April 6 is application deadline for NASA Roadshow

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The application deadline is next Monday for Youngstown-area manufacturers to participate in the NASA Roadshow, hosted by the Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network, or MAGNET, and the NASA Glenn Research Center.

Through the roadshow, experts from the NASA Glenn Center will be made available to manufacturers in the Youngstown-Warren region and surrounding areas in Ohio to solve technical challenges they are having with a new or current product or with their manufacturing operations. The event was last at Youngstown State University in December 2013.

“This is a unique opportunity for manufacturers to access the brainpower, research capabilities and resources of NASA,” said Daniel E. Berry, MAGNET president.

Robert Shaw, director of Venture Development and Partnerships at the NASA Glenn Research Center, said the center has realized success in working with MAGNET, conducting one-day events throughout the Midwest “where NASA subject matter experts interact with selected members of the local manufacturing community and solve real-world problems, applying their technical knowledge gained from conducting NASA mission work.”

Five local organizations are partnering with MAGNET and NASA Glenn to present this opportunity to the region’s manufacturers: YSU College of STEM, Youngstown Business Incubator, Tech Belt Energy Innovation Center, Mahoning Valley Manufacturing Coalition and the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber.

The expertise of the NASA experts cover basic engineering disciplines as well as the specialty fields that support the center’s core competencies: propulsion systems; communications technology and development; cryogenics; materials and structure for extreme environments; physical sciences and biomedical technologies; and power, energy storage and conversion.

Manufacturers with technical or operational problems related to engineering and these fields that are seeking to participate in this project to obtain assistance provided by NASA experts will need to apply, complete and submit a project application by Monday. Applications are available online at https://prism-nasa.fluidreview.com.

Qualifying companies will be notified by midsummer. The single day of consulting services will be provided at an invitation-only NASA Roadshow event to be late summer. More details will be provided to those selected to participate.