7/21/2010

Draper Names Mark Chapin to Lead Washington Office

CAMBRIDGE, MA – Mark Chapin joined Draper Laboratory’s Washington office on July 19, and will help the organization broaden its business with national security sponsors in the D.C. area.

Chapin, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel, comes to Draper from Sarnoff Corp. in Arlington, Va., where he led business development efforts that resulted in early customer adoption of the company’s solutions for vision systems that enable unmanned ground and aerial vehicles as well as remote weapons stations. His previous experience includes managing the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s information technology operations, and serving as the agency’s Air Force director of national imagery requirements.

While Draper’s Washington operations will continue to focus on geospatial intelligence programs, Chapin will also help expand business with customers including the National Reconnaissance Office, Air Combat Command, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and the Office of Naval Research.

Chapin belongs to professional organizations including the Air Force Association, Association of the U.S. Army, National Military Intelligence Association, National Defense Industrial Association, and the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association.

7/20/2010

Apollo 10 Commander Visits Draper

Thomas Stafford, who commanded the Apollo 10 mission, visited Draper Laboratory recently to evaluate cockpit displays to improve flight performance and situation awareness, while lowering workload during lunar landing terminal descent.  The project, funded by the National Space Biomedical Research Institute, is a collaborative effort between MIT and Draper.

7/7/2010

NASA, Draper Test Navigation & Guidance System for Proposed Lunar Robotic Mission

CAMBRIDGE, MA – A NASA-led team featuring Draper Laboratory took its first steps towards landing a humanoid robot on the Moon during flight testing on June 23.

The testing is part of Project M, a proposed mission that aims to safely and precisely land a small spacecraft carrying a human-like robot who will walk on the Moon within 1000 days of project approval. Draper is working with NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) and the University of Texas (UT) to develop the guidance, navigation and control system (GN&C).

Draper built the GENIE (Guidance Embedded Navigator Integration Environment) system, which was launched during the June 23 test aboard a Pixel rocket built by Armadillo Aerospace. The testing, the first in a series of field tests intended to demonstrate Project M’s GN&C system, took place at Armadillo’s facilities in Caddo Mills, Texas.

 The GENIE, which Draper designed and built in seven weeks, successfully demonstrated a real-time, fully functional landing guidance and navigation solution derived from the NASA Autonomous Landing and Hazard Avoidance Technology (ALHAT) Program. The next steps will involve the NASA/Draper/UT-developed GN&C solution demonstrating full control over a larger vehicle to incorporate an ALHAT developed Hazard Detection System, while flying a wider variety of more lunar-like trajectories.

“The rapid development and test being demonstrated on this effort is an example of what can quickly be accomplished by a partnership between NASA and non-profit research and development labs,” according to Séamus Tuohy, director of space systems at Draper.

6/21/2010

Draper Drug Delivery Device Could Restore Hearing

CAMBRIDGE, MA – A Draper research project that could pave the way to restoring hearing for those who suffer from the most common forms of deafness is featured in the most recent issue of the British Academy of Audiology magazine.

Dr. Jeffrey Borenstein, Draper’s principal investigator for the effort, and his research team are collaborating with the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary to develop an implantable drug delivery device that could treat sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), the most common form of hearing loss. SNHL affects more than 250 million people worldwide, and is most commonly caused by aging. Other causes loud noise, hereditary factors and ototoxic drugs.

Draper’s device addresses one of the most significant challenges to restoring hearing – the blood-cochlear barrier – by delivering precise quantities of one or more drugs in a timed sequence to the inner ear in order to regrow sensory cells.

Mass Eye and Ear has successfully demonstrated the drug delivery system with test compounds in guinea pigs, and the next steps include demonstrations with hearing regeneration drugs and development of a version for human therapy. Draper envisions that the device will be ready for clinical evaluation within five years.

The project is funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH) through its National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD).

