Commitment to Excellence 2003

NASA New England Outreach Center Honors Small Business,
Foster-Miller, Inc.

John Player, Senior Engineer, Foster-Miller, Inc., received the NASA New England Outreach Center's "Commitment to Excellence" Award at an awards ceremony culminating NASA's 12th Annual Technology and Business Conference held in Albany, New York.
Foster-Miller, Inc. was recognized for outstanding subcontractor support to Northrop Grumman in its contacting role to NASA in meeting its mission requirements.

Foster-Miller's commitment to excel in creating working partnerships and providing a leadership role in aspiring to and encouraging other small businesses into the mainstream of government contracting and subcontracting is worthy of recognition.

Foster-Miller led the integration of its Ultrasonic Tape Lamination (UTL) technology with Automated Fiber Placement. UTL, initially developed under the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program, enables on-the-fly consolidation of thermoset composite tapes. Large composite parts can thus be fabricated without use of an autoclave, a key cost-saving advantage particularly for the NASA/Northrop Grumman application of very large cryotanks. “We are honored to be recognized for implementing this novel technology which we originated under SBIR funding,” said Foster-Miller President Dr. William Ribich. “It’s NASA’s commitment to both ends in funding early stage research and production implementation that has enabled us to make major advances in composites production.”

The NASA Technology and Business Annual Conference featured technology and procurement opportunities, discussions and networking between representatives from NASA, prime contractors, and small, disadvantaged, minority and woman-owned businesses. The conference was coordinated by the NASA Business Outreach Program, NASA's New England Outreach Center which is managed by the Center for Technology Commercialization, CTC. CTC is also the Northeast Regional Technology Transfer Center for NASA, which is one of six such NASA Centers. CTC's primary mission is to help provide nationwide access to NASA-developed technology and applications for industry commercialization.

Photo: l to r: John Player, Senior Engineer, Foster-Miller, Inc., and Glenn W. Wright, Director, NASA New England Outreach Center.