www.nasa.gov www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 

“The turnout was excellent, with coverage by News.com and Mercury News, 

and I really enjoyed meeting with other partners at the NRP,” said John Di 

Mario, Research Engineer at Photozig Inc., in conversation with m2mi’s 

David Maples at the Technology Showcase.

Silicon Valley Center for Robotic Exploration and 

Space Technologies (CREST) Open House

by Diane Farrar

The June 7 Center for Robotic Exploration and Space Technologies (CREST) Open House launched CREST’s new 

student research facility in NASA Research Park, Bldg. 583C. 

CREST, a regional academic consortium, promotes strategic 

partnerships among private industry, government agencies and 

education and research institutions.

“CREST supports collaboration between students at different schools in 

support of NASA Ames and major aerospace companies. University 

collaboration is critical to enable the future success of space exploration,” 

said Dr. Eugene Tu, Ames Director for Exploration Technology, kicking 

off the event on behalf of the Ames Center Director.

“Stanford, Santa Clara University, and Cal Poly students participated in 

the GeneSat-1 mission,” said Professor Chris Kitts, CREST Director. 

“Stanford developed an initial prototype of the spacecraft bus, Cal Poly 

developed the launch system and Santa Clara students ran the mission 

operations for GeneSat-1. Several CREST schools are continuing with 

NASA’s new small satellite Pharmasat, scheduled for launch in March 

2008,” said Kitts. “Also, we just received a grant from the California 

Space Grant Foundation to involve Ohlone College,” he added.

Technology Showcase Attracts Silicon Valley 

Companies, Highlights Collaboration

by Kathleen Burton

Approximately 300 Silicon Valley business people, venture 

capitalists, academics, city leaders, trade group representatives, 

technology consultants and others attended the Technology 

Showcase, held in Bldg. 3 on April 24. 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

A publication of NASA Research Park Summer 2007

NRP Post

continued on page 6 continued on page 4

continued on page 8

Dr. Eugene Tu, Ames Director for Exploration Technology, welcomes 

guests to CREST Open House.

The Carnegie Mellon Innovations Lab (CMIL)

by Khalid M. Al-Ali, Ph.D.

CMIL identifies, researches, tests, and matures forward-looking 

ground, air, and space technologies with applications to mobile 

vehicles. We combine cutting-edge NASA teams and Carnegie 

Mellon expertise in research, development, operation, and 

commercialization of micro vehicle platforms and associated 

technologies, including unmanned aircraft and spacecraft. We 

have a history of avionics, sensors, and control systems design 

and simulation research applied toward high profile and widely 

publicized endeavors – one featured on the History Channel’s 

Modern Marvels: “The Telephone”. CMIL is home to MAX, 

the ground-breaking Intelligent Mobile Rover, and successfully 

spun-off Senseta, Inc., www.senseta.com, a leader in building 

the next wave of computing with mobile robotics.
NRP Post

www.nasa.gov

New NRP Partner Terra Global Capital Collaborating 

with NASA World Wind Project

by Leslie Durschinger, Principal, Terra Global Capital

Left to right: Thomas Grimm, Leslie Durschinger, Terra Global Capital, and 

Patrick Hogan, Project Manager, NASA World Wind

Terra Global Capital, LLC, was formed in June 2006 to provide 

organizations with strategic advice in environmental markets 

and to act as a general partner for private environmental 

investment funds. Recently we expanded our business to address climate change by beginning the development of remote 

sensing based carbon measurement software for reforestation, 

afforestation, agroforestry, changed agricultural practices and 

avoided deforestation projects. This technology will bring 

feasibility to many valuable projects, particularly those in areas 

of rural poverty.

In Memoriam

We are deeply saddened at the loss of one of our NRP 

Partners, Sam Addala of e4Xchange, Inc. Sam passed away 

unexpectedly on Tuesday, April 24th. Sam is remembered 

by all as a kind, compassionate and joyful person with much 

enthusiasm for work and life.

“Although I was Sam’s NRP 

manager for only a few months, 

I personally miss his smiling 

face. I believe all of us who had 

the pleasure of knowing Sam 

miss his gentle nature and quick 

smile,” said Dani Thompson, 

Sam’s NRP account manager. 

Vin Addala, Sam’s son, has assumed responsibilities for running e4Xchange, Inc. at NRP. Welcome Vin to NRP.

NRP Welcomes New Tenants 

Department of Energy - Special Technologies Lab 

Building 18, May 2007

Department of Energy - Special Technologies Lab (STL) is 

collaborating with the NASA World Wind Team to develop 

and advance the World Wind geospatial visualization toolset. 

