, interactive websites, educator and facilitator guides) that engage learners and empower educators.
CASIS FIRST MISSION PATCH UNVEILED BY KEN SHIELDS
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
American contemporary graphic designer and illustrator Shepard Fairey recently designed the first payload mission patch for CASIS. The patch commemorates Advancing Research Knowledge 1 (ARK1, corresponding to Increment 37/38), the operations period scheduled from September 2013 through March 2014 to the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory. This historic timeframe encompasses launch of the first sponsored experiments selected, prioritized and manifested by a third-party entity (CASIS). Some of the selected research in ARK1 will include projects selected from the CASIS Request for Proposals process, submitted unsolicited proposals and CASIS Education projects. CASIS announced its new mission patch during a live event at the Engadget Expand Conference held in March in San Francisco. During the event, CASIS Communications Manager Patrick O’Neill provided an overview of CASIS and revealed the patch to meeting participants during a platform presentation. Not only were patches available to conference attendees, but a drawing was also held for a patch signed by Mr. Fairey. Engadget is a website that focuses on technology and consumer electronics breakthroughs, hosting a viewership of over 20 million people per month. Engadget proved to be an ideal partner through which to announce the first CASIS patch, introducing a new audience not previously familiar with CASIS to the capabilities of the National Lab in a modern and fun way. Shepard Fairey is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and is widely recognized for his work through OBEY and the Barack Obama “HOPE” poster from the 2008 presidential campaign. Mr. Fairey’s work SEE ARK1 ON PAGE 10
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EXPERIMENTS
CASIS ADDS TO ITS PROJECT PORTFOLIO WITH INNOVATIVE RESEARCH EXPERIMENTS
BY ELIZABETH BERRY RESEARCH AND GRANT MANAGER
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n the first quarter of 2013, four exciting new research projects joined the list of CASIS-funded investigations slated for flight to the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory. Two grant awardees from the field of protein crystallization and two from materials science will add to our ever-growing research portfolio. The projects, selected through the CASIS Request for Proposals (RFP) process, will use the unique conditions of the National Lab to achieve research goals and objectives while also demonstrating Earth-based applications from their results.
Protein Crystallization Awardees The CASIS RFP “Advancing Protein Crystallization by Using Microgravity” was hugely successful, with CASIS receiving many qualified proposals focused on protein structure determination. The structure of a protein determines how it functions, and to determine these structures, proteins must be grown and analyzed in a crystal form. Growing protein crystals can be difficult, and past experiments have shown that some crystals form larger and more well-defined structures when grown in the microgravity environment of space. Following the announcement of three initial grant awardees from the protein crystal growth RFP, CASIS worked hard to find funding for additional qualified proposals. The two additional proposals awarded this year are from principal investigators Edward Snell, Ph.D., with the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute, and Sergey Korolev, Ph.D., with Saint Louis University School of Medicine. Crystallization of proteins in space as part of these CASIS grantawarded research projects may reveal important information about proteins involved in human health and disease— perhaps even information that will help in the development of therapeutics. In addition, these experiments should advance our
understanding of how crystallization occurs in space and how we might improve our research methods to reliably obtain high-quality crystals.
Materials Science Awardees Proposals awarded from CASIS RFP “Materials Testing in the Extreme Environment of Space” are from principal investigators Kathleen Morse, Ph.D., with Advanced Materials Applications, LLC, and W. Jud Ready, Ph.D., with Georgia Institute of Technology. These proposals will utilize the extreme conditions of space, which are demonstrably hostile to many materials. Radiation exposure, extreme temperature fluctuations, damaging forms of the oxygen molecule and other conditions assault materials placed on the outside of the space station. The research by these two grant awardees, conducted on an external platform attached to the space station, will assist in development and testing of new materials, devices and subsystems, specifically satellite materials and solar cells. These projects will be the first payloads to use the NanoRacks External Platform, the first plug-and-play piece of external hardware targeted toward a commercial clientele. NanoRacks is a commercial entity with over 70 space station SEE EXPERIMENTS ON PAGE 10
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SNAPSHOT
Some of the experiments included in ARK 1:
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▶▶Windows On Earth: A suite of integrated
SNAPSHOT
The four newest CASIS-grant awardees ▶▶Dr. Snell will focus on growing crystals of four proteins associated with human disease. These proteins crystallize on Earth but lack sufficient quality and uniformity to determine their structure at high resolution. Larger, betterorganized crystalsof these specific proteins could have a significant impacton drug development for Parkinson’s disease, bovinespongiform encephalopathy, ethylmalonic aciduria andcutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. ▶▶Dr. Korolev will focus on growing crystals of two medically important proteins (one of which has an unknown crystal structure). These two proteins have multiple functions within cells, and results could therefore assist in the development of various medical interventions, from anticoagulant therapies to drug treatments for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, muscular dystrophy and Parkinson’s disease. ▶▶Dr. Morse will test how exposure to the space environment affects the Gumstix™, a computer-on-module (COM)– based computer design. This gum stick-sized computer promises to improve satellite capabilities that are currently constrained by the limited computing power of radiationhardened computers. The ability of the Gumstix™ COM to withstand radiation exposure will enable more rapid testing and deployment of fault-tolerant computers to meet the intensive needs of current and next-generation satellites. ▶▶Dr. Ready’s research will focus on improving solar cells to increase cost effectiveness and energy efficiency. Past research using this solar-cell design, which uses lightweight carbon nanotubes, showed an increased ability to efficiently capture photons from the sun to create energy. The solar-cell material to be tested on the space station is lighter weight and less costly to manufacture compared to previous designs because it uses materials that are cheaper, more abundant and less toxic. In addition, an improved textured design will more efficiently “trap” the sun’s energy.
