NASA grant question
 

I recently took a new job at a High School east of Canton, Ohio. I naturally talked up FRC and they are interested in starting a team. We are in the process of applying for the Rookie NASA grant, but I had a few questions.

1) If we are successful will the funds arrive in time to help with the cost of the registration that's due in November?

2) On the grant itself it asks for "Corporate/Mentoring Contact Information". Who can this be exactly? Can our primary contact also be the Mentor? Or is it specifically asking for a corporate sponsor that is mentoring? Can it be a individual that is mentoring without association with a company?

3)We had our first team meeting last Thursday, and haven't lined up much in the way of big sponsors yet. Does that stop us from being able to apply for this grant?

Re: NASA grant question
 

Given the priority to new teams the past several years, I'd say you have a great chance of getting the grant as a new rookie team.
If you receive the grant, you should be fine in not having to pay for the event first, then getting reimbursed.
However, you should develop a backup plan to come up with the registration fee in case you dont get it and have already started up a team.

Re: NASA grant question
 

You're going to want at least $6000 (more like, twice that) after this season anyway, might as well start fishing for it now.

Re: NASA grant question
 

The funds don't actually arrive, they are credited to your "FIRST account". This basically means that you just don't pay for the competition (NASAs pays for you)

Lead mentor is just fine here. They need the main adult point of contact for the team.

Unless the form specifically says that you must demonstrate other funding sources (as it does for some of the other grants), then no it won't stop you.

Re: NASA grant question
 

This, this, this. Garnet Squadron didn't get selected for the NASA Grant initially in the fall of 2013--and the list came out the Monday before the payment deadline.

I have taken robot arms swinging wide to the chin. I have stood on FIRST fields submerged in four inches of water. I have chased down robots in autonomous in a room of new computers. I have seen a robot not move at all in the elimination rounds. That experience was scarier than all of them.

Between the FRC Rookie Grant and other funding, we scraped the money together around dinnertime the night before the payment deadline. But I never want to be in that position again. Get your money, get some mentors.

Re: NASA grant question
 

Also be sure to apply for the FIRST Rookie grant too. The application can be found on the FIRST website under the FRC tab. Last season FIRST had more money earmarked for that grant than they had applicants. Can't guarantee that will be the case this season but you should have a very good chance of receiving it.

Also be sure to contact your RD and/or Senior Mentor to see if there are any local or other grants that your team may qualify for.

Re: NASA grant question
 

Talking about the Rookie grant, if we just don't know how much students will be part of the team, what should we write?

Re: NASA grant question
 

A good estimate should probably suffice. Wouldn't your answer be 1?

Re: NASA grant question
 

It depends of the day... I get to recruit some people but, after a few days, they discover FIRST is too much effort... So, currently, we are two, maybe three but we could get to seven pretty easily...

Re: NASA grant question
 

As with most grant applications, you need to understand what the offerer is asking and respond accordingly.

NASA wants to fund teams who can deliver on the promise of fielding a robot, submitting a Chairman's Award entry, and be able to sustain this effort in future years.

Teams who show they understand what it takes to do this are much more likely to be successful in obtaining a grant than a team that rushed through the form. Resources such as mentors, students, build site, access to tools, and a plan to develop sponsors all need to be described in your application.

Good luck!

We submitted our grant, and with all of your help and well wishes feel good with it. We are going to complete the FIRST rookie grant this week too, and continue working on lining up sponsors. Thanks again!