When is the notification of the 2008 NASA grant winners? [Archive]

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Deacon Blues

18-11-2007, 09:21

Beth Sweet

18-11-2007, 09:26

It may have been modified when they had to extend the date for the California teams...

ChrisH

18-11-2007, 11:26

I thought it was tomorrow, and I could have sworn I read that filling out the application, but the application page says: "NASA will review submitted applications and inform teams of their selection via the NASA Robotics Alliance Project web site (http://robotics.nasa.gov) no later than Monday, 19 November 2007."

Now, I go to that link and there is no place to sign in or check a list that I'm seeing. So yeah. Anyone know anything, or am I just missing something really obvious?

Well one thing is that it is not the 19th yet and even if it was they might not post until Close of Business on that day. The additional time for California teams might have an influence, but it only applies to teams in the most affected areas and there are only a few of those. I did hear of one team that had their application in a laptop that was in a building that burned, so they had to redo it from scratch. But no number or location was given so it might just be hearsay.

The real issue is that, at least here on the West Coast, the group that does the evaluations has been innundated. I heard that they recieved at least twice as many applications as they expected. So the percentage of requests that are filled will drop dramatically this year. I am sure that the poor guys and gals that have to make the decisions are sweating over this right now.

There are other indicators, like a drop in the number of multi-regional teams, that indicate this is a really tough year for all teams. If your team has ever thought about hosting an off-season event, this might be a great year to start. If you are in Southern California and want to do so please contact me via e-mail. There is more help available than you might think.

Deacon Blues

18-11-2007, 11:33

dlavery

18-11-2007, 23:14

Oh, wow. I didn't realize there was such growth, but I guess I am on the other side of the country.

And the reason I posted this today and not on the 19th was that is says by the 19th, not on the 19th. So I wasn't sure if they'd already sent out notifications or if it was just a grammar thing.

It says "no later than Monday, 19 November 2007." Which means we still have 29 hours, 47 minutes to go (since the application period extended until the end of the day Hawaiian time, the response period will as well :) ).

-dave

Pavan Dave

19-11-2007, 04:05

It says "no later than Monday, 19 November 2007." Which means we still have 29 hours, 47 minutes to go (since the application period extended until the end of the day Hawaiian time, the response period will as well :) ).

-dave

Its answers like this that scare me soo much about FIRST. As kick-off gets closer and closer, I can see myself watching the NASA TV telecast and Dave coming on and saying,

"Thanks for tuning in guys, unfortunately we still have five more hours until it is the proper time in Alaska/Hawaii so that we can start! Don't go anywhere though because who knows, maybe we'll start at Pacific time or Mountain time, it all depends on how long it takes me to get to the nearest KK and grab some breakfast!!"

Zyik

19-11-2007, 13:03

"Thanks for tuning in guys, unfortunately we still have five more hours until it is the proper time in Alaska/Hawaii so that we can start! Don't go anywhere though because who knows, maybe we'll start at Pacific time or Mountain time, it all depends on how long it takes me to get to the nearest KK and grab some breakfast!!"

I'm going to have nightmares now. Thanks. :rolleyes:

neoshaakti

19-11-2007, 13:21

yeah all, we are mad nervousssssss

Pavan, whats KK?

Lil' Lavery

19-11-2007, 13:27

yeah all, we are mad nervousssssss

Pavan, whats KK?

Krispy Kreme..... :ahh: :ahh: :ahh:
Poor deprived NJers and your lack of Krispy Kremes. There's one in NYC though, perhaps you should drive up and check it out. ;)

Wayne C.

19-11-2007, 13:32

Krispy Kreme..... :ahh: :ahh: :ahh:
Poor deprived NJers and your lack of Krispy Kremes. There's one in NYC though, perhaps you should drive up and check it out. ;)

be nice Sean- he's one of the new guys

Lil' Lavery

19-11-2007, 15:45

be nice Sean- he's one of the new guys

Still doesn't change that the state of New Jersey lacks Krispy Kreme stores ;)

Bsteckler

19-11-2007, 18:35

There is a page on the usfirst.org titled "NASA grants announced" but it's blank, mabey this means nobody got one :rolleyes:.

vivek16

19-11-2007, 19:59

this suspense is killing me. I was on the nasa website hitting the refresh button for half an hour this morning... sigh... maybe ill just study for that math test tomorrow and check on it in the morning.

