National Aeronautics and Space Administration

A Publication of NASA Research Park

Spring

2016

NRP POST

THE

Made In Space to Send 3D Printer Up to International 

Space Station By Jonathan Bloom

 19th February 2016, MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. (KGO)

Friday night the International Space Station passed over the Bay Area. NASA says 

it would only be visible for about fi ve minutes, starting at 6:56 p.m. Next month, 

a new 3D printer will be sent up to the ISS. Soon, a space shuttle launch will be 

one of two ways to put something in space.

“You either take this satellite to a launch pad and put it on a rocket or you come 

to this offi ce and give us the digital fi le, and we will digitally launch your satellite 

to our 3D printer and print it out,” Made In Space chief technology offi cer Jason 

Dunn said. Called the additive manufacturing facility, it heads to the space station 

next month. “The way weʼve developed 3D printers to work in zero gravity is we 

actually get to take the printers into zero gravity ourselves,” Dunn said.

Bay Area startup Made In Space sent up a test unit thatʼs made working tools. 

Now, thereʼs a wish list. “Back scratchers... it turns out youʼre in space for a long 

time and you just want to scratch your back,” Dunn said. And for NASA scientists, 

it means fewer delays, if an experiment breaks.

“Being able to manufacture that now, rather than wait for the next part to come up on 

the next available fl ight to station,” Eugene Tu from the NASA Ames Research Center 

said. But building things on board the space station is barely even the beginning. 

The goal is a device that looks less like a printer and more like a spacecraft.

NASA Selects Made 

In Space Proposal for 

Next Generation Space 

Manufacturing Program

By Brad Kohlenberg

19th November 2015

NASAʼs Space Technology Mission Directorate announced its selection of the Made 

In Space project proposal for utilizing 

public-private partnerships to advance 

Tipping Point Technologies. The NASA 

funded project, designated “Archinaut,” 

is designed to develop the necessary 

technologies and subsystems which will 

enable the fi rst additive manufacturing, 

aggregation, and assembly of large and 

complex systems in space without astronaut 

extravehicular activity.

“Archinaut is being designed from the 

ground up to be a truly cross-cutting 

technology, providing entirely new 

space capabilities for NASA and other 

government missions as well as both 

pre-existing commercial satellite manufacturers and emerging commercial space 

platforms,” said Andrew Rush, President 

of Made In Space.

To capitalize on this NASA provided opportunity, Made In Space is teaming up 

with Northrop Grumman and OceaneerContinued on page 8

Continued on page 6

left to right – Andrew Rush, President, Made In Space; Stephen Jurczyk, NASA Associate Administrator for Space Technology 

Mission Directorate; Dr. Eugene Tu, Ames Center Director, Howard Eller, Advanced Concepts Chief Architect, Northrop Grumman
NRP Post

2 www.nasa.gov

IN THIS ISSUE

1 | Next Generation Space 

Manufacturing Program

Made In Space chosen to work on 

next generation of space manufacturing

1 | 3D Printer to Go Into 

Space

Made In Space to put printer into

Internation Space Station

2 | New Partners

NRP Welcomes

2 | Appointment of Janice 

Fried

Ms. Janice Fried appointed as Director of the NASA Research Park

3 | Energy Tracker by Verdigris 

Verdigris announces newest building intelligence platform: Energy 

Tracker

4 | NASA, Aerodynamics &

Sports Balls

Dr. Rabindra Mehta, chief of the

Experimantal Aero-Physics lecture 

on sports ball aerodynamics

5 | Carnegie Mellon University - SV

Partner with Cheetah Mobile to 

improve moble adversisting

6 | NRP Showcased

NRP showcased in Spinoff Magazine 2016

7 | CMU-SVʼs Karishma Shah

Karishma Show Honored with 

Forbes 30 Under 30 2016

9 | DMI Brings Wireless to 

Nepal

DMI helping Nepal bring communication back after earthquake

10 | Making History Again

Made Ins Space featured on NBC 

Bay Area

11 | NASA Ames Hosts GIDEP

NASA Ames hosts GIDEP for RMV 

site visit

11 | Connect 2016 a Big Hit

Big ideas make a big hit for Connect 

2016

American Aerospace 

Technologies, Inc. (AATI)

Bldg. 156, Rooms 124-128

Commencement Date: 2/1/16

AATI fl ies a fl eet of long endurance unmanned aerial vehicles with government, scientifi c, 

environmental and commercial payloads, including fi re mitigation and oil and gas pipeline 

surveillance. AATI is establishing a west coast operation of their business, based at the NRP.

Higher Ground LLC

Bldg. 156, Rooms 107 & 116

Commencement Date: 2/15/16

Higher Ground LLC has developed a very inexpensive means of communicating with geosynchronous satellites. They call this Direct-to-GeoTM or D2GTM. It has never been done 

before. Their D2G radio provides very inexpensive, low data rate communications to/

from many of the 180 (or so) satellites which are in geo orbit. Our fi rst application of D2G 

technology will be in a consumer product called the SatPaqTM. The SatPaq has the D2G 

radio, battery and antenna embedded in the protective case of a standard smartphone. 

You simply take the case off of your smartphone and replace it with a SatPaq. The SatPaq 

addresses the number one frustration that we all have with our smartphones. They are of 

little value when consumers go outside of cell phone range. This happens often when we 

do recreation like camping, hiking, fi shing.... The SatPaq allows texting and email from 

your phone when you are outside of the cell network.

