Thank you NASA!

[Travis Hoffman]

Jack, the answer to your question lies in this 2004 thread (tread lightly):

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31472&page=1&pp=15&

I specifically remember reading the grant announcement in a FIRST Email Blast earlier in 2005, checking out the grant website, and finding out which grants, if any were available to vet teams. I know I was on the FIRST mailing list in 2004, and it may just be my bad memory, but I don't remember seeing this process communicated in this manner that year. Therefore, it seems the powers that be have successfully improved the communication process. Congrats on that!

I am wondering though, what the comparative stats are between this year's grant recipients and last year's. Did you give out more? Were more available? Did more rookie teams apply? Etc.

Thanks,

[AmyPrib]

And as was posted previously in some thread about grants (don't have time to find it right now) there was a clause in the application or description that essentially said
"in the event there aren't enough rookie or 2nd yr grant applicants, it's possible that a veteran team may receive one".... This is in addition to the veterans getting grants for attending a new regional.

People tend to think grants will only go to brand new teams, and that veterans shouldn't get it because they're "obviously" financially stable. But, I'm sure that the application reviewers know what they're doing. So long as you provide the required application information, it would seem you have a chance. I don't think veterans have been discouraged from applying. Worst you can hear is "no".

[RoboMom]

The application criteria varied for the different types. I think NASA did an excellent job this year with explainations and with the type of information required. They are looking for teams that are thinking about support systems and thinking ahead.

Although no vet teams here in Maryland received a grant, we had some applying. The information they gathered can be used for many purposes; future proposals, award entries, sponsorship packets, so it was not in vain (although I know they must be disappointed.)

I am thrilled that NASA chose to fund so many rookie (and one 2nd year) teams here. The teams worked hard on these applications. There were some tough questions.

[Mike Schroeder]

Thank you NASA (except for Dave, his tormenting hints make us even)

[capnrmorgan]

Wow! Thank you NASA from the bottom of our hearts. We have a lot to be thankful this holiday. Thanks goes out to our mentoring team 25 from North Brunswick and support from Wayne Cokeley, Paul Kloberg, "Big" Mike, Team MOE365, John Larock, KathieK and many others from the FIRST Community. Thanks for accepting us into the family. Our team will go beyond MARS to see this through. See you all at the Kick off and at the NJ Regionals !

[KathieK]

Thank you NASA for recognizing the need to support all these students! And also to the hundreds of sponsors, big and small, that believe in this program.

[Katie Reynolds]

Thanks NASA! Team 857 now has enough money to attend the Milwaukee regional, build a robot and maybe even rent a place to put the robot together (we're pretty sure we're losing the place we've put the robot together in the past - luckily, all of our machining resources are still available).

THANK YOU!!

[dlavery]

Note that the grant awards listed on the 2006 NASA Sponsorship Awards web page include ONLY the "Regional Challenge Grant" and "Program Growth Grant" awards. The "University Space Grant" awards are being listed separately, and will be announced shortly, as soon as the final arrangements with the supporting university programs are completed. So, if your team is in Louisiana, Mississippi, Arizona, Montana, Idaho, or the District of Columbia - the formal announcement regarding your award will be released as soon as we can (hopefully, no later than Monday). Informally, I can let you know that for the University Space Grants we were able to make awards to every qualified team that applied for those grants (some applications were received from teams that did not qualify for the specific USG grants for which they applied, and were thus not awarded).

The conditions under which veteran teams could apply for certain categories of the available grants were clearly spelled out in the grant introduction and application. The cover page explicitly stated how many rookie, second year, and veteran grants were available for each event. So if you read the application, there should be no confusion about how veteran teams were able to qualify for certain grants.

To all the grant awardees, congratulations and we look forward to seeing you at the competition!

-dave