I think the fact that the participation in these centers is not higher is a function of the involvement by the company and the time requirement on the part of company personnel to use this kind of service. It does require qualified professional people devoting a substantial portion of their time in order to properly and effectively exploit the system. As with all private companies, a potential member tends to evaluate the process rather thoroughly and in terms of the cost to him in addition to the membership fee. I might say we have been very pleased at our one center which has been operational through its second year at not only the increase in membership this is the center at Indiana University, from an original 29 to 39 at present, with I suppose half a dozen or so companies actively reviewing the system at this time-but also we have been very pleased in the increased level of use made by these member companies which has approximated 300 to 400 percent. Mr. WOLFF. How do you communicate with industry in letting them know that this type of activity is available to them? Mr. KERR. There is no specific program to communicate to industry other than the fact that technology utilization personnel are from time to time making public appearances. The universities of the country are generally aware of our program. As a matter of fact, at this moment there is a meeting being held in Kansas City attended by a number of universities to review all of NASA's university programs, one of which is the technology utilization program. The technology utilization program is related to universities quite closely. So there are a number of informal means of this kind to make the public aware generally of what we are doing, and we are relying on that to generate the proposals that we have received thus far. Mr. WOLFF. Have you done anything with trade associations at all? Mr. KERR. We disseminate information to trade associations by virtue of their being on our regular mailing list to receive information about our new publications. Mr. WOLFF. Do you provide speakers or anything like that? Mr. WoLFF. In other words, you don't actively pursue this, though ? You wait for them to request this of you? Mr. KERR. Yes, sir; that is correct. We have an extremely limited number of personnel. We feel that with the people we have thus far we have been able to do an effective job of setting up a program that will answer the basic questions that we are trying to answer, but we do not have an abundance of personnel to allow us to seek these additional opportunities to be before the public. Mr. HECHLER. This question relates somewhat to the question that Mr. Wydler was asking. Do you think there is a prospect through the fees that you get from industry that it might be possible for your dissemination centers to become self-supporting? Mr. KERR. Yes, sir. Mr. WYDLER. Could I ask one last question ? Mr. HECHLER. Go right ahead. Mr. WYDLER. Will you just tell me the number of applications that you have pending at the present time? Mr. KERR. There are not more than six, and there might be perhaps three. We have preliminary conversations quite often with people in areas where they are interested in doing this, but officially we have not received the proposal until it has been received by the agency and assigned a proposal number. Mr. HECHLER. Mr. Kerr, are you aware of any work that is going on in the Department of Commerce along these lines, or the Atomic Energy Commission or any other Government agency? Mr. KERR. I am aware of activities in both of these agencies that are generally related to the kind of activity we have underway. Mr. HECHLER. Have you taken advantage of the types of techniques they have utilized in those agencies in applying your program? In raising the question, I was just wondering how close a coordination you have with Commerce. Mr. KERR. There has certainly been a good bit of communication between NASA and the other agencies interested in this activity. We have been anxious to capitalize on their experience to the extent we could. Most other agencies do not at this time have a specific program of this nature, and our contacts therefore have been of limited value in helping us to answer some of the basic questions we are trying to answer. Mr. HECHLER. I will throw just a small blockbuster at you now and ask you: Why couldn't this be done by the Department of Commerce rather than NASA? Mr. KERR. I think that the process we are involved in is not an easy one. We have been aware that industry does not come to us and, if you will, break the door down to get at our information, despite the fact that they are generally aware of the value of it. The mechanics of the process are not well understood because I presume the Government has never really addressed itself to this kind of problem before and there is no experience, therefore, on which to base a program. This has resulted in our doing experimental work to try to develop the basic methodology. I think the qualifications of NASA to do this, our understanding of the information, the quantity of information, our in-house capabilities to handle it are the things that have permitted us to respond to our statutory obligation in a way that perhaps is most effective. The several other Government agencies who might be concerned with the problem might not have all of this to work with. Perhaps this is the answer. Mr. WYDLER. I might add what I think might also be a part of that answer. I don't really know if the Department of Commerce would really have much interest in this type of thing. Mr. WOLFF. Do you feel that we are fully exploiting our capabilities in technology utilization of the space program? Or could you do more if you had expanded facilities? Mr. KERR. Yes, sir. I think we could carry on a program that would develop approximately the same information in less time. I feel it is going to take a certain number of years of center experience in varous areas to really develop a workable methodology to carry on this activity. Mr. WOLFF. I am not so much interested in developing the techniques as I am in the utilization, the actual application of the things that you develop to the point of acceptance by industry. Mr. KERR. Do you mean can that process be speeded up? Mr. WOLFF. Can you get better acceptance of industry by increasing your facilities? Mr. KERR. To the extent that the advantages of this kind of activity became apparent sooner, I think it would speed the process up. Mr. WOLFF. Have you given any thought as to what would be necessary? Mr. KERR. In the way of funds? Mr. WOLFF. Yes. Mr. KERR. Yes, sir. We have actually given thought to the funds required for a program of expanded facilities in the preparation of the budget for this year. Mr. WOLFF. Thank you very much. Mr. HECHLER. Are there any further questions? If not, I want to thank you, Mr. Kerr for appearing on this very important subject. The committee will stand adjourned until tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. (The complete prepared statement of Mr. Breene M. Kerr is as follows:) PREPARED STAtement of BREENE M. KERR, Assistant ADMINISTRATOR FOR TECHNOLOGY UTILIZATION, NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, the broad national program for the exploration of space is perhaps the largest, most complex research and development effort ever undertaken. The fundamental objectives of this program are to contribute to national security, develop basic knowledge of the space environment, and bring about