NRPWelcomes

Ms. Janice Fried, formerly Director of the Offi ce 

of Human Capital, is reassigned to the position of 

Director of the NASA Research Park (NRP). This 

appointment provides executive leadership to the 

NRP at a time when its importance to the future of 

Ames is growing. Ms. Fried and the NRP staff will 

be responsible for building strategic partnerships 

in the NRP, guiding its development to complement 

the Ames campus and applying our authorities 

to maximum advantage for the Center and the 

Agency.

Ms. Fried was appointed to the Senior Executive 

Service in 2008 and has been serving as the Director of the Offi ce of Human Capital since that 

time. She served as the NASA Ames Research 

Centerʼs Deputy Chief Counsel and as an attorney 

for both NASA Ames Research Center and NASA 

Headquarters for over eight years. During 2007, 

Ms. Fried served as the Acting Deputy Assistant 

Administrator for Human Capital Management at NASA Headquarters, and represented 

NASA as the Deputy Chief Human Capital Offi cer. Her educational background includes 

a Masters of Law degree in Environmental Law from the George Washington University 

Law School, a J.D. from Whittier Law School, and a Bachelorʼs degree in History from the 

University of California, Los Angeles.

Appointment of New NASA Research Park Director

2 www.nasa.gov
www.nasa.gov/researchpark 3

NRP Post

Verdigris Announces Newest Addition to the Building Intelligence Platform: 

Energy Tracker! By: Thomas Chung

 11rd August 2015

NASA Research Partner Verdigris has recently launched a new App called Energy 

Tracker. This App was born out of the frustrations of people who work in building 

operations. Facilities managers and engineers walk around their buildings daily 

looking for equipment problems. But many 

common problems are invisible to the naked 

eye, developing silently until itʼs too late. 

Verdigris Energy Tracker delivers real-time 

notifi cations to building managers to address 

these problems directly.

The Verdigris Energy Tracker App notifi es 

users about energy waste and equipment 

faults before they affect operations. Tracker 

uses Setpoints, which users customize to their 

operational needs. These include energy 

spend in a region of the building, like lighting, or power thresholds on a single device, 

like a pump. When issues arise, Energy 

Tracker delivers email or SMS alerts to point 

building operators in the right direction. 

Recently, Verdigris released Auto Setpoint 

Tracker, using machine learning to choose 

these setpoints automatically. In their user 

research, many chief engineers said that 

they didnʼt always know what the right setpoint level was. So Verdigris responded by 

creating an algorithm that would identify 

this “building drift” phenomenon on its own.

Energy Tracker Accurately 

Predicts Future Energy Use

Managing peak demand is one of the most 

diffi cult problems facing building owners. Itʼs 

also one of the biggest challenges facing 

power grid operators. Identifying ways to 

reduce power consumption and improve 

sustainability is at the core of Verdigrisʼ 

Space Act Agreement.

Verdigris integrated its machine learning 

engine into Energy Tracker for just this 

reason. Energy Tracker can delivery highly 

accurate day-ahead forecasts of energy use 

for building engineers. 

The algorithms normalize this forecast to 

past energy use, plus predicted weather, 

temperature, day of week and day of year. 

Soon, it will also incorporate humidity, angle 

of sun and cloud cover for solar radiation, 

and building occupancy data.

Verdigris differentiates by also identifying 

the specifi c devices expected to contribute 

to energy peaks. Energy Tracker goes a 

step further by notifying engineers where 

they can most effectively shift and shed 

energy loads.

Energy Tracker supplements Verdigrisʼ building intelligence platform, developed in part 

at the NASA AMES Sustainability Base. The 

platformʼs smart sensors are already fi nding 

equipment problems in the real world. At the 

W Hotel San Francisco, Verdigris identifi ed a 

broken dishwasher well ahead of the normal 

maintenance cycle. This saved the hotel 

from a potential costly breakdown of their 

$30,000 device.

Energy Tracker was designed to give building managers better insight into their daily 

operations. It can help management make 

smarter decisions that improve energy 

effi ciency, prevent problems, and reduce 

occupant complaints. These operational 

effi ciencies translate directly to a companies 

bottom line. And by reducing peak demand 

at customer sites, Verdigris hopes it will pay 

dividends to the environment as well.

Thomas Chung is a co-founder and 

product manager at Verdigris.

http://verdigris.co/tracker-app
NRP Post

4 www.nasa.gov

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

By: K. Burton

Moffett Field, Feb. 2016

Dr. Rabindra Mehta, chief of the Experimental Aero-Physics (AOX) Branch , held 

a crowd of adults, teens, families and kids 

spellbound at the NRP Exploration Lecture, “NASA, Aerodynamics and Sports 

Balls,” on Jan. 7 in the Bldg. 

3 Auditorium.

He broke the ice with the audience early on by throwing a 

football down the middle aisle 

of seats to an athletic teenager, who threw a long, smooth 

pass back to Mehta.

His enthusiasm was apparent 

as he paced the stage and 

gave a range of ʻinsiderʼ anecdotes and hard data about 

cricket balls, soccer balls, 

baseballs, footballs, tennis 

balls --- even wiffl e balls.

