improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article is an orphan as no other articles link to it . please introduce links to this page from related articles ; try the find link tool for suggestions . june 2015 this article relies too much on references to primary sources . please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources . june 2010 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message viaspace type public traded as otcqb vspc genre clean energy founded viaspace 1998 viaspace 2005 key people dr. carl kukkonen mr. sung hsien chang owner dr. carl kukkonen divisions renewable energy alternative energy monitoring systems subsidiaries dmfcc viaspace green energy ionfinity website www.viaspace.com viaspace is a clean energy company focused on commercializing technologies from nasa caltech university of southern california and the united states department of defense . 1 2 the company operates in the alternative energy renewable energy and chemical sensing sectors . the company is associated with the jet propulsion lab jpl and the california institute of technology through its ceo dr. carl kukkonen the former director of the center for space microelectronics technology csmt and manager of supercomputing at the nasa jet propulsion laboratory . 3 contents 1 history 2 subsidiaries 2.1 direct methanol fuel cell corporation 2.2 viaspace green energy 2.3 ionfinity 3 references 4 external links history edit viaspace was founded in 1998 as a caltech nasa spin off . the company began with the objective of transforming space and defense technologies that were originally developed at jpl into commercial products . 2 in 1998 viaspace signed a memorandum of understanding with rgc to commercialize a quantum well infrared photodetector . this led to a joint venture partnership between the two companies called qwip technologies qwiptech which was incorporated in december 1998 . 4 dr. carl kukkonen ceo of viaspace served as initial ceo of qwip technologies until rgc acquired 100 % of qwiptech in 2000 . 5 6 7 since rgc s qwiptech acquisition viaspace has had no stake in qwiptech nor holds any quantum well infrared photodetector patents . 8 in the summer of 1998 viaspace also signed a memorandum of understanding with omicron technologies to form a joint venture for the commercialization of applications of a technology known as active pixel sensors aps . 4 it was anticipated at the time of the joint venture that aps technology would be a strong competitor in its field and ultimately have a chance of replacing the widely used charged coupled devices ccds used in imaging technology . 4 however in 2000 omicron announced that it had dropped out of the project due to financial issues . 9 viaspace decided to discontinue commercialization efforts for aps technology because it would be too costly . 9 commercialization of the aps technology by omicron and viaspace never materialized ; however viaspace reacquired three patents from the failed omicron partnership . these three patents are not associated with the imaging technology but rather in the field of radio satellite technology . 10 the three radio satellite technology patents reacquired through the failed omicron viaspace joint venture are being applied toward viaspace s inactive ecarmerce inc. subsidiary although there are no plans to further develop the ecarmerce subsidiary toward commercialization at this time . in 1999 a company called spectrasensors inc acquired exclusive patent rights from nasa and caltech to commercialize gas sensor technology . spectrasensors became a viaspace subsidiary in which dr. carl kukkonen was ceo . in 2001 a company called tunable photonics was spun off from spectrasensors . dr. carl kukkonen served as ceo of viaspace spectrasensors and tunable photonics during 2001 . in 2002 a company called fiberspace acquired tunable photonics . in 2003 spectrasensors reacquired the remaining intellectual property from tunable photonics . presently spectrasensors is a profitable company separate from viaspace . on august 14 2000 viaspace and hewlett packard announced a strategic alliance in which hp would provide us 10 million to viaspace for commercialization of new technologies . 11 five million of hp s 10 million went to the development of viachange.com which viaspace no longer operates . 11 in 2002 a new company direct methanol fuel cell corporation dmfcc was formed . dmfcc caltech and usc signed a letter of intent for dmfcc to acquire rights to 22 issued and over 40 pending u.s. and foreign patents . these include the original and fundamental patent for using methanol dissolved in water as the fuel for direct methanol fuel cells . in exchange caltech and usc became equity shareholders in dmfcc and receive a royalty on sales . dr. carl kukkonen was and continues to operate as ceo of dmfcc . 12 in 2005 viaspace became a public company through a merger between viaspace and global wide production . the name viaspace was changed to viaspace all caps . dr. carl kukkonen remained ceo mr. amjad abdallat took the position of vice president and chief operating officer and mr. stephen muzi became the chief financial officer secretary and treasurer of viaspace . 13 at the beginning of 2006 dmfcc exercised an option for a worldwide license to 50 issued and 50 pending fuel cell patents from caltech and usc . 14 dmfcc currently owns 65 issued and 33 pending patents related to fuel cells . 15 in 2006 viaspace s wholly owned security and homeland defense subsidiary arroyo sciences inc. was renamed viaspace security inc. 16 in 2007 viaspace security s expert system software shine expert system licensed from caltech was awarded the nasa space act award . 17 in may 2007 viaspace established a new subsidiary viaspace energy . 18 in october 2008 viaspace entered the biofuels market with the announcement of the acquisition of inter pacific arts corp ipa a company with a license to grow a fast growing grass . 