6/17/2010

MIT Students Working with Draper Win Space Exploration Contest

CAMBRIDGE, MA – Graduate students working with Draper on a vehicle designed to land on a planet and then “hop” around to explore the surface won a NASA-sponsored contest intended to help the space agency find ideas that can assist its exploration mission.

The 2010 Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts – Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) contest sought students’ ideas that can directly assist NASA engineers with the development of systems for missions to the Moon and Mars. Past participation has led to professional interaction with NASA on design projects, according to the RASC-AL website.

Draper is developing a prototype lunar “hopper” vehicle with students and staff from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Draper is a member of the Next Giant Leap team competing for the Google Lunar X-Prize, which hopes to land a hopper on the Moon.

The MIT graduate students presented a proposed concept for using the hopper to explore Mars as a precursor to human missions.

“It is through projects like this that Draper fulfills an element of its mission to promote and support advanced technical education,” said Séamus Tuohy, Draper director of space systems. “This innovative project is preparing the next-generation of our nation’s space technical leaders.”

6/15/2010

Cambridge School Volunteers Honors Draper Employees

CAMBRIDGE, MA – Cambridge School Volunteers (CSV) honored Draper Laboratory and two individual employees during its annual volunteer recognition event on May 11.

CSV honored Rick Flanagan, Draper’s manager of information systems, with the Mack I. Davis II Award, the organization’s highest honor. CSV also recognized Drew Crete, Draper’s audiovisual and photography operations manager, for four years of volunteer service, and awarded a certificate of appreciation to Draper for enabling its employees to volunteer.

Flanagan, Crete, and Draper were recognized for participation in the Key Pal program, a CSV-facilitated effort that matches Draper, IBM and MIT employees as email pen pals with sixth-graders from the Kennedy-Longfellow School in east Cambridge to coach writing skills.

Draper co-founded the Key Pal program, which is now in its 16thyear, and provides funding in addition to  volunteers.

6/07/2010

Draper Receives Top Aerospace Honor with Space Station Team

CAMBRIDGE, MA – Draper Laboratory received the Collier Trophy – the nation’s top aerospace award – on May 13 as part of NASA’s International Space Station (ISS) team.

The ISS allows researchers to harness microgravity conditions for experiments in areas including life sciences, biology, physiology, physical and material sciences, and Earth and space science.

Draper has been a “key member” of the diverse, international team of industry and government employees working on the ISS effort, according to Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator for space operations.

Draper has played a crucial role on the ISS team since the beginning of the program through providing technology and expertise in guidance, navigation and control (GN&C) systems, fault tolerant avionics, and software. Draper has also been instrumental in enabling assembly of the station through shuttle through developments including flight software and GN&C capabilities for maneuvering.\Draper innovations enabled the shuttle to control the station during assembly operations, stabilizing the largest structure in space, and providing the only means of stability when Russian control capabilities were lost during STS-117 in 2007.

Other Draper innovations in the development of the ISS GN&C and software have provided critical safety and operational benefits such as:

• The “Mighty Mouse” software that “saved the day” when primary ISS flight computers were lost during STS 100 in 2001.

• The Timeliner software, which reduces crew workload through automatic payload operations, experiments, and limited station control.

• The Zero Propellant Maneuver software, which uses information regarding environmental disturbances to design trajectories that steer the space station to the proper orientation without using thrusters. This maneuver saves propellant and avoids solar array plume impingement and contamination issues associated with thruster firings.

“Some of this work was done in a time critical manner to support anomalies,” Gerstenmaier said.  “The Draper team has been critical to the success of ISS.”

Draper has been involved with U.S. human space work since designing the GN&C system for the Apollo mission. The laboratory will help enable future human space missions  through work on efforts like the avionics, fault-tolerant flight computer, and GN&C system for the Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle; reentry algorithms for the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle; and autonomous precision landing system technologies for the Lunar Landing Vehicle.

The Collier Trophy is named for Robert Collier, publisher of Collier’s Weekly, who commissioned it in 1910 to foster innovation in the U.S. aviation community. The award is presented by the National Aeronautic Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing aviation and spaceflight.