“Every sports ball has its own 

unique aerodynamic characteristics,” Mehta said.

“Big picture,” he said is “Itʼs 

all about aerodynamics — the holes, shapes 

and the rough and smooth sides,” of the 

different types of balls.

For example, the cricket ball (Mehtaʼs 

favorite) has what is called ʻ asymmetric 

separationʼ because of its angled seam. 

As a result, there is more turbulence on 

one side than on the other. “During a 

throw, the cricket ballʼs angle is based on 

the seam orientation, and the velocity is 

in inverse relationship to the pressure,” 

he said. 

He segued to Americaʼs favorite game -- 

baseball. “A baseball pitch moves toward 

the rough side at lower speeds,” he said, 

discussing the smooth vs seam side of a 

baseball during a pitch. 

Mehta also showed videos of diffi cult to 

hit spinning pitches such as gyro balls, 

knuckleballs and curveballs. “Curveball 

aerodynamics are due to more defl ection 

later in fl ight,” he noted. And, of the 

crowd-pleasing fastball: “Fastball pitches 

typically travel 85-100 mph, and often 

have a wicked backspin.” (This makes 

them notoriously hard to hit.)

He dove into what he called baseball 

“myth busters” and put several 

to rest. For example: “Is a 

rising baseball fastball possible?”, he asked the audience. 

And he then explained technically why the answer was 

clearly “No.”

And he discussed the fi ne 

points of ʻspin versus liftʼ on 

a four seamer (baseball) vs a 

two seamer baseball. (Hint: 

the four seamer has more lift 

since it has a rougher surface 

than the two seamer.)

With a nod to SuperBowl 2016 

at Levi Stadium (which was still 

ahead on February 7) Mehta touched on football aerodynamics. Among his many 

interesting facts, he noted that throwing a 

football straight on the axis makes the ball 

goes further. And--the effect of wobbling 

pass is that wobble aerodynamic causes 

the football to be a ʻlame duckʼ. 

 During the Q&A which followed, audience 

members asked questions on everything 

from laminar fl ow over a VW Beetle (“The 

VW might get some improvement on itsʼ 

speed,” Mehta said.) to tennis ball speed 

- (“A tennis ball becomes faster as you 

use it because the felt wears off.”) and 

the effects of altitude on soccer in Brazil. 

(“Less drag.”) 

After the lecture children teens and adults 

swarmed Dr. Mehta like a rock star, and 

lined up for pictures with him and the array 

of sports balls from all over the world that 

heʼd brought. The audience voted on which 

youngsters asked the best questions, and 

the top winners received — guess what? 

-- a sports ball! 

Mehta graduated from the University of 

London with a B.Sc. in Aeronautical Engineering (Queen Mary College, 1975) and 

Ph.D. in Aeronautics (Imperial College, 

1978).

later in fl ight,” he noted. And, of the 

Continued on page 8

NRP Deputy Director Mejghan Haider presents plaque to Dr. Rabi Mehta
www.nasa.gov/researchpark 5

NRP Post

Akshay Pushparaja has over three years 

experience in the investment banking domain and has won two Apple Watch hackathons hosted by ifwe.co and ChimeHack2 

during summer 2015. His fi elds of interest 

include mobile application development, 

web application development, and cloud 

computing.

Xi Wang has developed Android applications based on C/S architecture and gained 

industrial knowledge about AWS cloud 

computing service and web development. 

He is interested in Android application 

development and cloud computing.

Kailiang Chen has several years of industrial experience working on the Android 

framework and application development, 

along with knowledge of cloud computing, distributed system, computer vision, and machine 

learning.

Vinay Ramkrishnan 

has over three years 

of experience in 

mobile application development 

on phones and 

tablets, but also 

includes Android 

Wear, TV, and 

Google Glass. Ramkrishnan was also recently a fi nalist at the 

LinkedIn HackDay Event.

“Real-world becomes the 

classroom in the industry-sponsored 

practicum, offering students the incredible 

opportunity to learn, grow and thrive at 

the pulse of the ever–evolving mobile applications fi eld,” said Dena Haritos Tsamitis, 

director of the Information Networking 

Institute (INI). “We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with Cheetah Mobile 

and eager to see the great work students 

will accomplish under the mentorship of 

their expert team.”

Patrick Tague, Associate Director of Carnegie Mellonʼs INI, is the faculty advisor 

for the team.

“Partnering with Cheetah Mobile affords 

our students a hands-on learning opportunity, one that will allow them to make 

real-world impact with a major player in 

the mobile space,” said Tague, associate 

director of the INI.

With nearly 500 million monthly active users on mobile, Cheetah Mobile has quickly 

emerged as an important player in the 

mobile advertising world. The company 

unveiled its global Cheetah Ad Platform in 

June and has kicked off a global tour for 

the platform that will include events in India, 

United States, United Kingdom, Indonesia, 

Taiwan, Russia, and Brazil.

Advertising as a monetization method has 

been heavily tread on for decades, a recent challenge, however, is displaying and 

creating engaging ads on these new and 

impossibly small devices.

Cheetah Mobile, together with Carnegie 

Mellon, wants to help the next generation of entrepreneurial focused people 

succeed by being able to monetize their 

software and sustain new ideas, while 

still keeping users satisfi ed with a fantastic in-app experience.

