The current winners of the GATE Partnership Award Program include:

H-Cubed Olmsted Falls, Ohio Optimization of Shaped Polymer Membranes for Commercialization of High Resolution Ultrasonic Transducers
NASA Partner: Mr. Noel Nemeth, Life Prediction Branch


ITEN Industries Ashtabula, Ohio Commercialization of X-Aerogel
NASA Partner: Dr. Nicholas Leventis, Dr. Mary Ann Meador,
Polymers Branch / Materials Division


Innovative Engineering and Consulting Middleburg Heights, Ohio A Proposal for the Development of an Enhanced Dynamic Range Thermal Imager
NASA Partner: Mr. Glenn Williams, Diagnostics and Data Systems Branch


Theken Disk, LLC Akron, Ohio Lumbar Artificial Disc Implant with Integrated Microelectronics and Micro Antenna
NASA Partner: Dr. Felix A. Miranda Chief, Antenna, Microwave and Optical Systems Branch; Dr. Rainee N. Simons, Chief, Electron & Optical Devices Branch

H-Cubed, Inc. (Olmsted Falls) and Mr. Noel Nemeth, Life Prediction Branch Optimization of Shaped Polymer Membranes for Commercialization
of High Resolution Ultrasonic TransducersH Cubed, Inc. will leverage its existing work with NASA Glenn's Life Prediction Branch and the BioMEMS group at the Cleveland Clinic to further the development of high resolution ultrasonic transducers for use in intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) devices. IVUS imaging is used to detect coronary artery blockages. The transducers developed under this project should vastly improve resolution and image quality of IVUS devices, making them a more useful tool for cardiologists.

ITEN Industries (Ashtabula) and Dr. Nicholas Leventis, Dr. Mary Ann Meador, Polymers Branch/Materials Devision Commercialization of X-Aerogel ITEN Industries will work with researchers from the Polymers Branch at NASA Glenn to create a manufacturing process for a strengthened aerogel, an open-structured silica foam in which 99.8 percent of the volume is empty space. Although it has hundreds of possible uses as a heat, sound and shock insulator, aerogel is extremely fragile. NASA researchers have created a process to strengthen aerogel but it has only been produced in a tightly controlled laboratory environment. A viable manufacturing process should lead to a material that is affordable, strong and easy to create.

Innovative Engineering & Consulting (Middleburg Heights) and Mr. Glenn Williams, Diagnostics and Data Systems Branch A Proposal for the Development of an Enhanced Dynamic
Range Thermal Imager Innovative Engineering & Consulting has develop an innovative Infrared (IR) imaging system. Current commercial IR devices, used for such essential tasks as locating survivors in a burning building, can have limited effectiveness when intense heat sources are present. The proposed Enhanced Dynamic Range Thermal Imager would allow a firefighter to differentiate an intense heat source (such as a fire) from a person. This product also has applications in defense and security fields.

Theken Disk, LLC (Akron) and Dr. Felix A. Miranda Chief, Antenna, Microwave and Optical Systems Branch, Dr. Rainee N. Simons, Chief, Electron & Optical Devices Branch Lumbar Artificial Disc Implant with Integrated Microelectronics
and Micro Antenna Thesken Disk will partner with NASA Glenn's Antenna, Microwave and Optical Systems Branch and the Electron and Optical Devices Branch. Together, they will pursue development of an artificial spinal disc with the capability of communicating data to an external receiver for post-operative monitoring. Theken's spinal implant, the eDISC, employs a unique design that mimics the movement and load response of a natural spinal disc. The team's addition of a MicroElectroMechanical System sensor and a radio-frequency antenna to the eDISC should allow surgeons to monitor patients for up to one year after surgery.