Technology Development and Infusion from NASA's Innovative Partnerships Program

NASA's innovative partnerships program (IPP) develops many technologies for NASA's programs and projects through a portfolio of technology investments and partnerships. The investment portfolio includes Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and small business technology transfer (STTR), the IPP seed fund, and NASA's centennial challenges prize program. In the process of technology development and infusion, the transition of technologies from laboratories or testbeds to their application in flight programs is often one of the most challenging steps. Newly developed technologies achieve full success when they are infused into programs and projects, although there are numerous obstacles to achieving infusion. This paper addresses the IPP portfolio for providing technology, the challenges and obstacles to technology infusion, and some of the methods currently being employed by NASA to help address those challenges and obstacles. The paper also presents some examples of IPP technologies infused into high profile programs and projects and draws lessons learned and best practices from those successful examples.