Cheetah Mobile and Carnegie Mellon University Partner to Improve Mobile 

Advertising By: Daniel Harbor, CMU-SV 

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 15, 2015 

Cheetah Mobile (NYSE: CMCM), the leading developer of mission-critical mobile 

utility applications, today announced a 

partnership with Carnegie Mellon University that will research innovative mobile 

advertising techniques prioritizing the user 

experience while still seeing increased results. To kick off the partnership, Cheetah 

Mobile is sponsoring the fl agship practicum 

course for the Information Networking Institute (INI) Masterʼs program at Carnegie Mellonʼs Silicon Valley campus this 

semester.

This collaborative working relationship with 

a top university in the U.S. has been a goal 

of Cheetah Mobileʼs CEO, Sheng Fu.

“Iʼm thrilled that our company has the 

opportunity to join with Carnegie Mellon 

for new perspectives in mobile advertising,” said Cheetah Mobile CEO Sheng 

Fu. “The university and its students will be 

a great asset in tackling the challenges 

being presented by the mobile industry.”

Arther Wu, Cheetah Mobileʼs Senior Director of Monetization and Business Operation, will provide mentorship for the 

INI Practicum team. The project will also 

be supported by CMU Alumni, GM of 

Cheetah Mobile Taiwan Agency David Wu 

and Cheetah Mobile Business Development 

Manager Wade Brogdon.

“Itʼs great to get to work with Carnegie 

Mellonʼs talented students. CMU 

has assembled an amazing 

team and Iʼm confi dent 

theyʼll come up with 

some terrifi c results 

from Cheetah Mobileʼs advertising 

intelligence,” 

said Arther Wu. 

“The Cheetah 

Ad Platform values advertising 

performance the 

most and our ultimate goal is to have 

the best performance 

with the lowest cost by 

leveraging our big data 

from cloud computing.”

Cheetah Mobileʼs INI practicum team includes four MSIT-Mobility students:

Akshay Pushparaja has over three years the pulse of the ever–evolving mobile apalong with knowledge of cloud computing, distributed system, computer vision, and machine 

learning.

Vinay Ramkrishnan 

has over three years 

Wear, TV, and 

Google Glass. Ramkrishnan was also recently a fi nalist at the 

LinkedIn HackDay Event.

“Real-world becomes the 

Mellonʼs talented students. CMU 

has assembled an amazing 

team and Iʼm confi dent 

theyʼll come up with 

some terrifi c results 

from Cheetah Momost and our ultimate goal is to have 

the best performance 

with the lowest cost by 

leveraging our big data 

from cloud computing.”
NRP Post

6 www.nasa.gov

Source: Spinoff Magazine 2016

The Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at 

the John F. Kennedy School of Government,Harvard University, has recognized two NASA fi xtures as part of its inaugural 

Bright Ideas Program.

According to the center, the Bright Ideas Program began in 2015 

as an effort “to further highlight and promote creative government initiatives and 

partnerships so that 

government leaders, 

public servants, and 

other individuals can 

learn about noteworthy ideas and can adopt 

those initiatives that 

can work in their own 

communities. Beginning 

with these Bright Ideas, 

the Innovations Program 

seeks to create an open 

collection of innovations in 

order to create an online 

community where innovative ideas can be proposed, 

shared, and disseminated.”

NASA Research Park (NRP) 

at NASA Ames Research 

Center received one of the awards. NRP 

is a world-class, shared-use research and development and 

education campus for industry, academia, nonprofi ts, and 

government. It provides a physical place for innovation and 

entrepreneurship and serves as a technology accelerator 

through fostering both informal and formal collaborations. 

Today the NRP houses more than 70 industry and university 

partners, with commercially standard leases, and provides onsite collaboration with NASA on a variety of technologies and 

disciplines. The resulting innovations include 

projects as diverse as clean energy servers now powering Fortune 

500 companies (“Energy Servers 

Deliver Clean, Affordable Power,” Spinoff 2010) to a precision 

coffeemaker designed by an 

intern from the facility.

Also winning a Bright Idea 

Award was NASAʼs International Space Apps Challenge, 

a two-day incubator where 

teams of programmers, students, scientists, space enthusiasts, artists, educators, 

entrepreneurs, and others 

gather from around the 

world to take on one or 

more of a set number of 

challenges proposed by NASA and other 

Government agencies. Most of the challenges revolve around 

taking Government data and creating apps, Web sites, or 

hardware to make use of those assets for the benefi t of the 

public. Last yearʼs International Space Apps Challenge saw 

more than 13,300 participants in 133 locations tackle nearly 

1,000 projects.

According to the center, the Bright Ideas Program began in 2015 

“to further highlight and promote creative government initiatives and 

with these Bright Ideas, 

the Innovations Program 

seeks to create an open 

collection of innovations in 

order to create an online 

community where innovative ideas can be proposed, 

shared, and disseminated.”

NASA Research Park (NRP) 

at NASA Ames Research 

Center received one of the awards. NRP 

projects as diverse as clean energy servers now powering Fortune 

500 companies (

Deliver Clean, Affordable Power,” Spinoff 2010) to a precision 

coffeemaker designed by an 

intern from the facility.

