In 2017, as Kian Mirshahi watched wildfires rage across his home state of California, he wondered if there might be a way to get real-time information to first responders and citizens to help coordinate actions on the ground. More specifically, he wondered if Artificial Intelligence, or AI, might provide a key to faster decision-making. Fortunately, NOAA had recently rolled out two major developments, which provided the fuel for Mirshahi’s innovative drive. 

In 2019, the TPO contracted a private company to research and assess the economic impact and overall effectiveness of NOAA's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program and the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) component of NOAA's Technology Transfer Program.  The attached document provides a high level summary of the results.

Science On A Sphere, developed from TPO's Tech Transfer office, brings NOAA directly to the classroom to help students visualize data in near real-time.

NOAA's Cooperative Research and Development Agreement or CRADA with Saildrone, Inc. is providing mountains of data across multiple NOAA mission areas.

The open ocean, our coastal waters, even tanks in land-bound states all invite opportunities to grow more fish, shellfish and marine plants.
NOAA science, partnerships and pioneering techniques are building on these expanded opportunities, leading to more jobs, increased food security, revitalized waterfronts, and the restoration of depleted species and habitats.

NOAA's Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with Saildrone, Inc. is helping scientists explore new ways to gather data without the expense of large vessels, buoys, or satellites.

Tampa Bay Times news team uses NOAA NEXRAD data provided through the Big Data Project for an in-depth analysis of Hurricane Irma.

On November 16, NOAA Administrator, Dr. Jane Lubchenco, and Kelly Wright, Director of NOAA’s Technology Partnerships Office, awarded the NOAA Patent Holders Award to James Ronald Jordan, James Harwood Churnside, and Paul Ernest Johnston of the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, Earth Systems Research Laboratory (ESRL) for successfully patenting a system for “detection of transient signals in Doppler spectra”.

On November 16, NOAA Administrator, Dr. Jane Lubchenco, and Kelly Wright, Director of NOAA’s Technology Partnerships Office, awarded the NOAA Patent Holders Award to Dr. Chung -Chu Teng, Richard Bouchard and Dr. Rodney Riley of the National Weather Service (NWS) National Data Buoy Center, for successfully patenting a system for “measuring spectra of surface ocean waves in near real-time.”  The patent, which was awarded in June 2012, describes a “moored buoy floating at the ocean surface and anchored to the seafloor precisely measur[ing] acceleration, pitch, roll, and Earth's magnetic flux field of the buoy over a limited sampling period.”

On November 16, 2012, NOAA held its 2012 Administrator’s and Technology Transfer Award Ceremony at its headquarters in Silver Spring, MD. Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, Dr. Jane Lubchenco, gave the Keynote Address while the Assistant Administrator of the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, Dr. Robert Detrick, served as Master of Ceremonies.  Administrator Awards were given to individuals that demonstrated exceptional work in each of NOAA’s line offices.

Innovation News Newsletter Quarter 2, 2012