A Short History of NASA Tech Briefs ABP International November 2001 12/31/2018

October 4, 1957 Soviet Union launched the Sputnik satellite, starting the “space race.” 12/31/2018

October 1, 1958 To meet the challenge, U.S. Congress authorized creation of the National Aeronautics & Space Administration. Air Force & Army labs formed the R&D arm of the fledgling agency. 12/31/2018

The Birth of “Technology Transfer” In writing NASA’s charter, Congress mandated that the agency share with U.S. industry/public any commercially promising new technologies resulting from its taxpayer-funded R&D. 12/31/2018

First a white paper, then another… By 1962, NASA had established a technology transfer division that started mailing tech bulletins or “briefs” to engineers and managers throughout U.S. industry and government. A grass roots following developed for what would become… 12/31/2018

NASA Tech Briefs Magazine In the spring of 1976, NASA began compiling new technology reports into a quarterly publication produced by the Government Printing Office. 12/31/2018

On the Horns of a Dilemma By the early 1980s, NASA Tech Briefs had reached a circulation ceiling of 75,000, and NASA was restricted by the Office of Management and Budget from printing additional copies. The agency soon had a waiting list of 12,000+ engineers looking to subscribe. 12/31/2018

The Solution: Privatize! Rather than cutting off its main link to U.S. industry, NASA made the precedent-shattering decision in 1984 to commercialize NTB. NASA selected ABPI to privatize the magazine and expand its reach. In return, ABPI was granted exclusive first publishing rights to NASA’s best new technologies with “down to Earth” commercial applications. 12/31/2018

1984: GPO Publication Circulation ceiling of 75K + 12K waiting list Readership concentrated in Aero/Defense Quarterly (actually, 2X) 2C, graphically challenged taxpayer-supported 12/31/2018

2001: ABPI Publication Qualified circulation of 195,000+, no waiting list OEM readership (450,000) across many industries Monthly (since 1989), 4C graphics 200+ pages of “value-added” editorial Demographic editions, custom publishing Electronic (PDF) version, Web products Over $2 million taxpayer savings annually 12/31/2018

NASA Tech Briefs Product Family 12/31/2018

Traffic on the NASA Tech Briefs Web Site Continues to Skyrocket! 12/31/2018

NASA Tech Briefs Subscribers by Principal Job Function Total monthly readership, including documented pass-along, exceeds 450,000. 12/31/2018 Sources: June 2001 BPA Audit Statement, Readership Plus Subscriber Surveys

NASA Tech Briefs Subscribers by Industry 12/31/2018 Source: June 2001 BPA Audit Statement

NASA Tech Briefs Subscribers by Engineering Responsibility 61.3% manage an engineering department, project team, or project 12/31/2018 Source: June 2001 BPA Audit Statement

NASA Tech Briefs Subscribers by Purchasing Authority 12/31/2018 Source: June 2001 BPA Audit Statement

Qualified Circulation Comparison – Design Engineering Publications NASA Tech Briefs has the largest qualified circulation of any design engineering magazine. 12/31/2018 Comparison of June 2001 BPA circulation audit statements

Subscriber Comments “Out of 24 magazines I receive, NASA Tech Briefs is the only one that I always read personally.” - Phares Noel, Senior Technology Manager, DiamlerChrysler “NASA Tech Briefs has more new ideas and product information than all other design magazines I receive put together.” - M. Baig, Senior Applications Engineer - IBM Automation “I used information from your articles to recommend advanced sensors for our vehicles.” - C. Orloff, Researcher - John Deere Product Engineering “From reading NASA Tech Briefs, I was able to develop a novel system for environmental cleanup…now used worldwide.” - Dr. Joseph Resnick, Chief Scientist, Petrol Rem “NASA Tech Briefs filled a critical need in solving a vehicle design problem.” - J. Fritsche, Director - Walt Disney Imagineering 12/31/2018 These are five of over 13,000 (and counting) reader comments in the NASA Tech Briefs feedback database.