National Aeronautics and Space Administration

A publication of NASA Research Park

NRP POST The

Winter 2012

SkyTran cont’d on page 3

Climate CoLab is a project of the MIT Center for Collective 

Intelligence. In the Climate CoLab people from all over 

the world work together to create proposals regarding 

what to do about climate change. The 2011 contest 

focused on the green economy, one of two key themes 

of the United Nations Rio+20 Conference in 2012. 

Proposals addressed, at global and national levels, how 

the 21st century economy should evolve, bearing in 

mind the risks of climate change.

Popular Choice and Judges’ Choice awards were made 

in global and national categories. Personal Rapid 

Transit grids, by Christopher Fry, a research scientist at 

the MIT Media Lab, won Judges’ Choice in the National 

category. Fry cites SkyTran as the most energy ecient 

and economical of the numerous PRT systems that 

have been proposed. More than 1,750 votes were cast 

between November 4 -15, 2011. 

The winning proposals will be featured in briengs at 

the United Nations and U.S. Congress in late January. 

The Climate CoLab will sponsor one representative from 

each winning team to present at briengs on Capitol 

Proposal Featuring SkyTran Wins Judges’ Choice 

at Climate CoLab 2011

Artist rendition of SkyTran in a city

NRP’s New Partner Scanadu

Check Your Body As Often As Your Email

by Robin Wauters, TechCrunch 

Meet Scanadu, an innovative health tech startup. I 

daresay you will be hearing a lot more from Scanadu 

in the future. It’s not the easiest of tasks explaining 

what the company is building at this point, but 

let’s call it a personal, mobile, auto-diagnostics 

product – they refer to it as a Medical Tricorder.

Founded in January 2011 by a team of entrepreneurs 

with diverse backgrounds, the roots of Scanadu 

actually go way back. One of the company’s 

founders, and its chief executive ocer, is Walter De 

Brouwer – something of a legend here in Belgian 

entrepreneurial circles, and beyond.

He says he had the basic idea for a personal health monitoring 

service back in 1999 when he was working at the renowned 

Starlab Research Institute, which he jump-started alongside 

MIT Media Lab founder Nicholas Negroponte. He was also 

inuenced by watching Star Trek. 

“Sci- stories are business plans in disguise,” De Brouwer tells 

me, referring to the invention of the mobile phone, which was 

inspired by the Star Trek communicator. “I’ve tried to build the 

Tricorder once before, in 1999 at Starlab, but the technology 

Scanadu cont’d on page 3

Early concept of Scanadu’s Medical Tricorder
2 www.nasa.gov

NRP Post

AAC Microtec

Bldg. 19, Room 2024

Commencement 11/15/11

AAC Microtec’s mission at NRP is to support 

the integration and commercialization of 

small satellites. In addition, they have several technical evaluation activities 

with key partners that require a local presence and will have highly skilled 

experts on site.

Scanadu

Bldg. 20, Rooms 201-224

Commencement 12/1/11

Scanadu, Inc. is on a mission to build what they call a mythical device: “The 

Medical Tricorder.” Says company COO Misha David Chellam, “NASA has been 

a leader in developing remote health monitoring technology for decades and 

we hope to benet from some of that expertise by being here.” 

GOLL, LLC.

Bldg. 19, Rm. 2088 

Commencement 12/1/11

GOLL, LLC provides expert consulting and engineering solutions in the areas 

of spacecraft integration & testing, industrial automation of factory processes 

for the space industry, spacecraft command, control & communications, 

autonomous operations, ight software and onboard autonomy. GOLL, LLC 

engineering sta are supporting NASA Ames’ LADDEE and IRIS projects.

Verdigris Technologies

Bldg. 19 rooms 2073, 2076 & 2077

Commencement 1/1/12

Verdigris Technology is a startup 

company focused on solving global CO2 emissions and climate change. Their 

mission is to enable an ecosystem of wirelessly connected monitoring and 

control systems allowing businesses and homeowners to integrate new 

technologies, such as plug-in electric vehicles, solar arrays, wind generators 

and localized fuel cell storage.

NRPWelcomes CONTENTS

Proposal Featuring SkyTran

Wins Judges’ Choice . . . . . . 1

New Partner Scanadu . . . . . 1

Next NRP Lecture . . . . . . . . . 3

FutureMed Program . . . . . . . . 4

Singularity University’s

New CEO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Eureka is Back at Moett . . . . 6

Disaster Management 

Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

NASA WRAP in Next-Gen 

EOC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

CMUSV Designated CUDA 

Research Center . . . . . . . . . . 8

SkyTran’s Magnetic Pods . . 9

reQall’s N. Rao Machiragu . . . 10

Photozig’s New App . . . . .10

Bloom Energy . . . . . . . . . . . 11

KleenSpeed KAR . . . . . . . . . 12

KleenSpeed E-BIKE . . . . . . . 13

A Rewarding Year 

for Intrinsyx . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Intrinsyx Open House . . . . 14

ACE Manufacturing 

Developers visit NRP . . . . . 15

Students and Professors 

Meet NRP Innovators . . . . 15

Delegation from Mexico 

Visits NRP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Scanadu’s Medical Tricorder will work as a pocket-sized diagnostic tool

www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 3

NRP Post

UPCOMING NRP LECTURE 1/31/12

Disaster Resiliency Panel Discussion

The next NRP Lecture will be a panel discussion on the 

topic of Disaster Mitigation/Disaster Resiliency. It will 

take place in the Bldg. 3 Ballroom on Jan 31 from 

7-9 pm and will be followed by an audience Q&A. 

Panelists will include: Bob Dolci, Director of Center 

Operations (Acting), Dr. Martin Griss, Director of 

Carnegie Mellon University Silicon Valley, Steve Jordan 

of the National Disaster Resiliency Center (NDRC), and 

Tore Andre Nilsen from IntraPoint (an NRP tenant).

was too immature.” 

De Brouwer says the idea resurfaced in his 

mind in 2006, when his son was hospitalized 

for 3 months following a serious accident. 