Also winning a Bright Idea 

Award was NASAʼs International Space Apps Challenge, 

a two-day incubator where 

teams of programmers, students, scientists, space enthusiasts, artists, educators, 

entrepreneurs, and others 

gather from around the 

world to take on one or 

more of a set number of 

challenges proposed by NASA and other 

Government agencies. Most of the challenges revolve around 

taking Government data and creating apps, Web sites, or 

NRP Showcased in 2016 Spinoff Magazine

3D Printer continued from page 1

In a partnership with NASA and Northrop 

Grumman, Made In Space wants to 3D print 

outside the station in the vacuum of space. 

Theyʼre calling it Archinaut. “Either Archinaut 

looks like itʼs pulling objects out of its belly, or it 

will look like itʼs climbing the object as it builds 

it,” Dunn explained. The reason is compelling; 

a spacecraft built on Earth has to be able to 

launch on a rocket. NASA space technology 

associate administrator Stephen Jurczyk said, 

“So we do this origami, where we fold up solar 

arrays, we fold up refl ectors.” Building things 

high above the Earth means you donʼt have to 

launch oddly items.

The fi rst step is a test -- a smaller Archinaut 

tethered to the space station they hope to have up in about two years. But soon, it could change communication satellites, build 

the next space station and pave the way to Mars. “If weʼre going into the fi nal frontier, SpaceX is building the covered wagon 

and we are building the pickaxes and other tools,” Made In Space CEO Andrew Rush said.
www.nasa.gov/researchpark 7

NRP Post

CMU-SV’s Karishma Shah Honored with Forbes 30 Under 30 for 2016

By Chris Zeise

Source: Forbes 30 Under 30 for 2016

February 16, 2016 | CMU Silicon Valley 

Karishma Shah (MS ʼ17), a current student of the Integrated 

Innovation Instituteʼs part-time MS in Software Management 

program, has been selected for Forbes 30 Under 30 2016 list in 

the Consumer Technology category. Selected from a list of more 

than 15,000 of todayʼs best and brightest, this prestigious honor 

is given to just 600 individuals across 20 sectors each year, whom 

according to Forbes are considered, “Americaʼs most important 

young entrepreneurs, creative leaders and brightest stars.”

Impact at Google & Beyond

Shah was Google [x]ʼs youngest hire, brought on at the age of 

21. As program manager of the Rapid Evaluation team, a small 

team charged with ideating and prototyping new moonshots for 

Google [x], she has been a critical early team member cracking 

challenges to defi ctionalize moonshots across fi ve industries. Her 

contributions include cofounding a natural language processing 

moonshot and leading operations for the Project Wing drone 

delivery service in Australia. With a founding team that included 

Astro Teller, CEO of Google [x], and Megan Smith, now CTO of 

the White House, she launched and led global partnerships for 

we.solveforx.com, a platform that aims to accelerate progress on 

technological and scientifi c moonshots around the world. She also 

founded Googleʼs 10x Thinking Team which facilitates workshops 

globally to spread the “10x thinking” philosophy and ideation 

process of coming up with radical solutions to global challenges.

Itʼs no wonder that as Forbes combed through the brightest young 

people in tech to create its 30 Under 30 Consumer Technology list, 

Shah was chosen from the cast of hundreds. After narrowing the 

nominations down to forty, a panel of three expert judges picked 

the top 30 fi nalists. This year the panel of insiders included Phil 

Libin, founder of Evernote and managing director at the venture 

fi rm General Catalyst, Tina Sharkey, partner at SherpaFoundry, 

and Alan Schaaf, founder of image platform IMGUR and an 

Under 30 alumnus.

“Itʼs surreal to be a part of the 30 Under 30 community with so

many people who have inspired me, like Mark Zuckerberg. Iʼm 

humbled and honored.” Shah adds, “The outpouring of support 

from across the world has been touching. Iʼm receiving thoughtful 

emails from people in languages that I canʼt even read without 

Google Translate! Itʼs given me more motivation to work on technologies that can better the lives of people globally.”

Shah on Software Management & Leadership

Shah joined our part-time MS in Software Management program 

last fall and has already been using her experiences from the 

program in her work. “My skills are being sharpened in the SM 

program; particularly, having focused on R&D in my career thus 

far, Iʼm learning a tremendous amount by diving into the scaling 

of technology products as they become more mature. I hope 

to apply these skills to continue to solve problems in the world 

and eventually become an angel investor and mentor to future 

entrepreneurs,” Shah explains.

We asked Shah for her views on leadership and what the important 

qualities and motivating factors are of a good leader. Shah 

responded, “A leader envisions possibilities and brings them 

to reality through empirical problem solving and the power of 

collaboration. I believe diversity of thought is the single most 

important driver of innovation. [W]ith empathy, humility, and 

drive, a strong leader can assemble and empower a team with 

a variety of perspectives to accomplish a common goal. A quote 

by Wilferd Peterson that I have hanging in my room reads, ʻWalk 

with the dreamers, the believers, the courageous, the cheerful, 

the planners, the doers, the successful people with their heads 

in the clouds and their feet on the ground. Let their spirit ignite 

a fi re within you to leave this world better than when you found 

it.ʼ I fi nd myself surrounded in the technology industry by people 

igniting such a fi re within me to lead and leave this world better 

than when I found it.”

