HOUSTON – Aircraft Belts Inc. needed help solving an engineering problem and they found assistance at an unlikely source – Johnson Space Center.
"I sometimes take it for granted we’re near the space center," said Norman Ballard, the company’s vice president and quality control director. "Once I made a request, I had a call back in 24 hours."
Aircraft Belts, a manufacturer of aircraft seat belts and safety restraints got help from the Technology Outreach Program, an alliance from the space center, the Clear Lake Economic Development Foundation, local universities and aerospace contractors.
The Kemah, Texas-based Aircraft Belts employs 27 with sales of about $3.2 million per year.
The outreach program has assisted five businesses since it began in November 1988, with 30 requests for help so far, said Jim Reinhartsen, president of the Clear Lake Economic Development Foundation.
Reinhartsen said TOP operates differently than outreach efforts in the past that produced solutions and then sought an audience.
Instead the program seeks companies with problems to solve and then helps them find a solution.
Ballard said the 18-year-old company faced increasing demands from federal regulators and clients for improved stress test data of the products along with updating of the company’s test equipment.
"We know seat belts well, but we don’t know test equipment," he said. "We had a lot of dead ends in finding someone to help and couldn’t find equipment on the market."
Within a few weeks of contacting TOP, Ballard visited the space center and saw demonstrations of test equipment there.
Engineers there showed off how they test tethers for the parachute to be used on the X-38 crew return vehicle for the International Space Station.
"ABI needed a miniature version of one of the test setups we have in the JSC Structural Test Lab," said Joe Riccio of JSC’s Engineering Directorate. "Components may be subjected to forces ranging from a few pounds to hundreds of thousands of pounds, depending on the hardware’s test requirements."
NASA engineers helped Aircraft Belts design a hydraulic testing frame and safety enclosure for technicians. Currently, the company is exploring options to produce the test equipment.
JSC Director George Abbey said he’d like to have more companies like Aircraft Belts work with TOP.
"This is the kind of success story we want to repeat," he said. "JSC develops a lot of technology and capabilities that we want to make available to commerce and industry."
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