NASA Grant for 2013 FRC?

[Madison]

Originally Posted by Travis Hoffman

If anyone is out there listening, it sure would be appreciated if teams could know which regional events, if any, will be supported by veteran "Regional Challenge" grants this year, prior to initial event registration in late September.

I'll second that. We have a new event in the area and will be more likely to attend it (and skip Seattle entirely) if there's grant money available.

The schedule up in this neck of the woods + the new Championship wild card system = boo.

[Abrakadabra]

Grant information is up (http://frc-grants.arc.nasa.gov/rcs/directions.php), but with this:

For the competition season, Regional Challenge Grants will be available for the following events:

To Be Determined up to 20 sponsorships
North Carolina (Raleigh, NC) up to 10 sponsorships
Utah (West Valley City, UT) up to 10 sponsorships
South Florida (Boca Raton, FL) up to 20 sponsorships

Aren't those last year's new regionals? What about this year's?

[Mark McLeod]

Certainly something wierd.
By the letter of the rules, no veteran Regional Challenge Grants would be awarded.
If this is true the text for it probably should have been removed, so it's probably there for the TBD event.

Only South Florida was a rookie last year. NC and Utah were both rookie events three years ago, but they could dwell on the list if rookies keep getting Challenge Grants I suppose.

By definition, 2nd-year teams for Regional Challenge Grants must go to what is at least a second year event, so South Florida should be expected to again appear on the 2013 list for the 2nd-year applicants. It's also possible that subsequent rookie grant awards to 2nd+ year NASA sponsored Regionals would keep NC and Utah on the list for multiple years.

[IndySam]

"To be determined" sounds like a nice place.

[PayneTrain]

Remember the deadline: "Firday, November 23, 2012, 18:00:00 PST"

Mark, I believe last year grants were available for NCR and the DC Regional, which were entering their 3rd year if I remember correctly. I think the correlation is something like "newest regional to existing NASA facility" but that's just a somewhat educated guess.

I wish they had clearer information for teams who may be hesitant to fulfill their grant application because of the TBD event and a few confusing stipulations.

[Jimmy Nichols]

Originally Posted by PayneTrain

Remember the deadline: "Firday, November 23, 2012, 18:00:00 PST"

That is the deadline for the supplemental documentation from your accrediated educational sponsor (principal, assistant Principal, etc.)

The deadline for submitting the Application is:

October 23, 2012, 18:00:00 PST

[Travis Hoffman]

Originally Posted by Abrakadabra

Grant information is up (http://frc-grants.arc.nasa.gov/rcs/directions.php), but with this:



Aren't those last year's new regionals? What about this year's?

North Carolina has been part of the RC program since its inception in 2010, I believe.

Utah is a multi-time recipient of the assistance too, I believe.

I'd love to know soon what the TBD regional is. I'm guessing not Crossroads. :-)

[Taylor]

Originally Posted by Travis Hoffman

I'd love to know soon what the TBD regional is. I'm guessing not Crossroads. :-)

It sure would be nice to know. Writing a NASA grant is no easy task, and before we invest the time & energy, we as applicants need to know the limitations of the grant.

Right now we're looking at BMR + SMR, but if Crossroads is a TBD, we'd likely switch to BMR/QCR + Crossroads. As a BMR-waitlisted team, that's a duck I'd like to have in a row.

I think the powers-that-be are out for a bike ride right now, and I certainly don't begrudge them that.