CONROE, Texas (April 22, 2004) – With help from the NASA-funded Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program (SATOP), a former police officer is now making plans to market his surveillance device to the U.S. military.

     Sgt. George T. Gilmer, a 20-year law enforcement veteran, originally developed his invention for use by police departments. Having served on both the narcotics and SWAT teams, Gilmer knew that one of the most dangerous situations faced by police officers is when they must find a hidden suspect.

     “When police officers are searching for a suspect, they often end up sticking their necks out – literally,” Gilmer said. “I wanted to give my fellow police officers a device that would let them see into that next room or around that corner without putting themselves in danger.” Gilmer’s final product is an infrared/color surveillance camera, mounted on a telescopic pole built of lightweight aluminum and fiberglass. Police officers can view the camera images from a safe distance on a hand-held color monitor. Because of the tactical advantage his invention would provide, Gilmer named it “TacView.”

     Gilmer has distributed nearly 40 TacViews to state, federal and local law enforcement agencies. The device has been used in numerous real life SWAT call outs, saving at least one life and assisting in the discovery of a dangerous underground methamphetamine lab.

     In order to make TacView as durable as possible, Gilmer decided to give the monitor additional protection by adhering a piece of automobile windshield glass to it. A few days after adhering the glass to the monitor, however, the glass would either fall off or could be pulled loose with little effort.

     Gilmer discovered that the monitor is made of polypropylene plastic, which is notorious for resisting adhesives. “I must have tried every adhesive in Home Depot but had no luck,” he said. “I even interviewed a few experts in the field, but they were scratching their heads, too.”

     Then Gilmer heard about SATOP, which provides free engineering assistance to small businesses with technical challenges through the donations of time and expertise from 49 Space Alliance Partners. For Gilmer’s request for technical assistance (RTA), SATOP brought in Joe Jacoby, an engineer with United Space Alliance. Jacoby’s research located an adhesive made by 3M that seemed to fit Gilmer’s requirements. “Joe was able to cut right to the heart of the matter with 3M and I had a recommendation from them in a very short period of time,” Gilmer said. The recommended adhesive is strong enough to mount large mirrors on casino ceilings in Las Vegas, so Gilmer felt confident it would meet his needs. He was not disappointed – the adhesive successfully bonded the windshield glass to the TacView monitor.

     With the adhesive challenge resolved, Gilmer plans to aggressively pursue sales with the U.S. military. “Now that the windshield glass will adhere to the monitor, TacView is tough enough to meet the military’s standards,” he said. Should he run into any other technical issues while preparing TacView for the military market, Gilmer says he would again contact SATOP. “If I ever face another technical question that seems to be impossible to solve, I know exactly who I’m going to call – SATOP,” he said.