Maxwell Briggs, Ph.D.

(Photo Credit: Maxwell Briggs)

Name: Maxwell Briggs, Ph.D.​

Occupation: Acting NASA iTech Program Executive

Favorite Restaurant in Town? Tommy's (Cleveland Heights)

Favorite thing about Cleveland? I believe the combination of amenities and affordability in Cleveland is truly unique. We have a NASA center, three major sports teams; world class hospitals, museums, and orchestra; multiple theaters districts, lake access, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and several Metroparks; and my mortgage is well under $1000 per month.

Q: Max, you run the iTech team at NASA, can you talk about the program and your role?

I view iTech as one piece of a larger puzzle of entrepreneurial engagement and innovation within NASA and the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD). iTech exists to provide an entry point for companies with great ideas with the lowest possible barrier to entry. The iTech program allows commercially focused companies to pitch their ideas to a diverse group of stakeholders including potential customers, investors, and NASA Chief Technologists without many of the hurdles that exist in other government programs. This allows us to hear ideas from companies that we may never have heard from through more standard solicitations.

My role in all of this is goes beyond iTech alone. I am responsible for development of a comprehensive entrepreneurial engagement that will allow NASA to effectively engage the entrepreneurial community in a mutually beneficial way. My goal is for iTech to continue to provide a low barrier to entry for companies, but for that onramp to be part of a larger system of innovation that allows for the continued growth of those companies either as suppliers of technology for NASA or as suppliers to NASA-relevant commercial markets. This strategy will require coordination and focus among many NASA programs in NASA’s Early Stage Innovation (ESI) portfolio including Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR), Technology Transfer, and Prizes and Challenges.

Q: You originally worked as an engineer, how was the transition from an engineering role to a non-engineering role?

I began working at NASA when I was a graduate student at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) in 2007. The first ten years of my career were dedicated to highly technical engineering work on several space power generation projects including Fission Surface Power Systems, the Kilopower Project, and the Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator (ASRG). I am a very analytical person and I found the work both challenging and rewarding. However, in many of these programs, despite meeting technical objectives, the programs would not transition to the next level. I began to realize early on that the success of a technology, project, or mission is highly dependent on things outside of an engineer’s control. That led me to seeking opportunities outside of engineering, so that I could learn about and play a role in the other factors that lead to mission success. I have definitely enjoyed my transition to non-engineering roles. My experience in the Regional Economic Development program has taught me about the importance of team building and personal relationships cultivating innovation. My experience managing a technology portfolio in SBIR has taught me about managing diverse stakeholder interests and thinking about innovation from a strategic rather than tactical view. My current experience with iTech and entrepreneurial engagement is challenging me to think about broader strategic vision and NASA’s role as one of many players in a large innovation eco-system. These have all been welcome and exciting new challenges that have allowed me to grow and hopefully provide value. But I’m always going to be an engineer at heart.

Q: What innovations are you excited about in the space industry?

In my early engineering days I was very excited by technological innovations for space. When I heard that the New Horizons mission that explored the outer reaches of the solar system was communicating with Earth using only a couple hundred watts of power I not only though it was incredible, but I also thought about what amazing things could be done with the higher power systems that we were working on. However, as I continued in the work I began to be much more impressed with the science behind the missions. It was more exciting to me to hear the answers to the “why explore there?” than “how can we make that happen?”. Would it be incredible to design something that could melt through a mile of ice on Europa in order to explore the oceans below? Absolutely!!! But why would we want to do that in the first place? So that we can begin to understand whether life is pervasive in the universe or extraordinarily rare. Now that’s exciting and I hope that even as space becomes a thriving commercial economy that we don’t lose our focus on fundamental knowledge even as the dollars start to pile up.

Having said that, I do believe that there are some technologies that, in and of themselves, are game changers that can provide great opportunities in space. Technologies that reduce launch costs (i.e. efficient operations, additive manufacturing, and reusability) will be crucial to expanding the types of activities that are practical in space. I’m also excited about In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) technologies. Having a sustained presence (either human or robotic) in the solar-system just isn’t practical if you have to bring everything you need from earth. So learning how to use the resources at our destinations change the nature of what is achievable in exploration.

Q: If you could take one thing into space, what would it be and why?

I have three young children and they are all NASA crazy. If I could take one thing into space it would be them (My wife would never go for it ). I think that it would inspire them in a way that couldn’t be replicated in a classroom. NASA has many incredible technical challenges and missions and provides many great benefits for life back here on earth, but perhaps the most important one is inspiring the next generation of innovators, explorers, and thinkers.

Q: Where is your first vacation post-COVID and why?

Hawaii… no doubt. I have three children, two are school aged, doing virtual learning. My wife is a kindergarten teacher that teaches virtually. I have been working remotely since the start of the pandemic. We have been looking at nothing but screens for a full year now. We need to see something beautiful in real life.