SoBRO: South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation

Contact:
Rogina Coar-Smith 718-732-7564

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SoBRO Partners with NASA-Funded Program to Provide Free Assistance to Local Businesses

April 1, 2010: SoBRO is pleased to announce its partnership with a unique program supported by a grant from the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA), the Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program (SATOP), which provides local businesses with free engineering assistance.

Through SATOP, local businesses are eligible for up to 40 hours of free engineering assistance to help solve technical challenges. The engineers are supplied through SATOP's network of Alliance partners - aerospace industry companies, NASA sub-contractors, and universities doing NASA research.

The program is open to any small business with fewer than 500 employees, the primary mission being to promote strong economic growth by transferring U.S. space program expertise to the small businesses that drive so much of the American economy.

SATOP engineering assistance is available in the following areas: Mechanical Engineering: Design, development, modification, implementation or use of mechanical devices, machinery, or tools; Industrial Engineering: Managing and improving the economical use of people and equipment through application of cost and work standards and enhancement of the working environment; Materials Engineering: Analysis, selection and utilization of materials including metals, ceramics, polymers, and semiconductors; Structural Engineering: The application of engineering principles to civil engineering problems, including selection of construction materials for structures; Chemical Engineering: Design and manufacture of products, processes, and operations involving basic chemical change; Electrical Engineering: Design, construction, and operation of electrical systems and equipment; Environmental Engineering: Using technology to reduce or prevent the pollution or degradation of the environment.

Since 2001, SATOP has worked on over 2000 requests from small businesses throughout the U.S.

How to receive SATOP assistance: Following an initial contact to SoBRO, the inquiring company would be contacted by a representative and given assistance in completing a Request for Technical Assistance (RTA). A SATOP Project Engineer would then contact that company to discuss the submitted request and verify the extent of the technical challenge. The engineer would work to match the RTA with an engineering team that possesses the necessary expertise. Once an RTA is accepted, the Project Engineer would act as a liaison between the company and the Alliance Partner engineers. Most RTA’s are resolved within 90 days. In 2007 alone, NY SATOP serviced nearly 150 requests for new solutions to problems that affect the everyday lives of people and businesses across the Northeast.
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CONTACT:
Rogina Coar-Smith
SATOP Program Manager
SoBRO Community and Economic Development Department
(718) 732-7564; rcoarsmith@sobro.org

About SoBRO
SoBRO, a not-for-profit community development corporation, has been serving the South Bronx since 1972. SoBRO’s programs include adult education and workforce training, real estate and community development, technical and financial assistance for businesses, and an array of programs for youth. For additional information about SoBRO, call 718 292-3113 or visit www.sobro.org.