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Boise Start-Up Week to feature NASA and Boise State partnership events

Idaho’s largest community-sponsored event for startups is in full swing, and from 1-5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 11 at Jack’s Urban Meeting Place, five events will highlight the innovations of NASA, as well as its partnership with Boise State University.

Speakers will include retired astronaut and Boise State Distinguished Educator Steve Swanson, director of Boise State’s technology transfer Katy Weiser, Steven González, a NASA technology transfer strategist and more.

“We are delighted to partner with NASA to offer licensing opportunities to Idaho startups and existing companies,” Weiser said. “Boise State and NASA are true generators of knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurship – making us engines of the economy. By transferring technology from our respective entities, we provide companies, large and small, with a rich source of intellectual property to grow.”

A detailed schedule is as follows:

  • 1 p.m., NASA Technology: NASA Human Space Exploration mission and its technology needs. Featuring Swanson, Kris Romig, NASA commercialization services lead, and Susie Johnson, program manager at the NASA Idaho Space Grant Consortium.
  • 2 p.m., Futurism: How to gain access to Boise State and NASA IP. As NASA reaches further and further into space, its innovations have impacted and transformed life on Earth. Many like to equate Tang and Velcro as NASA technologies but the truth is far more impressive than the myth of these two examples. González will share the NASA roots of the innovations that people take for granted every day and describe how NASA makes it easy to license its technology through its various initiatives.

Weiser then will discuss Boise State’s cutting-edge research and how community members can access intellectual property to grow their businesses.

  • 3 p.m., NASA/Boise State IP success stories

3:00 p.m. – Joseph N. Trachtman, Accommmotrac
3:15 p.m. – Aaron Smith, Shaw Mountain Technology
3:30 p.m. – Weiser, discussing Keith Weber/Idaho State University NASA recover and develop projects
3:40 p.m. – Johnson, discussing University of Idaho/NASA partnerships

  • 4 p.m., Where you are makes you investable: Regional and industry advantages in Idaho
  • 5 p.m., Connect on the Deck: BSW/NASA series networking, with food