So he conjured up the idea of using one’s 

smartphone as a personal doctor of sorts, 

leveraging many of the things modern 

cellphones can do to help people autodiagnose and manage many of the easily 

identiable health conditions that may arise.

Scanadu’s rst product, “The Medical 

Tricorder,” is built specically for parents with 

kids in mind, and to help avoid expensive trips 

to hospitals based on insucient information and/or anxiety.

“Today, the health tools in your home probably consist of a 

thermometer and a box of band-aids. We can do a lot better,” says 

co-founder and COO Misha Chellam.

The company has worked with IDEO to create a video that 

captures its core vision well that includes the quote I used for this 

post’s headline, albeit paraphrased. 

Scanadu has raised $2 million from a network of global angel 

investors, including Playsh co-founder Sebastien De Halleux, and 

is currently moving the team from Belgium to the San Francisco 

Scanadu cont’d from page 1

Hill in Washington and at the United Nations in New York. The 

winning proposals will also be featured on TreeHugger.com.

SkyTran Proposal-- by Christopher Fry

Install connected Personal Rapid Transit grids over the urban 

and suburban areas that house the densest 50% of the US 

population.

Executive summary

A large set of national problems are caused by our car-based 

transportation system. This system is directly expensive 

for individuals, second only to housing, is time-consuming 

especially due to the slow speeds in congestion, and causes air 

pollution which causes respiratory disease and global warming. 

Car accidents cause 40K deaths and hundreds of thousands 

of injuries per year. We can eliminate cars, buses, subways 

and short-haul airplanes from our urban areas with a grid of 

1-mile square cells of mag-lev guideways, 20 feet above a city 

containing two person ‘pods’ that are waiting for customers at 

an average distance of 1/4 mile from every point in the grid. 

These pods use less energy and money per passenger mile 

than any practical electric car, bus or rail (light or not) and are 

safer and faster. At the top speed of 150MPH, they are faster 

SkyTran cont’d from page 1

SkyTran cont’d on page 9

Bay Area (the lab is being established at NASA’s Research Park).

The company is building a core team of biomedical engineers, 

software and hardware developers, and AI specialists. They also 

have a Medical Advisory Board that includes Stanford-aliated 

Dr. Daniel Kraft and Dr. Jordan Shlain, founder of Healthloop 

and Current Health.

Scanadu is currently seeking technology partnerships with 

telemedicine and diagnostic technology startups, and hiring 

more people to join its quest to build a personal ‘pocket doctor’.

Scene from a NASA Ames Disaster Assistance and Rescue 

Team (DART) structural collapse drill
4 www.nasa.gov

NRP Post

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—Singularity University’s FutureMed 

is Silicon Valley’s premier specialized executive program for 

physicians, healthcare executives, innovators and investors 

interested in exploring the impact and opportunities of rapidly 

developing technologies in the elds of health and biomedicine.

The informative and interactive 5-day program will be held 

February 6-11 on the SU campus at NASA Research Park, 

Mountain View, CA, and will include lectures, discussions, 

workshops and site visits, led by notable SU faculty and experts 

in the elds of medicine, biotechnology and innovation.

“Few elds have the potential to evolve more dramatically 

through disruptive, rapidly advancing technologies than 

healthcare,” said FutureMed Executive Director Daniel Kraft 

MD, a Stanford and Harvard University trained physician/

scientist and Chair of the SU Medicine Track. “For example, 

the integration of 3D printing with regenerative medicine and 

stem cells is emerging as cells replace ink in our printers and the 

possibility to develop personalized tissues and organs emerges. 

This is just one example of how our lives and medicine may be 

impacted by convergent, fast moving technologies.”

FutureMed is a unique program that looks at potential 

applications of low cost genomic sequencing and proteomics; 

ever faster, high resolution imaging; and articial intelligence, 

telemedicine, robotics, 24/7 wearable body sensors, stem cells,

synthetic biology, gene therapy, and crowd sourced health 

data. FutureMed examines how these technologies are radically 

changing, and how we think about wellness, prevention and 

the delivery of medical care.

About FutureMed 

FutureMed has been described by past attendees as “a mindopening voyage into the future with the people who are 

creating it; absolutely incredible; and intellectually invigorating 

with practical business benets.”

FutureMed, an executive program at Singularity University, 

prepares physicians, health care executives, entrepreneurs, 

innovators and investors to recognize and leverage disruptive 

inuences of exponentially growing technologies in the elds 

of medicine and healthcare. Core tracks include Information and 

Data-Driven Health, Internet-Enabled Healthcare, Genomics 

and Personalized Medicine, Regenerative Medicine, Robotics 

and Future Interventional Approaches, NeuroMedicine, Device 

and Drug Development, and Biomedical Entrepreneurship.

To apply for FutureMed 2012, visit: FutureMed2020.com 

Follow FutureMed on Twitter @FutureMedTech and on 

Facebook.com/FutureMed 

FutureMed will Explore Impact of Exponential Technologies on Health and Medicine

Feb. 6-11, 2012 at NASA Research Park

Faculty and Speakers for the February 6-11 FutureMed Program 

include:

•	 Peter Diamandis MD, Chairman, X PRIZE Foundation, SU 

Co-Founder 

•	 Ray Kurzweil, futurist, inventor; author of “The Singularity 

Is Near,” SU Co-Founder

•	 Dan Barry MD PhD, roboticist, NASA physician and threetime Space Shuttle Astronaut

•	 Catherine Mohr MD, Director of Medical Research, Intuitive 

Surgical

•	 Stephen Quake PhD, Professor and Co-Chair, Dept. of 

BioEngineering, Stanford University

•	 Alex Jadad MD, Chief Innovator and Founder, Centre for 

Global eHealth Innovation

•	 John Mattison MD, Chief Medical Information Ocer, 

Kaiser Permanente

•	 David Sayen, CMS Regional Administrator, Centers for 

Medicare and Medicaid Services

•	 Alan Greene MD, Pediatrician thought leader, Founder of 

DrGreene.com

•	 Dale Bredesen MD, Professor and Founding President, 

Buck Institute for Age Research

•	 Kevin Stone MD, Orthopedic Surgeon and Chairman, 

Stone Research Foundation

•	 Neil Jacobstein, SU Co-Chair for Articial Intelligence and 

Robotics

•	 David Ewing Duncan, Author of ‘Experimental Man,’ and 

‘Personalized Medicine Manifesto’