5/14/2010

AIAA Elects Draper Chief Executive Jim Shields as 2010 Fellow

CAMBRIDGE, MA –The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) officially recognized Jim Shields, Draper Laboratory president and chief executive officer, as a 2010 fellow on May 11.

AIAA, a professional society for aerospace engineering, chooses fellows from the aeronautics and astronautics fields who have “made notable valuable contributions to the arts, sciences, or technology," according to the association’s website.

Shields, who joined AIAA in 1976 and is a member of the New England Section, is one of 30 fellows elected for 2010. He is also a member of the Defense Science Board, the Massachusetts High Technology Council, the Massachusetts Defense Technology Initiative, and the Natick and Hanscom Science and Technology Boards.

Shields holds bachelors and masters degrees in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

5/6/2010

Houston Based Foundation Awards Draper Laboratory Two 2010 Stellar Awards

CAMBRIDGE, MA – The Rotary National Award for Space Achievement (RNASA) Foundation of Houston, Texas, presented Draper Laboratory employees with two honors on April 30.

RNASA honors individuals and teams from the government, military, and industry based on the potential that the honorees’ work holds for advancing future activities in space.

Draper's Shuttle Orbit Flight Control team won a 2010 Stellar Award for “exceptional contributions in developing, certifying and providing real-time support of the Space Shuttle orbiter flight control system to enable assembly of the ISS [International Space Station].

Zach Putnam, a senior member of the technical staff at Draper, also won a 2010 Stellar Award in the "early career" category for "excellence and innovation in the development and implementation of the skip entry guidance algorithms to enable Orion lunar missions."

“This recognition is significant as it is indicative of Draper's contribution to NASA’s current Shuttle program as well as NASA’s future exploration capabilities,” said Séamus Tuohy, Draper director of space systems.

4/19/2010

Draper Scientist to Help Foster Healthcare Collaboration

CAMBRIDGE, MA - Draper Laboratory has chosen Dr. James Comolli to help find areas for collaboration between Draper engineers and scientists and Boston-area academic and medical institutions as a site miner with the Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology (CIMIT).

Draper’s capability leader for biomedical engineering, Comolli develops and brings together skills, technologies, and infrastructure needed to create solutions for the laboratory’s customers.

Comolli holds a Ph.D. in molecular and cellular biology from Harvard University, and has a background in the biomedical field that includes leading research and product development in the medical device and diagnostic field. Prior to joining Draper, he worked for Ethicon, a Johnson and Johnson medical device franchise, and a small biotechnology firm, developing antimicrobial treatments for medical devices and sensors for infection, and working with physicians and clinicians to assess customer needs and new product opportunities.

 “Jim's role as the biomedical capability leader at Draper makes him an ideal choice to connect CIMIT clinical investigators with key engineering skills at Draper required to advance CIMIT programs,” said Dale Larson, Draper’s director for biomedical systems.

Comolli brings “depth and breadth in biomedical engineering and a passion for improving patient care” as he helps introduce scientists and engineers to physicians searching for new methods to better treat their patients, according to Dr. John A. Parrish, CIMIT executive director.

Draper is a co-founding member of CIMIT, a non-profit consortium of Boston-area teaching hospitals and engineering institutions that works to improve medical care through collaboration between the medical, scientific, and engineering communities.

4/15/2010

Draper, Digital Fly-By-Wire Team Enters Space Hall of Fame

Digital Fly-By-Wire makes it easier and safer to fly vehicles like the Space Shuttle (pictured above in NASA photo)

CAMBRIDGE, MA –Draper Laboratory will enter the Space Technology Hall of Fame® on April 15 as part of the team that developed a system that makes space and air vehicles easier and safer to operate.

Draper developed Digital Fly-By-Wire as an extension of its work on the Apollo Guidance Computer. The concept uses a highly reliable computer and electronic flight control system, rather than mechanical or hydraulic-based systems, to stabilize and maneuver a vehicle. The computer is able to execute far more frequent adjustments than a human pilot, thus helping maintain stability while offering increased maneuverability. The digital system also requires less space and weight, less maintenance, and fewer failure modes than mechanical controls.

