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John Bluck                                      Feb. 10, 2003
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
Phone: 650/604-5026 or 650/604-9000
E-mail: John.G.Bluck{at}nasa.gov

Pamela Corante
University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA)
Phone: 310/206-8788
E-mail: Pcorante{at}support.ucla.edu

RELEASE: 03-10AR

NASA, UCLA TO LAUNCH NEW INSTITUTE TO IMPROVE AEROSPACE SYSTEMS

To help develop new, compact devices and systems for future aerospace 
systems, NASA and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) 
today opened a research institute that will use biology to inspire 
innovation.

Scientists at the new institute, the Institute for Cell Mimetic Space 
Exploration (ICMSE), will mimic living cells to help develop new 
technologies. Presentations about the new institute will take place 
today beginning at 9:30 a.m. PST and continue until 6 p.m. PST in the 
Grand Ballroom of the Tom Bradley International Hall on the UCLA 
campus.

"Using nature to help us develop fresh ideas for better space flight 
is an idea whose time has come," said Scott Hubbard, director of NASA 
Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley. "I am delighted 
that NASA will be working with such a wide variety of university 
scientists and students from a number of disciplines to help enable 
future space exploration," Hubbard added.

"Biological systems have acquired an amazing ability to manage 
information on multiple levels - organizing themselves into 
increasingly complex structures, from tissues to organs to complex 
human biological systems," said Chih-Ming Ho, associate vice 
chancellor for research and ICMSE director. "Our strategy is to mimic 
the cell's information-processing abilities to establish a model for 
space system design that will redefine space exploration technology," 
Ho said.

"For future developments in sensors, devices and systems for mission 
needs, NASA is looking to biology for inspiration. That is what the 
UCLA institute is all about," said Meyya Meyyappan, director of the 
Center for Nanotechnology at NASA Ames. "The UCLA scientists will look 
at the fusion of biotechnology with an emerging field like 
nanotechnology and an established field like information technology," 
according to Meyyappan.

Nanotechnology is the study of how to build materials and products 
with atomic precision. A nanometer is roughly 100,000 times smaller 
than the width of a human hair.

The institute includes UCLA engineering, medical, physical and life 
sciences researchers as well as scientists from the California 
Institute of Technology, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, 
Calif., and Arizona State University. In addition, UCLA graduate and 
undergraduate students will be involved in the institute's work.

The institute will conduct research that could lead to devices on the 
molecular scale, but also will deal with entire aerospace systems. 
Institute goals include creating nano and micro scale sensors, 
actuators and energy sources; writing computer codes; and developing 
technologies for biological experiments, astronaut health monitoring 
and spacecraft resource management.

Energy production systems that the institute may develop could offer 
"dramatic gains in power, lifetime and efficiency in nanometer-sized 
spaces," according to institute scientists.

Technical information about NASA nanotechnology can be found on the 
World Wide Web at:

http://www.ipt.arc.nasa.gov

More information about the new institution can be found at:

http://www.seasalum.ucla.edu/cmise.cfm

http://ho.seas.ucla.edu/mainflash.html

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