Being in the NRP allows their developers to work on software 

modules and develop hardware devices and sensors that will 

integrate with the software application as it progresses.

Terra Global

Building 19, May 2007

UNCFSP President Aaron Andrews (r) opened a 3 day leadership boot camp 

for the NASA Science and Technology Institute for Minority Institutions’ interns 

as part of their 10 week summer internship at NASA Ames Research Center.

continued on page 12

Sam Addala 1956-200

Entrepreneurial Space Summit at Space Portal

NRP Space Portal conducted a two day workshop in May. 

“One of the topics discussed at the Entrepreneurial Space Summit was 

how the private sector could use the space station,” said Dan Rasky, 

Director of the Space Portal. 

“An important opportunity is via the Commercial Orbital Transportation 

Services program, designed to provide frequent cheap access to the International Space Station (ISS). Work is underway to establish the ISS 

as the first national laboratory beyond earth, with exciting potential for 

commercial biotech as well as government sponsored research and increased 

demand for access to space,” said Rasky.
NRP Post

www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov

“We were up two hours before 

other networks, providing video 

and VOIP,” said AWC Project 

Manager Mike Blankenship. 

AWC recently completed a 

successful round of Series A 

financing. As part of AWC’s 

new foundation, the company 

brought in Mike Gardner as 

their new CEO. 

As president and CEO of 

NewlineNoosh, Inc., Mike 

recapitalized the company, 

raised nearly $10M in Series 

A and B financing, acquired a 

company, and helped capture 

three major honors, including the Crossroads A-List award. 

Mike also grew revenue at Blue Pumpkin from $2.8M to $40M 

in 3 years, taking the enterprise software provider to #5 on the 

Inc 500 list of fastest-growing private US companies. As EVP 

of operations for Ungermann-Bass, Mike helped increase the 

company’s LAN market 

share from $60M to 

$425M. Following that 

company’s sale to Tandem, he was appointed 

president and COO of 

ACC, later acquired by 

Ericsson for $285M. Earlier in his career Mike directed IBM’s 

largest US sales region with over $1B in revenue and held 

senior management positions at Hewlett-Packard in marketing 

enterprise application software.

Andrew Gold is now AWC President of Technology and Brian 

Trumbull President of Products and Services.

New AWC CEO 

Mike Gardner 

brings more than 30 

years of leadership 

to the company.

AWC Supports Great Quake Exercise

NRP Partner Advanced Wireless Communications (AWC) deployed WiMAX services in rapid response time for the center 

wide Great Quake simulation on May 11. AWC WiMAX provided connectivity from Glenn Research Center’s satellite link 

through N254 Ames Internet Exchange to four predetermined 

Ames locations. The exercise was a “proof of concept” for 

future emergency communications requirements. 

“The design was successfully tested and may be 

used, as in center disaster 

planning, which will 

provide a huge benefit to 

the center,” said Grace 

DeLeon, Applied Information Technology.

AWC’s mobile tower, the 

first rapidly deployable 

WiMAX solution. The 

AWC response utilized 

the 802.16d protocol and

a customized WiMAX to 

WI FI system that allowed 

VOIP (voice over internet 

protocol) calls to be made 

within 30 minutes of the 

simulated disaster.

“Our sincere thanks to Mike, Zach, Dusty and the entire AWC team for 

providing us a robust and available backhaul network in a professional 

and timely manner. We are confident that, given a real emergency, AWC’s 

people and technology would perform. We are also greatly impressed by 

their capabilities and look forward to developing future solutions with 

them.” Network Engineering, NASA Ames Research Center. 

Photo by Jim Taylor

Ames employees at flight line during center wide disaster preparation drill on May 11, 2007 Photo by Cesar Acosta

AWC mobile tower 
NRP Post

 www.nasa.gov

Sponsored by the Ames Partnerships Office, the Technology 

Showcase provided exposure and networking opportunities 

for the 30+ NRP presenters and exhibitors.

 The Showcase also introduced Silicon Valley businesses to 

the Ames Partnerships Office, comprising the Space Portal, 

NASA Research Park, Technology Partnerships and the Small 

Business Innovation Research Level II Program.

“The Technology Showcase was an outstanding success bringing together 

our innovative research and development partners in the NRP to exhibit 

their cutting-edge new technologies to the investment community, local dignitaries and political leaders, “ said Michael Marlaire, Partnerships Office 

Director at NASA Ames.

“The showcase provided visibility for our partners and let the community 

know the Partnerships Office is open for new business collaborations,” 

said Mejghan Haider, Chief, NASA Research Park.

