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SUMMARY:NASA Tech Talks: NASA Technology Prizes and Challenges
DESCRIPTION:We want HOU! Join us to discover NASA’s toughest tech challenges—and apply your skills and expertise to solve them. \nFor our last NASA Tech Talk of 2026\, we’re going to delve into how we do prizes and challenges at NASA\, and provide an example of an exciting upcoming challenge. \nThrough NASA’s Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation and Centennial Challenges\, NASA has brought problems\, big and small\, to the public to advance NASA’s mission for 20 years. With these two programs now combined\, NASA continues to provide open innovation as a service to NASA personnel and much of the US federal government\, with opportunity for you to help solve NASA’s pressing needs. \nA new challenge is coming to NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration efforts. The NASA Deep Space Autonomous Robotics Challenge (NASA DSpARC) will challenge participants to create groundbreaking autonomous robotics software designed to advance NASA’s exploration capabilities. There will be RFIs coming out with partnerships opportunities to the community\, in addition to competing. \nPlease join us after the talk for drinks and networking at Second Draught! \nAbout the Speakers \nRyon Stewart serves as the Program Manager for NASA’s Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation (CoECI)\, working to increase the use of open innovation tools at NASA and enhance the utilization of crowdsourcing by NASA and much of the federal government. \nRyon has an Aeronautics and Astronautics Engineering degree from the University of Washington and has worked at NASA’s Johnson Space Center since 2008. He spent the first two years as a Co-op for mission operations facilities\, engineering GN&C\, and engineering robotics. For eight years\, he worked full time in ISS Flight Operations as an Attitude Determination and Control Officer (ADCO) flight controller and instructor. In this role\, he supported more than 2\,200 hours of real time execution supporting activities including visiting vehicle dockings\, undockings\, reboosts\, and more. He also worked as an instructor teaching flight controllers\, instructors\, and astronauts about the ISS motion control system and soft skills required for the job. \nEmma Zemler is the project manager of Dexterous Robotics in the Robotics System Technology Branch (ER4) at NASA Johnson Space Center. In her ten years at NASA\, Emma has lead several robotics software projects within the Software\, Robotics and Simulation Division (ER) ranging from autonomous task planning for in-space robotics to space habitat supervised autonomy robotic maintenance. Her current roles include leading the Deep Space Autonomous Robotics Challenge and is a subject matter expert for moon Base. Emma serves as the chief architect of the iMETRO facility\, a NASA JSC robotics facility for terrestrial robotic technology adaption to space exploration use cases\, including logistics maintenance and science utilization. \nMontgomery B. Goforth   has more than 40 years of experience as both Engineer and Manager in a variety of highly technical space and defense-related efforts.  After working for a small defense contractor specializing in anti-submarine warfare\, he joined NASA’s Johnson Space Center in 1990.  He has held leadership positions in multiple JSC Directorates and Program Offices. In his previous role as Assistant Director of the JSC Engineering Directorate\, he established a framework to better focus Engineering’s efforts towards Human Spaceflight technology and systems development consistent with JSC and Agency goals for exploration. Mr. Goforth is now serving as Acting Director of the Business Development & Technology Integration Office at JSC\, and as the JSC Chief Technologist.  In these capacities he will be helping to expand the Houston Aerospace Community through the identification of opportunities to develop space/terrestrial technologies of interest to JSC and Human Space Exploration.  Mr. Goforth was born in East Texas\, raised in Southern California and Arizona\, and graduated from Rice University (BSME 1982\, MSME 1987). \nAbout NASA Tech Talks \nIn these presentations\, occurring the fourth Thursdays of the month\, Mr. Montgomery Goforth and other aerospace subject matter experts will discuss the technology development challenges faced by NASA’s Johnson Space Center and the surrounding Aerospace community in our ongoing efforts as the hub of human spaceflight. Presentations will focus on the ways in which these challenges\, and the associated opportunities\, can be leveraged by Houston’s innovation community. We will continue to identify potential space/terrestrial technologies of interest to Human Spaceflight.  Past NASA Tech Talks have included topics such as: \n\nFrom Space to Startup: Leveraging NASA Technology and Innovation to Propel Your Growing Enterprise\nDisruptive Filter Technology for Spacecraft Water Treatment:  The New Promise of Graphene\nLunar dust capture using novel multiplexed inertial filter\nLunar Passive Fuel Cell Technologies:\nMicrobes in Space
URL:https://iondistrict.com/event/nasa-tech-talks-23/
LOCATION:Ion\, 4201 Main Street\, Houston\, TX\, 77002\, United States
CATEGORIES:Aerospace,Founders & Startups,General Community
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://iondistrict.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/DSC_0352-scaled.jpg?ver=1765820213
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261023T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261023T113000
DTSTAMP:20261008T204105Z
CREATED:20260929T163016Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261008T204105Z
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SUMMARY:NASA Office Hours
DESCRIPTION:NASA is bringing its expertise to Houston’s innovation hub! Every other Friday\, join us for NASA’s office hours\, designed to bridge the gap between Houston’s innovators\, entrepreneurs\, and startups with NASA’s elite experts\, capabilities\, and technology.  \n\nLicense the Future: Discover how to utilize NASA-developed technologies and intellectual property for your own projects.\nPartner for Growth: Explore how to grow your own goals and NASA’s mission together by leveraging unique human spaceflight capabilities and expertise from NASA Johnson Space Center.\nBuild the Sector: Help us grow Houston’s commercial space ecosystem.\n\nCome with a vision\, leave with a partnership. \nJust come walk up and say hello\, or sign up in advance here.