View the entire 30 Under 30 List on Forbes.com

Karishma Shah (MS ʼ17), a current student of the Integrated “Itʼs surreal to be a part of the 30 Under 30 community with so
NRP Post

8 www.nasa.gov

He started his career at Ames as a National Research Council Post-Doctoral 

Fellow in 1981, and after about 12 years on the Stanford University staff, 

joined the NASA civil service ranks in 1996. 

The AOX branch at Ames specializes in experimental research and testing in 

aerodynamics and fl uid mechanics using advanced instrumentation techniques, 

a lot of them developed in house. In recent years, the branch has made 

signifi cant contributions to the Space Shuttle, Constellation, Mars Science 

Lab, Space Launch System and the Fundamental Aeronautics Programs.

Mehtaʼs interest in sports ball aerodynamics was initially developed in England 

where he conducted a detailed experimental study of cricket ball “swing” 

using wind tunnels. Upon moving to the US, he extended his interests to 

include golf ball and baseballs, and more recently, tennis balls, volleyballs 

and soccer balls. This resulted in a landmark article entitled: “Aerodynamics of Sports Balls” which was published in the Annual Reviews of Fluid 

Mechanics in 1985. Since then, Rabi has published several articles on this 

topic and he is regularly consulted by sports organizations and quoted by 

all forms of the media.

Although not part of NASAʼs main mission, this topic is often used by the 

NASA Education Offi ce to get students interested in STEM and thereby 

inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers.

The Exploration Lecture Series, which began in 2004, is an ongoing 

public lecture series which focuses on the broad theme of exploration 

on Earth and in space. Past speakers have included astronauts, authors, 

scientists and adventurers.

(*”Take me Out to the Ballgame” is a 1908 Tin Pan Alley song which has become baseballsʼ 

unoffi cial anthem.)

Made Made In Space Thinking Big, continued from page 1

ing Space Systems in order to leverage their 

unique expertise. Made in Space will lead 

the team, applying their established spacebased additive manufacturing technology. 

Northrop Grumman will provide expertise 

in electronic interfaces and external thermal 

control analysis. Oceaneering Space Systems 

will design and build the manipulator arm.

“In addition to transforming the current 

state-of-the-art for space manufacturing, the 

development of the Archinaut capability will 

be a great opportunity for Made In Space to 

collaborate with established space companies which possess complimentary resources 

and proven expertise,” said Mike Snyder, 

Co-Founder and Chief Engineer.

The full vision of Archinaut will 

enable spacecraft which manufacture and assemble unlaunchable structures once on orbit, enabling new mission capabilities 

such as large antennas and base 

stations. The initial Archinaut 

Phase I program will perform 

a series of technology demonstrations in order to bring the 

fi nal technical hurdles beyond 

the tipping point for commercial 

feasibility.

Archinaut follows Made in 

Spaceʼs previous work with 

NASA in developing additive 

manufacturing for space, including the demonstrator, “3D 

Printing in Zero-G Experiment,” 

currently deployed aboard ISS, 

and the commercially operated 

Additive Manufacturing Facility, 

scheduled for launch in the fi rst 

half of 2016.

“Archinaut is a major milestone on the 

roadmap for bringing large scale manufacturing to space. This announcement is a result 

of the technology development that has been 

underway since our companyʼs inception and 

sets the stage for what is to come in both the 

8 www.nasa.gov

Dr. Mehta with students from Athletic Scholars, A Silicon Vally non-profi t who helps young girls develop 

critical life skills and knowledge of STEM topics 

Stat

with 

testi

International Space

ratchet wrench made

to Earth for

Take Me Out to the Ballgame, continued from page 4

NRP Post
www.nasa.gov/researchpark 9

NRP Post

public and private sectors,” said Jason Dunn, Co-Founder 

and CTO Jason Dunn.

About NASAʼs Tipping Point Technologies

A technology relevant to NASA is considered at the tipping 

point if an investment in a demonstration of its capabilities 

would result in a signifi cant advancement of the technologyʼs 

maturation, high likelihood of infusion into a commercial 

space application, and signifi cant improvement in the ability 

to successfully bring the technology to market.

About Made In Space

Made In Space, Inc. (MIS) was founded in 2010 as the worldʼs 

fi rst space manufacturing company. MIS was contracted 

by NASA to design, build, and operate the 3D Printing In 

Zero-G Experiment (3D Print) on the International Space 

Station (ISS) in 2014. 3D Print became the fi rst machine to 

manufacture off-Earth. Controlled from a mission operations 

center at MIS HQ in the NASA Ames Research Park, the 

device allows for hardware to be digitally sent to space and 

printed out. By the end of 2015 the company will launch a 

new 3D printer, the Additive Manufacturing Facility (AMF), 

to provide hardware manufacturing services to both NASA 

and the U.S. National Laboratory onboard the ISS. As the 

fi rst commercially available manufacturing service in space, 

the AMF will put the capability of off-world manufacturing in 

the hands of space developers everywhere.

CMU-SV DMI efforts bring wireless radio 

technology to Nepal, aid in earthquake 

emergency Communications

By Alexandra George, 16th December 2015

In May of 2015 not far outside the city of Kathmandu, 

Nepal, Dr. Sanjeeb Panday and a team from the University 

of Tribhuvan construct a repeater, a large antenna-like 

device used for amateur radio emergency communications. In the wake of the fi rst earthquake, the repeater will 

enable communication between villages when all other 

infrastructure has failed. But as Dr. Panday and his team 

are hard at work, the extremely destructive 7.3 aftershock 

of the earthquake hits. The team must evacuate to save 

their lives. As soon as it is safe to return the team completes 

its task; they are the only team during the earthquake to 

successfully build infrastructure for the public 

to use.