Digital Fly-By-Wire is one of many success stories where technology developed under the U.S. space program has proven beneficial in other areas. Based in part on a recommendation from Neil Armstrong, who was directly familiar with the Apollo Guidance Computer through his historic lunar landing, NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center chose to work with Draper to adapt the concept for aircraft, beginning with experimentation on a U.S. Navy F-8 Crusader in 1972.

Digital Fly-By-Wire today is featured aboard the Space Shuttle, as well as aboard civilian and military aircraft. Draper will be honored alongside NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center as well as Boeing Co. and Airbus, which developed the first commercial aircraft featuring Digital Fly-By-Wire technology.

The Space Foundation, in cooperation with NASA, created the Space Technology Hall of Fame® in 1988 to highlight the benefits resulting from space exploration and to stimulate innovation.  To date, the Space Foundation has inducted 61 technologies as well as honoring the organizations and individuals who transformed space technology into commercial products that improve the quality of life for all humanity.

Based in Colorado Springs, Colo., the Space Foundation is an international, nonprofit organization and advocate for all sectors of the space industry - civil, commercial, military, and intelligence. A leader in space awareness activities, educational programs that bring space into the classroom, and major industry events, the Space Foundation hosts the annual National Space Symposium, which concludes with the Space Technology Hall of Fame® Dinner and inductions.

3/31/2010

Experimental Sensor Could Help Diabetics Monitor Blood Sugar Without Pricking Their Fingers

Dr. Heather Clark illustrates how glucose levels can be monitored without drawing blood

Dr. Heather Clark leads a research team at Draper that has developed a novel nanosensor that changes fluorescence in response to glucose.  When embedded into skin – similar to a tattoo – these nanosensors can detect and signal changes in blood glucose. Fluorescence is used due to increased sensitivity over color changes that can be viewed with the naked eye.

Results of the testing, which was conducted both in vitro and with mice, was published March 31 in Analytical Chemistry, a peer-reviewed research journal. The study represents the most detailed, peer-reviewed testing to date with this work, which began in 2008.

This concept offers the potential to enable a diabetic to monitor blood sugar without pain, and could be applied to spot other conditions such as depleted levels of sodium, potassium, and chloride, which could be used to catch signs of dehydration in athletes and troops. “Our work highlights both the chemistry behind our glucose-sensitive nanosensor and also the first demonstration of the sensor in mice,” Clark said. “This study represents progress towards minimally invasive glucose monitoring, the first small step to making it a reality some day for diabetic patients.”

Millions of nanosensors display fluorescence that signals low blood glucose levels

3/26/2010

High School Biomedical Summer Internship Announced for Cambridge Residents

The Draper Laboratory High School Summer Internship program is soliciting applications from high school students that are Cambridge residents interested in participating in an 8 week paid summer research internship. The internship provides an opportunity for students to work with mentor scientists on a research project studying in vivo glucose monitoring with fluorescent nanoparticle sensors while obtaining professional experience in support of academic preparation for a career in engineering or related science.

Please refer to the 2010 Internship Overview and the 2010 Internship Application.
Completed applications must be received at the Lab no later than Friday, April 23, 2010.

3/25/2010

Visit Draper Laboratory at Boston First Regional Robotics Competition March 26 & 27!

Check out the Draper Laboratory exhibit at the Boston FIRST Regional Robotics Competition on March 26 & 27.

This is a great event for adults and children of all ages! Learn about robots and cool new Draper technology.

Draper is both a Silver Sponsor of Boston FIRST and a team sponsor of the Cambridge Rindge & Latin RoboRuminants, along with MIT, Vecna Technologies, and Bluefin Robotics.

http://bostonfirst.org

3/23/2010

Mass High Tech Honors Draper Scientist As One of This Year’s “Women to Watch”

CAMBRIDGE, MA – Mass High Tech honored Livia Racz, Draper Laboratory division leader for advanced hardware development, as one of its “Women to Watch” for 2010 during a March 19 ceremony.

