OSGC Educational Resources Blog

NASA announced Thursday its aeronautics competition for high school and college students during the 2007-2008 academic year.  Students are asked to imagine and write an essay or design a next generation aircraft that could join the commercial fleet in 2058.

High school students should prepare a well-informed essay describing how transportation of goods and passengers might be revolutionized in the 21st century as it was in the 1930s and 1940s by the introduction of the DC-3. Essays are limited to 12 pages and should address environmental impacts, including reduced noise and emissions, improved operating costs, the use of alternative fuels, passenger and cargo loads, and use of existing general aviation runways.

College students are challenged to design the next generation aircraft.  Design considerations should include environmental impact, daily operations on short runways, passenger and cargo limits, structure and materials, propulsion, and cost analyses for production and operation. Proposals should provide details on three or more valid operational scenarios. University-level research papers are limited to 25 pages.

Teams or individuals may enter in either category. Winners may be invited to a student forum sponsored by NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate and receive offers of student internships or other prizes, including cash, depending on available funds. Only U.S. citizens are eligible for cash prizes or NASA-funded internships.

NASA uses this competition to foster the next generation of skilled scientists and engineers critical to the future of NASA aeronautics and the broader aeronautics community.

For contest information and submission, visit:
http://aero.larc.nasa.gov/competitions.htm

HASP 2008 Call for Payloads Released
http://laspace.lsu.edu/hasp/Participantinfo.html

The Louisiana Space Consortium, in coordination with the NASA Balloon Program Office, has released a call for student payloads for the 2008 flight of the High Altitude Student Platform (HASP). HASP carries up to 12 student payloads to the edge of space (~124,000 feet) for durations up to 20 hours using a large helium filled balloon. This call follows the recent successful second HASP flight on September 2, 2007 where 10 student payloads were exposed to the near space environment for about 16 1/2 hours.

Details can be found at
http://laspace.lsu.edu/hasp/index.html

NASA/USRP OFFERS SPRING SESSION AT NASA CENTERS!
RISING SOPHOMORES ARE NOW ELIGIBLE!
STIPENDS INCREASED!

The NASA Undergraduate Student Research Program (USRP) will offer a 15-week spring session in addition to the usual 10-week summer and 15-week fall sessions for 2008. The spring session deadline is October 22, 2007 (***Deadline Change***).

In addition to rising juniors and seniors, USRP will now also be open to rising sophomores. Students will receive a $9,000 stipend for the 15-week spring and fall sessions, and $6,000 for the 10-week summer session, plus round trip travel. The new stipend is a 20% increase over 2007 payments.

The application deadline for the spring session is October 22, 2007, the summer session application deadline is January 31, 2008 and the fall application deadline is February 29, 2008.

The online application will be activated on or before September 15.  Visit the USRP website for program information and to apply: http://education.nasa.gov/usrp

Broadening Participation Research Initiation Grants in Engineering (BRIGE) Program Solicitation NSF 07-589
National Science Foundation Directorate for Engineering

Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. proposer’s local time): February 08, 2008

Synopsis of Program:
With the goal of broadening participation to all engineers including members from groups underrepresented in the engineering disciplines, the Directorate for Engineering (ENG) at NSF offers a research initiation grant funding opportunity. These grants are intended to increase the diversity of researchers who apply for and receive ENG funding to initiate research programs early in their careers, including those from under-represented groups, engineers at minority serving institutions, and persons with disabilities. By providing these funding opportunities, ENG intends to further broaden participation of engineering researchers who share NSF’s commitment to diversity in the following ways:

* Expand the population of role models who will interact with an increasingly diverse student population, the workforce of the future
* Increase the number of engineering researchers at minority serving institutions actively and competitively engaged in research as independent investigators, thereby creating new research opportunities for students from underrepresented groups
* Fund engineering research projects that use innovative ways to attract and retain members of under-represented groups to careers in engineering.

Awards are for 24 months and are limited to a maximum of $175,000 total costs (direct plus indirect). Principal Investigators must be U.S. citizens or lawfully admitted U.S. permanent residents at the time of application; visa-holders are not eligible.

PI Limit: Proposers must be affiliated with an engineering department or a department closely related to engineering. Co-investigators are not permitted, but collaborations with other scientists and/or visiting scientist status in other laboratories are permitted. Principal investigators must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents

Full details at:
http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf07589

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is offering a Design Competition for Universities for the 2007 – 2008 academic year.

The Competition challenges individual students or teams of students from U.S. colleges and universities working under the mentorship of a faculty advisor to address challenges in three broad areas: Airport Operations and Maintenance, Runway Safety/Runway Incursions, and Environmental Interactions of Airports. Students must have a faculty advisor. Cash prizes are given to first, second and third place winners in each category. The first place winners will present their design solutions at the American Association of Airport Executives June 2008 Meeting in New Orleans.

Competition guidelines and full details are available at:
http://www.faa.gov/runwaysafety/design_competition.htm

Student and faculty participants in last year’s Competition overwhelmingly found participation in the Competition to be a valuable educational experience. Many cited the ability to actively address real-world issues and to deal with airport operators and other practicing professionals as meaningful aspects. Participants can engage in the Competition in many ways– for example as part of a design class, independent study, or a student professional society project.