The Technology Showcase kicked off with an opening address 

by Steve Zornetzer, NASA’s Associate Director for Institutions 

and Research, followed by an overview of the Partnerships Office by Director Michael Marlaire.

Eight NRP partners gave presentations at the Showcase, 

discussing their core business operations and the benefits of 

partnering with NASA. They included m2mi Corp., Advanced 

Wireless Communications (AWC), Apprion Inc., Ecliptic Enterprises Corp., Honeybee Robotics, Tibion and Santa Clara 

University’s CREST (Center for Robotic Exploration and 

Space Technology) program. Terry Fong of Ames also spoke 

about Google/NASA collaborations, with an emphasis on 

their joint disaster response project.

Exhibitors included, m2mi, AWC, 

Ecliptic, Apprion, Honeybee, 

SCU, SCU CREST Program, 

IntelligenTek, Inovamar, Pragati 

Synergetic Research, Inc., Gary 

Air, Aramira/Jumping Beans, 

Carnegie-Mellon University West, 

UC Santa Cruz, Changene, Photozig Inc., Planners Collaborative, Telebrowse Inc., Intelligent 

Inference Systems Corp., the 

Mars Institute, the United Negro 

College Funds Special Programs 

Corp., the Moffett Field Historical Society, and Western Disaster 

Center. There were also exhibits 

by the NRP, Tech Partnerships 

and SBIR Office.

The Showcase received wide local media coverage, with several 

partners interviewed on Channels 2 and 7, on CNET and in an 

April 25th article in the San Jose Mercury News.

NRP Partner, Julius Lin, IntelligenTek Corporation

NRP Partner, 

Mala Mahrotra, 

Ph.D,

Pragati 

Systems

NRP Partner, Frank Chang, Changene

“It was well worth the trip,” 

(up from Pasadena), said NRP 

Partner Rex Ridenoure, CEO 

Ecliptic Inc.

Technology Showcase

continued from front page
NRP Post

www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov

He Was a Bold Man Who First Ate an Oyster

by NRP Staff

In the search for biomaterial to elevate bone mass density, 

scientists verified the safety of using shell of pearl oyster as a 

source of calcium as well as a biomaterial for bone healing.

Scientists at Changene, Stanford University, Harvard Medical 

School and the University of Hawaii sampled shells of black 

pearl oyster (Pinctada margaritifera) from remote atolls in the 

South Pacific Ocean for its elemental contents. The regulated 

hazardous elements are under safety concentrations. The study 

is published in June’s Journal of Food Chemistry. 

NRP’s Frank Chang, principle investigator at Changene, said “We 

sampled black oyster shells, measured the trace metal concentrations, and 

confirmed the safety for human consumption against the safety standards 

determined by the US FDA, European Union, and United Nations.”

Recent studies demonstrated bone healing capability of the 

organic substances prepared from pearl oyster shells when 

injected into bone injury sites on sheep legs.

Dr. Tianhua Niu, assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, said “the 

organic substances prepared from the shells potentially could be an osteogenic 

agent; and the shell powder could be used as a calcium supplementation. Our 

data and current regulatory standards indicate that both applications stay 

clear of major health concerns caused by trace element contents.”

 Dr. Maria Haws at the Univ. of Hawaii Sea Grant College said 

“Our study lays a foundation for extending the commercial 

value for pearl oyster. With current practices, shells of pearl 

oyster have little economic value once the pearl is picked from 

the shell. The potential application of shells for human consumption enables pearl farms, mostly located in economical 

challenged regions, to generate extra revenue. Countries in the 

South Pacific Ocean benefit from this extended application.”

The Showcase received “positive reviews” from many of the 

partners who took part.

“We definitely got some good exposure, especially with the piece that ran on 

CNET,” said IntelligenTek marketing director Jennifer Yu.

“The TV coverage was fantastic, I have posted it to our website,” said 

Geoff Brown, CEO of m2mi.

“A lot of work went into the event and it showed,” said Pascal Lee, CEO 

and founder of the Mars Institute. “The Tech Showcase was a great 

success and much appreciated by all partners and visitors I spoke with.” 

“We had a blast,” said Andrew Gold, founder and president of technology at AWC. 

“Since the first Tech Showcase was such a success, we are planning to hold 

another Technology Showcase, probably in Spring 2008,” Haider said.

Go to: http://www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov for Technology 

Showcase images from Photozig and NASA photographers. 

Right: NRP Partner, Pascal Lee, Mars Institute

Moffett Field History Museum

Polynesian pearl shell

Scientists collected pearl oysters 

from Tuamotu Archipelagos of Tahiti, 

a remote location with few modern 

human activities.

