Who's who at NASA: Julie Holland, director, NASA Commercialization Center, California State Polytechnic University

NASA Tech Briefs, Jan 2001

.die Holland joined al Poly Pomona in September 1998 as Director of the NASA Commercialization Center, charged with implementing the University's business incubation program. She previously worked in the business incubation industry, performing feasibility studies, planning programs, and raising funds.

NASA Tech Br/eft What is the purpose of the NASA Commercialization Center at Cal Poly?

Julie Holland: Essentially, it takes the vast amount of technologies and resources that are produced by NASA in the course of its work and makes it available to the private sector, which then can develop new products that will help all of our lives. It specializes in companies that are using NASA technology to develop new products.

NTB: Does being associated with NASA cause some confusion with potential private-sector business partners?

Holland: One of the things that we often have to explain to an entrepreneur is that we are not an arm or a vehicle to sell their products or services into NASA. In fact, we are outward bound. One of the issues is that not all entrepreneurial companies are technical or have the technical capability to take such technology out of NASA and actually commercialize it, or take a product and get it to market. Part of our role is to first qualify potential entrepreneurs that have that capacity, and then work with the NASA centers to identify technology that makes sense or that fits into the products as conceived by the entrepreneur.

NTB: What are the origins of this project?

Holland: The project started with a five-year strategic plan developed by the University under a new president, Bob Suzuki. One of the six strategies approved was for the University to better leverage its resources into the community. In August 1996, a feasibility study was done to determine whether or not business incubation was a viable project for the University.

This is more than just the NASA Commercialization Center. It is a 52,000 square-foot complex called the Center for Training, Technology, and Incubation. So it is very much part of a master plan to provide a center for technology commercialization that integrates curriculum, student experience, and faculty involvement. Its intention is to be a catalyst for public/private partnerships.

NTB: Now that things are moving forward for the center, is there any potential product or company that stands out as something that's going to have a massive impact?

Holland: Being new, we are just getting started. It takes years for some of these products to develop. We have a core of ten qualified candidates. There are probably four that I can point to that are making the kind of progress that shows they have a strong chance to make it. We are piloting a new program that adapts our commercialization process to the SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) Phase II candidates. It's a program called NASBO (NASA Alliance for Small Business Opportunities). We're working very closely with NASA Headquarters to look at what the particular needs are for SBIR Phase II winners, and adapt our process so that we can increase the commercialization rate of those technologies. NASA has a fairly good track record that way.

We currently have two SBIR companies: Applied Material Technologies and TAO Systems. The other two that are actively pursuing licenses right now with NASA are Data Institute in the health care area, and Accelerated Performance in the aspect technology field. Both are small, growing companies that are right on the edge of developing new markets in their field.

A full transcript of this interview appears online at www.nasatech.com. Ms. Holland can be reached at jaholland@csupomona. edu.