physics

Viaspace

Viaspace is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Viaspace rather than just read about it. In short: Viaspace is a clean energy company focused on commercializing technologies from NASA, Caltech, University of Southern California and the United States Department of Defense. The company operates in the alternative energy, renewable energy, and chemical sensing sectors.

Key takeaways

Viaspace belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Viaspace to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Viaspace from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Viaspace is a clean energy company focused on commercializing technologies from NASA, Caltech, University of Southern California and the United States Department of Defense. The company operates in the alternative energy, renewable energy, and chemical sensing sectors. The company is associated with the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) and the California Institute of Technology through its CEO, Dr. Carl Kukkonen (the former Director of the Center for Space Microelectronics Technology (CSMT) and Manager of Supercomputing at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory).

History Viaspace was founded in 1998 as a Caltech/NASA spin-off. The company began with the objective of transforming space and defense technologies that were originally developed at JPL into commercial products. In 1998, Viaspace signed a memorandum of understanding with RGC to commercialize a Quantum well infrared photodetector. This led to a joint venture partnership between the two companies called QWIP Technologies (QWIPTECH), which was incorporated in December 1998. Dr. Carl Kukkonen, CEO of Viaspace, served as initial CEO of QWIP Technologies until RGC acquired 100% of QWIPTECH in 2000. Since RGC's QWIPTECH acquisition, Viaspace has had no stake in QWIPTECH nor holds any Quantum Well Infrared Photodetector patents. In the summer of 1998, Viaspace also signed a memorandum of understanding with Omicron Technologies to form a joint venture for the commercialization of applications of a technology known as Active Pixel Sensors (APS). It was anticipated at the time of the joint venture that APS technology would be a strong competitor in its field and ultimately have a chance of replacing the widely used Charged Coupled Devices (CCDs) used in imaging technology. However, in 2000, Omicron announced that it had dropped out of the project due to financial issues. Viaspace decided to discontinue commercialization efforts for APS technology because it would be too costly. Commercialization of the APS technology by Omicron and Viaspace never materialized; however, Viaspace reacquired three patents from the failed Omicron partnership. These three patents are not associated with the imaging technology, but rather, in the field of radio satellite technology. The three radio satellite technology patents reacquired through the failed Omicron/ViaSpace Joint Venture are being applied toward Viaspace's inactive eCARmerce Inc. subsidiary, although there are no plans to further develop the eCARmerce subsidiary toward commercialization at this time. In 1999, a company called Spectrasensors Inc acquired exclusive patent rights from NASA and Caltech to commercialize gas sensor technology. SpectraSensors became a Viaspace subsidiary in which Dr. Carl Kukkonen was CEO. In 2001 a company called Tunable Photonics was spun off from SpectraSensors. Dr. Carl Kukkonen served as CEO of ViaSpace, SpectraSensors, and Tunable Photonics during 2001. In 2002, a company called FiberSpace acquired Tunable Photonics. In 2003, SpectraSensors reacquired the remaining intellectual property from Tunable Photonics. Presently, SpectraSensors is a profitable company separate from Viaspace. On August 14, 2000, Viaspace and Hewlett Packard announced a strategic alliance in which HP would provide US$10 million to Viaspace for commercialization of new technologies. Five million of HP's $10 million went to the development of Viachange.com, which Viaspace no longer operates. In 2002, a new company, Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Corporation (DMFCC) was formed. DMFCC, Caltech and USC signed a letter of intent for DMFCC to acquire rights to 22 issued and over 40 pending U.S. and foreign patents. These include the original and fundamental patent for using methanol dissolved in water as the fuel for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells. In exchange, Caltech and USC became equity shareholders in DMFCC and receive a royalty on sales. Dr. Carl Kukkonen was and continues to operate as CEO of DMFCC. In 2005, Viaspace became a public company through a merger between ViaSpace and Global Wide Production. The name ViaSpace was changed to Viaspace (all caps). Dr. Carl Kukkonen remained CEO, Mr. Amjad Abdallat took the position of vice president and chief operating officer, and Mr. Stephen Muzi became the chief financial officer, Secretary, and Treasurer of Viaspace. At the beginning of 2006, DMFCC exercised an option for a worldwide license to 50 issued and 50 pending fuel cell patents from Caltech and USC. DMFCC currently owns 65 issued and 33 pending patents related to fuel cells. In 2006, Viaspace's wholly owned security and homeland defense subsidiary, Arroyo Sciences Inc., was renamed Viaspace Security Inc. In 2007, Viaspace Security's expert system software, "SHINE Expert System", licensed from Caltech, was awarded the NASA Space Act Award. In May 2007, Viaspace established a new subsidiary Viaspace Energy. In October 2008, Viaspace entered the biofuels market with the announcement of the acquisition of Inter-Pacific Arts Corp (IPA), a company with a license to grow a fast-growing grass. IPA also sells framed art. The framed art business of IPA is Viaspace's only non-high-technology business unit and is being used to fund the growth of the grass segment of the business. Viaspace sold its humidity sensor line in April 2008 in order to focus on near term projects. Viaspace created Viaspace Green Energy in 2009 as its alternative energy subsidiary. Viaspace is currently seeking or already has undisclosed contracts for DMFCC products and Giant King Grass products. In 2010 Viaspace announced the launch of its first product, Green Logs. About a month later, Viaspace Green Energy announced its first power plant MOU. Presently, two of the three Viaspace business units (the alternative energy and chemical sensing units) are based on exclusive technologies developed by JPL and funded by NASA and the DOD. The renewable energy business unit is based on a worldwide license granted by China Gate to grow Giant King Grass, a non-genetically modified hybrid grass.

Subsidiaries

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Viaspace

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Viaspace claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Viaspace before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Viaspace ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Viaspace

In research: Viaspace appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Viaspace in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Viaspace is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1998 establishments in California, American companies established in 1998, Companies based in California, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Viaspace outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Viaspace in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Viaspace means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Viaspace out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Viaspace in simple terms?

Why does Viaspace matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Viaspace?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Viaspace.