Robert Cooper, President of the Product Development Institute, was the invited keynote speaker at NASA's recent conference on technology readiness. The NASA-hosted conference, entitled "Process for Assessing Technology Maturity and Determining Requirements for Successful Infusion into Programs" was held in Washington, DC on Sept. 16-18. The focus of the conference was on improving the concept-to-operational process for new technology projects. Cooper's keynote address outlined the Stage-GateÒ process and how it has been successfully applied to technology development projects. NASA's TRL methodology (technology readiness levels) - a seven stage process from concept to space, and similar in concept to Cooper's Stage-GateÒ process - was outlined, along with many examples of its application in NASA programs. The Army Missile Defense Command uses a multi-stage process to develop new missile systems, a process similar to the Stage-GateÒ process. The example of the development of the Patriot Missile System was described. Overall, and in spite of Hurricane Isabel, the conference was great success, and most agreed that commercial processes, such as Stage-GateÒ, could indeed be applied to government and military programs.