Cold Star Project

US Navy Commander and defense contractor Tim Anderson returns to the Cold Star Project to give an update on what he's seen in the space industry over the past six months. This interview has a different format than usual. Host Jason Kanigan and Tim have a relaxed conversation about talent acquisition and collaboration, quantum computing, AI for space, launch systems, and a lot more. The big takeaway? That conversations in the space industry previously held behind closed doors are now happening in the open because of the need for collaboration. USEFUL LINKS: OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous

Paul Rulkens is frequently hired by organizations looking to install or improve their high performance culture. Examples are KPMG, Nestle, Uber, Siemens, and Mercedes Benz. But what does this mean in practical terms? What are these leaders bringing Paul Rulkens in to do? Jason Kanigan of the Cold Star Project continues the conversation with Paul about what it takes to have a high performance culture. USEFUL LINKS: Paul Rulkens website: https://www.paulrulkens.com/ OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous

Michelle Hanlon, PhD, is a well-known space lawyer. With Jason Kanigan, host of the Cold Star Project, she discusses initiatives in space law that have happened over the past couple of years. We address these questions: What in your opinion are the major updates in space law in the past several years? How do they impact the industry? (Artemis Accords, Lux/UAE, Space Resource Utilization topics) You’ve written that the UN wants to prevent an arms race in space. How does this play out using space law as a tool? Are member states bound to agree to what the senior body negotiates? Geopolitics: Is it true that China wants to claim the Moon first, and what can we do about it? Are there any indications of how AI will affect space law? (content creation for new law, citing of previous documents in decisions, faster decision making on reporting, crime detection, and enforcement?) What paths to space law enforcement do you see coming any time soon? USEFUL LINKS: For All Moonkind website: https://www.forallmoonkind.org/ Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall

Robert Twiggs and Matt Craft, through Twiggs Space Labs, have run pilot Space and STEM / STEAM training programs for kids through the state of Virginia. Bob Twiggs is known as the "Father of the CubSat" for his co-development of the CubeSat standard. As they expand to serve the rest of the United States, Bob and Matt appear on the Cold Star Project to share their practices and vision. Host Jason Kanigan asks Bob and Matt about their: Personal histories Products & program Benefits for students, teachers, space & defense businesses and the nation from the STEM / STEAM training Experience with Virginia, NASA Expectations with Primes Next Steps for themselves and those wanting to be involved. USEFUL LINKS: Twiggs Space Lab (TSL) website: https://twiggsspacelab.com/ TSL is very interested in working with academic institutions, aerospace and defense companies, technology companies, and federal agencies, including NASA, DoD, and NOAA. The support can take many forms including: Participating in outreach programs and mentoring students Sponsoring STEM programs by purchasing STEM products for schools Sponsoring STEM Challenges (CanSat, PocketQubes, etc.) Consulting with and advising TSL of critical skill development opportunities Promoting TSL programs and products Financial support through grants or buying STEM products for schools. Please feel free to contact TSL at bob.twiggs@twiggsspacelab.com ormatt.craft@twiggsspacelab.com Talk to Cold Star: https://www.coldstartech.com/bookcall

Jacob Meyer, PhD, is VP of Technology at ATSP Innovations. He has experience with SBIRs and the struggles of creating commercial products from them. Host Jason Kanigan of the Cold Star Project discusses these challenges with Dr. Meyer. USEFUL LINKS: ATSP Innovations website: https://www.atspinnovations.com/ OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org America's Future Series: https://www.americas-fs.org/ Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous

Did you know there are people with a specific skill set who can jumpstart your business? Copywriters like Jon Reyes and Jason Kanigan have the knowledge and experience to grow your business fast. Jon Reyes has been a copywriter for many years and worked for some of the top personal development names. With fellow copywriter and Cold Star Project host Jason Kanigan, Jon discusses: * working with the major factor of Compliance in copy, and how to scale with compliance as a limiter on what you can say * the power of using revealing flaws and shortcomings in copy, the use of repulsive copy and story telling to attract the best audiences and push away those who are not a fit, and how superiority creates skepticism--and how to fight that * Conversion Rate Optimization, and how CRO can work on two levels--technical, like button colors, versus business building CRO, such as brand voice * structuring copywriting deals today, compared with 5-10 years ago * why a business owner is better off hiring an experienced copywriter rather than an inexperienced hotshot who promises the world USEFUL LINKS: Jon's website: https://www.jonreyes.net/ Email Jon at: jon@copyblueprints.com OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org America's Future Series: https://www.americas-fs.org/ Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talktous

Just because you CAN create a product doesn't mean you SHOULD. What Scaling Problems Can You Find In SBIR/STTR Product Commercialization? While small batches may work in the lab, commercializing will require large quantities and unexpected issues from supply chain through chemical reactions may change. The results from these issues may well prove the venture impossible to complete under current conditions. David Driscoll of Storm Castle joins Cold Star Project host Jason Kanigan to discuss a real life example of struggling with scaling for commercialization. While the concept had been proven to work, making it happen at a scale that would make money turned out to be a dead end. Jason asks David: Q: What professional roles have you held? From what context are you speaking to these challenges? A: Glacigen (Founder), Montana State University (Senior Research Scientist), Storm Castle Technical Products (Current; Founder) Q: What was Glacigen all about? A: Commercialization of an advanced manufacturing technique; freeze tape casting. FTC is a hybridization of an industrial processing technique with well-established lab scale technique. It produces large area sheets of materials with highly engineered microstructures. Materials which have been known for a long time can exhibit great performance enhancement with new processing. (Flour, baking soda, eggs, sugar, etc…..could be awful or masterpiece it’s all in the processing. We tend to focus too easily on exotic alloys and entirely new materials (good and valuable), when opportunity is left on the table with respect to using existing ingredients better. Q: What kind of applications were you looking at? A: Started all over the board. FTC arrived as a solution looking for a problem. Composites of high temperature materials (hypersonics), solid oxide fuel cell electrodes, catalyst scaffolds, thermal interface materials, actuators….finally battery electrodes. In my eyes, battery electrodes represented the convergence of good technical fit with strong merit, market of relevant scale, and opportunity to address true customer pain point. Q: Which pain point is that, exactly? A: Specifically for customers of high performance applications: energy density (without destroying power density). Cost is important even for those with performance applications. Q: How did you realize commercializing this as a product, rather than having it remain as a lab invention, was important? A: That was intrinsic, and a primary motivating factor of launching Glacigen. I saw potential for real impact in the FTC process which obviously couldn’t be realized within academia. There was a commitment to commercialization from the outset, but some learning required to understand how that looks. Q: What steps did you take towards commercialization? What did you learn? (eg. would you start the process earlier?) A: Early steps were technically focused: scalability, repeatability, application-based proof of concept. Early strategic steps came after technical work, but work focused on matching applications with strong FTC applicability with customer needs ‘pain points.’ We began working with a company building EV batteries. This led to a great deal of learning that springboarded us towards conversations with larger and more established manufacturers. Engaging with the customer more intentionally, and much earlier would have been critical. The first level is understanding need, which we did reasonably well. We misidenitfied barriers to adoption, which could have - in retrospect been identified much sooner. Same applies to thinking you understand strength of market pull, pain points, value propositions etc. Those things need to be constantly tested and when necessary, iterated. USEFUL NOTES: Storm Castle Technical Products: https://www.stormcastletechnicalproducts.com/ OpEx Society: https://www.opexsociety.org America's Future Series: https://www.americas-fs.org/ Talk to Cold Star: https://coldstartech.com/talk