•	 Richard Satava MD, pioneer in surgical robotics and 

telemedicine, Professor, Dept of Surgery, University of 

Washington

Daniel Kraft, Stanford Medical School Faculty Member, Singularity 

University Medicine Track Chair, and FutureMed Executive Director.
www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 5

NRP Post

Silicon Valley Tech Executive to Lead 

International Growth of SU Programs 

Mountain View, CA

Singularity University (SU) has announced the appointment 

of Rob Nail, a successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur and an 

associate founder of SU, as Chief Executive Ocer. Most 

recently Rob has been serving as SU’s Director of the Graduate 

Studies Program. He succeeds Neil Jacobstein, who will 

continue to co-chair SU’s Articial Intelligence and Robotics 

education track and take on the role of Director of Executive 

Academics. 

“We are thrilled to have Rob as CEO of Singularity University. He 

embodies the intellectual talent and entrepreneurial spirit 

that uniquely mirrors our faculty, sta, students and alumni,” 

said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis co-founder and executive chairman 

of Singularity University.

“At the same time, we thank and applaud Neil Jacobstein for 

his leadership during the last year, and are pleased that he will 

continue to benet SU through his faculty expertise,” said Ray 

Kurzweil, co-founder and chancellor.

Neil Jacobstein said: “It has been an honor for me to serve SU 

in the President’s role for the past year, and I look forward to 

getting back to academics. Rob Nail and I have worked well 

together on SU’s Graduate Studies Program, and I think that he 

will do a great job as CEO of the University.”

“I am excited to lead a University that is spinning out 

transformational companies that are using exponential 

technologies to solve the world’s grand challenges,” said Nail. 

“Additionally, SU alumni from our executive program include 

top executives from some of the world’s most impressive 

companies and a major priority will be to support and continue 

to build that amazing network.”

Rob Nail is the co-founder and former CEO of Velocity 11, 

a biotechnology rm that was later acquired by Agilent 

Technologies in 2007. He has also served as a surfer at The 

Big Blue, and was the Co-Founder of Alite Designs, where he 

continues to serve on the Board of Directors. Nail earned a BS in 

Mechanical and Materials Sciences from University California, 

Davis, and a MS in Engineering from Stanford University. 

Singularity University oers both graduate and executive 

programs focused uniquely on the impact and incubation of 

exponentially growing technologies in six key areas: medicine 

and neuroscience, networks and computing systems, articial 

intelligence and robotics, biotechnology/bioinformatics, 

nanotechnology, and energy and environmental systems. 

Nail will lead a dedicated sta and world-class core faculty 

of technical and scientic experts in the management of 

SU. He also will be responsible for growing the organization 

by expanding the base of industry partners, sponsors and 

supporters.

For more info, please visit www.singularityu.org/ep

Mejghan Haider, Chief of 

Business Development and 

Deputy Director (Acting) of 

NASA Research Park was 

a recipient of the Northern 

California Real Estate Women 

of Influence Award on 

October 7, 2011. The award 

recognizes Mejghan’s 13 

years of contributions to 

successful development and 

leasing activities at the NASA 

Research Park.

Rob Nail, CEO of Singularity University
6 www.nasa.gov

NRP Post

Eureka is Back at Moffett

By Rachel Love

October 22, 2011 after a six-month history making cross 

country tour.

During the Farmers Airship Covering Communities Tour, the 

Zeppelin barnstormed across the Southern, Mid-Atlantic and 

Midwestern United States, traveling more than 11,000 miles, 

more than 2500 passengers. Not only was the Farmers Airship 

Manhattan in more than 70 years and 

Lakehurst Naval Air Station since the 

Hindenburg. 

“While I’m proud of the history we 

made and the records we set, I think 

the most memorable part of the 

airship had on the public,” said Airship 

Ventures CEO Brian Hall. “Tens of 

an ambassador for Farmers Insurance 

and the overwhelming welcome we 

received in each city proved how 

much pride and enthusiasm the 

airship generated. There’s not a more 

exciting place for us to share that joy 

than here in the Bay Area and we can’t 

wait to welcome the public to share in 

the Zeppelin experience.” 

Some statistics:

25 States transited

42 Stops at 36 dierent airports

2,510 Passengers own

462 Hours own

16,000+ Miles driven by each of our 8 vehicles

For info about current rates and special discounts call

650-969-8100 or visit http://www.airshipventures.com/

On November 9, 2011, 

representatives from Ilab in 

Denmark brought a group 

from the Bank of Spain, 

the Danish Ministry, MIT and 

TEDsters to NASA Research Park. 

Michael Marlaire, Director of 

NRP, provided an overview and 

discussed NRP collaborations.
www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 7

NRP Post

NASA Collaborates to Create 

Disaster Management Technologies

by Karen Jenvey

NASA Ames Research Center

Public Aairs Oce 

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. – A delegation of Norwegian 

entrepreneurs and government ocials received a 

demonstration of disaster management technologies 

on Oct. 28 at NASA Research Park as part of Transatlantic 

Science Week. 

NASA Ames is collaborating with the Carnegie Mellon 

University Silicon Valley (CMUSV) and IntraPoint, a new 

partner in the NASA Research Park, to develop disaster 

management technology. 

“It is very exciting to collaborate with NASA Ames 

Research Center and Carnegie Mellon University 

Silicon Valley as we expand our technical solutions 

that will improve our customers’ capabilities to handle 

unexpected incidents. Being present on the NRP campus 

is extremely valuable since our research includes cutting 

edge technology,” said Yngvar Duesund, Chairman of the 

Board of IntraPoint.

