Entrepreneurs Pitch Ideas for Future in NASA ‘Space Tank’

College students in NASA’s Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) Innovation and Technology Tech Transfer Idea Competition (MITTIC) will pitch their projects during a “Space Tank” at Space Center Houston on Friday, April 28. The competition will begin at 9:30 a.m. EDT, and the winning team will be announced at 1 p.m.

Interested media must contact Jonas Dino by calling 650-203-3061 or e-mailing Jonas.Dino@nasa.gov no later than 5 p.m., Thursday, April 26.

The competition will be streamed live at: http://exploresch.org/SpaceTankCompetition

The Minority University Education Research Project (MUREP) innovation and technology transfer idea competition (MITTIC) invites students, enrolled at minority serving universities and colleges across the country, to develop a product or service based on a NASA technology. Teams selected for the competition are invited to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston for an immersion experience that includes tours of NASA facilities, sessions with subject matter experts to refine their business pitch, and networking opportunities with NASA and industry experts.

Teams selected for the competition are from the following schools:

Lone Star College System in Texas
Fayetteville State University in North Carolina
University of Houston-Clear Lake in Texas
Santa Monica College in California
University of Massachusetts-Boston
Hartnell College in California
University of Texas at Austin

Each of the seven teams will have 20 minutes to pitch and defend its business concept to a panel of NASA and industry subject matter experts. The winning team will be invited to join Team Piezo Pace from the University of St. Thomas, Houston, in a visit to NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California, for additional look in the innovation and entrepreneurial space.

Products such as cell phone cameras, cordless tools, and memory foam have NASA histories and a NASA student tech transfer competition aims to continue the evolution from a NASA technology to a product to benefit humanity.

According to NASA’s recent economic impact study, the agency generated more than $72 billion in economic activity. Competitions like MITTIC help stimulate future economic activity by engaging the entrepreneurial spirit of the Artemis Generation.

Learn more information about the MITTIC program at: https://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov/nasamittic