-vivek

p.s. only 8 hours and 27 minutes left...

cabman1

19-11-2007, 20:42

They're alive! They just posted this about 1 minute ago on http://robotics.nasa.gov/ :

FIRST Robotics Competition

The NASA application for FIRST Robotics Competition sponsorship is now closed. The application directions page remains available for informational purposes.
NOTICE: The list of sponsorship recipients will be posted here as soon as they are available.

vivek16

19-11-2007, 21:03

cabman1

19-11-2007, 21:17

If youre using firefox, just download this plugin: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/115 and set it to refresh http://robotics.nasa.gov/ every minute or so and just keep your browser on that page. If you look at it every few minutes, you wont have to keep refreshing it.

It takes away some of the craziness! :yikes:

Beth Sweet

19-11-2007, 21:21

vivek16

19-11-2007, 21:24

thanks, that is an interesting application.

-vivek

p.s. thank you beth sweet. I guess i will be getting up at 4 am central time to check... :D

cabman1

19-11-2007, 21:25

Ok folks, go do some homework and studying. Lavery Claus and his elves are working hard and will be here by midnight* to give information to all of the good little girls and boys...

*Midnight Hawaii time
What time zone is that? For the deadline they used Hawaiian time. I guess that means there wont be anything until 0500 EST. Besides, reading the Scarlet letter isn't exactly as suspenseful as a NASA grant...

vivek16

19-11-2007, 21:45

I have set my alarm for 3:55 CST.

I have a box of Krispy Kremes waiting for dave if he chooses our team :)

Although FIRST doesnt approve of bribery, dlavery might...

thanks, vivek

i am kidding though

dlavery

19-11-2007, 22:15

this suspense is killing me. I was on the nasa website hitting the refresh button for half an hour this morning... sigh...

Oh, so YOU are the one that was doing that all day...

We noticed.

-dave

vivek16

19-11-2007, 22:46

Oh, so YOU are the one that was doing that all day...

We noticed.

-dave
hehe. well it was only in the morning about 7ish. it wasnt all day :)

p.s. what the kamen are you doing on CD when you are supposed to be choosing team 2264 to give the NASA grant to? FOCUS dave, FOCUS.

ShortBang

19-11-2007, 23:11

vivek16

19-11-2007, 23:19

so me and Deacon Blues are so having an internet party tonight waiting to see who gets the grants. We did last night too, but gave up when we realized all our efforts were futile. hopefully we get to bed before 6 tommorow... with us living on the east coast and all.
I will join you guys around 5 minutes before midnight in hawaii. and I am setting my refresh button to every single second.

going to sleep now, vivek

Pavan Dave

20-11-2007, 00:17

What good is participating in FIRST if you don't learn that you have to develop a program to run a custom circuit that plugs your alarm clock to your computer so that when the size of the Robotics.nasa.gov home page gets bigger [file size], or gets modified, you get electrocuted so that you can't snooze!*....

Pavan.

*Comment due to lack of sleep..nonetheless I hope you enjoy it!

Deacon Blues

20-11-2007, 00:34

Yeah. This is tough man. Staying awake is crazy when you are sick and have been prescribed Robitussin C and even the normal dose makes you want to sleep for days.

But hey, Conan 14th anniversary and theFuturama DVD movie to keep me up.

Deacon Blues

20-11-2007, 05:24

Results are in!

http://robotics.arc.nasa.gov/events/2008_sponsorship.php

2199 got it!

neoshaakti

20-11-2007, 06:39

yay 2554 got it too!

Travis Hoffman

20-11-2007, 10:56

Congrats to all winners, but a special shout out to the Champion Lightning Bots of 2010 on earning a 2nd year team grant. :)

dkohler

20-11-2007, 10:58

Is anyone else having trouble accessing the NASA site? I wanted to check the awarded grants and cannot even access the site.

Cory

20-11-2007, 11:01

Works fine for me. I'm going to merge this thread with the other one, as a new one is not necessary.

ShortBang

20-11-2007, 11:01

so the rookie team near us that we were mentoring, which was a requirement for our second year grant, didnt get a first year grant, and now probably wont compete. does this affect our grant status?

Cory

20-11-2007, 11:07

so the rookie team near us that we were mentoring, which was a requirement for our second year grant, didnt get a first year grant, and now probably wont compete. does this affect our grant status?

