The list of 2005 NASA Grant recipients was released earlier today. You can find the list here:
http://robotics.nasa.gov/2005_sponsorships.htm
Congratulations to those who received support!
Aren’t these grants meant for first and second year teams to assist in the formation of a team in their start to help “get them off the ground”. Now with that said as i glance at the teams who received grants i am wondering why teams 71 and 93 received these grants.
this post is in no way a bash at either team 71 or 93 or NASA, i just thought these grants were designed for first and second year teams as assistance to start and develop a team.
Yeah… that’s what I said too. No offense, but we all know Beatty isn’t in need of the money. I have nothing against large, well funded teams, but these grants are for the teams that cant find a way to compete otherwise… to give one to one of, if not THE powerhouse teams in the country is absolutely absurd in my mind.
I can only hope that they recieved it because others didn’t apply… if they got it over some rookies or teams that absolutely needed that money, there’s something SERIOUSLY wrong with NASA’s selection policy.
awaits the outpouring of negative rep
I thought that same thing…as I understood, only first and second year teams were eligible. I could understand how 461 and teams hosting NASA events could get the grants however. Congrats to all teams who won the grants! By no mean was this post meant to “bash” any veteran teams who me too the grants.
-Kyle
What the heck Cory?
You have specific insight into the funding of team 71?
Personally, I have no clue the financial status of these teams. If they applied for the grants, I’m sure there is a need, or a valid reason.
NASA could have said “no”, but they didn’t. Obviously the proposal was worthy.
John
is there two separate grants? one from NASA and on from FIRST?
Congrats to all the teams who recieved the NASA grants! I have no insight as to why the veter teams may have recieved the grants, but who knows (other than them, of course)- keeping a team alive is a lot of work.
_Alex
I have nothing against you or team 71 or NASA, John, but when i see a team that can afford 2 regionals (the midwest regional and great lakes regional) and the championship event all ready but get a grant to attend a 3rd regional (that i was advised was a “rookie” grant), which they arent even on the list of competing teams yet (which im guessing means they are wait listed for) it makes me frown. So i am hoping this is either a mix up or NASA had an excessive amount of grants for the Purdue regional which couldnt be used for another event.
Some grants were given to established teams as an incentive to attend one of the new regionals.
-Kevin
When it is given as an incentive, is this just “we picked you, we’ve paid for you completely, so why shouldn’t you go?” If it is like that, it seems a bit unfair, but as said time and time again: there must be some reasoning behind it. Although paying for a third regional when many rookie teams are in the red paying for their first and only regional- this brings up some questions. Can anyone provide me with some sort of link to the criteria? I haven’t been able to find it yet (ah the wonders of searching the net). What would clear up many doubts is if NASA was able to provide a short summary of their reasonings.
_Alex
I believe that says it all
There is a $1,000 FIRST grant, that’s seperate from the NASA grant, available to both rookie and veteran teams. However, it will not be awarded to a team that has received the NASA grant or any other FIRST grant. See the “FIRST Team Assistance Grant” on this page: http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/grants.htm
801, 71, 135, 93, 16, 461, 399
These are the only teams under 900 received the NASA grant.
The numbers in bold are teams going to the West Lafayette regional, who received the grant. Entertain the possibility, for a second, that there weren’t many teams - let alone many new teams - that applied for the grant, for W. Lafayette regional. Subsequently, the grants were … granted to the teams who did apply, low numbers and all, so as not to waste the grants and as an incentive, perhaps, for more first and second year teams to apply for the grants next year.
Then why were there hardly any other ‘established teams’ who received the grant, outside of the West Lafayette regional? There is more than one new regional this year, is there not?
In any case, congrats to both the low and high-numbered teams who did receive the grant.
My understanding is that Rookies, second year teams, and “High Number” teams seeking their second year of funding take priority. So I think this means that there are not many rookies at the regional that you are discussing.
For example Team 341 has applied for the past 2 years to receive our second year grant at Chesapeake, but have been rejected in favor of rookie teams both years. This is because there are many more rookie teams at Chesapeake.
(and they should receive these funds)
I also would not make assumptions about other teams finances. People often assume that we are well funded because we have big names on our shirts. We however receive only partial (and much appreciated) funding from these companies. The majority of our money comes from our own fundraising ideas.
Although we seem very together and organized, we barely make our budget each year. In fact last year we had to beg in our community to make it to Nationals.