NASA Satellite Photo
NRP Post

www.nasa.gov

Additional facilities are:

• Mechatronics Laboratory

• Robotics System Laboratory

• Small Spacecraft Assembly Laboratory

• Student Run Mission Operations Center

• Marine Robotics Laboratory

• Multi-Robot Systems Laboratory

• Integrated Design Network center

• Office Spaces

• Large Atrium area for seminars and project reviews

Partner projects showcased included live robotic demonstrations, student-led tours of the Small Spacecraft Assembly 

lab and the Mission Ops center. CREST is a consortium of 

universities interested in developing student-centered satellite 

and robotic systems for supporting hands-on engineering 

education, advanced technology demonstration, and scientific 

discovery. These systems are typically low-cost and capable of 

supporting high-risk experimental studies. CREST members 

include Santa Clara University, Stanford University, San Jose 

State University, California Polytechnic State University San 

Luis Obispo, and new member Ohlone College. Additional 

non-local partners include Northeastern University, Washington University in St. Louis, and Montana State University. 

CREST partners have expertise ranging from small satellites to 

underwater robotic systems and routinely conduct world-class 

experiments and research with a wide variety of governmental 

(NSF, NASA, NOAA, DoD, USGS, etc.), industrial (Lockheed 

Martin Corp., CSA Engineering, etc.), and non-profit (Space 

Grant, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Institute 

of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, etc.) partners.

“We began student work with small spacecraft four years ago based on 

consultation with Stanford,” said Ames’ Deputy Chief, Small Spacecraft 

Division, Dr. John Hines. “Three years later we launched GeneSat-1, the 

first NASA mission with ground operations designed and operated by 

students. GeneSat-1 supported up to 40 students from 6 universities.”

“We now have a cohesive 70 member team, ages 17 - 70 years, from various 

disciplines and organizations. In a very short time we have evolved from 

novelty student projects into real science for multiple forums. CREST is a 

model for the future -- to bring in the next generation. CREST has classrooms 

for theoretical and conceptual training, laboratories for experimentation and 

real world applications that will have an impact,” said Hines. 

The CREST student research facility at NASA Research Park hosts:

• Two classrooms for the Lockheed Martin Small Satellite 

Design Course with Professor Kitts of Santa Clara University. 

Future plans include an Entrepreneurial Space Certificate 

program through Santa Clara University 

Mike Rasay used advanced 

diagnostic techniques to 

design operations for 

GeneSat-1 as a platform

for his Master’s Degree 

research at SCU. 

Will Sanicola is a 

SCU engineering 

freshman and a 

CREST intern with 

Professor Kitts’ autonomous aircraft 

program.

Rick Conrey, SCU-EE and Seamus Agnew SCU-ME with their underwater 

robot, which recently found evidence of tsunami waves in Lake Tahoe.

CREST Open House

continued from front page
NRP Post

www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov

CREST Students & Western Disaster Center at USGS

On June 5 NRP Partner Western Disaster Center, with staff 

from the SCU Robotics Systems Laboratory (SCU RSL) and 

NRP CREST, provided a technology demonstration for the 

California Post Earthquake Information Clearinghouse. This 

demo was held at the US Geological Survey facility in Menlo 

Park during a regular quarterly meeting of the Clearinghouse.

SCU RSL/CREST students Casey Kute and Matt Ambaum 

demonstrated Roverwerx. SCU RSL/CREST student Will 

Sanicola demonstrated a balloon/gondola robotic imaging system. SCU RSL/CREST is working with the Western Disaster 

Center to develop imaging and inspection capabilities using the 

rover and the balloon/gondola imaging system.

Following a major earthquake in California, the California 

Post Earthquake Information Clearinghouse will systematize 

the collection of critical information from field investigations, 

including focused time sensitive science and engineering data 

associated with earthquake faulting, and engineering data associated with building, bridge and roadway collapse.

Rich Davies, the Executive Director of the Western Disaster 

Center, is the chair of the Clearinghouse Overflight subcommittee, the component of the Clearinghouse responsible for 

the collection of imagery and remote sensing data for the 

Clearinghouse. Other members of the Clearinghouse include 

the US Geological Survey, the California Geological Survey, 

the California Governors Office of Emergency Services, the 

Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Earthquake 

Engineering Research Institute.

Casey Kute and Matt Ambaum, SCU juniors in Mechanical Engineering 

exhibited Roverwerx at CREST Open House and the USGS.