practical use of space. To accomplish these objectives we are adapting with skill much of what we know to new and varied purposes, as well as developing new knowledge to meet new requirements. There was an awareness at the time the Space Act was written of the increasing and critical importance of science and technology in the total life of the Nation, and a requirement placed on this agency in this act to provide for the widest practical and appropriate dissemination of information concerning NASA activities and their results. One of the ways NASA is meeting these responsibilities is through the technology utilization program. In identifying advances in science and technology made in the space effort and in making these advances available in a timely and usable way to industrial and other nonaerospace users, this NASA program offers U.S. industry unique opportunities to improve existing industrial techniques and to develop new products and methods. The funds requested for fiscal year 1966 for the operation of the "Technology utilization program” are $5 million, allocated as follows: The program of technology dissemination and utilization begins with the documented aerospace technology resulting from NASA's scientific and technical information program. This documented technology is in the form of NASA technical publications, contractor technical publications containing the results of NASA work, and relevant documented technology from all available sources which are pertinent to any of NASA's areas of interest. This foundation of technology is important but is limited in two ways. It does not necessarily include documentation of all innovations or techniques which have a high relevance to industry as distinct from areospace activities or include such in a format and context directed to the industrial community. In addition, it does not include documentation of work which has not as yet reached the reporting stage but which may have resulted in significant developments. The first and second elements of our program to which funds are allocated are designed to overcome these limitations. Through the identification and evaluation efforts, work underway by NASA is reviewed by technology utilization personnel. Innovations, new processes, and other new technology are reported to headquarters and evaluated for novelty, technical correctness, and industrial applicability. These personnel also serve as a point of contact in centers to facilitate access to current technology as it is developing and prior to documentation. These two elements are a vital preface to the dissemination activities utilizing media, mailing lists, and experimental regional dissemination centers. This is a maturing though still experimental program. New elements are being continuously reviewed and evaluated; however, real progress is being made on our present activities, and efforts will continue to optimize them. The flow diagram you see represents the overall activity in our program. You will note the three operational elements of identification, evaluation, and dissemination indicated on this program (fig. 1). 1. IDENTIFICATION I would first like to discuss the identification activity which begins at the NASA centers where work underway in our laboratories and with our contractors is reviewed. Those activities and developments which appear to have potential nonaerospace application are identified and reported to the Office of Technology Utilization at NASA Headquarters. Field personnel are involved in this important operation. They monitor critical parts of the NASA research and development program of approximately $5 billion per year from our 10 centers and 2 offices. This R. & D. effort covers a wide-range activity and involves the efforts of thousands of scientists and engineers working for NASA and contractors. During the past 2 years these field personnel have generated over 1,500 reports of new technology. During calendar 1964 they have handled over 5,000 specific inquiries concerning new technology, and coordinated the visits of scientists, engineers, and industrialists to our centers. 2. EVALUATION The technical information reported to headquarters is forwarded for evaluation to five research contractors. A preliminary review is accomplished at the Illinois Institute of Technology Research Institute. Innovations of merit are then evaluated in detail by both the Illinois Institute of Technology Research Institute and one of four other contractors (Arthur D. Little, Battelle Memorial Institute, Stanford Research Institute, and Southwest Research Institute). The product of this evaluation is a flow of new items, processes, and techniques having definite nonaerospace commercial potential. These are made the subject of one of several technology utilization publications: Tech Briefs, Technology Utilization Reports, Technology Utilization Notes, or Technology Utilization Handbooks. Tech Briefs are one- or two-page bulletins about innovations. They are published in this format in order that the new developments may reach the potential user as quickly as possible. During fiscal year 1964, 123 such Tech Briefs were published. During the first 7 months of fiscal year 1965, 118 additional Tech Briefs had been published. The Technology Utilization Reports, Notes and Handbooks are more comprehensive publications resulting from indepth evaluation by the research contractors and preparation of more complete information on the subjects covered. Thirteen of these special publications have been completed thus far. Technology surveys Most developments in manufacturing processes, products, materials, biomedical innovations and scientific phenomena are being documented in the previously described publications. Of equal importance, however, is the identification of incremental advances in technology; that is, those that are not necessarily reported as products, materials, or systems. Here we touch on the important area of current technical developments and work underway which may not normally be documented for some period of time. Research institutes, universities, and private companies, under NASA direction, identify these incremental advances in technology by reviewing broad areas of space research, and document them by developing state-of-the-art summaries or what we call technology surveys. Technology surveys are important sources of information to scientists and engineers in planning research programs and staying abreast of the new technology developing in their individual specialities. Technology surveys are underway or completed in the following areas: Inorganic coatings. Valve Technology. Microelectronics applications. Plasma jet technology. Antennas. Magnetic tape recorders. Optical fabrication techniques. Mathematics reliability and quality assurance. Hazardous materials handling. Automobile safety. Membranes. Adhesives, sealants, and gaskets. Polymers, organic and semiorganic. Electricity and electronics. Chemical processes. 3. DISSEMINATION Coordination of the entire technology utilization program is handled by the headquarters staff who also handle programs of normal dissemination through mailing lists, media, industrial inquiries, and the experimental dissemination program under our regional dissemination activities. The objective of the regional dissemination activities is to establish close personal contact which we believe is essential if actual transfer and application of new technology to new uses is to take place. This contact individualizes the |