The Post-Doctoral Aerospace Fellowship Program is a qualitatively new type of partnering between the NASA-Johnson Space Center, University of Houston, University of Houston Clear Lake, and the State of Texas. The program is organized and directed by the Institute for Space Systems Operations. ISSO operates the Houston Partnership for Space Exploration for the University of Houston and the University of Houston Clear Lake. The Houston Partnership for Space Exploration is authorized and funded by a Legislative Line Item of the State of Texas.
Under this program, UH and UHCL Post-Doctoral Aerospace Fellows conduct research at NASA-JSC and then work at the two universities where they transfer their research expertise and experiences to the academic community. Each research project is directed by a team consisting of at least one UH and/or UHCL faculty member and at least one senior research staff member of JSC. The fellows are funded by UH and UHCL. NASA-JSC funds the research. The program provides UH, UHCL, JSC and Texas the following advantages:
This introductory report describes sixteen research projects that were selected from proposals submitted to ISSO in September 1995 by forty UH/UHCL-JSC teams. A panel of senior researchers from JSC, UH, and UHCL, who were not members of any proposing team, reviewed the proposals. Sixteen proposals were recommended for support. Fourteen additional proposals were judged worthy of funding. The proposals were ranked according to three major criteria.
Following selection of the projects, the fellowship opportunities were announced in major scientific, engineering, and academic publications and announcements placed on the World Wide Web. Applications were received from across the globe. The teams were able to select fellows with especially strong backgrounds specific to their research project. The first fellow was hired on 1 May 1996. Fourteen of the 16 positions are now filled. Each of these research projects is funded for two years, with a possibility for a third year of funding for especially productive projects.
ISSO could fund only six fellowships. However, the program generated considerable interest at UH and UHCL. The deans of six colleges and two other research institutes agreed to cost-share the fellows. This allows funding of the initial sixteen projects. The cooperating colleges and institutes are:
Many members of JSC, UH, and UHCL participated in formulating the Post-Doctoral Aerospace Fellowship program and responding to the first requests for joint proposals. Thanks are given to all. It is a pleasure to acknowledge the support and participation of the Deans of the above six colleges and the Directors of the two University of Houston research institutes. Special appreciation is due the Presidents of the University of Houston and the University of Houston Clear Lake and the Director of the NASA-JSC.
We also wish to express our appreciation to the staff of the NASA-JSC Office of Public Affairs and to the Education and Information Services Branch.
NASA-JSC Texas Research
In 1996 NASA-JSC will expend over $390 million on development of the Space
Station and over $97 million on other research, advanced engineering development,
and development and implementation of advanced aerospace operations. By
comparison, in 1995 the State of Texas expended approximately $300 million of
state funds on research and development in Texas institutions of higher education
and its medical centers. Clearly, NASA-JSC provides Texas with special
opportunities in research, development, education, and commercialization that are
unique in terms of scale, scope, stability, and visibility. The challenge and
responsibility for the State of Texas are to significantly increase the economic
and educational returns that can be derived from the presence and activities of
NASA-JSC.
Since 1992, the Houston Partnership for Space Exploration, working through ISSO, has provided seed funding to UH and UHCL professors to enable and stimulate competitive proposals in the fields of aerospace research and development. By 1996 the grants and contracts stimulated by ISSO seed funding were returning over $4 of external funds per $1 of Line Item funding. In addition the seed funding and external funding produces publications, new intellectual property, and new graduate courses. Graduate Fellowships are funded by the projects. These projects are summarized in the two semi-annual reports (92-93, 94-95).
The new Post-Doctoral Aerospace Fellowship Program creates new dimensions for growth of aerospace research, development, advanced education, and commercialization in Texas. A Post-Doctoral Fellowship project accesses approximately $1 million per year of NASA-JSC in-kind R&D resources. Thus, the State of Texas leverages its $50,000/yr for a fellowship project by approximately 20 to 1. The fellowship program will enable UH/UHCL faculty to organize far stronger proposals for external support through stand alone proposals and for proposals in association with NASA-JSC area organizations. In addition, the program will stimulate publications, new intellectual property, new graduate courses, and several graduate fellowships. The Post-Doctoral Aerospace Fellowship program provides Texas with a fundamentally new method of deriving benefits from its largest federal installation.
The 1994-95 Texas Legislature enabled this new program between the State of Texas and the Federal government by significantly expanding the Line Item for the Houston Partnership for Space Exploration. The rapid response of the academic and government communities to this new opportunity indicates the wisdom of the Legislature's decision to develop this new approach to partnering between the State and Federal governments.
Dr. David R. Criswell
Director
Institute for Space System Operations/
Houston Partnership for Space Exploration
and
Associate Director
Texas Space Grant Consortium
dcriswell@uh.edu