Racz leads a division of 90 people working on some of Draper’s toughest hardware challenges. She also continues her own research with a cross-disciplinary team responsible for significant breakthroughs in electronic systems design and packaging, enabling a new range of electronic capabilities in ultra-small packages.

Over the past year, Racz’s team successfully demonstrated and produced working units of the densest discrete component electronic packaging methodology in existence.  This breakthrough will lead to the delivery of additional systems, and serve as the enabling technology for a wide variety of applications.

Mass High Tech’s “Women to Watch” honor is presented to women in the technology field who will likely take on more senior leadership positions in the future, and already have track records that include
inventions, growing and launching businesses, and leading teams working on new developments.

Racz, who mentors women in the technology community, noted in remarks at the ceremony intended as advice to a sixth grade girl that “it’s not about how smart you are, it’s about how hard you work and how stubborn you are.”

“I’ve known many people who are much smarter than I am, who did not end up successful because they gave up,” she said.

Racz holds both bachelors and doctoral degrees in materials science from M.I.T. She is also a member of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and sang on a recording of Ravel’s “Daphnis et Chloe,” which won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance.

Racz serves as a German and Latin diction coach for the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and as a Hungarian diction coach and translator for other Boston-area choruses.  She has also taught Hungarian as a volunteer for the Béla Bartók Hungarian School of Boston and remains active with the school.

3/23/2010

Draper Laboratory Donates $74,336 for Haiti Earthquake Relief

CAMBRIDGE, MA - Draper Laboratory and its employees contributed a total of $74,336 for organizations providing relief to survivors of the recent earthquake in Haiti.

Draper matched employee donations to the American Red Cross, UNICEF and Partners in Health during a drive that ran from Jan. 15 through Feb. 15.

Partners in Health received $30,472; the American Red Cross received $28,256; and UNICEF received $15,608.

“I’m proud that Draper employees have displayed such generosity, and that the company could match their donations to provide further assistance to the Haitian people,” said Jim Shields, Draper president and chief executive officer.

3/17/2010

Olin College Students Collaborate with Draper on Autonomous Ground Vehicle Project

(from left) Olin College students Nikki Lee, Alex Trazkovich, Greg Marra, Jared Barrow, Andy Barry, Guilia Fanti, and George Sass pose with Draper advisor Troy Jones and the autonomous ground vehicle at Draper headquarters in Cambridge, Mass.

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Olin College students showed off an autonomous vehicle outside Draper Laboratory on March 3 that could serve as a testbed for sensors and navigation software.

The students built the autonomous control system that allows a John Deere Gator to operate without a driver as part of a collaborative effort with Draper engineers. Draper funded the work through its internal research and development budget.

The students are members of the fifth graduating class at Olin, an engineering school with 300 undergraduates located in Needham, Mass. The project is intended to create a long-term collaboration between Olin and Draper where the Olin students serve as “mini research teams” to perform annual experiments that would otherwise be more expensive for the laboratory to pursue on its own, according to Troy Jones, a senior member of the technical staff at Draper, who oversees the students’ work.

The students’ work on the autonomous ground vehicle (AGV) could enable those who seek to test sensors and vehicle navigation software to do so without needing to design their own platform for demonstrations, according to Nikki Lee, project manager on the student team.

Long-term goals for the AGV include operation in rough terrain, GPS denied areas, and severe weather, as well as overcoming stationary and moving obstacles, Lee said during a briefing for Draper personnel.

2/24/2010

National Academy of Inventors Includes Draper Personnel as Charter Members

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- The National Academy of Inventors has included four Draper Laboratory staff members in its inaugural group.

The Academy (www.academyofinventors.org), which is based at the University of South Florida and was launched in January 2010, is intended to recognize innovative research and development leaders, foster collaboration amongst organizations in the field, and encourage further breakthroughs.

