SARASOTA, Fla. (April 25, 2002) – The NASA-funded Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program (SATOP) has helped a local small business prove the performance of its product, thereby winning it a major defense contract.

Ed VerVane, owner of South Sun Energy Conservations, used SATOP six years ago when he needed to confirm that his internal storm windows, called Winsulator, would be an effective energy conservation measure in Florida. SATOP provided VerVane with two laboratories, which were able to give him the reports he needed to prove to his customers that Winsulator helped reduce energy consumption.
“I was selling the Winsulator windows out of common sense, but I needed to provide potential customers with hard documentation that my product could conserve energy and more. That would’ve had a huge dollar cost and valuable time spent that I could not afford,” said VerVane. So when VerVane found himself in need of technical assistance to win a contract with Teco Solutions and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) late last year, he knew exactly where to turn—SATOP. SATOP, which provides free engineering assistance to small businesses with technical challenge, was more than willing to help VerVane once again.

“The goal of SATOP is to speed the transfer of space technology to the private sector. We do this by helping small businesses conquer their technical or manufacturing challenge through the use of resources from the U.S. Space Program, as well as aerospace contractors, NASA field centers, universities and colleges,” said Paul Secor, director of SATOP. SATOP enlisted the help of engineers from Boeing , who utilized their laboratory to conducted the tests needed to prove to the Department of Defense that the windows were a good investment and a product with long-term sustainability. These reports helped VerVane land the DOD contract – worth $500,000 -- to install 2,700 windows in 17 buildings at the Jacksonville Naval Air Station. Since signing this piece of business late last year, VerVane has been asked to install windows in another 340 buildings at the Air Station and has had to hire 10 more employees.
“I searched for the particular testing I needed, and it wasn’t available at any national laboratory, so I went back to the smartest people on the planet—SATOP. What a great resource! Thanks to SATOP we’re not searching for new business -- it’s searching for us ” said VerVane.

“Ed VerVane and Winsulator is just one of the success stories created by the Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program. We are always pleased to see such great results, which serve as proof that the U.S. Space Program is benefiting private citizens,” said Secor.