“Since the 1991 Oakland Fire Storm, Ames has 

aggressively pursued opportunities to leverage NASA 

technologies, as well as technologies of other federal 

agencies and non-government organizations, to provide 

new and better tools for emergency responders. We look 

forward to collaborating with Carnegie Mellon Silicon 

Valley and IntraPoint to advance the eld of emergency 

response,” said Bob Dolci, Chief of Protective Services at 

NASA Ames. 

NASA Ames houses the Disaster Assistance and Rescue 

Team (DART), a federal emergency response and 

recovery team. Carnegie Mellon University’s Disaster 

Management Initiative (DMI) partners with NASA and 

DART and with Intrapoint, an aliate of DMI. The DMI’s 

mission is to provide next generation technical solutions 

for disasters. 

“This is an exciting 

next step in the eort 

to improve disaster 

response. Our research 

and recent workshop 

highlights the key 

challenge of improving 

communications and 

data interoperability 

for better disaster 

response,” said Dr. 

Martin Griss, director of 

Carnegie Mellon Silicon 

Valley and the Disaster 

Management Initiative. 

“As an academic institution, we’ve been able to bring 

together researchers, practitioners and policy makers 

to combine expertise and resources in the interest of 

humanitarian assistance. That this event is transatlantic, 

will further advance these goals,” Griss added.

Transatlantic Science Week was held at University of 

California, Berkeley and Stanford University, Palo Alto, 

Calif. The conference goal was to increase transatlantic 

cooperation in research, innovation and higher 

education. Besides a visit to NASA Ames, Transatlantic 

Science Week included visits to U.C. Berkeley, Stanford, 

Lawrence Berkeley Space Observatory, IBM and 

Google. Scheduled speakers included representatives 

from NASA Ames and Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley. 

For info about Transatlantic Science Week, visit:

http://goo.gl/ezZYj

For info about Carnegie Mellon University Silicon Valley, 

visit:

http://www.cmu.edu/silicon-valley/

For info about NASA Ames Disaster and Assistance 

Rescue Team, visit:

http://dart.arc.nasa.gov

For info about NASA Research Park, visit:

http://researchpark.arc.nasa.gov

Yngvar Duesund, IntraPoint
8 www.nasa.gov

NRP Post

eectiveness of CUDA for real-world 

applications,” said Chong. He added, 

“With the consistent presence of the 

HPC and GPU Supercomputing Group 

monthly meetings on campus, CMUSV 

is quickly developing prestige and 

identity in parallel computing research in 

Silicon Valley.”

“This is great news,” said Professor Lane 

about the CRC designation, “Carnegie 

Mellon Silicon Valley is now one of 

only three institutes in the US that 

have been designated as both CUDA 

Teaching and Research centers. Over 

the past six months we have received six 

designations and grants in the area of 

high-throughput computing to support 

our research eorts.”

Visit NVIDIA site for new CUDA research 

centers announcements.

NASA “WRAP” Operations 

in Next-Gen Emergency 

Operation Center

by Linda Kloth, Freelance Editor

NASA and Carnegie Mellon University’s 

Silicon Valley (CMUSV) Campus joined 

resources to conduct exercises for a 

NASA WRAP (Wildre Research and 

Applications Partnership) mission 

in the CMUSV Next-Generation EOC 

(Emergency Operations Center). The 

mission is designed to collect and 

distribute real-time, geo-registered, 

multi-spectral wildre image data using 

unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

The exercises evaluated sensors, 

software and communications systems 

for real-time mapping and observation 

of wildland res from UAVs. The robot 

aircraft y over a re in progress, 

capture high-detailed imagery (visual 

and infrared), “drape” the imagery over 

maps—with complex computation 

involved to compensate for the altitude, 

tilt and roll of the UAV—and feed the 

information to re commanders on the 

ground, sometimes many miles away. In 

this case the res were in New Mexico 

and San Diego County, while mission 

control was on the CMUSV campus in 

Northern California.

“Although this work has focused on 

wildres, this same technology would 

be equally, maybe even more, valuable 

after an earthquake, oil spill or other 

disaster that covers a large area. We’ve 

had the ability to get aerial imagery 

for a long time, but we’ve never had a 

capacity like this for putting together a 

precise yet wide-area operating picture 

in real time,” said Art Botterell, disaster 

management expert and CMUSV NextGen EOC consultant.

CMUSV contributed the use of its new 

Next-Generation Emergency Operations 

Center as a highly-connected, technicallyCMUSV Designated CUDA 

Research Center

by Linda Kloth, Freelance Editor

Carnegie Mellon University’s Silicon 

Valley (CMUSV) campus received the 

designation of CUDA Research Center 

from NVIDIA for research in applying 

GPUs to challenging research problems 

in Machine Learning. CMUSV was 

selected based on the vision, quality, 

and impact of its research-leveraging 

CUDA technology.

The CMU Silicon 

Valley campus 

CUDA Research 

Center will focus 

on applicationdriven research in 

computer science 

and engineering. 

Its goal is to advance the state-of-theart in machine learning for humancentric computing, focusing on core 

technologies such as speech recognition, 

natural language processing and 

computer vision, and developing novel 

applications that will have impact in 

the real-world such as real-time speech 

translation, intelligent interactive 

systems and multimedia search.

The principal investigators of this 

research center, professors Ian Lane and 

Jike Chong, have published more than 

60 papers, book chapters, and patents 

in the above research areas, and have 

supported their research with funded 

grants from NSF, DARPA and industry.

“The CUDA Research Center designation 

creates a synergistic environment 

that will attract additional interest 

to investigate and demonstrate the 

Multispectral wildfire image from unmanned aerial vehicle showing fires in New Mexico and San 

Diego County, California

WRAP cont’d on page 9
www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 9

NRP Post

sophisticated workspace for mission 

control and collaborative decision making. The reliance on solar power in a mobile platform provided a realistic simulation of eld conditions, while being near 

CMUSV and NASA Ames resources.