My understanding of the grants is that if you are not directly sponsoring a rookie (which you've made an attempt to do), and have expressed a willingness to mentor a rookie were one available to do so, you meet the requirements of the grant.

However, I am no authority on this, and you should direct your question to Cassie Bowman (cbowman[AT]mail.arc.nasa.gov)

Richard Wallace

20-11-2007, 11:16

Is anyone else having trouble accessing the NASA site? I wanted to check the awarded grants and cannot even access the site.I had some trouble earlier, then it worked for a while, and now it is not responding again. Probably just more than the usual traffic. ;)

While it was responding I copied the list:Team # School Name City ST Status

San Diego Regional Challenge Grants
1998 Robichuad High School Dearborn Heights MI Provisional
2032 San Diego High Educational Complex San Diego CA
2042 Academy of the Canyons Middle College High School Santa Clarita CA Provisional
2066 Southwest High School El Centro CA

Hawaii Regional Challenge Grants
25 North Brunswick Twp. High School North Brunswick NJ
359 Waialua High School Waialua HI
597 Foshay Learning Center Los Angeles CA
846 Lynbrook High School San Jose CA
2090 Punahou School Honolulu HI Provisional
2348 Moanalua High School Honolulu HI
2437 Sacred Hearts Academy Honolulu HI
2438 Iolani School Honolulu HI
2439 H.P. Baldwin High School Wailuku HI
2440 Saint Louis School Honolulu HI
2441 Maryknoll School High School Division Honolulu HI
2442 St. Andrew's Priory School Honolulu HI
2445 Kapolei High School Kapolei HI
2453 Hawaii Baptist Academy Honolulu HI
2454 Radford High School Honolulu HI
2455 Honoka'a High Honoka'a HI
2460 Kohala High School Kapaau HI
2465 Island School Lihue HI
2466 Waimea High School Waimea HI
2467 James Campbell High School Ewa Beach HI
2475 Parker School Kamuela HI
2477 Waipahu High Waipahu HI
2504 W.R. Farrington High School Honolulu HI

Lafayette Regional Challenge Grants
1985 Hazelwood Central High School Florissant MO
2015 Wavecrest Career Academy Holland MI Provisional
2040 Dunlap High School Dunlap IL Provisional
2081 Peoria Notre Dame High School Peoria IL
2151 Proviso Mathematics and Science Academy Forest Park IL
2171 Crown Pont High School Crown Point IN

New Orleans Regional Challenge Grants
2065 H. W. Byers Holly Springs MS Provisional
2078 St. Paul's School Covington LA Provisional
2080 Hammond High School Hammond LA Provisional
2173 St. Stanislaus College Bay St. Louis MS Provisional
2182 Slidell high School Slidell LA Provisional
2190 Petal High School Petal MS
2540 South Pontotoc High School Pontotoc MS
2553 Pearl High School Pearl MS
2556 Niceville High School Niceville FL
2580 St. Augustine High School New Orleans LA
2581 Carroll High School Monroe LA

Las Vegas Regional Challenge Grants
2025 Barstow High School Barstow CA Provisional
2034 Legacy High School North Las Vegas NV
2037 AFNORTH International School Brunssum, Netherlands 6445 EE VA
2057 Arbor View High School Las Vegas NV
2061 Canyon Springs High School N Las Vegas NV Provisional
2139 Southeast Career Technical Academy Las Vegas NV Provisional

Milwaukee Regional Challenge Grants
1984 Shawnee Mission South High School Overland Park KS
2039 Rockford Public Schools District 205 Rockford IL
2116 Stoughton High School Stoughton WI
2129 Southwest High School Minneapolis MN
2136 Illinois Manufacturing Foundation Chicago IL Provisional
2143 Immanual Luthern High School Eau Claire WI Provisional
2153 Chassell Township School Chassell MI Provisional
2062 Waukesha South High School Waukesha WI
2194 St Marys Springs High School Fond du Lac WI Provisional
2202 Brookfield East High School Brookfield WI
2549 Washburn High School Minneapolis MN

