For many people, hiking is a peaceful escape from everyday stressors. For Dr. Ping Chen, CEO of Handix Scientific Inc., hiking was a starting point of his success. In 2015, he met NOAA inventor and research physicist, Dr. Ru-Shan Gao, on a trail in Boulder, Colorado. As they walked, Gao proudly spoke about NOAA’s recently-developed Portable Optical Particle Spectrometer (POPS) for aerosol measurement. Chen immediately realized the technology’s tremendous potential and expressed interest in licensing and commercializing the technology with a firm belief that POPS was going to be a commercial success. Indeed, with over 200 units of POPS sold across the world to date, it appears that Chen’s premonition became a reality. His new company has since grown from one to twelve full-time employees and Chen expects the demand for POPS to increase in the near future as his team actively explores new markets. 

Protecting and exploring our global ocean is a huge job: It covers more than 70 percent of Earth’s surface. Cutting-edge technologies help us dive deeper, gather more ocean data and solve some of its biggest challenges.

Here are 5 innovative high-tech tools borne from NOAA’s partnerships with the fishing industry and technology companies large and small.

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.

NOAA scientist, Dr. Peter Moeller, has partnered with Green Water Solutions, LLC to test a new technology for eliminating harmful algae blooms.

The NOAA Physical Sciences Division (PSD) is entering its third consecutive five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the California Department of Water Resources (CA-DWR) as part of their Enhanced Flood Response and Emergency Preparedness (EFREP) program. The cornerstone of these MOUs has been the development, deployment, operation, and maintenance of a 21st-century observing system to help California deal with its water resource and flood protection issues.

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