This rst exercise was a trial run for 

extensive work scheduled in September 

and October. During that period NASA 

and CMUSV teams were on-call to y 

over developing wildres. Additional 

information is available at the NASA 

WRAP website at

http://geo.arc.nasa.gov/sge/WRAP/current/

future_missions.html.

WRAP cont’d from page 8

SkyTran cont’d from page 3

SkyTran cont’d on page 10

(L-R) Steve Ray, associate director of CMUSV’s 

Disaster Management Initiative and Art Botterell, 

DMI Consultant, at CMU’s next-generation EOC, 

which uses solar power and novel computing.

by Jonathan Bloom 

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (KGO) 

-- Forget planes, trains and 

automobiles, a totally new kind 

of transportation is in the works 

at a NASA lab in the South Bay. 

Gliding pods could someday pick 

you up where you live and drop

you o at work.

In a nondescript building at the 

NASA Ames Research Center 

in Mountain View, a little bullet 

shaped vehicle, creeps down a 50-

foot metal test track.

“You’re whisked away at a high 

speed with silence -- because 

SkyTran is a passive magnetic 

levitation vehicle, meaning there’s 

no clitter-clatter of wheels, you’re 

riding on a cushion of air,” SkyTran 

CEO Jerry Sanders said.

Gliding at up to 150 miles an 

hour, suspended from poles, 

SkyTran is the rst in a category 

called personal rapid transit. The 

computer-controlled pods pull o 

the track and into a station where 

riders hop in, swipe a card and 

select a stop -- just like pressing a 

button on an elevator.

It combines the exibility of a car 

with the experience of riding a train.

“People don’t like driving now 

because you’re stuck in the car, 

you can’t text without risking 

a ticket or an accident, so with 

SkyTran you’ll be able to work 

on your computer or your laptop 

while you’re traveling,” SkyTran 

Vice President of Engineering 

Robert Baertsch said.

SkyTran’s designers say the 

technology behind the system is 

innovative, but not revolutionary. 

What is revolutionary, they say, 

is how much the system will cost 

cities, or rather, how much it won’t 

cost them.

“Anyone can build a train system 

that costs $500 million; very few 

people can build a train system 

that costs $5 million,” Sanders said.

SkyTran ‘s CEO claims his system 

would pay for itself, charging fares 

of around 30 cents a mile.

“It can be built cheaply, safely, 

eectively and eciently and the 

beauty of SkyTran is that it’s built in 

a factory like Lego,” Sanders said.

One proposed site for that factory 

is in Fresno, where SkyTran claims 

it would create hundreds of jobs. 

But the city of Mountain View also 

wants a factory and hopes it will 

help them score the rst SkyTran 

system.

“It would allow this area to continue 

to grow for many years before it 

becomes completely saturated,” 

Mountain View Mayor Jac Siegel said.

 

Magnetic Gliding Pods could be Transit 

of the Future

city-center to city-center than current 

air travel for cities several hundred 

miles apart. They beat high speed rail 

not because their top speed is faster, 

but because you don’t have to wait for 

them or travel so much to stations. At 

a fare of 10 cents per passenger mile, 

(compared to more than 50 cents for 

cars and even more for existing mass 

transit) the system can pay for its capital 

and operating expenses o of rider fares 

with NO goverment subsidy, unlike all 

mass transit in the US today.

Christopher Fry, Research Scientist, 

MIT Media Lab: “I’ve followed the 

development of PRT systems since 

2007 and identied the best technical 

and economic features of all proposed 

systems. I’ve developed spreadsheet 
10 www.nasa.gov

NRP Post

The Futurist: N. Rao Machiraju 

Edited by Mark Storer

What does a former principal scientist at Apple, a man who serves 

on the advisory board to the World Centre for New Thinking in 

Malta, do when thinking globally? If you’re N. Rao Machiraju, the 

co-founder and CEO of reQall Inc., you act locally.

A Ventura resident for 24 years, Rao sits on the advisory board of 

Ventura Incubator, which the city established as a way to lure highventure capitalists to seek out tech companies that hold promise, 

something Rao knows a thing or two about.

He is responsible for the overall strategy and direction of a 

company that developed a tool rooted in MIT research on memory 

improvement—a voice-enabled memory aid designed to make 

forgetting a distant memory. And he has accomplished much of 

this while keeping a home and raising a family in Ventura over the 

past two decades.

“The incubator has come a long way,” said Rao. “Now there 

are 18 companies. It has become the place for engaging in 

technology start-up conversations.” But he gives a nod to the 

city council for bringing the incubator about. “When I learned 

of Rao’s background, I thought he needed to be involved on the 

advisory side,’’ says Alex Schneider, an associate planner with 

the city’s economic development division. “From his resume to 

his ideas to his ties to venture capitalists and entrepreneurs—it 

was all really impressive. Now he’s becoming instrumental in 

bringing in people from outside and creating a wider network.”

To be certain, the idea of Silicon Valley in Ventura was, and still 

is, a visionary prospect. But it’s just this sort of leading edge 

spirit that drives the man. His reQall company has released

reQall Rover, a device Rao says will make your cell phone into 

a truly multi-platform tool. “The idea of the phone always 

working for you based on your context is a powerful idea,” Rao 

said. “We are very excited about this. These days I wake up to a 

reQall Rover summary in the morning, and Rover helps, from 

surfacing the actions that I need to attend to in my email to 

all other important thingsthat I would want to know: weather, 

personalized news, deals, places to eat, Facebook posts, Twitter 

trends. It all appears on Rover’s ‘Here and Now’ screen.”

The Rover is more than just the latest gadget, too. Rao believes 

nanotechnology will pave the way for the next generations of 

digital devices, and while shades of The Terminator are everpresent when he talks about “personal technology,” Rao’s 

vision of the future isn’t clouded by the nightmares of‘80s-era 

“In the decades ahead, I think self-organizing pervasive systems 

will be commonplace,” he said. “Our current dependence on 

things like ‘smart’ cell phones will be completely dwarfed by 

devices that learn and do a multitude of tasks for us.”