New Program Growth - Second Year Teams (Rookies in 2007)
1991 University High School of Science and Engineering Hartford CT
2002 Tualatin High School Tualatin OR
2010 Champion High School Warren OH
2014 Hazelwood East High School St. Louis MO Provisional
2016 Ewing High School Ewing NJ
2021 Fredericksburg Academy Fredericksburg VA Provisional
2028 Phoebus High School Hampton VA Provisional
2029 Sun Valley Charter High School Ramona CA
2031 Walnut Ridge High School Columbus OH Provisional
2035 Carmel High School Carmel CA Provisional
2038 Spalding High School Griffin GA
2046 Tahoma High School Covington WA
2067 Guilford High School Guilford CT
2068 Osbourn Park High School Manassas VA
2070 Ridgefield Memorial High School Ridgefield NJ
2075 West Catholic High School Grand Rapids MI
2083 Conifer High School Conifer CO
2085 Vacaville High School Vacaville CA Provisional
2092 Beaufort High School Beaufort SC
2108 Green Hope High School Cary NC
2119 Sequoyah High School Canton GA Provisional
2130 Bonners Ferry High School Bonners Ferry ID
2132 Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High Baltimore MD Provisional
2137 Oxford High School Oxford MI
2147 West Valley High School spokane WA Provisional
2149 Central Valley High School Spokane Valley WA Provisional
2152 Spruce Creek High School Port Orange FL
2159 San Leandro HIgh School San Leandro CA Provisional
2161 Walt Whitman High School Huntington Station NY
2164 Harrisonville High School Harrisonville MO
2165 Tri County Technology Center Bartlesville OK
2170 Glastonbury High School Glastonbury CT
2180 Hamilton High School East- Joseph Steinert Memorial Hamilton NJ
2187 Academy for Technology and Academics Conway SC
2191 Nottingham High School Trenton NJ
2192 Newport High School Newport OR Provisional
2199 Liberty High School Eldersburg MD

Program Growth - First Year Teams (Rookies in 2008)
2332 Fairview High School Fairview OK
2333 Sapulpa High School Sapulpa OK
2336 Cosby High School Midlothian VA
2338 Oswego East High School Oswego IL
2339 Antelope Valley High School Lancaster CA
2341 Gordon Cooper Technology Center Shawnee OK
2342 Greater Nashya FIRST Robotics, Club, Inc. Merrimack NH
2344 Saunders Trades and Technical High School Yonkers NY
2349 Wayland High School Wayland MA
2354 Duncan High School Duncan OK
2357 Raymore Peculiar High School Peculiar MO
2359 Edmond Santa Fe High School Edmond OK
2371 Morris High School Morris OK
2372 Elgin Public Schools Elgin OK
2373 Caddo Kiowa Technology Center Fort Cobb OK
2376 Bishop Kelley High School Tulsa OK
2378 Taloga High School Taloga OK
2385 Wright Christian Academy Tulsa OK
2387 Columbus Alternative High Schoo Columbus OH
2391 Broken Arrow Senior High School Broken Arrow OK
2395 Oklahoma City Homeschool Robotics Team Oklahoma City OK
2399 Hathaway Brown School Shaker Heights OH
2400 Sheridan High School Sheridan WY
2402 James Monroe High School Fredericksburg VA
2409 Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School New Bedford MA
2411 Joseph L. Meek Professional Technical High School Portland OR
2415 The Westminster Schools Atlanta GA
2422 Ridge Community High School Davenport FL
2423 Watertown High School Watertown MA
2425 Hillsborough High School Magnet Tampa FL
2426 Mountain Valley Academy part of Ramona Community School Ramona CA
2435 Great Plains Technology Center Lawton OK
2462 Marine Military Academy Chicago IL
2464 Pahrump Valley High School Pahrump NV
2468 Westlake High School Austin TX
2469 Idabel High School Idabel OK
2471 Camas High School Camas WA
2473 Cupertino High School Cupertino CA
2483 Westover High School Fayetteville NC
2488 Studio Academy Charter High School Rochester MN
2493 River Springs Charter School Riverside CA
2512 Duluth East High School Duluth MN
2517 Evergreen High School Vancouver WA
2522 Lynnwood High School Lynnwood WA
2523 St. Johnsbury Academy St. Johnsbury VT
2528 Western High School Baltimore MD
2536 Carver Vocational Technical High School Baltimore MD
2537 Atholton High School Columbia MD
2539 Palmyra Area High School Palmyra PA
2542 Gresham High School Gresham OR
2545 Columbia Heights High School Columbia Heights MN
2546 Digital Harbor High School Baltimore MD
2547 Bay View High School Milwaukee WI
2548 Genesis High School Milwaukee WI
2550 Oregon City Community Schools Oregon City OR
2554 John P Stevens High School Edison NJ
2579 Long Island City High School Long Island City NY
2582 Lufkin High School Lufkin TX
2590 Robbinsville High School Robbinsville NJ
2595 Wallis Annenberg High School Los Angeles CA
2596 James J. Ferris High School Jersey City NJ
2597 Sterling High School Houston TX
2599 Alternative Education Program Chula Vista CA
2603 Highland High School Medina OH
2614 Mountaineer Girls and Boys Club Morgantown WV

