WASHINGTON — NASA is seeking companies and organizations across America involved in cutting-edge innovation to partner with the agency in the Innovation Transfusion Program.

The program allows NASA employees to spend up to a year working in high-tech environments outside the agency where they can share their expertise while gaining valuable experience and new ideas to bring back to their jobs at NASA. The program also supports innovation workshops between NASA and external organizations that have novel approaches for addressing problems of interest to NASA.

This initiative is part of the agency’s Innovative Partnerships Program. The effort will help ensure NASA benefits from creativity and innovation occurring in industry, academia, research institutions, national laboratories and other government agencies. NASA will pay the salary and travel expenses for participating NASA employees.

Specifically, the Innovation Transfusion Program will: – Allow NASA to learn about and benefit from creativity and innovation occurring outside the agency – Share NASA expertise with a broader external community – Provide a unique training opportunity for select NASA employees to broaden their technical and management skills with a focus on innovation – Foster new relationships between NASA and external organization, especially those outside the conventional aerospace field

Organizations interested in participating in the program, either by hosting an employee or a workshop, should contact Andrew Petro of NASA’s Innovative Partnerships Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington, at 202-358-0310, or by e-mail at andrew.j.petro@nasa.gov.

For more information about the Innovation Transfusion program, visit:

http://www.ipp.nasa.gov/ii_transfusion.htm