Learn more about reQall online at reqall.com.

Photo by Gary and Pierre Silva

N. Rao Machiraju, Co-founder and CEO of reQall, Inc. 

Screenshots from Photozig’s new educational mobile app “PepBlast Galaxy”

Photozig, an NRP partner, is 

developing a mobile App called 

“PepBlast Galaxy”, an educational 

gaming application, featuring 

videos created by NASA about 

galaxies and space exploration, 

a music game, and cool songs. 

to be released to the App Store 

in Winter 2012.

models for Boston and Detroit of costs involved for 

PRT’ing those cities.”

“The most energy ecient and economical 

of the numerous PRT systems that have been 

proposed is called SkyTran. The SkyTran guideway has 

a cross section of about a square foot. The pods hang 

beneath the guideway yet are magnetically levitated 

by the guideway such that during normal operation, 

the pod does not touch the guideway. Linear electric 

motors comprised of the bogie that is attatched to the 

top of a pod and the guidway itself propel the pod. 

The pod contains two seats, one behind the other. The 

guideway is suspended by utility-like poles 20 feet 

above the ground. Pole spacing is 30 feet, with each 

pole having a footprint of about a square foot,” said Fry.

SkyTran cont’d from page 9
www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 11

NRP Post

Bloom Energy Attracts Data Center Operators 

in California

By Katie Fehrenbacher

July 28, 2011

Silicon Valley1s fuel cell maker Bloom Energy continues to 

add customers looking to power part of their data center 

operations with distributed, cleaner power in California. On 

Thursday, the U.S. division of Japanese telecom giant NTT, 

NTT America, said it will install ve Bloom fuel cells at one of 

its data center facilities in San Jose, Calif.

Nine-year-old Bloom Energy sells an industrial-sized fuel cell 

(which looks like a large refrigerator) that uses a chemical 

reaction to produce electricity. The Bloom Boxes suck up 

oxygen on one side and fuel (usually natural gas or biogas) 

on the other side, and produce power on-site for companies 

in a more ecient and less carbon-intensive manner than 

using the grid (depending on what fuel the company uses).

NTT America says it will use biogas (gas generated by 

decomposing organic material) produced at a California 

dairy farm as fuel for the Bloom fuel cells. That means NTT's 

fuel cells won't emit as much carbon as many of the Bloom 

fuel cells that are being powered by natural gas. Updated: 

NTT America has corrected the source of the biogas to two 

landlls in Pennsylvania.

Five Bloom fuel cells have a capacity of 500 kilowatts, which 

is the equivalent power for about 500 houses or ve large 

oce buildings. Each Bloom fuel cell costs around $700,000 

to $800,000 before subsidies, so NTT is spending a couple 

million dollars on the installation.

Data center operators are looking for ways to make their 

facilities more energy-ecient and greener as a way to 

cut growing energy bills and also to highlight company 

sustainability. While fuel cells are still not commonly used 

to power data centers, Bloom has been slowly growing its 

customer list of telcos and Internet companies that want to 

use the Bloom boxes for part of their data center operations.

Earlier this month, AT&T said it plans to install a whopping 

7.5 MW worth of Bloom fuel cells (that's 75 fuel cells) at 11 

AT&T oces in California. AT&T said it would use the fuel cell 

power for data centers as well as administration oces and 

facilities that house network equipment.

Fuel cells likely won't be used as a main, or stand alone, power 

source for a data center. As we pointed out on GigaOM Pro 

(subscription required) last year, data centers need a power 

source that is so-called "ve nines" (99.999 percent). Google 

has said the Bloom Box it was using on its campus had an 

availability rating of 98 percent, which translates into around 

seven days of downtime a year: no good for a stand alone 

power source for a data center running web sites that can't 

go down.

Bloom has also found success with data center operators in 

California because state subsidies make the Bloom boxes 

a lot more economical in California. Customers in the state 

include Google, eBay and Adobe .

NTT's installation

Installation at Adobe
12 www.nasa.gov

NRP Post

KleenSpeed Kar is Coming

Prototype under Development

by Dean Seven

Director of Public Relations, KleenSpeed 

KleenSpeed will become a leader in the global electric car 

marketplace through advanced engineering and design 

with the production versions of the KleenSpeed KAR. 

The KAR concept is based on a complete rolling platform 

designed and engineered by KleenSpeed which will be 

tted with a variety of alternative body modules.

The KAR Platform is under development and the rst 

prototype version of the body module is now being 

modied at KleenSpeed to drop on to the KAR Platform 

prototype.

In keeping with the core values of the KleenSpeed 

brand, our rst production EV will emphasize the driving 

enthusiast’s perspective. It will be fast, provide crisp and 

sporty handling, and be really fun to drive. The KleenSpeed 

KAR VX-1 will also be a real world viable 2-passenger electric 

vehicle that sets new benchmarks in value, eciency, 

performance and EV technology.

The VX-1 is the rst in a series of EVs based on the KAR 

Platform technologies. A 4-passenger sedan will be 

developed next, followed by other body congurations .... 

all oering the KleenSpeed EV experience. 

The KAR ESS is the heart of the KAR Platform. The scalable ESS will 

feature thermal control and a self-contained enclosure with modular 

battery packs to allow for simple size and power variations. The largest 

version will provide 40 kWh of energy and deliver sports car performance 

and a real-world range of 120 -140 miles.

The KAR PLATFORM incorporates a unitized controller/motor/drivetrain 

package mounted via rear subframe. The low profile ESS mounts under 

the floor of all body styles to provide a low center of gravity for responsive 

handling. Steering and front suspension are also incorporated into a 

modular subframe design. All three main sub-assemblies will be joined 

by a lightweight platform perimeter frame to comprise a complete rolling 

chassis.

KleenSpeed KAR VX-1 under wraps

The KAR Platform is intended to accept a variety of body units to create 

a full line of E vehicles : a 2 passenger coupe, a 4 passenger sedan, a 

utility vehicle with a compact pick-up bed, a panel van and a mini SUV are 

all possible options sharing the common platform. This modular design 

concept considerably reduces costs to market a full range of vehicle 

types suited to niche markets.