software tools to help students, scientists and astronauts identify targets for photography from the space station (CASIS collaboration with TERC and the Association of Space Explorers).
▶ ▶ Story Time From Space: An astronaut on board the space station will read from a children’s book about life in space and perform simple experiments demonstrating science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Experiments from:
▶▶Procter and Gamble/Zin Technologies. Colloid phase
transition and separation kinetics in complex fluids. The movement and behavior of solids dispersed in liquids (colloids) is different in space than on Earth, allowing scientists to better understand the properties of fluids and solid-liquid mixtures used in commercial products— and to optimize these fluids to improve product performance and shelf life.
▶▶Dr. Stephen Aller, University of Alabama-Birmingham.
Research to determine the structure of human membrane proteins that are very difficult to crystallize on Earth. This work may accelerate the commercialization of next-generation drugs to treat AIDS-related dementia, high cholesterol, atherosclerosis, cystic fibrosis and multi-drug resistance as it relates to cancer.
▶▶Dr. Pamela Bjorkman, California Institute of Technology.
Research in Huntington’s disease. The structure of the protein critical to the detrimental effects of Huntington’s disease remains unknown. A high-resolution protein structure will have significant scientific and medical impact in understanding the structural basis for neural toxicity and developing treatments for this disease and related disorders such as spinocerebellar ataxia.
▶▶Dr. Joseph Ng, iXpressGenes Inc. Research to grow
proteins capable of being studied by neutron diffraction. Neutron diffraction is another method used to determine protein structure, but requires large crystals that are hard to produce in normal gravity. This study could show that microgravity is a powerful avenue to obtain proteins sufficient for neutron diffraction studies, as well as informing further research into the roles of the specific studied proteins involved in various aspects of human health.
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HIGHLIGHTS
JUNE2013 CLICK THE HAND FOR MORE INFO
In March, CASIS announced two projects that will receive funding from the Materials Science RFP which will utilize the NanoRacks External Platform. Awardees include Kathleen Morse, Ph.D. from Advanced Materials Applications, LLC and W. Jud Ready, Ph.d. from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Awarded projects total approximately $400,000 in funding to investigate the extreme environment of space. In May, CASIS announced the funding of an unsolicited proposal in the field of nanofluidics for approximately $200,000. Drs. Alessandro Grattoni and Mauro Ferrari of The Methodist Hospital Research Institute seek to model nanofluidics by studying slightly larger (microscale) systems of fluid transport in microgravity.
CASIS issued a Request for Proposals in non-embryonic stem cell research on May 22, 2013. “The Impact of Microgravity on Fundamental Stem Cell Properties: A Call for Spaceflight and Ground-Based Experiments” will be open to the public until July 25, 2013.
During the week of June 17, CASIS and the PGA of America held the 2nd annual PGA STEM enrichment camp blending golf and science. Over 20 Title 1 students from St. Lucie County Schools received three hours a day of STEM activities relating to the physics of golf, followed by two hours of daily golf instruction.
On June 25th, CASIS announced the funding of an unsolicited proposal from the Department of Veterans Affairs in anti-cancer research. This announcement marks the first official research proposal agreement between CASIS and a government agency.
ARK1 FROM PAGE 7 has also been included in collections displayed at such prestigious venues as The Smithsonian, The Museum of Modern Art in New York and the National Portrait Gallery in Washington. CASIS was honored and excited to have a gifted and celebrated artist design this first patch, which has already succeeded in reaching new audiences and helping to advance the CASIS mission of promoting the National Lab research platform. Shepard Fairey described this project as a once in a lifetime opportunity, designing a triangular patch that highlights the blue and green colors from the CASIS logo. The ARK1 autumn launch will include a number of Mr. Fairey’s ARK1 patches as part of the payload.
EXPERIMENTS FROM PAGE 8 payloads currently under contract. Their new External Platform will be the first permanent hardware on the outside of station that allows researchers to take small experiments in and out of the space environment for long-term studies. By funding projects on this platform, CASIS not only supports qualified research to advance materials science research but also improves space station capabilities by supporting National Labenabling technologies. CASIS is pleased to add these highly qualified research experiments to our project pipeline, and we look forward to the groundbreaking results each of these CASISsponsored projects will yield from utilizing the National Lab’s powerful research capabilities.