University Space Grants
1798 Flowing Wells High School Tucson AZ
1828 Vail High School Vail AZ

VanMan

20-11-2007, 14:23

Team 2108 got the grant, so Team Awkward Turtle is coming back to NASA/VCU with more turtles!!

Madison

20-11-2007, 14:38

so the rookie team near us that we were mentoring, which was a requirement for our second year grant, didnt get a first year grant, and now probably wont compete. does this affect our grant status?

Talk to your regional director about finding funding for your rookie team. It'd be a shame if a rookie team were not able to compete because they didn't receive a NASA grant, especially considering some of the other folks that are receiving them.

vivek16

20-11-2007, 15:52

too bad 2264 was not chosen. Guess we'll have to fundraise more :)

-vivek

Boydean

20-11-2007, 17:36

Doug G

20-11-2007, 18:18

Our team did not get the first year grant from NASA. I was looking through the teams that did and noticed that most of them are solid schools(meaning the school it self is making the team). Since our team is not 100% part of a school but is a full public team with some partnership from the local technical college(as stated in the form), does this at all effect your chances of getting the grant?

From the grant requirements... "Following your registration you will receive one additional request for data at your registered email. In addition to your application submission you will need to supply the following supplemental documentation before November 9, 2007, 23:59:59 HST. We must receive an email from your accredited educational sponsor (school or other educational entity) endorsing the team's desire to apply for funding, confirming the educational sponsor's commitment to the team, and agreeing to the conditions of sponsorship."

Did that happen? I know in the past, only public school teams qualified and when you fill out the application it asks for detailed information regarding the sponsoring school (enrollment, free lunch %, etc...).

On a different note it seems like not as many returning 2nd year teams got the grant or may not have applied for one. Of the 4 rookies in our area last year got a NASA grant, only one got a 2nd year grant.

Elgin Clock

20-11-2007, 19:45

Hahahahaha! I was just told about this team and their win of a NASA grant.

Team 2372 Elgin Public Schools - Elgin, OK

That definitely just made my day. :)

Anyone know where this (undoubtedly) awesome future team is competing in '08?

lukevanoort

20-11-2007, 19:53

Hahahahaha! I was just told about this team and their win of a NASA grant.

That definitely just made my day. :)

Anyone know where this (undoubtedly) awesome future team is competing in '08?
Oklahoma regional.

Elgin Clock

20-11-2007, 19:55

Oklahoma regional.

Well.. that kinda makes sense now doesn't it? lol
I didn't realize there was a regional in Oklahoma, or that would have been my first guess... I guess. :rolleyes:

Cool beans. I think I'll be keeping an eye on that regional's stats that weekend then. Thanks for the info.

JaneYoung

20-11-2007, 20:02

Well.. that kinda makes sense now doesn't it? lol
I didn't realize there was a regional in Oklahoma, or that would have been my first guess... I guess. :rolleyes:

Cool beans. I think I'll be keeping an eye on that regional's stats that weekend then. Thanks for the info.

Yup, the Oklahoma Regional is one of the new ones this year. I'm looking forward to seeing it in person and hopefully lending a hand. I'll be sure to say howdy to the Elgin team for you, Elgin. :)

Andy Baker

20-11-2007, 20:15

Yup, the Oklahoma Regional is one of the new ones this year. I'm looking forward to seeing it in person and hopefully lending a hand. I'll be sure to say howdy to the Elgin team for you, Elgin. :)

Excellent, Jane... I'll be there too, volunteering. Maybe we can convince the Clock-man to venture out.

Oklahoma looks to be one of the hot places to be this year.

