Special glasses to prevent motion sickness, a portable catapult for small planes, a new treatment for benign tumors — these are just a few Johnson Space Center inventions to be honored by NASA May 18.
The inventors, 35 scientists and engineers from JSC, will be recognized for developing 14 new technologies that will benefit life on Earth as well as in space. Media are invited to attend the 11:30 a.m. luncheon at the Nassau Bay Hilton. Interested media should contact the JSC newsroom by 4 p.m. Wednesday, May 17.
The inventions include a portable catapult that can launch unmanned aircraft from remote areas, a microwave that can zap benign prostate growths without damaging healthy tissue, and a pair of glasses that look like videogame eyewear and prevent motion sickness.
Among inventors being honored are G. Dickey Arndt, a well-known JSC inventor, and Robert L. Shuler Jr.
Arndt, a 40-year NASA veteran, is named on three patents this year. He has 24 career patents. They include a method that could improve production in oil wells, a passive tracking system for moveable transmitters and a potential treatment method for benign prostatic hyperplasia.
Shuler will be recognized for two patents used by NASA to build a human-like robotic hand for the agency’s Robonaut, a prototype robotic astronaut assistant. The patents were awarded for a miniaturized data acquisition system that receives, amplifies and filters signals, allowing the hand to be remotely operated.
The inventors to be honored include:
— Thomas J. Goodwin, Timothy Grant Hammond, James Howard Kaysen
Production of Functional Proteins: Balance of Shear Stress and Gravity
— Eric L. Christiansen and Jeanne L. Crews
Flexible Multi-shock Shield
— Andrew W. Chu, Justin A. Dobbins, Patrick W. Fink and Greg Y. Lin
Novel Feed Structure for Antennas
— Joseph Gessler, Michael G. Hughes, George E. Petter, and Bernard J. Rosenbaum
Portable Catapult Launcher for Small Aircraft
— Robert David Koudelka
Wide Bandwidth Phase-Locked Loop Circuit
— G. Dickey Arndt, Brian A. Bourgeois, Henry A. Chen, John Dusl, Brent W. Hill, Phong H. Ngo and Chau T. Phan
Passive Tracking System and Method
— George Ford, Millard F. Reschke and Jeffrey T. Somers
Motion Sickness Treatment Apparatus and Method
— Damon C. Smith
Resistive Exercise Device
— Robert L. Shuler Jr.
Auto-routable, Configurable, Daisy Chainable Data Acquisition System
— Robert L. Shuler Jr.
Practical Active Capacitor Filter
— Steven R. Gonda, Wenshan Lee and Yow-Min D. Tsao
Fluid Bubble Eliminator
— Jean L. Chreiten and Ed Lu
System and Method for Dynamic Optical Filtration
— G. Dickey Arndt, James R. Carl, Phong H. Ngo and George W. Raffoul
Microwave Ablation of Prostatic Cells Using a Separated Antenna Array
— G. Dickey Arndt, Kent A. Byerly and James R. Carl
Method for Controlling a Production Zone of a Well in a Geological Formation.
For more information on these inventions and the individuals honored at the Inventors’ Luncheon 2006, or on licensing and partnership opportunities, visit the Technology Transfer and Commercialization Web site:
