EAST MEADOW, N.Y. (July 21, 2003) – The Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program (SATOP), a NASA-funded outreach program, has helped a small eyeglass lens manufacturer improve production methods that could eventually cut the price of bifocal lenses by more than half.
     SATOP provides free engineering assistance to small businesses with technical challenges through the donations of time and expertise from 40 Space Alliance Partners.
     Chrysalis Development Company, Inc., was founded three years ago and manufactures prescription bifocal lenses. Chrysalis’ technology allows the company to produce the lenses through compression molding, rather than with grinding and polishing. When perfected, the process may reduce production costs of bifocal lenses by more than half. However, Chrysalis was experiencing some problems with the heating capabilities of their molding machine.
     “The machine was producing an uneven temperature gradient during its compression and molding processes, so the lenses we produced were oval, not the perfectly round shape we had hoped for,” said Martin Greshes, Chrysalis Development Company general manager.
     Although Greshes recognized the problem, he was unable to come up with an affordable solution. He then contacted the Long Island Forum for Technology (LIFT), a local organization that referred him to SATOP.
     SATOP arranged for Vadim Gandelsman, a systems engineering specialist from Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), with the Space, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (SEAS) Group on the Safety, Reliability and Quality Assurance (SR&QA) contract at the Johnson Space Center in Houston to assist Chrysalis. Gandelsman corresponded with Greshes by phone, fax and e-mail for a period of four months. During this time, they tested design modifications and techniques until they arrived at a solution.
     Gandelsman recommended that Greshes enclose the mold to achieve a uniform temperature. “With some simple design modifications, we were able to equalize hot air flow within the enclosure and produce a perfectly round lens,” said Gandelsman. “This technique also will be useful in the design of next-generation molding machines.”
     Greshes was pleased with the simple, practical and cost effective solution. “This was one of the last remaining barriers to our product being a success, and we could not have done it without SATOP’s assistance,” he said. “The quality of SATOP’s engineers is phenomenal. It was a priceless experience for our company to be able to work with the engineering experts SATOP has recruited.”