URL:https://iondistrict.com/event/nasa-office-hours-24/
LOCATION:Ion\, 4201 Main Street\, Houston\, TX\, 77002\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://iondistrict.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/32-Image-Placeholder.png?ver=1777486289
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261028T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261029T183000
DTSTAMP:20260923T165205Z
CREATED:20260923T165205Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260923T165205Z
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SUMMARY:TiEcon Texas 2026
DESCRIPTION:Register: https://www.tiecontexas.org/tickets \nTiE Houston\, TiE Dallas\, and TiE Austin are hosting TiEcon Texas 2026 on October 28–29 at the Ion. The day-and-a-half conference\, themed “The Future Runs on Automation\,” brings together founders\, investors\, corporate leaders\, researchers\, educators\, and policymakers. They will look at how automation and AI are reshaping energy\, manufacturing\, healthcare\, aerospace\, logistics\, defense\, and technology across Texas. \nOctober 28: Founder Program\nThe conference opens with a half-day program for startups building in the automation economy. It includes startup showcases\, investor meetings\, curated networking\, and the TiE Hatch Pitch Competition\, presented with Hatch Pitch. About 10 automation-focused startups will get four weeks of mentoring and pitch coaching before presenting on stage. The winners will then present to the full TiEcon audience. \nOctober 29: Keynotes and Panels\nA full day of keynotes\, fireside chats\, and panel discussions on AI governance\, intelligent healthcare\, education\, space innovation\, workforce transformation\, and international approaches to public policy. It also covers how founders are building and deploying AI solutions. One featured session covers raising children in the age of AI. \nSpeakers include Steve Kean\, Greater Houston Partnership; Woody Rickerson\, ERCOT; Montgomery Goforth\, NASA Johnson Space Center; Dr. Jakub Tolar\, Baylor College of Medicine; and Prof. David Alexander\, Rice Space Institute. \nWho should attend: corporate executives\, founders\, investors\, academics\, educators\, policymakers\, researchers\, ecosystem builders\, and parents who want to help their children benefit from AI while building resilience to its risks. \nEarly bird registration is open for members and non-members. TiE Charter Members attend free.
URL:https://iondistrict.com/event/tiecon-texas-2026/
LOCATION:Ion\, 4201 Main Street\, Houston\, TX\, 77002\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://iondistrict.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/TiEcon-Texas-2026.jpg?ver=1790147273
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261106T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261106T113000
DTSTAMP:20261008T204048Z
CREATED:20261008T201230Z
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SUMMARY:NASA Office Hours
DESCRIPTION:NASA is bringing its expertise to Houston’s innovation hub! Every other Friday\, join us for NASA’s office hours\, designed to bridge the gap between Houston’s innovators\, entrepreneurs\, and startups with NASA’s elite experts\, capabilities\, and technology.  \n\nLicense the Future: Discover how to utilize NASA-developed technologies and intellectual property for your own projects.\nPartner for Growth: Explore how to grow your own goals and NASA’s mission together by leveraging unique human spaceflight capabilities and expertise from NASA Johnson Space Center.\nBuild the Sector: Help us grow Houston’s commercial space ecosystem.\n\nCome with a vision\, leave with a partnership. \nJust come walk up and say hello\, or sign up in advance here.
URL:https://iondistrict.com/event/nasa-office-hours-25/
LOCATION:Ion\, 4201 Main Street\, Houston\, TX\, 77002\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://iondistrict.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/32-Image-Placeholder.png?ver=1777486289
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261111T173000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261111T183000
DTSTAMP:20261021T194215Z
CREATED:20261021T194215Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261021T194215Z
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SUMMARY:First Principles: Inside the Texas A&M Space Institute
DESCRIPTION:Register here: https://luma.com/4gxizyq2 \nHouston is about to have something no other city has: football field sized lunar and Martian surface simulations\, built indoors next to Johnson Space Center. \nThe Texas A&M Space Institute is the first tenant of NASA’s Exploration Park. It’s a 400\,000 square foot facility built to let companies and researchers test hardware against the Moon and Mars without leaving Texas. Dr. Rob Ambrose\, the Institute’s Associate Director\, will walk through what’s being built\, how it will operate\, and where startups and industry fit in. \nFew people are better placed to explain it. Rob spent three decades at NASA Johnson Space Center\, where he led development of Robonaut and lunar rover prototypes and retired as Division Chief for Software\, Robotics and Simulation. Today he also directs space programs for the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station. \nFirst Principles is a Houston series on space\, semiconductors\, and robotics\, with technical talks and real Q&A for founders\, engineers\, operators\, and investors. Come with questions. \nWednesday\, November 11 · 5:30–6:30 PM · The Ion\, Midtown Houston. Space is limited; RSVP required.
URL:https://iondistrict.com/event/first-principles-inside-the-texas-am-space-institute/
LOCATION:Ion\, 4201 Main Street\, Houston\, TX\, 77002\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://iondistrict.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/first_principles_rob_ambrose_luma.png?ver=1792609543
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