Apprion Names VP of World Wide Sales

Moffett Field, Calif., May 07, 2007 (BUSINESS WIRE) 

Apprion, the pioneer of the industrial wireless application 

networks for manufacturers, today named Michael BeDell 

vice president of worldwide sales, 

responsible for expanding opportunities in process manufacturing markets, 

including oil, gas, chemicals, and energy. 

BeDell’s 25 years of industry expertise 

consists of extensive experience delivering enterprise managed services including on-demand wireless solutions.

 Michael BeDell

Enroll at CMU West

It’s not too late to apply to Carnegie Mellon West! We are still 

accepting applications for the Fall 2007 enrollment. Carnegie 

Mellon’s west coast campus, located at Building 23 in the NASA 

Research Park, offers two graduate degrees: MS in Software 

Engineering and MS in Software Management. Both part-time 

programs are designed for the working professional, and can be 

completed in two years. At Carnegie Mellon West, we provide 

our students with technical expertise within a business context. 

We are dedicated to educating our students in the business of 

software. Apply today at: http://west.cmu.edu/apply

For questions, please contact Sylvia Leong at admissions@

west.cmu.edu or 650/335-2808.

m2mi Update

by Geoff Brown, CEO and Founder of m2mi

Machine-to-Machine Intelligence (m2mi) Corporation, an 

emerging innovator, continues to strengthen its relationship 

with NASA Ames and the commercial community at large. 

m2mi spoke at two key NASA Space Portal community events 

as a commercial space partner, supplier and consumer. m2mi 

embraced the Silicon Valley Disaster Recovery community by 

hiring Silicon Valley Alumni, Rick Ellinger as Chief Strategy 

Officer. Hurricane Katrina is our use-case for how our technology should keep systems going under catastrophic circumstances. Rick brings a wealth of relevant experience, and we 

both believe that kindness is a hallmark of a truly ambitious 

company.
NRP Post

www.nasa.gov

durable chassis outfitted with sensors and electronics to support intelligent 

teleoperation research. MAX is an affordable, versatile, intelligent robot 

platform, filling the market niche between cheap, low-fidelity hobby robot 

kits and the high cost research robot platforms. No compact research rover 

currently on the market offers the same high-resolution stereo vision capabilities, range of sensor modalities, mobility, onboard computing power and 

mechanical durability at a comparable price. Most of MAX components 

are standard off-the-shelf products, keeping MAX user friendly, and a 

plug-and-play, easily repairable rover. We built several MAX models. 

The Ames research version is one of the most densely equipped rovers 

available, with two laser range finders, high-speed wireless communication, 

differential GPS, sonar rangefinders and a sophisticated Inertial Navigation System (INS) driven by high power brushless motors.

Four processors - Pentium M, FPGA, and twin DSP’s - provide 

computing power. Now successfully spun off into a company, 

Senseta, Inc., we think MAX, the size of a toaster oven, is 

the fourth PC form -- a laptop on wheels, after the desktop, 

notebook and tablet. 

The infirm, the elderly, physically challenged, or those living alone are 

potential MAX users. The rover, as a companion, could keep an audio/

video record of each day. Alzheimer patients could replay a record of their 

day to help them find things or remember what happened earlier. Owners 

could tell the GPS equipped rover “take me to the corner grocery” and 

MAX would lead the way. 

Other research at CMIL includes the Polymorphic Control 

Systems project, a NASA Ames funded initiative to extend 

the concepts of the Ames developed distributed plug-andplay avionics, to examine its effects on control system design 

and capabilities for adaptive and fault-tolerant control. Senior 

Research Engineer Corey Ippollito serves as the lead engineer 

on the Polymorphic Control Systems and Exploration Aerial 

Vehicles projects. Corey is a member of the Adaptive Controls 

and Evolvable Systems Group at Ames whose work includes 

the NASA Haughton-Mars Project.

Khalid Al-Al holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical 

and Electrical Engineering from the Univ 

of CA at Berkeley. Inspired by an intimate 

childhood conversation with Apollo Astronaut 

Alan Shepard, Al-Ali lead the construction of 

ATLAS payloads on 1993 and 1994 STS mission   Now CMU Senior Fello   Direct

of Robotics and CMIL Director, Al-Ali leads 

efforts to create compact, highly capable 

mobile vehicles covering ground, air and 

space operations.

CMIL

continued from front page

 MAX 5.0J and MAX 5.0A at the NASA Ames Mars Yard

Carnegie Mellon Robotics lab was founded with humble beginnings in 

2003 at Carnegie Mellon West in NASA Research Park. Working 

with Ames Computational Sciences Division groups within Code TI, I 

was building bridges between Carnegie Mellon and NASA communities. 