KleenSpeed cont’d on page 13
www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 13

NRP Post

PRELIMINARY SPECIFICATIONS 

KLEENSPEED KAR E-MAX System 

ESS : KLEENSPEED Energy Storage System & 

Control Interface 

 KLEENSPEED Modular Battery Pack 40 kWh 

BMS : KLEENSPEED Battery Management System 

EPS ; KLEENSPEED Power & Drivetrain / UQM Motor 

Controller 

 Motor ; UQM 100 kW : 134 HP / 300Nm : 221 lb 

ft torque 

EVI : KLEENSPEED Electric Vehicle Integration 

Systems 

KLEENSPEED KAR PLATFORM

MODULAR DESIGN 

REAR SUBFRAME - Motor/Controller/Drivetrain

ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM

FRONT SUBFRAME - Steering & Suspension

Weight : 

1,350 / 1,450 lbs Rolling Platform

2,500 / 2,600 lbs Complete KAR 

Wheelbase : 88” 

Track : 56”

Turning Circle : 26’ 

The E-BIKE is Leading the EV REVOLUTION 

by Dean Seven

Director of Public Relations, KleenSpeed

E-Bike Usage Around The World

Everywhere in the world, outside of the United States, the 

primary form of transportation is the bicycle or the “Putt 

Putt” gas engine Motor Bike.

• In Asia the pollution from the putt putts became so 

great that they have been banned or severely restricted. 

These bikes have been replaced by Electric Assist Bikes 

and Electric Scooters originally powered with lead acid 

batteries, but now powered by Lithium Ion technology. In 

2010 Asia consumed about 28 million E-Bikes. 

 • In Tokyo practically every mother has an E-Bike with a 

child seat.

 • In Europe 1 million were purchased and, in Switzerland 

conquering the hills and Alps.

After extensive research of the market and available 

manuafacturers, KLEENSPEED has developed a partnership 

with one of the leading global E-BIke manufacturers

(over 100K units sold in 2010) to develop our own line of 

We believe that Electric BIkes are both good for raising the 

EV consciousness and also useful, fun alternative vehicles. 

Our bikes are solid machines, with quality components, 

advanced EV systems and priced to meetthe popular market. 

We are now developing a dealer network and, for a limited 

KLEENSPEED Electric Bikes

* 2 Models : KS Mountain E-Bike & KS Folding E-Bike

* Dual Mode EV System : AUTO Pedal Assist / MANUAL Throttle 

Control

* Motor : 36V 250 W Brushless

* Lithium Ion Battery : 36V 10Ahr

* 86.4W Charger - Removable Battery Charges in 4-6 Hrs

* Shimano 6-Speed Gearing

* Alloy Frames

* Well Detailed with Many Standard Accessories

* 1 YEAR Warranty on all parts & components

KLEENSPEED MOUNTAIN E-BIKE

* Dual Disc Brakes

* Polymer Front & Rear Fenders

* Sidestand & Water Bottle

KLEENSPEED FOLDING E-BIKE

* Dual Rim Brakes

* Alloy Front & Rear Fenders

* Plush Saddle & Rear Cargo Rack

* Sidestand & Lighting Kit

KAR cont’d from page 12
14 www.nasa.gov

NRP Post

Intrinsyx has Exciting and Rewarding Year 

by Mike Schultz

Intrinsyx a minority woman owned NCMSC and SBA 8(a) certied company has been nominated for the George M. Low 

Award by NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, CA. 

The George M. Low Award is NASA’s premier quality and performance award for NASA’s prime and sub contractors. This award 

program recognizes 

large and small businesses that demonstrate 

excellence and outstanding technical and managerial achievements in quality and performance on 

NASA-related contracts or 

subcontracts. Each NASA 

Center has a local competition and then the NASA 

centers submit to NASA 

Headquarters the center 

nominees for the agency 

wide competition. It is 

quite an honor to be nominated by a NASA Center 

for this award. Intrinsyx 

worked hard for this recognition over the last 

year working on the Security Operations Center 

(SOC), NASA/FAA project NextGen ATM, the Outsourced Desktop Initiative at NASA 

(ODIN), and Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy 

(SOFIA). Intrinsyx has earned a reputation for working hard and 

getting our projects done on time every time. The company 

management has worked tirelessly to develop the skills and 

people who work on our projects. Intrinsyx wants to ensure 

we are providing NASA with the right talent at the right time. 

We maintain our path to Excellence through the Quality of our 

people and services.

NASA approves Intrinsyx as a Protégé to Lockheed Martin. 

Lockheed Martin has taken Intrinsyx on as a protégé in the 

NASA Mentor Protégé program. The NASA Mentor-Protégé 

Program is designed to 

encourage NASA prime 

contractors to assist eligible Protégés in enhancing their capabilities to 

perform NASA contracts 

and subcontracts, foster the establishment of 

long-term business relationships between these 

entities and NASA prime 

contractors, and increase 

the overall number of 

these entities that receive 

NASA contract and subcontract awards. Intrinsyx 

has worked with Lockheed for many years and 

Intrinsyx is very pleased 

and ready to get to work 

as a protégé to Lockheed 

Martin on several NASA 

Projects. Intrinsyx holds 

in high regard, the great opportunity we have been given by 

NASA, and Lockheed Martin.

Thank You NASA, Lockheed, and all of our excellent employees 

for making 2011 a great year.

Intrinsyx management team (L-R) Ahsan Ali, Dan Lebach, Arshad Mian, Seham Khan, 

Rob Robason, Mike Schultz.

Intrinsyx Open House Highlights 

Advanced Video Collaboration

by Mike Schultz

Intrinsyx Technologies Corporation, located in Suite 2028, Bldg. 

19, invited the local community to see the latest generation 

of ultra HD real-time video and graphics sharing systems 

that deliver data over IP networks. The Ames community 

and general public viewed the Intrinsyx Advanced Video 

Collaboration (AVC) Showcase on July 28 and August 31, 2011.

