USD Magazine Fall 2022

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by Matthew Piechalak Engineering student completes NASA Tech Transfer Program L S E A RCH I NG F OR MOR E POWE R ike many aspiring engi- neers, Honorebel Walker has always been fascinat-

overarching categories of patents including communica- tions, manufacturing, software, robotics, propulsion and, of particular interest to Walker, power generation. “I think power is everything,” he says. “How can we get the most power?” Walker settled on further exploring a patent relat- ed to fiber optic cables. “They take solar energy in and pro- duce light through the cables, but it also has another property none of the other cables have: It actually generates energy that can power consumer elec- tronics,” he explains. The goal of the project is to scale the technology for a con- sumer level. His target market

of Black Engineers. “All their inventors come together and decide what technologies they can give to the market and figure out ways entrepreneurs can commercialize them.” NASA’s Patent Portfolio offers three forms of licensing: research, commercial and start- up. As a participant in the tech transfer program, Walker was able to access the portfolio, which has more than a dozen

(NASA) Technology Transfer Program, a highly selective accelerator program. It “ensures that innovations developed for exploration and discovery are broadly available to the public, maximizing the benefit to the nation,” according to NASA. “NASA has a patent portfolio that they put out,” explains Walker, the current vice president of the USD chapter of the National Society

ed with the inner workings of tangible objects — especially circuit boards. “When I was younger, I defi- nitely took things apart,” says Walker, a third-year electrical en- gineering major and math minor. This summer, Walker com- pleted the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

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