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<\/a><\/figure>There\u2019s no \u201cI\u201d in team, and that holds true for NASA and its partners as the agency ramps up efforts to recruit tenured professors to research science for a semester at the agency\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The tenured teachers work for up to a year in an area where the agency needs specific expertise.<\/p>\n
NASA often finds tenured professors \u2013 someone who has been guaranteed a job with their university until they retire \u2013 through seminars or publications. Assignments must be mutually beneficial to the agency and organizations involved.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt NASA, we want researchers who are doing something that could help us, that could be synergistic, and to not reinvent the wheel,\u201d said Dr. Jose Nu\u00f1ez, University Partnerships<\/a> and Small Sat Capabilities manager at NASA Kennedy. \u201cThe goal is to find professors who can benefit the agency in an area that needs more research.\u201d<\/p>\n The U.S. government\u2019s Intergovernmental Personnel Act Mobility Program allows the temporary assignment of personnel between the federal, state, local governments, colleges and universities, Indian tribal governments, federally funded research and development centers, and other eligible organizations.<\/p>\n Dr. Reza Toufiq, an associate professor of chemical engineering at Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Florida, is the first professor to leverage school funds to spend a semester at NASA Kennedy and work on projects dealing with waste and resource recovery.<\/p>\n Toufiq specializes in how to convert everyday trash into energy, including the ash or char left behind from thermally treated trash. He worked with Dr. Annie Meier, who leads a team that converts astronauts\u2019 trash into gasses<\/a> that can be used for fuel.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to learn on the terrestrial side how we can infuse some of our technology, and he wanted to learn from us to grow into the space sector, so it was a really cool match,\u201d said Meier, technical lead for situ resource utilization and waste management resource recovery systems at NASA Kennedy.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n Although Toufiq\u2019s sabbatical with NASA is over, his work is not. Meier just received approval for a project through a Space Act Agreement, which allows a research sponsor to use NASA scientists and facilities to benefit both parties. Meier and other researchers at NASA will give Toufiq information on space waste products and lunar regolith stimulants; in turn, he will do the testing, and provide data to the agency because some of that information is currently unknown.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s learning a lot about the fundamentals of different things with waste that we aren\u2019t really doing, so we lean on academia to get some of that information and offer a fresh perspective,\u201d Meier said.<\/p>\n An intergovernmental assignment is generally approved for up to two years, but it can extend for up to six years with authorization. The length of the appointment also depends on the agency\u2019s needs and university\u2019s sabbatical guidelines, which could pay for one or more semesters.<\/p>\n The University Partnerships team now is working to bring on two professors to NASA Kennedy next semester.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are many tenured professors and universities who would like to come here, but we are careful to use due diligence to make sure what they\u2019re doing is something that aligns with our research and technology interests,\u201d Nu\u00f1ez said.<\/p>\n To learn more about the wide range of research happening at the Florida spaceport, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Powered by WPeMatico<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n Get The Details…<\/a> There\u2019s no \u201cI\u201d in team, and that holds true for NASA and its partners as the agency ramps up efforts to recruit tenured professors to research science for a semester at the agency\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The tenured teachers work for up to a year in an area where the agency needs specific [\u2026] Continue reading <\/a><\/figure>
\nElyna N. Niles-Carnes <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"