The lab was my “field of dreams.” I had no outside funding and no sponsor to build this lab. I said “we are just going to do it. Let us start small, 

think big, and grow rapidly,” and with the support of Dr. Raj Reddy 

and CMU, converted my office in Bldg. 23 to lab space for my team. The 

lab grew rapidly into larger Offices supported by NASA funded projects, 

and in 2005 we began occupying most of Bldg. 23A. We renamed the 

lab the Carnegie Mellon Innovations Lab, given our variety of work and 

diversity of expertise. CMIL pays homage to Thomas Edison’s Invention 

Factory, and like a “mill”, we work and produce all the time.

Our lab operates like a think tank for low cost, high performance small, 

unmanned vehicles –spacecraft, landers, rovers and aerial vehicles. We have 

six research faculty with world-class expertise in five diverse areas: mobile 

robotics, dynamics and control systems, evolvable systems, automated robotic 

construction, and high performance software research and development.

Dr. Jason Lohn, Senior Research Scientist at CMU, formerly at 

Stanford, Ames and Google, designed award winning antennas 

that flew on recent NASA spacecraft. Dr. A. Scott Howe, with 

Ph.D.s in architecture and mechanical engineering, specializes 

in construction robotics for planetary surface and orbital space 

environments. Dr. Vadim Kotov’s expertise is providing a 

broad range of solutions to high-performance and high-dependability system problems. Consulting Research Scientist 

Dr. Alan Federman’s current interests are making domestic 

robots truly useful, especially for the disabled and elderly, open 

source software tools for scientific visualization and machinehuman interaction. From 1995-2005 he supported the NASA 

Learning Technologies and Robotics Education Projects.

 

We built our first product, MAX, an autonomous robotic test bed, from 

the ground up to market, with 30 students and no outside money. Our 

customer base asked for a low cost “reliable, rugged, portable, and extendible rover.” MAX, a commercial research and educational micro rover, 

has a 4-wheel drive, 4-wheel steer (double Ackerman) high clearance agile 
NRP Post

www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov

This research investigates possibilities for exploiting the 

distributed control and avionics network for resilience and 

adaptability in situations beyond the capabilities of current 

adaptive algorithms, including regimes where critical failures 

or damage would bring complete mission failure with the 

potential loss of the vehicle, payload or lives. The project 

leverages mature distributed software architectures used by 

NASA on UAVs with CMIL’s proven MAX rover platforms. 

These architectures run on the Pentium-M class processor 

onboard the MAX platform providing guidance, navigation 

and control. 

CMIL also supports initiatives that combine science, technology, research, 

and education. In June 2007 CMIL received a NASA Group 

Achievement Award for the Spaceward Bound 2006 Expedition: Chile, 

a collaboration between CMIL, Ames’ scientist Dr. Chris McKay’s 

research team and Ames’ Education Division’s Spaceward Bound 

education venture. 

The expedition to Chile’s Atacama Desert performed cutting-edge field 

robotics research, field testing a MAX variant to determine sustainability of compact rovers in harsh temperature and weather conditions. 

The educators and CMIL accompanied Dr. Chris McKay’s research 

team, while select members of the Girl Scout robotic team, Space Cookies, had the opportunity to control MAX from Ames. MAX was 

teleoperated over a Ku band satellite from Ames Main Mission Control 

(MCC) facility, with adjustable communication latencies. 

MAX ran with NASA Ames’ Reflection control system architecture in day and nighttime conditions, under wide ranging 

temperature variations (30 ̊ - 100 ̊F), and over dusty, rocky 

terrains. Ames’ Director Pete Worden teleoperated MAX 

from a NASA software enabled ground station at the MCC 

using both available modes of operation: Intelligent Waypoint 

Navigation and Direct Rover Control.

In May 2007 Dr. McKay’s team field-tested MAX in California’s 

Mojave Desert, after one hour of CMIL training. “MAX is the Apple 

II of rovers,” said McKay, noting MAX’s ease of use and versatility. 

We think CMIL exemplifies NRP goals -- we are a science and 

technology institution, we cross-fertilize through proximity, we 

are attracting “feeder fish” and we are spinning off companies. 

We have formal collaborations with other academic institutes, 

government agencies and industry. We are proud of what we 

do. Visit us in Bldg. 23A behind the CMU West main building, 

or for more info contact me: Khalid M. Al-Ali, Ph.D., Senior 

Fellow and Director of Robotics and CMIL, West Coast Campus, CMU, Bldg. 23 alali@cmu.edu, http://cmil.west.cmu.edu 

Carnegie Mellon West, a top tier academic institution at NASA 

Research Park, is home to CMIL, a non-profit lab co-founded 

by Raj Reddy. Reddy also co-founded Carnegie Mellon West, 

the Robotics Institute at the Pittsburgh campus, and was CoChair of the US President’s IT Advisory Committee.