Andy B.

dlavery

21-11-2007, 13:03

I will not comment on any one particular application and why it did or did not receive a grant. However, I do want to make a few observations about the evaluation and selection process, and offer a few “lessons learned” that might be useful to those who apply for NASA grants in the future.

Having been through the evaluation and selection process several times now, I can tell you that the decisions are not easy, and some very tough choices have to be made about which subset of the submitted applications can be selected and awarded. The processes for advertising, evaluating, selecting and awarding grants and other sponsorships are all run by real people. They put a lot of time and effort into making the best selections possible given the various constraints and requirements that are in place. Some aspects of the evaluation process have to be subjective, and are based on the reviewers ability to extract pertinent information from the application provided by the teams. In many cases, teams can improve their probability of being selected for an award by focusing on a few specific areas of the application. Here are few suggestions:

-- READ THE INSTRUCTIONS COMPLETELY AND THOROUGHLY! This one would seem intuitively obvious, but it was amazing to see the significant number of applications that were submitted were it was obvious that the submission instructions were not followed. As a result, the information provided was incomplete, incorrect, or redundant, and the application had to be declined.

-- There are different types of grants available (e.g. “Challenge Grants” and “Growth Grants”). Each type has specific requirements and limitations on who can receive them. Make sure you read and understand those requirements. Many proposals had to be declined because the team was not eligible for the type of grant for which they applied. For example, no rookie grants were available for the Las Vegas regional for 2008 (as documented in the application instructions). Yet we received several rookie grant applications for this event, which then all had to be turned down.

-- If you have received a NASA grant, make sure you complete all your obligations before requesting another one. For example, when you receive a NASA grant, you agree to provide NASA with a copy of your Chairman’s Award submission and complete the entry/exit survey so we can track the effectiveness of the program. More than six months after the end of the 2007 competition season, many teams still have not fulfilled this requirement. Because they had not complied with the requirements of the 2007 grant, despite several request from NASA to do so, many second-year teams had to be declined that could have otherwise been funded.

-- Make sure that you collect and assemble ALL of the required information before you hit the “submit” button. Many applications had incomplete submissions. The most common omission is the letter from the principal (or other authorized official) documenting institutional support for the team. On average, one application in four did not include this item.

-- Put some honest effort into the narrative answers. The purpose of the narratives is twofold: to encourage the teams to really think through all the preparations they will need to maximize the probability that they will have a successful season, and to provide NASA with information about your team so they can do a comparative evaluation. Remember, when you submit an application for a grant, you are competing with other teams for the grant funds. This year, NASA received more than twice as many applications than could be awarded with the available funds. As a result, the evaluation process looked closely at the quality of the grant application. Teams that provided full, complete, well thought out responses to the narrative questions tended to fair much better than those that gave quick perfunctory answers that really did not support the contention that they were prepared for the 2008 season. When NASA only has enough money to fund a limited number of applications, and some show great care and thought in their preparation and others do not, making the choice between them is easy.

-- Make sure your team is actually registered with FIRST! Submitting an application for a NASA grant does NOT automatically register your team – you need to complete that step separately. There were several teams that had to be tracked down and encouraged to register with FIRST, thinking that an application submission was all they had to do. By the time of the evaluations, some of them still had not registered with FIRST, so we had to decline their applications because they were not an official (FIRST-recognized) team.

-- If you are applying for a Challenge Grant, make sure you are registered for the event for which you are seeking a grant. Challenge Grants are tied to specific regional competitions, and if your team is not registered for the event, it does you no good to apply for a grant for that event. Several applications had to be denied for this reason (again, this gets back to the "read all the instructions" part – this was covered in the submission instructions).

Hopefully, this list will offer a little insight into why some of the applications were not selected for award, and how they can be improved in the future to increase your probability of success.

On one final note, if you do receive sponsorship (from NASA or anyone else), say "thank you." This is not an absolute requirement. You are not under any obligation to do so. You will still be able to get a grant if you don’t do this. But it is an appropriate acknowledgement of the sponsorship being provided, it is both a gracious and a professional thing to do, and it is simple good manners.

I am reminded of a team from a few years ago. As the season started, the team went to great lengths to thank a company that had donated $120 worth of safety goggles to the team for their support. They wrote two thank-you letters, sent a team picture, gave a full written account of the successes of their season, and prominently featured the logo of the company on their robot. All of that was very good and appropriate. But the organization that provided them with $12,000 in direct sponsorship never heard anything from the team. And when the head of the organization (who was familiar with the team) asked "were they happy that we are sponsoring them? Do they want us to continue? Can we be there to cheer for them at the competition?" he was dismayed to hear "we don’t know – they have never spoken to us again after taking the cheque" in response.