The Academy hopes to facilitate industry research contracts and interaction with companies and organizations that can positively impact university communities. The Academy’s mission also includes mentoring students and highlighting member inventions that benefit society.

The inaugural members from Draper are: Len Polizzotto, Ph.D., Draper vice president for strategic business development and marketing; Shankar Sundaram, Ph.D., director for the Draper Bioengineering Center at USF; Phil Hipol, engineering group leader at the Bioengineering Center; and Joe Cuiffi, Ph.D., principal investigator at the Bioengineering Center.

Membership is open to inventors who hold at least one patent and belong to a university community (i.e. faculty, staff, alumni, or affiliates). The inventors must join through a university chapter.

2/2/2010

Draper Board of Directors Elects Len Polizzotto as VP of Strategic Business Development & Marketing

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- The Draper Board of Directors elected Dr. Len Polizzotto as Vice President of Marketing and Strategic Business Development at its recent meeting. President & CEO Jim Shields said, “The election of Polizzotto to Vice President recognizes the success he has demonstrated in leading the Laboratory’s expansion of business operations into new areas and the development of strategic collaborations with government, industry, and academic partners across the United States.

“Len brings a unique marketing perspective to his leadership role. His depth of experience in working with government and industry sponsors, in academia, and his consumer product background have enabled him to efficiently lead the Lab into new opportunities.”

Polizzotto joined the Laboratory almost three years ago as a principal director to lead new strategic business development initiatives and direct marketing functions. Since then, he also has been assisting the vice presidents for programs and strategic systems with growing critical opportunities for business development in established areas.

At Draper, Polizzotto conceived and established the Lab’s successful partnership with the State of Florida that resulted in the Biomedical Systems Center at the University of South Florida and the MCM Fabrication Center in St. Petersburg. He also has led the Draper Energy Initiative, which the Laboratory anticipates growing into a new program office over the next several years. He has introduced the Laboratory to several new sponsors for our Special Operations Program Office, supported the development of the Center for Soldier Innovation with the Natick Soldier Systems Center, and assisted with the strategy for major opportunities including the U.S. Navy’s SSBN Navigation Upgrade Program.

Before joining the Laboratory, Polizzotto was Corporate Vice President for Business Development at SRI International, a world leader in contract R&D services, for six years, which followed a 25-year career at the Polaroid Corporation, concluding with the assignment of Corporate Vice President for New Business Development.

Polizzotto directed the Center for the Globalization of Technology at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, between corporate experiences, leading the university’s efforts to form partnerships with corporations in applying new technology for business development. As a Professor of Practice in the Electrical Engineering Department, he established a new course on business and technology and advised more than 50 undergraduate students. In the past eight years, he found one and led another high tech startup, both in the biomedical area. He holds 10 patents, is the author of numerous articles on human color perception, digital imaging, and microphotography. He is a founding member of the newly-launched National Academy of Inventors.

1/29/2010

Draper Laboratory to Host Panel Discussion on “Smart Medical Devices" Feb. 8

Draper Laboratory will host a panel discussion on “Smart Medical Devices” on February 8th from 6:00-8:30 p.m at 1 Hampshire Street, Cambridge, MA.

The event, which is co-sponsored with the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) Boston Industry Chapter, will examine the current status and future of smart medical devices, which have already begun to contribute to a revolution in healthcare and diagnostics.
The expert panel features:

• Dale Larson, Director of the Biomedical Systems Group, Draper Laboratory
• Edward Kerslake, Vice President, Corporate Technology Development, Boston Scientific
• Dr. David Rattner, Chief of the Division of General and Gastrointestinal Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital

Please register at:
http://web.memberclicks.com/mc/community/eventdetails.do?eventId=254109&orgId=bes&recurringId=0

Directions:
http://draper.com/directions/directions.html
Parking is available in the Technology Square garage across from the Draper visitor entrance. It is the second garage entrance on the right from the Broadway entrance to Tech Square.