MAX prototypes in the Atacama Desert, the driest place on Earth. Virtually sterile, 

the desert serves as an analog for Mars’ environment.

Ames Science Field Station with satellite communication in the Atacama

Researchers and Spaceward Bound educators in Chile’s Atacama Desert 
NRP Post

10 www.nasa.go

UCSC Advanced Studies Lab Proposal Solicitation 

The Advanced Studies Laboratories (ASL), an emerging partnership between NASA ARC and UC Santa Cruz, is accepting 

formal proposals for ASL Affiliation.

ASL’s focus is the shared use of a facility on the Ames campus, Bldg. N239. This building has a mix of laboratory and office 

space with equipment and services typical for supporting research in biology, chemistry, and engineering. In addition, there 

is a library, glassware/prep kitchen, large meeting room and several smaller conference rooms. A central ‘Commons’ area is 

maintained by ASL that supports short-term projects and provides a central presentation and collaboration space for ASL 

Affiliates. ASL invites contact from potential Affiliates whose focus matches our goals and facilities. Because ASL resides 

on the NASA Ames campus, and maintains shared use of N239, prospective Affiliates should be prepared to operate within 

established guidelines for safety, security, and environmental protection. Existing permits and procedures govern N239 occupants.

Interested parties are invited to contact ASL: Kami.helmsworth@adm.ucsc.edu 650-528-4030 ext. 176

IISc Global Conference

University of California, Santa Cruz - Silicon Valley Center in partnership with The Indian Institute of Science held the IISc 

Global Conference 2007 Friday June 22 - Sunday June 24 in Santa Clara.

The conference provided an excellent opportunity to network with the best and brightest in industry, academia, and policy 

makers. The event was a platform for interaction amongst Institute, Alumni, Industry and Academia to build long-term 

partnerships to address challenges of global importance such as Knowledge Sciences and Services, Energy, Biotechnology 

& Health Care, Nanotechnology, Aerospace/Auto, and Communication & Information Technology. The intent was to build 

sustainable Indo-US partnerships and teams across industry and academia, to enable participants to be world leaders and 

capture market share in high value added segments of research, development, IT, and operations. 

The Institute developed the Science and Technology platform for India for 100 years. Institute Directors have been Nobel 

Laureates, Secretaries of Space, and Scientific Advisors to the Prime Minister. More recently, the Institute developed the SID 

to work with industry in creating and transferring technology. Success stories include development of commercial grade 

hepatitis vaccine, high profile spin-offs such as Strand Genomics, and joint multi-million dollar projects with Boeing, Stanford 

University, Caltech, UIUC, CMU and Cambridge University. The conference showcased these successes, and allowed potential 

new partners to interact with and form partnerships with distinguished faculty, alumni, and friends of the Institute. 

Attendees included: 

• Mr. James C. Morgan, Chairman, Applied Materials

• Mr. Lakshmi Narayanan, Vice Chairman, Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTS)

• Mr. S. Ramadorai, CEO, Tata Consultancy Services

• Dr. R. Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India

• Mr. Arno Penzias, Partner, NEA, Nobel Laureate

• Prof. Jared Cohen, President, CM

• Prof. Robert Birgeneau, Chancellor, University of California at Berkeley

• Prof. P. Balaram, Director, IISc

• Prof. N. Balakrishnan, Associate Director, IISc

• Prof. S. Mohan, Former Chairman SID, Chairman, Alumni Cell IISc

For more information on the event visit http://conference.iiscaana.org
NRP Post

www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 

UCSC Summer Courses

The University of California Santa Cruz Silicon Valley Center in NRP Bldg. 19 will offer classes throughout the summer 

months. Visit UC’s Summer Sessions website at http://summer.ucsc.edu/silicon 

For course descriptions visit http://summer.ucsc.edu/courses. Register at my.ucsc.edu

 Dates Course ID Class Description Days/ Times

 (6/25 - 8/17) CMPE 16050 ID #71315 Applied Discrete Mathematics TTh 1:00 - 12:25

 (6/25 - 8/17) CMPE 101-50 ID #71687 Algorithms & Abstract Data Types TTh 2:00 - 4:25

