February 20, 2003 - As Published in the Joliet Herald News
The John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida may be a long way from Morris. But it's not so far away that it will keep Mike Nevins from working with NASA researchers.
Nevins, who owns and operates Nevins Software Inc. in Morris, was one of 295 small business operators across the county to win research and development contracts with NASA last year.
The NASA Small Business Innovation Research project was designed to bring innovative entrepreneurs like Nevins into the space program.
The future of Nevins' work with NASA may depend to some degree on the future of the space shuttle program after the Feb. 1 Columbia catastrophe.
But Nevins project has wide ranging value, as long as the government remains committed to a space program that increasingly opens up opportunities for private ventures.
Developing Software
Nevins will work with NASA researchers in developing software that can simulate conditions at spaceports, which are transportation hubs for ships heading for outer space.
The space shuttle is the premier vehicle for spaceport operations now. But NASA also is developing standards for orbital space planes, the next generation of space vehicles and one that someday may be flying out of spaceports like Kennedy Space Center.
The futuristic vision is for spaceports someday to operate like airports or seaports, providing a transportation hub for government and private travelers going to outer space and back.
Which fits into Nevins' specialty.
"My background is doing models for transportation and logistics," he said.
What he'll develop with NASA is a software system that researchers can use to observe simulated spaceport conditions while testing ideas and innovations.
"I have applied this particular technology, which they are very interested in, to other transportation logistics," Nevins said. "A spaceport, when you think about it, is very similar to an airport or a seaport."
A spaceport, however, he added, is a very complex system, using huge pieces of machinery to move rockets, shuttles, and immense pieces of equipment into place for takeoff.
Nevins will help develop a "discrete-event simulation" software system that researchers can use to test potential innovations in spaceport operations on a computer screen.
For Nevins, the NASA contract is a benchmark moment for his company.
He did not have previous experience with the space program. However, as a researcher at Argonne National Laboratory, he did develop computer models for the Department of Defense on logistics problems. He also did work for the Environmental Protection Agency.
Founded in 1999
Nevins started Nevins Software Inc. in 1999.
All of his work has been with local companies, including Equistar Chemicals in Morris and Bill Jacobs Chevrolet in Joliet. His government clients until now also have been local, including the village of Channahon.
Right now, Nevins himself is his only employee. But he can envision someday hiring his first additional employee to complete work on the NASA project.
In the next six months, he expects to make about six trips to the Kennedy Space Center to work with NASA researchers. But he doesn't expect it to be difficult for him to work on the project from Morris, thanks to modern telecommunications and computer technology.
"It's all very seamless," he said.
The Small Business Innovation Research program was created to reach out to entrepreneurs across the country, said NASA spokesman Michael Braukus.
It brings ideas to NASA, but also includes the private sector in the technologically advanced programs being developed by the government, he said.
NASA received 2,283 proposals, and not all were related to spaceport development. But spaceport development is particularly suited to the private sector, Braukus noted.
"When you are talking about spaceports," he said, "you're talking about commercialization."