The team still got the sponsorship for that year and the next. But the people involved with the sponsoring organization never forgot about the lack of a simple "thank you." And to this day, they still remember who was on that team (both mentors and students), and how they had to make excuses for the behavior of the team to the head of the organization. It is likely that they will be slightly less enthusiastic about doing business with any of those former team members again should the occasion ever arise. The moral of the story: You can build bridges, or you can burn them. The choice is yours.

-dave

Richard Wallace

21-11-2007, 14:23

Thanks for giving us all a peek into the NASA grant process, Dave. Many teams (mine included) have benefited from this great program in past years. Attention to the points you made above will (hopefully) enable many others to benefit in future years.... -- There are different types of grants available (e.g. “Challenge Grants” and “Growth Grants”). Each type has specific requirements and limitations on who can receive them. Make sure you read and understand those requirements. Many proposals had to be declined because the team was not eligible for the type of grant for which they applied. For example, no rookie grants were available for the Las Vegas regional for 2008 (as documented in the application instructions). Yet we received several rookie grant applications for this event, which then all had to be turned down.Apparently not all LVR rookie grant applications were turned down. If I understand Dave's point above, there were some applications for Regional Challenge Grants submitted by new teams planning to attend the Las Vegas Regional, and these had to be turned down because such grants are not available for that event this year, right? One rookie team that is registered for the Las Vegas Regional (FRC 2464) did receive a Program Growth Grant; per the instructions (http://frc-grants.arc.nasa.gov/), that type of grant is not tied to any particular competition. So at least on LVR team read the application instructions and followed them correctly.

NASA is the best friend FIRST has, and the total of 165 grants awarded to FRC teams for 2008 is just one of many ways that fact is made clear for all to see. NASA sponsored teams in particular, and all teams who receive any kind of sponsorship (isn't that all of us?) should heed the advice that Dave saved for last:

On one final note, if you do receive sponsorship (from NASA or anyone else), say "thank you." This is not a hard requirement. You are not under any obligation to do so. You will still be able to get a grant if you don’t do this. But it is an appropriate acknowledgement of the sponsorship being provided, it is both a gracious and a professional thing to do, and it is simple good manners.

... The moral of the story: You can build bridges, or you can burn them. The choice is yours.

-dave

Deacon Blues

21-11-2007, 14:30

Well, thank you Mr. Lavery for your work in the grant process and continued support of FIRST. And of course thank you NASA for the financial support.

Is there any specific e-mail address or mailing address to use to contact NASA in a more professional way in order to more properly thank them?

Andrew Schuetze

29-11-2007, 22:47

-- There are different types of grants available (e.g. “Challenge Grants” and “Growth Grants”). Each type has specific requirements and limitations on who can receive them. Make sure you read and understand those requirements. Many proposals had to be declined because the team was not eligible for the type of grant for which they applied.
-dave

Thanks Dave and I thought that I had read the reqs thoroughly myself.:eek: I had not looked at seeking this source of funding since year two back in 2002 but ...
Now giving the reqs the eagle eye in hindsight I see it clearly now:D , veteran teams could only apply for a Challenge grant to Hawaii:ahh: Key mistake was the wording that these are good for veterans at a new regional for first year only. Bayou was new last year too bad OKC was not a NASA sponsored regional but they seem to be busting at the seams with STATE money for grants and teams.

Sorry Dave and Co. I wasted your time and mine,

APS

dlavery

30-11-2007, 15:23

Is there any specific e-mail address or mailing address to use to contact NASA in a more professional way in order to more properly thank them?

Dr. James Green
Director, Planetary Systems Division
Science Missions Directorate
NASA Headquarters
300 E Street, SW
Washington DC 20546

Jim is my division director, and a great supporter of FIRST, BotBall, BEST, the NASA Robotics Academy, and many other programs. You may not see his name frequently within the FIRST community, but without his advocacy and support NASA would not be able to participate at anywhere near the level that we do.

-dave

-dave

RoboMom

30-11-2007, 15:29

Thanks Dave for who to send the thanks to.
We have a lot of the thankful teams in Maryland.