Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) becomes the first Historically Black College/University to sign a Mentor-Protégé agreement with a prime contractor. The university signed a Mentor – Protégé Agreement with Pacific Architects and Engineers Incorporated (PAE) through its partnership with NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP).
Representatives from PVAMU were hosted at NASA Johnson Space Center to sign a Mentor – Protégé Agreement with PAE, one of the first such agreements made with a Historically Black College/University (HBCU). The team assembled included President Ruth Simmons, Vice President for Research, Innovation, and Sponsored Programs, Cajetan M. Akujuobi, Vice President for Business Affairs, Corey Bradford, and Senior Contracts Negotiator, Donna Elmore-Cole.
The NASA Mentor-Protégé Program (MPP) has the ability to uniquely transform a small business or minority-serving institution and enhance its capabilities to win contracts and subcontracts as a direct result of its participation. It will provide opportunities for students to participate in internships, serve as a platform to expound on the capabilities of our research efforts, and position Prairie View A&M University to grow its collaborator relationships with private industry partners.
The Mentor-Protégé Program has multiple benefits, as it will provide PVAMU with relevant technical and developmental assistance, and will open the opportunities for our procurement office, with the benefit of qualification for sole-source contracts from the program’s mentors.
The partnership has been a year in the works with the Senior Small Business Specialist NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) Office of Small Business Programs, Charles T. Williams, being marveled at the untapped resources at the university. PVAMU’s staff and faculty quickly established a relationship with the NASA Office of Small Business Programs.
With this new 12-month agreement PAE, a NASA JSC prime contractor will provide tactical business and technical support to assist PVAMU in gaining the competitive edge needed to attract larger and more substantial contracts. Donna Elmore-Cole, the Senior Contracts Negotiator at PVAMU states, “This strategic partnership with PAE, NASA JSC, is a multiple benefit project for our university. It will showcase our innovative technical capabilities, visionary faculty, and provide a gateway to incredible opportunities for students’ academic and career aspirations. Further, it will position PVAMU to secure future revenue streams that will support our steady and continued growth.”
Prairie View &M University has a long-established relationship with The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) including the Prairie View Solar Observatory (PVSO), and the Marshall Space Flight Center, the first ground-based Solar Research Facility, established in 1999. Since then, PVAMU has collaborated with NASA on a compendium of projects such as the Center for Radiation Engineering and Science for Space Exploration (CRESSE), NASA Microgravity University, NASA Minority Innovation Challenges Institute (MICI), Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program and the Thermal Science Research Center (TSRC).
Prairie View A&M University, the second oldest public institution of higher education in Texas. Their land-grant heritage and historical research history position it well for today’s significant challenges. Their capabilities include cyber security, food and water security, energy and the environment, radiation studies, signal/image/video and communication systems, wavelet-based applications, nanotechnology and biotechnology, health and educational disparities, evolutionary biology, computational science, leadership and business development, and the social and behavioral sciences. “Prairie View is open and ready to do business,” states Vice President Dr. Cajetan M. Akujuobi.