The open house included demonstrations of the system’s 

abilities to record multiple video streams and deliver them 

in real-time, and time-sync to multiple remote locations over 

IP networks. The system oers playback of multiple live or 

recorded streams that can be viewed on single or multiple 

displays, with the ability to bookmark and annotate during live 

or post action review sessions. The system can deliver up to 4 

megapixel (ultra HD) video with exact pixel-for-pixel quality at 

full monitor rates to remote locations with very low latency (1-2 

frames) over standard data networks.

The AVC system’s ability to capture, record and distribute 

multiple video sources in real-time over IP networks and deliver 

them in time-sync to multiple remote locations enables true 

real-time sharing and collaboration. These systems have been 

successfully deployed in ight simulators, virtual warfare 

centers, mission command and control centers, cardio-surgical 

theaters and telemedicine stations, and oshore oil and gas 

exploration stations.

if you have any questions contact Yogesh Khare at (408) 888-

3855 or e-mail at yogesh@intrinsyx.com.
www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 15

NRP Post

By Howard Pankratz

The Denver Post

 08/04/2011 

The developers of ACE Manufacturing 

and Innovation Park in Loveland said 

they visited the NASA Research Park in 

to gain insight into how the Colorado 

park should be developed.

The Colorado Association for 

Manufacturing and Technology said 

the trip also helped them identify 

opportunities for potential collaboration.

“This visit achieves a key milestone 

in the NASA-CAMT partnership by 

applying best practices from the 

proven successes of our NASA Research 

Park in Silicon Valley toward the goal of 

accelerating the creation of new jobs 

in Colorado leveraging aerospace and 

clean energy technology,” said Doug 

Comstock, director of NASA’s Innovative 

Elaine Thorndike, CEO of CAMT, said 

the visit has led to the identication

kro w e ra ohw srentrap wen laitnetop fo -

ing on “revolutionary and disruptive 

technologies and prospective tenants” 

Developers of ACE Manufacturing Park in Loveland, CO visit NASA Research Park 

in Silicon Valley

for the Colorado Aerospace and Clean 

Energy Park.

The planned park, comprised of 167 

acres and 881,000 square feet of existing 

on the former Agilent Technologies 

campus in Loveland.

The park will be a public-private 

partnership led by CAMT and is 

conducting early marketing and due 

diligence activities.

Students and Professors 

Meet NRP Innovators

A group of 65 college students and 

professors from Mexico visited NRP 

to learn about exciting innovation 

organizations in the park. The students 

are enrolled at the Leon campus of 

Tecnológico de Monterrey, the most 

entrepreneurial university in Mexico, and 

majoring in electrical and mechanical 

engineering, digital art and animation, 

entrepreneurship and marketing.

The visit was part of a week-long 

immersion program in Silicon Valley 

organization working to connect 

the entrepreneurial communities of 

Latin America and Silicon Valley. The 

entrepreneurial culture of the region and 

interacted with passionate innovators in 

leading-edge organizations.

At NRP they met with Robert Baertsch, VP 

of Engineering at SkyTran, to learn about 

this revolutionary transportation system 

and with Simon Goldbard, Co-founder 

of LatIPnet, to learn how this global 

for Latin countries. Simon talked about 

various projects that leverage the talent, 

knowledge, and technologies from 

Latin countries through partnerships 

with organizations in Silicon Valley and 

throughout the world to create new 

technology companies.

They met with Salim Ismail, Global 

Ambassador for Singularity University, 

to understand how the growth of 

ocixeM morf stnedutS ’ ,1102 ,11 rebotcO kraP hcraeseR ASAN tisiv yerretnoM ed ocigólonceT s

hosted by NRP Partner LatIPNet

exponential and disruptive technologies 

can be used to solve humanity’s most 

pressing problems, and learned about 

the history and future plans for NRP from 

Michael Marlaire and Mejghan Haider.

With the support of NRP, Tecnológico 

de Monterrey and SV Links, this group 

of students were inspired to pursue unforseen career opportunities in science, 

technology and innovation.
Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . Diane Farrar

Layout and Design... . ...... . Carol Le

Phone: (650) 604-2NRP

Email: arc-dl-researchpark@mail.nasa.gov

Website: www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov

NRP Post

Delegation from Mexico visits NASA Ames 

to learn about NASA Research Park

A delegation from Mexico visited NASA Ames November 18 to 

learn how NASA Research Park cultivates partnerships between 

NASA’s mission. The visit was hosted by Adolfo Nemirovsky 

and Emilio Martinez de Velasco of LatIPnet. LatIPnet is an 

NRP Partner working to catalyze knowledge and technological 

resources in Latin countries through synergies with global 

actors that will result in economic and social value. During their 

visit, Mejghan Haider, Chief Business Development at NASA 

Research Park, briefed them on the history of NRP and current 

strategies to create a vibrant community of research, education 

and innovation in the heart of Silicon Valley.

The visit was promoted by the Mexican Ministry of the Economy 

and the Mexican Association of IT Industries who are conducting 

a study to identify best practices in the design and operation 

of technology parks around the world. This study will help 

raise Mexican competitiveness in the information technologies 

industry.

of Software Industry at Ministry of Economy and by Antonio 

Couttolenc, Managing Director of Tecnoparques de Mexico. 

From left to right, Antonio Couttolenc, Managing Director of Tecnoparques de 

Mexico, Mejghan Haider, Chief Business Development at NASA Research 

Park, Adolfo Nemirovsky, LatIPnet Co-Founder, and Marco Mejia, Deputy 

Director of Software Industry at Mexico’s Ministry of Economy.

Department of Commerce International Trade Specialists visit 

NASA Research Park, briefed by KleenSpeed President Tim 

Collins and CTO Dante Zeviar 

Colorado Association for Manufacturing and Technology (CAMT), 

including CAMT CEO Elaine Thorndike (right), with NASA HQ Diana

Hoyt, briefed by KleenSpeed CTO Dante Zeviar (left)