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8.23.09
Promise of Tomorrow - eSpace company, Net-Centric Design Professionals -
8.23.09
Promise of Tomorrow - eSpace company, Space Awareness Services -
8.09.09
Promise of Tomorrow - eSpace company, Zybek Advanced Products -
8.09.09
Promise of Tomorrow - eSpace company, Zybek Advanced Products -
8.02.09
The Promise of Tomorrow - The eSpace Mission -
8.02.09
The Promise of Tomorrow - The eSpace Mission -
2.16.09
Colorado Matters eSpace Interview
The University of Colorado at Boulder and SpaceDev Inc. announce the 
launch of eSpace: The Center for Space Entrepreneurship
Posted by admin | Filed under Scott Tibbits, Starsys, eSPACE
Academic and industry partnership formed to create entrepreneurial space companies and 
develop a skilled workforce to support them.
BOULDER, Colo. – Jan. 26, 2009 – The University of Colorado at Boulder, a national leader in aerospace engineering, and SpaceDev Inc., a leading entrepreneurial space company located in Louisville, Colorado, have partnered to create eSpace: The Center for Space Entrepreneurship. eSpace is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to creating new entrepreneurial space companies, commercializing aerospace technologies created within these companies, and developing the aerospace workforce to support them.
From left to right: Scott Tibbitts, Jeff Forbes, and Diane Dimeff
“We believe entrepreneurial space companies are innovation engines that are transforming how we get to, utilize, and explore space,” said Scott Tibbitts, executive director for eSpace. Tibbitts, an entrepreneur himself, founded Starsys Research, which three years ago was acquired by SpaceDev, now a fully owned subsidiary of Sierra Nevada Corporation. “By providing access to the academic resources of the university, grants to promising space entrepreneurs, and access to both the manufacturing infrastructure of SpaceDev and a network of experienced aerospace entrepreneurs, we expect to create a fertile environment for ensuring the best possible chance of success for start-up space companies,” said Tibbitts.
eSpace is unique in its approach to supporting the creation of these companies by lowering the barriers for entry to an absolute minimum. Primary funding to support the $1 million launch of eSpace is provided by a grant from the Metro Denver WIRED (Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development) initiative with additional funding by the Colorado Office of Economic Development, the University of Colorado, SpaceDev, and the Air Force Research Laboratory.
SpaceDev, located only 10 minutes from the University of Colorado at Boulder, will provide the physical space for the start-up companies, allowing them to benefit from the process control systems, quality systems, clean rooms, and test equipment already on its site. In addition, co-location with SpaceDev enables new entrepreneurs to “rub shoulders” with one of the nation’s premier entrepreneurial space companies. In its first year, eSpace will provide five $20,000 grants to promising entrepreneurs to help support new entrepreneurial space companies.
The University of Colorado and the Colorado space industry will be primary sources for new technologies and entrepreneurs to seed the eSpace incubator. To accelerate this process, eSpace will directly fund an eSpace Venture Design program through a $90,000 grant to the Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences that will support three hands-on projects for graduate student teams to design aerospace technologies with commercial applications and the potential to transition into eSpace’s incubator. The projects will be coordinated at the University of Colorado by Joe Tanner, a highly accomplished former astronaut and member of the Aerospace Engineering Sciences faculty. The initial round of eSpace funded technologies includes:
The “Colorado Student Space Weather Experiment” to develop nano-satellites that can improve the prediction of solar storms and their effects on the earth.
A “Mini Jet Engine” for unmanned aerial vehicles.
“SmartSondes for Atmospheric Sensing” to provide a remote control unmanned aerial system that can measure micro-weather effects near storms and wildfires.
“The availability of design project courses at the graduate level with opportunities to receive support for a new business venture may be unequaled by any other aerospace department in the nation,” said Jeffrey M. Forbes, chair of the Aerospace Engineering Sciences Department. “We intend to provide an unprecedented support structure for aerospace innovation and technology development at CU-Boulder.”
The workforce development mission of eSpace also will be accomplished through the innovative eSpace Straight to Space (S2S) program by providing on-the-job training grants of $1,000 to $4,000 to high school graduates and community college students and placing them in existing entrepreneurial space companies along Colorado’s Front Range.
Diane Dimeff will be the director of eSpace and will be responsible for its leadership and day-to-day operations. Dimeff, previously the associate dean of Carnegie Mellon University’s Silicon Valley campus, brings to eSpace a history of working with both academia and industry to conceive of and build entrepreneurial programs. Addressing its mission, Dimeff said, “eSpace is an exceptional opportunity for collaboration among industry, government, and education to create jobs, commercialize research, and incubate new businesses.”
Oversight and stewardship will be provided by a board of directors and board of advisors comprised of nationally recognized leaders in aerospace entrepreneurship, aerospace education, and high technology businesses.
“Entrepreneurial space companies are a national resource to be nurtured and developed,” said Tibbitts. “The innovations they provide are making space exploration more affordable and accessible to humankind. In upcoming years, we expect that the methods we use to get to, utilize, and explore space will be transformed from government-supported endeavors to private, entrepreneurial ventures. eSpace intends to be an important part of that transformation.”
For More Information
Media contact
Scott Tibbitts
Executive Director, eSpace
ScottT@eSpacecenter.org
SpaceDev, Inc.
University of Colorado Aerospace Engineering Sciences
Sierra Nevada Corporation
Metro Denver WIRED Initiative
February 9th, 2009 at 8:06 am
I am an aerospace student at the University of Colorado in Boulder, and I am a part of eSpace. By being in this program I have been given the opportunity to work at an Entrepreneurial space company, SpaceDev. Mostly I have worked with thermal vacuum chambers and the testing of hardware but have also been involved with other projects helping engineers and technicians. From my experiences I have learned about many different aspects of working in an aerospace company. The managers and engineers all value everyone’s opinion, and are more than willing to take time out of there busy days in order to help me to learn new things or understand things better. Many times I am given a task to create procedures to test certain aspects of thermal chambers, or to solve minor problems. With each of these tasks I am given the opportunity to use my knowledge and resources to figure out solutions, however most of everyone in the company is always there to help when I hit road blocks. When I think I have figured out the solution or procedure I take it to the engineer or manager and they bounce new ideas around or ask questions to lead me to certain results. By being a part of eSpace I have been given this opportunity which has shown me a lot about working in an aerospace company, and the processes that take place within a company such as SpaceDev. I also feel that my experience is unique because I have the opportunity to work at an entrepreneurial company, and I have been able to be a part of the culture at this company, which there is so much of.