NASA Grant Winners? [2010-2011]

[BrendanB]

Thank you so much NASA!!!!!

3467 and 1519!

[AdamHeard]

Guys, keep in mind NASA doesn't read this thread. You'll want to send thank you letters.

Now to be a hypocrite, Thanks NASA!

[Klamath Mom]

Thank you NASA! Our team is relieved and very excited! Without the grant, we would have been out for the season! Congrats to all the other winners!!

[Klamath Mom]

What is the best address and contact to send a Thank you to NASA?

[JYang]

Sending an email to the email attached on the page to thank you would most likely be the best way to thank the people who were involved. The email will get forwarded to whoever was involved with the grant process.

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Klamath Mom

What is the best address and contact to send a Thank you to NASA?

This was the information that Dave provided for us last year. Perhaps, he can confirm it for this year.

Jane

[Chris Fultz]

Thanks also to AUTODESK.

20 of the grants were sponsored / funded by AUTODESK. They used the NASA Applications and the team requirements are the same.

Note to all selected teams: There are some requirements for you as a grant recipient. Make sure you complete those requirements. The information requested is important to NASA and AUTODESK and FIRST. In your application you agreed to do them. And if you don't, you could lose eligibility for future NASA grants.

[JB987]

Just to clarify...the veterans listed are the ones who had severe loss of financial support from sponsors, etc. and applied for the "sustainability" grants? Or did I miss something?

[Chris Fultz]

There are two types of awards for "veteran" teams.

Program Growth Grants - if funds are available after the 1st and 2nd year teams are selected.

Sustainability Grants - for teams that have lost major sponsrship and can document the details.

Edited quote from the NASA Application information -

Program Growth Grants: ... ,
Veteran teams: Except as noted above, these NASA sponsorship programs are primarily intended to provide support for rookie teams that are just entering the requested robotics competition program. The intent of Program Growth Grants is to assist in the formation of new teams. However, it may not be possible to award all available sponsorships to qualified second-year or rookie teams. In this event, qualified veteran teams that have applied for sponsorship may be selected. Applications for Program Growth Grants from veteran teams will be considered after all rookie team and second-year team applications have been evaluated.

Sustaining Grants: It is recognized that this is an extraordinarily difficult year for many teams due to the national economic situation. Due to the extreme circumstances, many long-term teams have lost significant corporate sponsorship and are on the brink of ceasing operations. It is our intent to provide short-term assistance to those teams to allow them to continue productive participation in the program while they identify and acquire new long-term sponsorship. Toward that end, NASA will accept applications for "Sustaining Grants" to provide registration awards for qualified veteran teams. Sustaining Grants are intended to help teams on the verge of dissolution, and are not intended funding for participation in second or third competition events.

To qualify, teams must document that they have lost one or more of the primary financial sponsors that they had during the 2010 season, and explain how this loss of sponsorship affects the potential for survival of the team. The team must also describe their plans for recovery of long-term sponsorship, and how this will be acquired in time to sustain the team beyond the 2011 season.

The Sustaining Grants are one-year, one-time grants, and may not be offered again in the future

[Trying to Help]

Thank you NASA! The good folks at NASA who go to bat for FIRST and other engineering programs make a significant difference in the lives of thousands (millions?) of people.

Trying to Help

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by JB987

Just to clarify...the veterans listed are the ones who had severe loss of financial support from sponsors, etc. and applied for the "sustainability" grants? Or did I miss something?

We applied for a Program Growth grant. It seems that they had money left over after reviewing all first and second year teams, thankfully.

We could have made a case for a Sustaining Grant as we lost a sponsor, but we thought our situation much more fit the Program Growth intent than the intent of the Sustaining Grant.

[roborat]

Thanks NASA, Team 1249 really needed the funding this year, now, if we can get off the wait list in Pittsburgh as our second region.

[dlavery]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

This was the information that Dave provided for us last year. Perhaps, he can confirm it for this year.

Jane

Yes, that information is still correct.

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

Guys, keep in mind NASA doesn't read this thread.

They don't??!?!

-dave


.

[Taylor]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

Guys, keep in mind NASA doesn't read this thread.

NASA probably watched you type that.

[Chris is me]

If you've got the luxury of free time between now and Kickoff, I'd encourage you to spend a few minutes to write NASA a letter thanking them for their contribution to your team.

If you've been a "NASA team" all along, and have relied on their support to get you to your first event with enough pocket change to build a robot, or have gotten enough support to go to a second regional or Championship, or even didn't quite raise that $6000 you're supposed to in order to get the grant, think of all of the kids on your team, and all of the kids on the team in the past while you were still kept afloat by NASA. How many of those kids went on to pursue engineering? I can't even count the number of students I know personally whom have been inspired because of NASA's financial contribution to their FIRST Robotics teams on two hands, and that's only two teams. If I tried to extrapolate that number to the hundreds of teams they award grants to, I'd be overwhelmed. NASA is truly inspiring.

The least you could do, really, is write them a note thanking them profusely. They're one of the reasons FIRST is what it is today.