Local company reaches for the sky

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - NASA didn't give Dayton a shuttle, but that doesn't mean the space program isn't soaring here.

Dr. Patrick Hood started this business in his basement.

The California entrepreneur landed at Wright-Patt and never left the Dayton area.

Now Cornerstone Research Group is celebrating 15 years.

"You have a phenomenal workforce and a phenomenal group of young, energetic group of people who know how to create things. You just have to have the opportunity for them to create things and get out of the way," said Patrick Hood, Ph.D.

NASA provides some of that opportunity.  CRG has three active contracts with NASA and two new ones.

Last year NASA provided a half million dollars worth of work for the company which represents 10-to-15 percent of its business.

It just takes a long time to mature technology and NASA provides a lot of that early stage funding with high-risk high-payoff type concepts," said Hood.

An example is shape memory polymer. This plastic when heated can go from being stiff to elastic and back to its original shape when cooled.

This technology led to a spin-off company for Cornerstone and it all started with a request from NASA.

Trusses can stay small in a spacecraft during launch and can be heated in space when needed and become big enough to be useful.

"We then had to know does this material really stand up to space so we were fortunate enough to get on the international space station."

Dr. Hood sees a bright future for Cornerstone. In 5 years he thinks CRG can spin-off four new businesses a year and maybe within a year go from 60-some employees to 100.

NASA's interest along with that of other government agencies will be key to reaching such lofty goals.

In ten years time, Cornerstone Research Group says it's been able to secure in dollar value the most small business innovation research contracts in the state of Ohio.