 (6/25 - 7/27) ECON 100-A-50 ID #71688 Interm Microeconomics TTh 9:00 - 12:30

 (6/25 - 7/27) ENVS 172-50 ID # 71690 Science, Policy & the Environment TTh 5:00 - 8:30

 (7/30 - 8/31) LING 164-50 ID #71702 Linguistics for Engineers TWTh 2:00 - 4:30

 (7/30 - 8/31) PSYC 170-50 ID #71693 Abnormal Psychology MW 4:00 - 7:30

 (7/30 - 8/31) ECON 100B-50 ID #71689 Interm Macroeconomics TTh 9:00 - 12:30

Selected UCSC School of Engineering classes in Technology and Information Management and Computer Science/

Computer Engineering courses are offered at the Silicon Valley Center. Some courses are telecast back to UCSC and 

can be attended by on-campus students at the same time and day of class. Classes at the Silicon Valley Center range 

from an hour and a half to three hours in length and meet one or two days per week. Topics include: addressing the 

use of information systems within a business enterprise, weekly talks by leading industry practitioners and university 

researchers to provide in-depth exposure to the management of technology, and current research on a special topic in 

information systems and technology management.

The following is a list of Fall 2008 courses being offered at NASA Research Park: 

Course ID Class Description Days Times Instructor

ISM 205-50 Management of Technology I W 6:00 – 9:30 Desa

ISM 209-50* Knowledge Services & Data Analytics TTh 6:00 – 9:30 Akella

TBD Incisive Leadership & Innovation M 6:00 – 9:00 Buckholtz

TBD Strategic IT Investment Management M 6:00 – 9;00 Buonanno

CMPE 202-50* Computer Architecture TTh 6:00 – 7:45 TBD

CMPE 252A-50* Computer Networks MW 5:00 – 6:45 TBD

* Telecast course 

For the latest Fall, Winter, or Spring course listings or to enroll in these courses, go to the UC Santa Cruz Extension 

website at www.ucsc-extension.edu and search on either the course name or course number.

All classes are held at NASA Research Park on the second floor of building 19.

For more information contact Connie Miley @ 650.528.4030 ext 101 or via email at connie.miley@adm.ucsc.edu 

UCSC Fall Courses
NRP Post

12 www.nasa.go

Upcoming Events

September 19 (Tentative)

NRP Exploration Lecture Series presents Commercialization 

of Space, 7p.m., Eagle Room, Bldg. 943.

Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Diane Farrar

Layout and Design . . . . . . . . . . . Brandy Dettmer

NRP Post deadlines

Please submit articles to nrppost@mail.arc.nasa.gov

on or before November 15, 2007 for the next issue.

Phone: (650) 604-2NRP

Email: researchpark@mail.arc.nasa.gov

Website: www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov

Our carbon measurement technology will consist of software automating 

the end-to-end process of creating and monitoring land-based carbon assets. The central architecture will be built upon the NASA World Wind 

global visualization system. Significant technical contributions to the core 

system -tracking and resolution, as well as new features and source code 

modifications, will be supported by NASA, NOAA, and USGS. The 

software will provide project developers with a more efficient way to create 

carbon credits and monitor them on an on-going basis.

Advanced carbon models will access terabytes of high resolution remote imagery, elevation models, real-time weather data, 

live aerial video feeds and ground data to support the creation 

and tracking of carbon assets from land use projects in regulated and voluntary carbon markets. The system will manage 

all processes required for establishing baselines and creating 

ex-ante projections of carbon offsets. It will support the ongoing monitoring of carbon assets by developing monitoring 

methods and providing the tools to generate frequent measurements of the actual carbon sequestered. 

The web-based highly-interactive geographical front-end 

allows project developers to efficiently enter data and track 

projects. The system will also generate basic metrics to track 

the co-benefits of these projects such as improved water quality, poverty reduction, enhanced biodiversity, and reduced soil 

erosion.

Through the use of remote sensing techniques and efficient 

methods of collecting ground data, the software will bring 

scale to the marketplace. It will support highly accurate and 

frequent measurements that can be used in the global carbon 

markets.

“The detailed and cumulative data repository and analysis that Terra 

Global Capital provides will greatly advance our understanding of what 

carbon sequestration is all about while encouraging human behavior to 

effect positive change on a global scale. NASA World Wind open source 

visualization technology was designed to deliver this very kind of information intelligence.” Patrick Hogan, Project Manager, NASA World 

Wind.

By using the NASA World Wind platform, we are able to 

provide our project developers with powerful tools to access 

valuable information on their projects. This allows them to 

manage projects on a real time basis, maximizing the positive 

impact on climate, water quality, biodiversity, and poverty 

reduction.

Terra Global

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