19 ipa also sells framed art. 19 the framed art business of ipa is viaspace s only non high technology business unit and is being used to fund the growth of the grass segment of the business . 19 viaspace sold its humidity sensor line in april 2008 in order to focus on near term projects . 19 viaspace created viaspace green energy in 2009 as its alternative energy subsidiary . 20 viaspace is currently seeking or already has undisclosed contracts for dmfcc products and giant king grass products . in 2010 viaspace announced the launch of its first product green logs . 21 about a month later viaspace green energy announced its first power plant mou . 22 presently two of the three viaspace business units the alternative energy and chemical sensing units are based on exclusive technologies developed by jpl and funded by nasa and the dod . the renewable energy business unit is based on a worldwide license granted by china gate to grow giant king grass a non genetically modified hybrid grass . subsidiaries edit direct methanol fuel cell corporation edit for the alternative energy market viaspace subsidiary direct methanol fuel cell corporation develops and manufactures disposable fuel cartridges for fuel cell powered electronic devices such as notebook computers mobile phones and military systems . 23 24 caltech and usc are equity shareholders in dmfcc and will receive royalties on any sales . 25 dmfcc currently owns 65 issued and 33 pending patents related to fuel cells . 15 laws forbidding methanol and other fuels onboard aircraft has deterred large oems from proceeding with commercialization of fuel cell powered devices . the regulation and safety standards of fuel cells is one cause of the long delay for the roll out of direct methanol fuel cell powered devices . the decisions to allow direct methanol fuel cells onboard aircraft will enhance the future prospect of viaspace . 26 27 viaspace green energy edit for the renewable energy markets its subsidiary viaspace green energy is cultivating giant king grass a proprietary fast growing perennial grass for the production of liquid biofuels for transportation and as a renewable substitute or replacement for coal as the heat source in stationary electricity generating power plants . 28 29 by june 2010 the company had 279 acres 113 ha of land under cultivation . 30 ionfinity edit through its subsidiary ionfinity viaspace is involved in collaborations with caltech and nasa s jet propulsion laboratory to develop and commercialize new sensor technology that can detect very small amounts of hazardous materials such as explosives chemical biological weapons toxic gases and drugs . 31 32 ionfinity s sensors are based on mass spectrometry technology . ionfinity is partnered with general dynamics corp. sionex corp. and imaginative technologies llc . 31 references edit about us . viaspace . retrieved 2010 06 25 . a b viaspace 10k 123109.htm . sec.gov . retrieved 2010 06 25 . completion of 11.4 m private placement financing to advance aps technology . business wire . findarticles.com . 1999 02 18 . retrieved 2010 06 25 . a b c omicron technologies signs memorandum of understanding with viaspace technologies llc . business wire . 1998 08 14 . retrieved 2010 06 25 via highbeam research . rainbow group hires qwip inventor from jet propulsion laboratory ; highbeam research free article . highbeam.com . 2000 04 07 . retrieved 2010 06 25 . rainbow to acquire remaining 60 % of the qwip technology rights free article . highbeam.com . 2000 11 01 . retrieved 2010 06 25 . rainbow s qwiptech appoints new chief operations officer free article . highbeam.com . 2000 11 08 . retrieved 2010 06 25 . qwip systems inc. company profile yahoo finance . biz.yahoo.com . retrieved 2010 06 25 . a b omicron technologies drops aps technology . . business wire . 2000 04 28 . retrieved 2010 06 25 via highbeam research . ecarmerce inc. acquires radio satellite technology from omicron technologies . . business wire . 2000 08 23 . retrieved 2010 06 25 via highbeam research . a b hp and viaspace technologies announce strategic alliance to commercialize innovative new technologies ; hp to provide up to 10 million in financing . business wire . 2000 08 14 . retrieved 2010 06 25 via highbeam research . caltech and university of southern california fuel cell technology to be commercialized . ewire.com . 2002 02 27 . retrieved 2010 06 25 . global wide publication ltd. complete merger . pr newswire . 2005 06 21 . retrieved 2010 06 25 via highbeam research . viaspace subsidiary exercises option for 100 caltech and university of southern california technology patents enabling company to offer patent protection to oems that will use viaspace s fuel cell cartridges . pr newswire . 2006 01 25 . retrieved 2010 06 25 via highbeam research . a b intellectual property . viaspace . retrieved 2010 06 25 . viaspace announces name change of subsidiary to viaspace security inc. pr newswire . 2006 12 18 . retrieved 2010 06 25 via highbeam research . jpl shine expert system software licensed by viaspace from caltech is recipient of nasa space act award . m2 presswire . 2007 01 17 . retrieved 2010 06 25 via highbeam research . viaspace expands focus on energy products including new opportunities in clean energy sector . pr newswire press release . 2007 05 02 . retrieved 2010 06 25 via highbeam research . a b c d viaspace completes acquisition of inter pacific which adds 5 million in revenue . pr newswire . 2008 10 28 . retrieved 2010 06 25 via highbeam research . viaspace launches new website . pr newswire press release . highbeam.com . 2009 05 28 . retrieved 2010 06 25 via highbeam research online press releases . viaspace introduces first green energy product . pr newswire . 2010 05 25 . retrieved 2010 06 25 via highbeam research . viaspace ssigns agreement with german biogas