While constructing the 

repeater was not an 

easy feat, getting the 

repeater into the region 

took even longer. With 

the help of the Disaster 

Management Initiative 

(DMI), located at Carnegie Mellon Universityʼs 

Silicon Valley Campus, 

Nepal was able to use 

amateur, or ham, radio 

technology during the 

April earthquake.

Dr. Martin Griss, Director of the DMI, founded the center in 2009 with an annual 

workshop that brought together citizens, professionals, 

and experts to discuss technological solutions to all kinds 

of natural disasters. They discussed topics such as mobility, open sourcing, and low-cost technologies that could 

change the face of disaster relief. 

In 2010, Suresh Ojha, who serves on the board of the 

Global Nepali Professional Network (GNPN, also known 

as CAN-USA), joined the DMI. Ojha, who also had personal ties to Nepal, explained the challenges Nepal faces 

in terms of disasters. Not only is it a poor nation, dealing 

with the aftermath of a civil war, hunger, and other issues, 

but the region is also very vulnerable to earthquakes.

“An earthquake is expected in Kathmandu every 75 

years,” said Ojha. “We expected it, but didnʼt know 

when it would happen. The DMI saw the important role 

that disaster communications could play.” 

The idea for Nepal was to model the ham radio system 

that exists in the United States—radios that connect through 

a system of repeaters. Each radio can only communicate 

so far, so the repeater, which is a large structure placed 

on mountaintops or buildings, takes in the communication

Continued on page 12

Dr. Sanjeeb Panday assembles a repeater 

antenna before a 7.3 aftershock

Station Expedition 42 Commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore shows off a

with a 3-D printer on the station. The wrench and other parts will return

testing at NASAʼs Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL

pace

ade

h for
10 www.nasa.gov

NRP Post

10 www.nasa.gov

NASA And Mountain View’s Made In Space: Making History, Again

By Stephanie Chuang - NBC Bay Area

February 19, 2016

As seen on NBC Bay Area: from left to right - Andrew Rush, President, Made In Space; Howard Eller, Advanced Concepts Chief Architect, Northrop 

Grumman; Dr. Eugene Tu, Ames Center Director; Stephen Jurczyk, NASA Associate Administrator for Space Technology Mission Directorate

Historically, when you talk about getting 

things into space, itʼs always been attached 

to a rocket.

Not anymore. At least, thatʼs the idea behind Project Archinaut spearheaded by 

Made In Space, a company founded in 

2010 headquartered at NASA Ames in 

Mountain View. Made In Space made history in 2014 when it put the fi rst ever 3-D 

printer on the International Space Station, 

printing the fi rst ever object off of Planet 

Earth

NASA has awarded Made In Space with 

its latest effort: manufacturing large-scale 

objects in space. This is what Archinaut is 

all about. “Itʼs not a 3-D printer anymore, 

itʼs a robotic manufacturing capability that 

is launched into space,” explained Jason 

Dunn, Made in Space Chief Technology 

Offi cer. “Once it gets there, it builds entire 

spacecraft, large trusses that you can build 

a new space station out of ”.

The idea, according to Dunn, is about fi ve 

years away from reality. At that point, he 

and the company believe they can offer the 

right technology to get picked up by the 

commercial sector. “Weʼre a lot closer 

than most people think. The current Archinaut program with NASA is in the initial 

period so (there is) a lot of technology 

development, but we are on the fi ve-year 

horizon to doing some really large-scale 

structures in space,” said Dunn.

Made In Spaceʼs latest project is a second-generation 3-D printer that is sitting on 

a launchpad now on Cape Canaveral in 

Florida. Dunn said itʼs slated to be on the 

space station in March. Once installed, he 

added, technically everybody on Earth has 

access to manufacturing in space. The process is simple: send a digital fi le of the part 

desired, Made In Space sends that to the 

printer, and the part is manufactured.
www.nasa.gov/researchpark 11

NRP Post

Thanks to Everyone Who Helped 

Make Connect 2016 a Big Hit

Press Release

January 20, 2016|x

Carnegie Mellon sponsored Cheetah Mobileʼs Connect 

2016 Cross-Pacifi c Mobile Internet Conference, which was 

held on January 14. Connect 2016 is a mobile-focused forum 

which discussed three major areas: startupsʼ power to instantly go global, how big data impacts peopleʼs daily lives, and 

strategies for performing effective international business.

Connect 2016, which was held in San Francisco, was a one-day event featuring talks and fi reside chats from various speakers, including 

keynote speaker former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. Also attending were speakers Juggs Ravalia, vice president of platforms at Yandex 

and visiting scientist at CMU-SV, and CMU-SVʼs Distinguished Service Professor Stuart Evans.

“The developing partnership between Cheetah Mobile and our Silicon Valley campus is exciting and timely, particularly when considering the topic of how Chinese companies can globalize,” says Evans. “It was an honor to have been a speaker at the 2016 Connect 

conference.

