August 04, 2009

Sonja Alexander Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1761 sonja r alexander@nasa gov MEDIA ADVISORY: 09-182

NASA SELECTS FIRST INNOVATION AMBASSADORS

WASHINGTON -- NASA's Innovative Partnerships Program, in coordination with the agency's Office of the Chief Engineer and Office of Human Capital Management, has announced the selection of the 2009 Innovation Ambassadors

The Innovation Ambassador program allows some of NASA's most talented scientists and engineers to work at several of America's leading innovative external research and development organizations

NASA's inaugural group of ambassadors is initiating the planned annual program targeting opportunities to create NASA partnerships and new innovation sources outside of the traditional aerospace field During assignments of up to one year, the NASA ambassadors will share their own expertise while learning about innovative products, processes and business models After returning to NASA, the ambassador may share new ideas with co-workers and implement innovations within their organizations

The program provides a unique training experience for the employee, an opportunity for infusion of new ideas into NASA, and a chance for external organizations to learn more about the agency and potentially create new partnerships

The ambassadors and their assignments are:

• Robert McCann from NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif , will work with the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center in Palo Alto, Calif , and look at how artificial intelligence can be applied to systems health management and human/machine teaming

• Eric Darcy from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston will work with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo , to develop mathematical models for lithium-ion battery performance

• Lawrence Hilliard from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md , will work with Primary Simulation, Inc of Silver Spring, Md , on a project to apply their "laser ball" technology to interactive educational tools

• Kelly Snook, also from Goddard, already has begun her ambassador assignment with a sponsorship by NASA's Science Mission Directorate She is working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab in Cambridge, Mass , on the use of sound as a means of visualizing and analyzing scientific data

For more information on the Innovation Ambassadors program, visit:

http://ipp nasa gov

For information about NASA and other agency programs, visit:

http://www nasa gov

-end-

To subscribe to the list, send a message to: hqnews-subscribe@mediaservices nasa gov To remove your address from the list, send a message to: hqnews-unsubscribe@mediaservices nasa gov

The following information is a reminder of your current mailing list subscription:

You are subscribed to the following list: [list_name]

using the following email: example@example.com

You may automatically unsubscribe from this list at any time by visiting the following URL:

http://www aus-city com/cgi-bin/dada/mail cgi/u/[list]/

If the above URL is inoperable, make sure that you have copied the entire address Some mail readers will wrap a long URL and thus break this automatic unsubscribe mechanism

You may also change your subscription by visiting this list's main screen:

<[program_url]/list/[list]>

If you're still having trouble, please contact the list owner at:

<mailto:[list_owner_email]>

The following physical address is associated with this mailing list:

[physical_address]