Billings Gazette

May 2, 1999


NASA-MSU TechLink of Bozeman uses space-age technology to help business of the present and future
By JOE KOLMAN
Gazette Bozeman Bureau

BOZEMAN - NASA scientists spend much of their time with their heads in the clouds. It is the responsibility of NASA-MSU TechLink to bring that space age technology down to earth.

TechLink was established at Montana State University-Bozeman in 1996 with a four-year, $4.5 million NASA grant. The idea of centers such as this - there are 10 nationwide - is to make technology developed by NASA scientists more available for use in private industry.

Since its inception, TechLink has formed partnerships or secured NASA licensing for 30 companies across Montana, Idaho, North Dakota and Wyoming. The latest coup the center is touting is the licensing of a NASA-patented laser technology to Big Sky Laser of Bozeman. Officials from the space agency will be in Bozeman on Thursday to sign the agreement.

While NASA brings to mind high-tech gadgets, most of TechLink's work starts with the boring old telephone. Knowing the right person to call in the behemoth organization that is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, however, is not a task for the meek or uninitiated business owner.

"I wouldn't possibly be able to do that," says Pat Cunningham, president of SRS Crisafulli, a pumping and dredging systems manufacturer in Glendive, who worked with TechLink to expand his company's market in Southeast Asia.

Getting it done

"It's a lot of legwork," says TechLink Director Peter Perna. "We will spend the time companies typically won't spend. It's too frustrating for many companies.

"If I'm a scientist working on the next deep-space mission, working with some company from Montana is not my highest priority," Perna says. "At least not at first."

TechLink has 13 employees, three of whom are students, and an annual budget of almost $1.15 million. About $451,000 goes toward salaries and benefits while another $322,000 is spent on subcontracts and agreements with clients - which includes such things as testing and commercializing.

Perna, who formerly worked in product development for Coors, said he did not want TechLink to mirror the work of other NASA centers and instead chose to focus on industry in Montana and the surrounding states.

The result is a mix of new and old. TechLink markets its services to those in agriculture, mining and forestry as well as laser and optics, electronics and communications and environmental technology. Clients range from Wyoming Sawmills Inc., to Solex Robotics in Idaho to Headwaters Composites in Three Forks.

Perna says the first question companies are often asked is: "What problems do you have that you think you might be able to solve if you had new technology?"

With that information in hand, TechLink staffers usually get on the horn and see what, if anything, NASA has to offer, how it could be adapted and how much it would cost to license.

Sometimes, such as in the case of Big Sky Laser, it is a match. Other times it is not, as Cunningham learned when the process of licensing a metal coating turned out to be too complicated and expensive.

But Cunningham and others say that TechLink helps in other ways.

The center assisted Cunningham's company in obtaining a grant to explore new markets in Thailand and Indonesia. TechLink helped Yellowstone Ecosystem Studies, a Bozeman-based research organization, win a $600,000 grant so researchers can use remote sensing technology to create detailed maps of such things as lynx habitat, grizzly bear food sources and infestations of spotted knapweed.

TechLink has also awarded $105,000 in grants out of its budget and helps companies with marketing its products.

"It's a service that's really needed," says Ralph Hutchinson, president of Scientific Materials Corp. in Bozeman.

While pointing out that nothing is ever certain in the world of grant funding, Perna says he is confident that TechLink will continue on. In addition to renewing its NASA funding, Perna said he hopes to reach an agreement worth $1 million with the Defense Department. That agency, he said does 10 times the amount of research that NASA does and will create more opportunities for businesses.

TechLink will also be contributing a portion of the salary for a staffer to work in Billings as part of the newly established Montana Incubator for NASA Technology. Perna says incubators such as that one work with a small number of companies in the area and are not as far reaching as TechLink.

Perna admits that at first, companies were skeptical of what TechLink had to offer.

"It's like when you start a new business, you have to market and prove your product works," Perna said. "Companies are seeking us out now, which is a good thing."

Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises.

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