The Right^ Combinatio To Access Valuable :; r; r . . .. h-STRATEGIC DEFENSE INITIATIVE (SDI) SPINOFFS How can technology developed to build a strategic defense system against ballistic missiles help your business? Space-based initiatives expand the bounds of conventional technology because space systems require lighter components, faster computers, stronger materials, and more reliable machines. Fields such as manufacturing, medicine, and computers require the same advances to stay ahead of competitors. Acting under the direction of Congress and the President, the SDI Organization (SDIO) established an Office of Technology Applications to help make SDI technology available to U.S. corporations, small businesses, other federal agencies, universities, and state and local governments. The Office’s proactive technology transfer program includes outreach services, technology applications reviews, and free-of-charge access to the SDIO Technology' Applications Information System (TAIS) database. OUTREACH SERVICES The SDIO Office of Technology Applications publicizes SDI technology available for transfer by producing several publications and interacting with professional and technical organizations. These activities are designed to generate interest in new technologies and encourage business arrangements that produce spinoffs. Publications include the SDI High Technology Update, a quarterly newsletter that is available to interested readers free-of-charge; the SDIO Technology Applications Report, a booklet that each year highlights SDI spinoff successes; and “Applications Close-Up,” a press service designed to produce technology matches through the mass media. The Office also exhibits SDI’s leading edge technologies at conferences and meetings throughout the country , assists those who wish to commercialize SDI technology, and develops successful technology transfer mechanisms in focused demonstration projects. TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS REVIEWS The Office of Technology Applications co-sponsors approximately eight technology applications reviews a year to identify other government and commercial applications of SDI technology. Each review focuses on a different technology area (such as biomedical technology, optics, materials, electronics, and power) and brings together public and private sector experts to discuss commercialization strategies for SDI technologies. After each review, the Office pursues promising strategies to produce spinoffs that will benefit the nation's economy. THE TAIS: Your Key to SDI Innovation The TAIS is an on-line, national technology transfer database where you can identify potential spinoff applications of SDI technologies. You can access it by computer modem and, since there are no user fees or dues, your only expense is the cost of a phone call. The TAIS contains thousands of unclassified, nonproprietary abstracts of SDI technologies in areas such as superconductivity, sensors, lasers, supercomputers, electronics, materials, and industrial processes. The number of abstracts continually increases as SDI research programs evolve. Further, the TAIS encourages person-to-person contact by acting as a referral service between TAIS users and researchers. The TAIS also provides other vital business information, including: • Business opportunities available through the SDI Small Business Innovation Research program and the SDI Innovative Science and Technology program. These programs provide funding for innovative R&D that could fulfill SDI needs. • Information on resources and services for technology transfer, including over 230 federal and 640 state or regional business assistance agencies nationwide. • Abstracts from the National Aero-Space Plane (NASP) program. Designed to take off and land like a conventional airplane — but orbit earth at 25 times the speed of sound — the NASP, like SDI, will advance new technologies in fields such as materials, avionics, computers, and propulsion. You may access the TAIS once you have completed a militarily-critical technical data agreement and have been certified by the Defense Logistics Agency (any U.S. corporation or citizen may receive certification). For further information about these Department of Defense certification procedures, call the Defense Logistics Agency at (800) 352-3572. In addition, if you are a federal agency representative, you may obtain certification by sending a request on official letterhead to the Office of Technology Applications. Along with DLA certification, you will receive your TAIS access codes and directions on how to use the TAIS database. For more information on how to use the TAIS, contact the Office of Technology Applications. We will be happy to help you.2000 Potential Dividends Strategic Defense Initiative Organization Technology Applications Office The Pentagon Washington, DC 20301-7100 (703)693-1563 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT MBMI*C»MMF7MN Kmmxs ipr, * m —m •* LIGHTER To reduce the cost of deploying a space-based missile defense system, SDI researchers are making equipment lighter than ever before. This means smaller, more compact, and lighter designs of components and systems. SDI research has reduced the size of the radio frequency quadrupole linear accelerator (RFQ linac) from the size of a 3-story building to the table-top model shown above. As a result, it has been incorporated into the design of a proton cancer treatment facility, developed into a bomb detector for use in airports, and developed to detect cracks in aircraft, ships, or rocket engines. Look at TAIS Abstracts # 386 & 941. FASTER Systems in space must react to incoming missiles almost automatically. As a result, SDI’s optical computers and neural networks will have to distinguish a missile from the earth’s background and missile decoys, track the missile, and direct weapons that will destroy it. Shown above is an artist’s concept of how the inner workings of electron-trapping (ET) materials look. ET materials were designed for SDI to be used in high-speed optical computers. They also can be used in neural networks, creating computers that can learn to recognize sophisticated patterns in short periods. Look at TAIS Abstract #123. LIGHTER FASTER STRONGER SDI satellites must survive the impact of space debris and enemy attack, while SDI interceptors must withstand very high rates of acceleration. As a result, SDI needs stronger materials and more advanced construction techniques. The leg brace shown above was built using a material developed for an SDI missile interceptor. This leg brace is 40 percent stronger and weighs 2/3 less than conventional steel leg braces. Look at TAIS Abstract #227. MORE RELIABLE In space, the repairman can’t come calling often, if at all. So SDI researchers have had to develop systems that won’t break down. The free-piston Stirling engine, shown above, was developed through a joint SDI and NASA project to develop solar dynamic power systems. The free-piston Stirling engine employs gas bearings so that there are few moving parts — eliminating mechanical friction and the need for oil changes. As a result, it has a much longer lifespan than conventional engines. Look at TAIS Abstract # 104. STRONGER MORE RELIABLE NATIONAL AERO-SPACE PLANE As a perfect complement to SDI’s technology transfer efforts, the Office of Technology Applications is adding technical abstracts of National Aero-Space Plane (NASP) projects to the TAIS. The NASP program is a high-priority national effort that will increase American competitiveness, foster America’s space leadership and provide gready expanded access to earth orbit for the 21st century. The aero-space plane, dubbed the X-30, is designed to take off and land like conventional airplanes, but travel outside the earth’s atmosphere at 25 times the speed of sound. To produce this advanced vehicle, a team of federal and civil aerospace leaders (including NASA, SDIO, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Air Force, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and America’s leading aerospace contractors) is producing breakthroughs in materials, avionics, propulsion, and computers. Look for the Forthcoming Special NASP Section in the TAIS.