NASA Ames Offi ce of Mission Assurance 

Hosts GIDEP for RMV Site Visit

A recent visit by the NASA Ames Offi ce of Mission Assurance 

& Safety and Training Staff of GIDEP (Government Industry 

Data Exchange Program) was hosted by Bob Vermillion, CEO & 

Founder and Renee Mitchell, President, RMV Technology Group 

LLC, a NASA NRP Industry Partner. 

Bob conducted demonstrations on some products and consumables used in the manufacturing environment identifi ed as “Suspect Counterfeit” by a combination of simple techniques that can 

be performed by Incoming Inspection personnel or US Customs 

& Border Patrol offi cers with RMV “Hands On Suspect Counterfeit Training.” Since 2008, Bob Vermillion has presented on the 

troubling expansion of Counterfeits in the Supply Chain that not 

only affects the Warfi ghter, but also USA companies, distributors and end users. Bobʼs numerous articles and white papers 

together with training and presentations can be viewed on line 

at http://www.esdrmv.com/content/1st-present-publish-train-suspect-counterfeit-esd-packaging

Bob was invited to be the Luncheon Speaker on 3rd May for 

the NASA GIDEP New User Training Clinic, from 11:20 AM to 

12:45. Bobʼs talk is titled “Trust but Verify: Suspect Counterfeit 

Moffett Field, February 16, 2016

Issues in Aerospace & Defense that Compromise the Supply 

Chain.” To register or to get updates, please visit www.gidep.org

RMV Technology Group LLC, a NASA Industry Partner, provides 

High Tech Engineering & Training Solutions and is the largest 

Electrostatics (ESD) Laboratory located on at NASA site. RMV 

conducts Aerospace & Defense Training and new courses for 

2016 can be viewed on www.ESDAeroSpaceTraining.org.

RMV is a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business located onsite at NASA Ames Research Center in Building 19 down 

the hall from UC Santa Cruz and Carnegie Mellon University 

adjunct classrooms.
12 www.nasa.gov

NRP Post

NRP POST

NASA Research Park

Editor, Layout and Design: TED TRIANO

Phone: (650) 604-2NRP

Email: arc-dl-nrp-post@mail.nasa.gov

Website: www.nasa.gov/researchpark

THE

U.S. Geological Survey Acting Director Dr. Suzette Kimball and Mr. Mark 

Sogge Deputy Director of U.S. Geological Survey visited Ames and NRP on 

December 9, 2015 to discuss partnership and co-location opportunities with 

NASA Ames Director Dr. Eugene Tu & Associate Director Steven Zornetzer

on one frequency and sends out the message on another 

frequency. The message is able to travel over great distances 

from repeater to repeater, traveling across the country or 

even across the world.

“In the beginning there was only amateur radio,” said 

Martin Griss. “As new technology was developed it then 

became commercialized. But ham radio has existed for 

over one hundred years and is independent of commercial 

communications.”

Ham radio plays a very important role in emergency 

communications for a number of reasons—the fi rst being 

that when all other communications and infrastructure fail, 

amateur radio still works. 

Many of the villages in Nepal lie in valleys. So a network 

of repeaters placed on mountaintops could allow villages 

to communicate with each other and identify locations of 

greatest need and easiest access.

The DMI helped GNPN make contact with donors, the U.S. 

Embassy in Kathmandu, and other organizations, as well 

as become involved with Pacifi c Endeavor, a multi-military 

coordination effort that runs exercises for humanitarian aid 

disaster response purposes.

“Even more than providing a model, the DMI was key in 

helping us make the connections and in developing the 

relationships necessary to get into the region,” said Ojha. 

There were diffi culties physically getting the repeaters and 

radios into the region. The second repeater, the one that Dr. 

Panday constructed, was mislaid at customs. Ojha, using 

the connections made through the DMI, had to persuade 

offi cials to let it through.

“Almost certainly our relationship with the DMI saved 

lives,” said Ojha. “Due to the coordination we were able 

to manage before, during, and after the earthquake, we 

were able to bring reliable emergency communication 

technology to Nepal.”

The goal for the future is to establish more repeaters. Using the fi rst two during the earthquake gave government 

offi cials a chance to see what was effective and what was 

not. Now they can continue forging a path by training 

village-based operators to use the wireless radio and by 

navigating through regulatory roadblocks.

“There are two questions you need to ask in these types of 

situations,” said Griss. “The fi rst is: What should you do? 

In this case, ham radio was determined. The second is: 

How should you do it? This is the part that the DMI helped 

with. Itʼs the kind of thing you really feel good about.”

DMI Wireless Technology, continued from page 9

NASA/Google Moffett Federal Airfi eld Lease won the GSA Achievement Award for Real Property Best Practices and Innovation. The long 

term lease stands out both for its complexity, economics, and positive 

long-term impact to the Agency as well as local community.

On March 8, 2016 Professor Vernon Gibson, Chief Scientist Advisor, UK 

Ministry of Defence visited NASA Ames and toured the NASA Research 

Park. Dr. Eugene Tu provided an overview of the Center. 

Picture from the left: Ms. Janice Fried, Director NASA Research Park, 

Dr. Tu, Center Director, Professor Gibson, Dr. Tom Edwards, Deputy 

Center Director, Mr. Gary Martin, Director Partnership Directorate.

NP-2016-04-01-ARC