Anyway this is my way of saying congrats to anyone that can manage to get a grant. It is a tough road for the majority of teams out there.
I saw this thread, and I don’t know Beatty’s financial status either, but I will agree with OZ_341 about not assuming about team’s finances. For example, my team, #16, received a grant, and in the past we’d never really considered the possibility we’d need one. This year however, our financial situation is… vastly different, and we greatly appreciate the NASA money, which has now made it possible for us to attend two regionals.
I am assuming that the selections were made based on a regional by regional basis. For instance there were probably a high number of teams who applied for Chesepeke, which made it more difficult for a team with a low number to gain favor…as where the competition that Beatty and Hammond applied for must have had a low number of applicants, allowing for Beatty to attend even with the number of regionals they had already registered for.
At least I hope this would be the case…
With that said, I really wish that some company would come up with some form of aid to help dying teams who have been around for a long time. It seems like we are running into more and more of these teams every year…its a shame to see such traditions falling apart because resources just can’t hold up anymore.
I’m not trying to sound bitter, but it just seems like everyone is throwing money at the newer teams and the old dogs who have paid their due are now forgotten.
Congrats to all the teams who recieved the grant, make us proud by showing why you earned that money!
The FIRST grant is a good place for the older teams to go, but that only covers 16% of the cost now. In a best-case scenario, these NASA grants would be able to expand from the ‘developing’ regions to all regions of the world.
There are many more regions out in the world that need help with funding to keep themselves alive. Who knows what can happen in the future- maybe more companies can join into donating funds to develop new regions. One such place that I believe could use some assistance for survival is the Israeli region. But, we have to be reminded of the positives of these grants, no matter who receives them: They greatly benefit to the sucess of a regional by allowing many more teams to be there to participate. Congrats again to all recipients
_Alex
Funny. I hear these people employed by NASA seem to be pretty darn smart. I’m pretty sure they know what the words ‘first’ and ‘second’ mean.
Therefore, I assume they must have some pretty good ideas as to why they gave the teams that they did the money that they did. I know why. Do you? Did you know before you posted? Did you ask anyone?
No offense, but we all know Beatty isn’t in need of the money.
At first I was outraged, I mean BEATY is getting a FIRST grant
I have nothing against large, well funded teams, but these grants are for the teams that cant find a way to compete otherwise… to give one to one of, if not THE powerhouse teams in the country is absolutely absurd in my mind.
it makes me frown. So i am hoping this is either a mix up
there’s something SERIOUSLY wrong with NASA’s selection policy
Well gee shucks golly!
I heard that that 71 team gets a dump truck full of $20 bills every time they get a medal. I heard that team 461 lied on their application and said they were a second year team and those gosh darn silly NASA people didn’t check. I heard that Baxter 16 team wanted to cheat a few rookies out of some money. I always did know those 93 Apple folks were a bunch of cheaters.
I also heard that this thread is pretty disrespectful, rude, inconsiderate, misguided, and proves, truly, the outstanding ignorance that abounds on these message boards when a controversial issue comes up.
Well said Amanda. GP was not very evident on this thread. Just remember folks that even with disclaimers you ARE representing your team on these threads.
While I feel that its important that people maybe think a little and check facts before making posts…I also feel that demeaning or talking down to those who made the mistakes isn’t appropriate. Please everyone…including those on both sides of the line…use some respect for others opinions.
I’m not trying to single your post out Amanda, I would have PMed you had it been just you involved, but I’ve just about heard enough from everyone on this subject for the day.
Sorry
-Andy Grady
Andy,
I didn’t post what I did because any certain team was involved, or because of any particular person that replied. I stand by what I said - this thread, and a lot of the replies involved, are indeed disrespectful, rude, inconsiderate, and misguided. Moreover, I have made my share of ignorant posts on CD, and because of being corrected I certainly learned my lesson.
Any team singled out - especially these seven - should certainly feel defensive. I know I would, should I be publicly reminded of how much money is in my bank account. The basis on which the teams are being judged is pretty ridiculous.
Amanda
p.s. - don’t say ‘sorry’. Even if someone doesn’t agree, you should never been sorry for your opinion (that goes for everyone on ChiefDelphi or otherwise). 
/edit - I’ll rely on someone else to clarify, and I’ll now take the role of the ignorant FIRSTer. I believe NASA allows a set amount for each regional’s grants. And I believe that if rookies or underfunded teams in their first or second year had applied for the Boilermaker Regional, they would have gotten funding.